[narula123]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Very much surprising to see PR3 lasting for 18000 Kms. Is PR4 available in India ? While few guys are very happy with Angel GT, is that not in your choice list ?

Ned the PR4s are available here but not in the 160 size unfortunately and I absolutely detest upsizing to the 180. The Angel GT are superb tyres and incase I cant find the PR3/4 I will turn to the Angel GTs.

[Kapil15]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Very much surprising to see PR3 lasting for 18000 Kms. Is PR4 available in India ? While few guys are very happy with Angel GT, is that not in your choice list ?

Hi there. I am currently facing the dilemma of choosing one from PR3/PR4/Angel GT. Can someone here who has used Michelin as well Pirelli give a sort comparison to highlight which tyre is good for what kind of usage?

If you can also share any contact to source these tyres in Delhi, your help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[dockap]

I am also looking for better tyres for my N650 went through several reviews online and almost every review says overall pirelli angel gt are the best. pr4 are better only in wet conditions.

Originally Posted by Kapil15

Hi there. I am currently facing the dilemma of choosing one from PR3/PR4/Angel GT.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Kapil15

Hi there. I am currently facing the dilemma of choosing one from PR3/PR4/Angel GT. Can someone here who has used Michelin as well Pirelli give a sort comparison to highlight which tyre is good for what kind of usage?

Originally Posted by dockap

I am also looking for better tyres for my N650 went through several reviews online and almost every review says overall pirelli angel gt are the best. pr4 are better only in wet conditions.

Unfortunately you cant be choosy. You will not find either PR3 or PR4 in India since Michelin doesnt import them in a 160 profile. If buying from the grey market then please check the manufacturing date to ensure you are not getting old stock.

My suggestion is that all the above three brands are good enough for Indian road use. whichever brand you can find of decently fresh stock, pick it up and use it.

[narula123]

So at 31,000 kms the Ninja underwent another service. Since the arrival of her bigger sibling she has been relegated to few city rides and mostly long distance running.
With the stock exhaust being back on, the short velocity stacks with the right mapping make her a hoot off the line. Superb fun but yes they do rob you of the top end by a good 10-12 kmph. But that is something I can live with considering I have Shredder for my adrenaline kicks.
Recently got her some bling in the form of R&G's rim tape. Also on the shopping list are Aux LED lights and a gel seat for those 500+ kms jaunts. She also needs a new set of front pads soon so they have been promptly ordered. Nothing beats the EBC Extreme Pros, they are simply the best brake pads I have ever used.
She still runs like a swiss watch and loves being ridden hard. The best part is I can still take those mirrors off, put track rubber on and take her back to the holy grounds anytime I am in the mood for some hooligan fun. Dont get me wrong, shes not a patch on the supersports around the circuit but shes a very different kind of fun. She makes you work hard for your laptime and you have this tingling fear that there are absolutely no electronics to watch your back if you act like a bad boy.
Maybe on one of my trackdays this year I will take both the sisters along. Should be fun

[rbp]

Any branded LED's or chinese ones? Interested in knowing how you are gonna mount them.

Do you still have the intiminators on or sold?

[narula123]

Originally Posted by rbp

Any branded LED's or chinese ones? Interested in knowing how you are gonna mount them.

Do you still have the intiminators on or sold?

Branded ones too expensive. Will pick up the chinese ones for now. Will mount them either on the numberplate bracket stubs under each mirror or on the forks.
I still have the intiminators on.

[shan_ned]

Narula, Your Shoei helmet in one of your photos looks brilliant. It looks like either GT-Air or Qwest. Plz share your feedback when you have time. Thanks.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Narula, Your Shoei helmet in one of your photos looks brilliant. It looks like either GT-Air or Qwest. Plz share your feedback when you have time. Thanks.

Hey Ned,

Sorry for the late reply. Its a Shoei GT-Air. Looks and feels brilliant for touring and the internal sun-visor is a boon while touring. I have always preferred the fit of a Shoei to other helmets and though the GT-Air is a different fit from my X12, its still pretty comfortable.

[narula123]

Been a while since the 650 moved with me to Mumbai and has seen very little action due to the monsoons. The Metz M5s on her also needed a change since they had hardened over the years and were quite a handful around corners.

Got her a fresh new set of Pirelli Angel GTs recently and she was ready to embark on the 2500km trip to Jaisalmer to join fellow KNOGs for the national G2G in November.

I cant stress on this enough but a fresh pair of good tyres can really change the way you ride. A bit of TLC and we were off to Jaisalmer with a planned halt at Mehsana in between for the day.

The Ninja 650 is such a sweet machine, specially when you consider what one pays for her. She can run all day, with luggage, and through whatever terrain you want to throw at her. Ofcourse she isnt the best at everything and you always need a better seat and headlamps (the less said about how bad they are the better). I managed to ride a Ninja 1000 and the Multistrada on the trip and they just rubbed it in even further on how good a touring machine can get. But then they cost multiple times more than the N650.

