[Maibaa]

Originally Posted by hiren.mistry

You planning to change to MotoVision bulbs?
Hows is the backlit instrumentation? I mean whats the color of the bulbs?

Absolutely no plans of changing the stock bulbs as of now. But will keep the option open and if I can get hold of these bulbs, may consider. The various alternatives that I listed are for the US market and I am not sure what all are available here in India.

The instrumentation console is lit with regular yellow light and is quite bright. It does not flicker with the idling of the bike as noticed in case of my Pulsar 180.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by Maibaa

Absolutely no plans of changing the stock bulbs as of now. But will keep the option open and if I can get hold of these bulbs, may consider. The various alternatives that I listed are for the US market and I am not sure what all are available here in India.

The instrumentation console is lit with regular yellow light and is quite bright. It does not flicker with the idling of the bike as noticed in case of my Pulsar 180.

Maibaa, i would suggest that you refrain from changing over to anything other than the stock bulbs for the headlight. It is very difficult to get genuine philips bulbs here. I had Philips Rallye 130/100W bulbs in my esteem for sometime and for no reason the bulbs used to go kaput in a few months.

The instrumentation backlight is blue in color.

[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by Maibaa

..........., the stock illumination is quite good during the night and on my recent ride on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, on the way back,

<Envy> How was the ride on the highway through all that highway traffic?

Originally Posted by Maibaa

.... I prefer this to the digital console. Love to see the needle climb. Moreover, I am glad the bike is great in areas that matter most, power, performance and handling.

Spoken like a true biker

Originally Posted by Maibaa

Few friends also commented on the lack of illuminated switches as seen on the new gen pulsars, no auto-off turn indicators, etc. But i feel the bike has decent controls without the bling factor.

Exactly! who cares. Ask the pulsar boys if their 220's ride is anything close to this lil monster.

Again - Spoken like a true biker.

Originally Posted by Maibaa

@Ironwolf - No problem at all. I am glad Aditya has answered some queries on my behalf. This shows that he shares the same excitement of owning the Ninja as I do.

Regarding the question of Saree guard, frankly speaking I was pretty impressed the way Bajaj has designed the Saree guard for this bike. It definitely does not look odd and blends very well into the design of the bike. Not sure if I need to remove it. Maybe someday i might, when I feel the need to.

I know it looks good, its infact the Ferrari of all Saree guards. Please remove it , unless you plan to take some girl to an Indian prom in her saree.

Originally Posted by Maibaa

I will be glad to join you guys on long rides very soon. Just waiting for the fasting month to get over. I already have an invite from Aditya. Damn! these rains are preventing me to take my bike out more often to get over the engine break-in period. I am stuck at 750 kms.

I dont mind helping you add some miles onto the bike.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

its infact the Ferrari of all Saree guards. Please remove it , unless you plan to take some girl to an Indian prom in her saree.

I cant help but imagine that the saree will end up looking like Shakira's skirt (like the one a cave girl wore) at the end of the ride.

[aargee]

@Maibaa - Pls do invest in buying a good jacket; I would second the A* & go in for the one that has removable inner lining so as to use it in the warm & cold weather.

[finneyp]

Congrats Maibaa & Aditya on the Green monster, it looks awesome!

Love to own one, but price is steep :(

[Maibaa]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Maibaa, i would suggest that you refrain from changing over to anything other than the stock bulbs for the headlight. It is very difficult to get genuine philips bulbs here. I had Philips Rallye 130/100W bulbs in my esteem for sometime and for no reason the bulbs used to go kaput in a few months.

The instrumentation backlight is blue in color.

Yes, I dont think i will be changing the stock bulbs. I read that you may have to remove the fairing to get easy access to the bulbs. So I dont think its worth the effort. If it was easy to change the bulbs, maybe I would have experimented with after market bulbs.

Hey! Thanks for correcting me Aditya! Infact the backlight is blue in color.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

<Envy> How was the ride on the highway through all that highway traffic?

I know it looks good, its infact the Ferrari of all Saree guards. Please remove it , unless you plan to take some girl to an Indian prom in her saree.

The run-in period limitation of 60 km/hr was perfect to ride on a Sunday evening with lot of traffic on the highway. Didn't feel I was slow and reached Bangalore in 3 hours. However, the ride in the morning towards Mysore really tested my patience. Long and winding roads tempting me to open the throttle. Add to that, Pulsars n RTRs wanting to race with me and looking at me in disbelief as I ignore them and leisurely cruise at 60. My brother who followed me in his Cedia was yawning at the wheel trying to match my speed

When it comes to taking a girl in her saree to the prom, I will make sure I hire a stretch limo In fact I dont think any girl would enjoy riding pillion on the hard rear seat of the Ninja.

Now that you are insisting so much, i will consider removing the Ferrari of all saree guards.

Originally Posted by finneyp

Congrats Maiba a & Aditya on the Green monster, it looks awesome!

Love to own one, but price is steep :(

Thanks finneyp, I know the price is high but this is the only real sports bike that you can get here that has performance to match style, other than the litre class monsters that are north of 10 Lakhs.

[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by Maibaa

In fact I dont think any girl would enjoy riding pillion on the hard rear seat of the Ninja.

Now that you are insisting so much, i will consider removing the Ferrari of all saree guards.

Thanks finneyp, I know the price is high but this is the only real sports bike that you can get here that has performance to match style, other than the litre class monsters that are north of 10 Lakhs.

Maibaa,

Thats not a fact, I am sure atleast one of your colleagues/friends would ask you for a ride round the block. Though not in a saree.

Finney, I feel you bro. Lets pool in and get one - atleast second hand.

Aditya, You seem to be the Blr 250R club president - know any uncle who wants to sell off a lil Green monStar?

