[TheCelestial]

It's D-Day. As I walk towards the showroom, my feet are strangely reluctant. I know why. It's usually around this time that I get yanked back to reality and my SBK dream remains just that, a dream. But this time it's different as I reach the showroom without getting side-swiped by a car or having a coconut break my head open. As I enter through the door, my senses are on the edge. Is it here? In the building? Can I hear it running? I calm my nerves and walk over to the counter and disbelievingly utter, "I am here for my Z800".

Decision Process

I am not going go much into details of my history except that I have wanted to own a proper SBK for quite some time. In recent years, I saw that coming closer and closer to reality. In pursuing this I have always had support from my wife and parents and I am very lucky for that.

I had pinned a lot of hope on Triumph after they had announced their initial round of prices a few years back. However, they turned out to be too good to be true. Alas, the Daytona was way off the price it was initially projected at. I really liked that bike. Kawasaki launched Z800 in early 2014 at a very very tempting price. I decided to check it out but was disappointed as Kawa wasn't offering test rides and also by the fact that the Z800 was available only in black.

Soon, there was news that Triumph was opening a showroom in Pune. So I decided to give their offerings a try - test rode the Street Triple and Daytona. I had heard a lot of good things about the Street Triple, so went in with a lot of expectations. But somehow I wasn't able to connect with the bike. Then I rode the Daytona and I absolutely loved it. I decided that I would stretch my budget a bit and get a Daytona 675 (non-R). When I was for price and finance details, the Triumph officials noted my email and promised to email me the information. I never received an email from them. Also, I found the showroom staff to be particularly standoffish and sometimes outright rude. I finally decided to wait out the coming monsoons, save up and go for a Z800 even though I hadn't test ridden it. This was based on a bit of internet research and some other "sources".

Meanwhile, Kawasaki followed up with me about my interest in the Z800. Although they didn't offer test rides, the staff was quite friendly. I booked a black Z800 at the end of August. After booking, the showroom guys allowed me a test ride. I decided to take a small, slow ride through the compound. I wanted to check the low-speed handling and the weight of the bike. I had no problems whatsoever. I paid down most of the amount but decided to opt for a loan for the remaining amount to keep some liquid cash with myself. My loan was financed by IDBI with an interest rate of 10.5% fixed. The process was fairly quick and I had approval and disbursal in 4-5 days. I was to get the delivery in 10-12 days.

However, as my delivery was about to fall in the inauspicious "Pritu Paksha", my mother asked me to postpone it if possible. I wasn't too keen on it and as we all know that the wait is a torture. However, given all the support from my family, I decided to accede to their request and informed Kawasaki that I want to delay the delivery to 25th September. They agreed and it was all set. The countdown had begun!

Serendipity

The 25th was drawing near. I kept myself busy in my office by watching Z800 ride videos on loop. A week before the delivery, I went to the showroom to submit some paperwork. While I was there, the sales staff asked me if I would want to change my booking from black to green. Without a thought, I replied with an emphatic "Oh God, yes!". I expected this to be followed up by demands for additional payments or extended delivery period. But she just said, "done" and that's it.

I was overjoyed.

Delivery

Finally 25th arrived - the big day. Took the day off from office. All excited, I called up the showroom only to be told that they couldn't deliver on that day. What a bummer! Every additional second was torture and now I had to survive another day. I still decided not to complain as they had been accommodating enough with my colour change. I cancelled my day off and chose to work from home. The next day dawned. To be honest, I was skeptical about getting delivery on that day as well. I called up the showroom and again got a vague answer about delivery. My frustration was growing, but finally after many painful hours I got the call. The bike was here. I gathered my stuff and left immediately.

Showed up at the showroom just as they were unpacking the bikes. It took some time for them to get to my bike. First was a Limited Edition ZX10R in a Lime Green / White livery - looked stonking! Next up was a Z1000 followed by another. I have to say, the Z1000 is quite something. Its easily the best looking bike in the Kawasaki line-up and I am traditionally a fan of faired motorcycles. Just looking at it, I got thoughts already of cheating on my Z800 :-).