Throughout the 2500 km trip, not once did she complain. Except on day 2 when the Engine check light would keep popping up above triple digit speeds, making me suspect the air-filter or the Auto-tune sensor. The error automatically vanished in the subsequent days so I never bothered opening up the filter during the trip. Must get it checked though. She still runs my track setup on the suspension and engine tuning so handling is still predictable and just the way I like it (nothing like the wallowy stock bike).

Her current chain-sprocket set has done close to 18k kms are seem to be in need for a change.

Will leave you with some memorable snaps from the G2G.

[FasterSon]

Super exciting this thread.
I can imagine thanking bike gods and grinning my way through on one! Would so aptly complete my biking world this bike.
I am looking out for a post 2012 model ninja650. @narula, @sriku, @rbp, @killjoy. Please give me a heads up for one, not exceeding 3 big ones.
I beleive the chain and sprocket, swing arm bearings, fork bearings, brake rotors are to be evaluated. I am not very mechanically inclined to make judgements on these. Will be mighty thankful if you can give me some guidance, since I plan to keep the bike close to 10yrs.
If I may, krystalclear.666 at gmail com

[narula123]

Originally Posted by FasterSon

Super exciting this thread.
I can imagine thanking bike gods and grinning my way through on one! Would so aptly complete my biking world this bike.
I am looking out for a post 2012 model ninja650. @narula, @sriku, @rbp, @killjoy. Please give me a heads up for one, not exceeding 3 big ones.
I beleive the chain and sprocket, swing arm bearings, fork bearings, brake rotors are to be evaluated. I am not very mechanically inclined to make judgements on these. Will be mighty thankful if you can give me some guidance, since I plan to keep the bike close to 10yrs.
If I may, krystalclear.666 at gmail com

Lots of Ninja 650s floating around in the used market and trust me the bike can take a lot of abuse. Finding a really rogered 650 is rare and even in those cases a bit of love & care can bring her back to glory. Your target budget should easily get you a well-maintained 2012/13 model.

Few things which I would check before getting a used model would be:
1. Clutch plates
2. Steering bearing and swingarm bearings
3. alternator and stator coil among other electricals to ensure no rodents have had a party there
4. alloy wheels for any bends or dents. Eye-watering expensive to replace and insurance may not cover it.
5. Any warping on the brake rotors

everything else can be corrected with a good service but mind you parts take their own sweet time to be available at the service stations.

[killjoy]

Yep, agree with what was said above. Not sure about CBE but Bangalore a lot of used one going within your budget, if you are ok with KA registered bikes, will email you when something comes up.

[FasterSon]

Yes sir please. I am looking for a KA gaadi.
I am nearing 40. So I am not going to rev it up that hard as I used to But then the refinement in lower and midrange is of great importance to me. Fitness of vehicle is what I am looking at. Do please suggest if anything comes up.
@narula, I am pretty much a noob with the technicalities of the machinery. Hence asking for a informed suggestion from you stalwarts in the section.
Thanks to beautifully crazy spirits like you guys, people like me can babble the bike mechanicals terms like you listed out, but we seldom can use it in practical running of our bikes. Oh, my meticulous wife is all impressed by my bike parts knowledge now!
But I do like riding from the bottom of my heart. I use it to commuting to work to coming across the border to home in mysore, or going to kanchanahalli!
Please suggest

[narula123]

At 35,000 kms, the 650 has had another round of service and this time at Anzen Kawasaki, Mumbai.

She badly needed a change of chain sprocket and I managed to get a killer deal on Amazon.in through their Global store. Paid about 6k for a set of JT sprockets and X-ring chain on a closeout deal. in 6000 bucks, the product reached my doorstep. Talk about hitting luck

Had installed the Denalli Soundbomb mini myself at home and thanks to the bulky size of the horn I ended up with few scratched up fingers and some jugaad. Had to bend the mounting plate down by almost 75 deg to make the horn inclined or else it was hitting everything under the sun including the HID Ballast. It finally is in place and the distinctive Denalli sound means people evaporate the minute I honk. I personally dont like honking but at times the traffic refuses to budge without a nudge.

A new set of EBC Extreme Pros also went in the front and thanks to Race Smith Auto, mumbai for fixing me up with those at a very reasonable price.

She is much smoother expectedly post the service.

Now coming to the latest elephant in the room. The whole service, including change of chain sprocket, came to about 8k. Is this expensive vs the Probiking days of yore? Definitely. But then it is expected now that Kawasaki has moved solo and the dealers need to remain afloat just on the Kawa products. To me personally, it is not a bad price to pay if the work gets done well and in time.