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Aditya, You seem to be the Blr 250R club president - know any uncle who wants to sell off a lil Green monStar?

LOL. 250R club president.

There are a couple of ninja's on sale on xbhp but none from blore AFAIK. One of the bikes on sale is from a member by the name JD666. I'd suggest you ping him if you are interested.

You can also call Probiking and let them know that you are interested in a used 250R. Most owners keep the dealer informed in case they want to dispose the bike.

All the best dude.

[anupam9557]

I would prefer fitting an after market digital speedo console for the ninja.Anybody know about the price range?

[IronWolf]

Maibaa any updates?

How long you need more for the run in? Please take my offer will help you cover some miles quickly

Looking forward to your joy when you unleash this thing on the open road.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

LOL. 250R club president.

There are a couple of ninja's on sale on xbhp but none from blore AFAIK. One of the bikes on sale is from a member by the name JD666. I'd suggest you ping him if you are interested.

Aditya, Wish I could. Have to improve my Vitamin M levels before I can get to the classifieds section.

If any distress sales .......... man who am I kidding!?
You gotta wait when you gotta wait.

[Sheel]

You may increase your run-in speed & it would be safe to stick to 5000rpm in top(about 80kmph?)

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by anupam9557

I would prefer fitting an after market digital speedo console for the ninja.Anybody know about the price range?

The digital console costs around 16k for the ninja 250R. And it would void the warranty as it involves splicing of the wires.

The service center manager here at bangalore confirmed that a couple of owners procured these consoles and are waiting for the 2 year / 30,000 kms warranty period to expire before going ahead with the installation.

Originally Posted by Sheel

You may increase your run-in speed & it would be safe to stick to 5000rpm in top(about 80kmph?)

6k rpm translates to around 85kmph. Stick to the run-in instructions mentioned in the manual at least for the first 800 kms. Post that for the next 800 kms you can revv to 9k rpm once in a way to free up the engine. Once every 100 kms should be a safe bet.

[Maibaa]

I called up Bajaj Service center and made a reservation one week in advance for the first service since my bike was already a month old and with 780 kms clocked. Meanwhile I also got a SMS reminder for the same. Was pleasantly surprised though.

On the day of service I took the bike in the morning around 11.00 am to the service center at Indiranagar 100FT road, and they told me to come back in the evening and get my bike as there was another ninja scheduled for first service. I insisted that i will stay and want my bike to be done first as i had already made an appointment one week back for which they gladly acknowledged. There are a couple of service representatives assigned to ninja service matters and i felt they are knowledgeable and courteous.

The bike was taken to the roof top wash area and first stripped of its fairings before getting a good pressure wash. I was asked to wait at the waiting area while they washed the bike but i wanted to be with the bike at every stage and they let me do that.







There are a bunch of boys who do the washing and for every bike they get, they unnecessarily rev the bike as they take the bike in and out of the washing area. Although no harm but I don't think any owner would like someone playing with their bikes. Fortunately, my bike was washed by a dedicated service guy and I was glad that i insisted to stay and watch.

Once the bike is clean, there is the regular oil change, oil filter change, air filter cleaning, regular maintenance jobs such as wheel alignment check, vital nuts and bolts check, and waxing and polishing in the end.







All of this took around 3 hours roughly and I was charged Rs.1700 for the first service. There is a decent waiting area for customers to be seated with some auto magazines to browse through if you are not interested in watching whats going on with your bike. One good point is that the guys allow you to watch up-close and interact with them as they work on your bike. Not sure if this is standard practice or special consideration only for pro-biking customers.

With the first service done, I wanted to check out how it feels at 6k RPM and I did a casual trip to the airport and back. I also wanted to check out my elbow and knee guards (fox) which i found were quite comfortable after a 1 hour ride. The sweet note of the engine past 5 K RPM is something to behold. I rode at 85 km/hr for most of the time but occasionally I revved up to 7k RPM when i had to overtake. Boy it felt great

Now that the clouds have cleared and the sun is out, I will be taking my bike out more often and hoping to get past 1600 kms as fast as i can. How it feels after that will be another story.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Maibaa any updates?

How long you need more for the run in? Please take my offer will help you cover some miles quickly

Looking forward to your joy when you unleash this thing on the open road.

IronWolf - I have a line of younger cousins waiting for me to give the slightest signal of a "Yes" and my bike will get as many miles as I can imagine. :-) But again, when we meet up sometime for a ride, will definitely introduce you to my bike.

I have done roughly a little under 900 kms todate.

[n_aditya]

Thats a fantastic pictorial Maibaa. I cant thank you enough. I missed the pleasure of witnessing the first service as I couldnt get a slot on a weekend and my bike had already crossed the 1000 kms mark.

That said, next week it'll be back for its second service. Time flies. Its a week short of 4 months and has already clocked 5500 kms. I cherish those moments when i took the delivery and the excitement which i felt on that lovely morning.

Originally Posted by Maibaa

The sweet note of the engine past 5 K RPM is something to behold. I rode at 85 km/hr for most of the time but occasionally I revved up to 7k RPM when i had to overtake. Boy it felt great

Now that the clouds have cleared and the sun is out, I will be taking my bike out more often and hoping to get past 1600 kms as fast as i can. How it feels after that will be another story.

bro, take her out as often as you can. I used to ride every evening when i got back from work no matter how tired i was and it used to rejuvenate me. That helped in shaving off the 1600 kms in less than 3 weeks IIRC.

Revving through the gear all the way upto 12k or 13k RPM is a sound that needs to be heard and recorded. I just cant refrain from saying that the stock can sounds lovely. The engine and exhaust notes change as RPM's climb and its pure music.