Anyway, finally they got to my bike - a 2015 Candy Flat Blazed Green Kawasaki Z800.

After a small pooja, they handed over the keys, manual, papers and a small gift. Unfortunately, there were only 3-4 litres of fuel in the bike's tank. So the first target was finding a good fuel station. I pushed the bike outside the slippery looking floor till I was on the driveway. Thumb the starter and the motor came to life with a beautiful inline-4 hum. As soon as it settled down, I rolled off. The bike felt weird and weavy. Strange, I didn't feel this in the test bike. It was 6:30 PM on a weekday and there was very very heavy traffic. Gingerly I made my way through traffic. This was going to be baptism by fire for the bike. I unreasonably cursed anyone who dared come close to the bike.

Finally, I reached an HP fuel station and tanked up on HP Power. The rest of the ride was a very slow crawl through traffic until I finally reached home. I had made it safely :P

Initial Impression

I didn't have any trouble riding through the traffic. Nor did I face any problem with the clutch. It was smooth and just right. The brakes, however, felt wooden. Perhaps because they were yet to set in. As expected I never faced any knocking on the bike in heavy traffic. I was ensuring that I was always in the right gear, didn't want to lug a new engine even though it is more than capable.

Riding Impression

I had the whole weekend to myself. The plan was to get through as much of the run-in as possible. On Saturday, I rode mostly on highways keeping the bike below 4000 rpm except on occasion. On Sunday, I did a longer ride and also rode over some small broken roads and checked how the bike performed. I had completed ~450 kms (less than I expected to cover over the weekend. :-( )

1. The bike is big and heavy. It earns you a fair amount of respect out on the road. Not once did I get bullied by any car driver. There was one occasion when I was overtaking a vehicle when an Innova kept honking constantly. I was rolling along in 5th, I opened the throttle slightly and there was surge of power and inline-4 music. Within seconds, I had lost the Innova from my RVM.

2. Even after 400 kms on the bike, the brakes haven't improved much. They have great stopping power but the feedback is very poor. I need to see if adjusting the lever improves this in any way.

3. The ride quality over bad roads is very, very good. Relative of course to other big bikes.

4. The seat is hard, but not as hard as the one on RC 390.

5. Love the stock exhaust sound - it's not particularly loud (louder than any normal bike), but it has a very refined sound. Need to see if there is any way to make the stock slightly louder.

6. Seating position is just perfect. No aches whatsoever after riding in all sorts of conditions.

7. The bike, as expected, attracts a LOT of attention. The green colour scheme is just something else. I can't think how I could have booked the black.

8. I havent used RON 97 fuel yet. Just filled up Power once and after that normal fuel. I haven't noticed anything odd with the bike's behaviour.

9. I have gotten an average FE of 21 kmpl. I expect it to go down once the run-in is completed. I would be happy to have a range of 200 km on this bike.

10. The RVMs were fairly useful considering this is a naked bike.

Now for some real pics

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Motorbikes. Thanks for sharing!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Nice. Z800 is quite a looker, and it looks real nice in this green black combo. I was under the impression that it's available only in black. But this looks even better!

[Cyborg]

Congratulations Celestial!

Beautiful bike with a super color scheme. Looks better than the black, any day.
Perhaps you could check with the showroom/service people regarding the feel of your brakes. Hope the issue gets sorted soon.

Do keep updating your thread on living with the mean machine.
All the best and ride safe.

Cheers

[Octane_Power]

I don't feel that the Z800 is any less a looker than the Z1000.. Both bikes are fit for alien sci-fi movies.

Congratulations. More up-close pictures please.

1 more thing. In your case, I understand that you had decided to go for the Z800, and so getting a test ride after paying the booking amount isn't much a problem. But what about those who want to decide to purchase the bike only after getting a test ride? Don't they give test rides simply like that?

-Bhargav

[TheCelestial]

Thanks Guys.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Nice. Z800 is quite a looker, and it looks real nice in this green black combo. I was under the impression that it's available only in black. But this looks even better!

