[hifisharu]

Congratulations on the ride, it was a nice ride we had to the airport. I wish you many happy miles and smiles ahead. It'a a very capable tourer, the Ninja 650 and I hope we'll be riding many highway miles soon. Like most have suggested, maybe the brake upgrade ( pads + braided hoses ) is something you should look at, as that is one area where Kawasaki seem to have skimped on

[goandude]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

I went into neutral. Lost momentum and since it was a right-hander, the bike leaned to the right. I couldn't control the weight, but had just enough time to get off and control the fall.

Something similar happened to me.
On one of my first rides with a pillion, again to Nandi hills, near the parking lot, my left leg slipped on gravel and I had to use herculean effort to not let the bike fall. Here it was that the full weight of the bike came on my left shoulder and it remained sore for a month thereafter.
Now I realize that the weight of the bike becomes crucial at low speed/ stopped. So one has to chose your place for stopping the bike carefully: looking out for gravel, sloping ground, soft ground, etc
Enjoy your beauty.
BTW I adjust the rear shock to 5 when with pillion and 3 when riding solo. This prevents the speed breaker kisses to a large extent.

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Congratulations on the ride, it was a nice ride we had to the airport. I wish you many happy miles and smiles ahead. It'a a very capable tourer, the Ninja 650 and I hope we'll be riding many highway miles soon.

thanks Sharath. fun it was to ride to the airport at night, disappointed that the video didn't come out as good as i expected. look forward to riding with you soon.

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Like most have suggested, maybe the brake upgrade ( pads + braided hoses ) is something you should look at, as that is one area where Kawasaki seem to have skimped on

this is now officially on my bucket list.

Originally Posted by goandude

Something similar happened to me.
On one of my first rides with a pillion, again to Nandi hills, near the parking lot, my left leg slipped on gravel and I had to use herculean effort to not let the bike fall. Here it was that the full weight of the bike came on my left shoulder and it remained sore for a month thereafter.
Now I realize that the weight of the bike becomes crucial at low speed/ stopped. So one has to chose your place for stopping the bike carefully: looking out for gravel, sloping ground, soft ground, etc

yes, this is very important folks. also, you should be aware of your surroundings.

couple of weeks back when i was heading to a track event organised by Kawasaki India, 6K Isle of Man and APEX Racing (will write about it in a different thread), i almost had a harrowing incident. while taking a u-turn near e-Zone (go-karting track), a taxi cut me off and i had to put my feet down. unfortunately the spot where i kept my feet was lower than the road surface (one of 'em swimming pools that we get to see regularly on Bangalore roads) and the bike leaned to the right! since i was close to the divider, my leg was stuck between the bike and the divider and the whole weight of the bike was on my right calf and the only reason it didn't break my ankle was the SIDI Cobra i was wearing; the firm construction of the boot didn't allow my leg to bend further and partially took the weight of the bike, thus preventing my ankle from being crushed.

with the bike resting on my right leg, i couldn't move. a passing biker, read good samaritan, saw me in distress, stopped and lifted the bike off my leg. i profusely thanked him and he went on his way. for the next two weeks i had a slight limp on right leg.

keep in mind that weight of a SBK comes into play at slow speeds and when manoeuvring the bike around. if you don't watch it, you might have an accident.

Originally Posted by goandude

BTW I adjust the rear shock to 5 when with pillion and 3 when riding solo. This prevents the speed breaker kisses to a large extent.

i leave the setting at stock since i ride solo 99% of the time.

Originally Posted by Shanenanigans

Congratulations on your new ride Anil. Hoping to ride with you soon!

dude, we just rode last Saturday. yes yes, we'll ride again this Sunday

Originally Posted by PISTONS

Congratulations on our new acquisition. Indeed a very good choice. Is there any specific reason why you have not considered the Z800 from the similar manufacturer?

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Congratulations Anil, great choice of bike. Any reason why you didnt look at the street triple or as pistons said, the z800? No craze for the inline 4 ?

thanks guys.

simply put - practicality. the Z800 is a an awesome bike with the vroom vroom sound, but it's an inline four, which means higher octane fuel. i know that the showroom folks would tell you it can run on 91 octane too, but experts say that running on low octane fuel or using octane boosters in the long run causes damage to the engine. i wanted the bike i buy to be with me for a long long time, being my first SBK and all.

another reason was the budget; the Z800 comes close to 9L on the road, that's a good 2.7L more than the Ninja 650! i wasn't considering the Triumph Street Tripple; for some reason i was stuck on Kawasaki - i just had to get a Ninja

Originally Posted by shubhamAT

Congratulations on your purchase. Any idea how much does insurance for these cost in Bangalore ? Do watch out the brakes, they tend to loose their bite pretty fast. They are not bad but not good either (for me atleast). 2 UP and they really under perform.

Coincidentally '14 Ninja 650's registration plate has the same last 3 digits as yours.

thanks Shubham.

what the showroom was offering was comprehensive insurance from ICICI Lombard. however, i asked them to upgrade to bumper-to-bumper zero depreciation cover. the former came to about 11k while the latter was 14k change.

[Added_flavor]

I remember reading your rant on a particular meet/ride/drive thread and thinking 'Oh the H4WK's on the 2-wheeled side of the jungle now', until the Yercaud ride where we met and rode as a group.

Congratulations once again on probably one of the most underrated SBKs. It's a silent torque monster and hence a perfect tourer!

I haven't ridden the 650 extensively, but in a few hundred km of borrowed rides, I felt the brakes, although a little spongy, will do their job for sane street riding. Maybe you can ride another 650 with the upgraded lines and fluids and decide yourself. All the best!

[Shanenanigans]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

dude, we just rode last Saturday. yes yes, we'll ride again this Sunday

Oh did we now? I could hardly notice over all the dirt/gravel tracks that we did. Not to mention, the market run.

[Snehal Sekhar]

At long last you got down to penning down your ownership thread. That's a good review and write up there bud! As everyone keeps saying, a nice choice of wheels and a capable mile muncher and tourer. Congratulations and catch up with you on the next ride bro.

[shan_ned]

A very good review thread

You have captured every moment of your ownership experience and emotions right from the day you booked your N650. Congrats !!!

In my personal experience of owning Ninja 650, I don't see any problem with it per se, but of a different kind - Every time I start the bike, people come close to see and hear how it sounds and I start feeling sorry for giving them a big disappointment. I hope you remember what happened at Preeti canteen (on the way to Chikka magalur) when a group of curious onlookers just waited for us to start the bike. I do also remember your brave attempt in getting them not so disappointed

[n_aditya]

Enjoyed reading your experience, Anil. Nothing like owning a bike that pulls your heart strings. Your passion and excitement took me back to the day when I took delivery of my Ninja.

Glad you're enjoying every moment of it. It sure is a comfortable mile muncher and can cruise long distances all day.

I almost bought one myself but moving from a parallel twin to another parallel twin did not make much sense to me (not discounting the excellent rideability of the bike). I am still looking for a worthy replacement for the baby ninja and the only one that comes close is the Daytona. Sadly it comes at an astronomical price.

Congrats again and all the very best. Wishing you many happy and safe rides on this one.

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

A very good review thread

You have captured every moment of your ownership experience and emotions right from the day you booked your N650. Congrats !!!

In my personal experience of owning Ninja 650, I don't see any problem with it per se, but of a different kind - Every time I start the bike, people come close to see and hear how it sounds and I start feeling sorry for giving them a big disappointment. I hope you remember what happened at Preeti canteen (on the way to Chikka magalur) when a group of curious onlookers just waited for us to start the bike. I do also remember your brave attempt in getting them not so disappointed

thanks Nedu!

yeah, that Preeti Canteen incident - the anticipation in their eyes.. had to do something about it and thus rev the engine to 7k rpm. they were very pleased

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Enjoyed reading your experience, Anil. Nothing like owning a bike that pulls your heart strings. Your passion and excitement took me back to the day when I took delivery of my Ninja.

thanks Adi. i was inspired by your ownership review to write mine

[SnS_12]

Congratulations Anil on your first SBK, which was also my first SBK and the first four stroke in my garage.

One of the things that I learnt the hardway was never to pressure wash an SBK unless you're doing it yourself and you avoid the electronics. Once, while I was waiting at the signal the bike suddenly died on me. With great difficulty I some how managed to start the bike again. It happened a couple of times and once after parking the bike for sometime it just refused to start. Had to push it to a friend's garage which was a few kms away and boy was that a task. That's when you feel the bikes weight and imagine if i had a flat tyre no way you could even move it an inch. Later all the electronic sockets had to be opened and sprayed with WD40 and the bike was normal again. So its better to wash the bike yourself and ride it after every wash to make sure there is no water collected anywhere which would lead to rusting in the long run.

Secondly, it would be a good idea to change to a K&N filter as the stock filter would need to be replaced post the second service and specially due to the dusty conditions in Mumbai. Plus I believe a new filter costs around 1500?

On the brakes as everyone said an upgrade is a must and you would then realise how much more potential the bike would have by braking in a little late into corners and plus your confidence with the bike will build up too. I hated the brakes and never upgraded as I never intented on keeping the bike for long and sold it after 18 months.

Wishing you many happy miles and ride safe!

[mashmash]

Brilliant writeup man. Congratulations on the purchase. She looks fantastic. What have you christened her? BTW, I dont see Hawk Eyes on this one?

Let me know if you are riding to office on a Monday, will pay office a visit to see your ride (I do the watchman shift).

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Congratulations Anil on your first SBK, which was also my first SBK and the first four stroke in my garage.

Wishing you many happy miles and ride safe!

thanks mate. i will take your points under advisement

Originally Posted by mashmash

Brilliant writeup man. Congratulations on the purchase. She looks fantastic. What have you christened her? BTW, I dont see Hawk Eyes on this one?

thanks Shobhit. not christened her yet, still debating.

no hawkeye on this one, rather hawk's eyes

Originally Posted by mashmash

Let me know if you are riding to office on a Monday, will pay office a visit to see your ride (I do the watchman shift).

will be riding this weekend (again). if i manage to wash the bike, i'll bring her on Monday. else it will be Tuesday.

[IronH4WK]

R&G Frame Slider installation:

so, on Apr 30th i head out to KTM service centre in Marathahalli for getting the frame sliders installed. spoke the the branch in-charge and made sure that Michael would be there at 9am for installing the sliders (had to get to office post that).





the contents of the box:



took the Ninja down to the service floor and work starts. the pictures do all the talking, so i'll just zip it for now.










































Michael's got a spanner for a bracelet!


there were panel gaps when the faring was put back, but was fixed before final sign off.






ta da!

[his-xc-lnc]

What a fantastic write up. It has generated those hidden biker spirit in me. I too plan to purchase one next year. Till then I will keep myself motivated by reading your inputs. Cheers!

[mashmash]

Originally Posted by IronH4WK

R&G Frame Slider installation:

so, on Apr 30th i head out to KTM service centre in Marathahalli for getting the frame sliders installed.

Superb. Its great you got them right at the start before trying to learn the hard way. BTW, I like the spanner bracelet the guy is wearing.