CrazyDriver it was until recently, I got lucky. Looks you missed the colour part in my log

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Congratulations Celestial!

Beautiful bike with a super color scheme. Looks better than the black, any day.
Perhaps you could check with the showroom/service people regarding the feel of your brakes. Hope the issue gets sorted soon.

Do keep updating your thread on living with the mean machine.
All the best and ride safe.

Cheers

Thanks Cyborg. Just came back from a ride. The brakes are improving.

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

I don't feel that the Z800 is any less a looker than the Z1000.. Both bikes are fit for alien sci-fi movies.

Congratulations. More up-close pictures please.

1 more thing. In your case, I understand that you had decided to go for the Z800, and so getting a test ride after paying the booking amount isn't much a problem. But what about those who want to decide to purchase the bike only after getting a test ride? Don't they give test rides simply like that?

-Bhargav

Thanks Octane. Kawasaki Pune organizes events for test rides of these bikes. Your best chance is to be present for those. They had one in Mumbai and in Surat this Monday.

[Fullrevs]

Congratulations Celestial. Great purchase. The bike looks beautiful in that shade. Do keep the thread lively with updates.

[dreamseller]

Congratulations Celestial. Loved the Z800 in this color. Wish you lots and lots of miles together. Please keep this ownership thread updated.

I'd suggest getting an aftermarket windscreen to reduce wind blast at highway speeds.

[bigron]

Congratulations ! Always happy to see a biker get his ride.
I am amazed with the design language of the kawasaki nakeds. Looks futuristic , ample power , enough features and sensibly priced. Rode one some time back and it had a lovely chassis and beautiful power delivery. My only grouse was that it was on the heavier side for a 800 cc naked but a very small price to pay for such a complete package. Ride far , ride safe.

[TheCelestial]

Some more pictures,

Upclose shot as someone had requested



The Z Marque



The Double Zed Tail



Nice looking green pre-load adjusters



Rear suspension spring gets the green treatment as well



Hooks for mounting luggage



Pattern footpegs , should offer good grip in the wet

[abhinav.s]

Congrats on realizing your I-4 dream mate. The bike looks awesome and the last pic in the first post really looks wow with the bike headlight looking Transformer-ish and angry!

Wishing you many many happy miles with the bike and please do post up as many pics as possible and also keep the thread updated with your ride impressions. The green does look awesome on the Z800 given the treatment kawa have chosen with the green and black bits.

[n_aditya]

Mighty congratulations, Ashu.

I'm late to wish you on the forum but nevertheless, wishing you many happy and safe years with the Z.

I love this shade of green-black combo anyday over the all black version.

I haven't ridden the Z but surprised to read that the brakes lack feedback. Did you get the service staff to take a look?

Best wishes again and ride safe

[TheCelestial]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Mighty congratulations, Ashu.

I'm late to wish you on the forum but nevertheless, wishing you many happy and safe years with the Z.

I love this shade of green-black combo anyday over the all black version.

I haven't ridden the Z but surprised to read that the brakes lack feedback. Did you get the service staff to take a look?

Best wishes again and ride safe

Thanks Adi. You already wished on FB so you are forgiven
W.r.t The brakes, I feel they improved a bit but I will wait till the first service and see how it goes. If they dont improve enough, I will bring it up with the service folks.

[shifu]

Congratulations!! The bike looks stunning. Wishing you happy miles...

Can you please share the OTR cost and the break up?

[TheCelestial]

Originally Posted by shifu

Congratulations!! The bike looks stunning. Wishing you happy miles...

Can you please share the OTR cost and the break up?

Thanks Shifu here is the break up :

Z800 ABS : Rs. 790000 (702222 + 12.5% VAT)
Insurance : Rs. 23640
Smart Card : Rs. 444
Hypothecation Charges : Rs. 100
Handling Charges : Rs. 10000
I.M.V : Rs. 110
Registration Charge : Rs. 55300
--------------------------------------------------------------
Total OTR : Rs. 879594