How is the Bonnie to ride after being with the Ninja for close to six years, you may ask.
Well, first off, it took me a while to get used to the weight of the bike. 225 kilo's on the bonnie as opposed to 172 kilo's of the Ninja.
The Ninja is light, extremely agile and flickable while the Bonnie feels heavy unless it's on the move. Try moving the bike using only your feet and she will barely budge. I had to get off the seat and grab the rear grab rail with one hand and the handlebar with the other to move her around (or out of a parking spot). Once she gets on the move, she is a breeze to ride. Oodles of power on tap and one twist of the throttle launches the bike into the horizon. The power delivery although linear is not very smooth in the lower power band as the bike tends to jerk and feels like it is going to stall at low speeds in the thick of traffic. You'll have to revv a bit to get moving while in crawling traffic. But on the go, the bonnie is so easy to ride and all the weight issues just disappear. Quite easy to move around if the roads are clear. I feel a tad uneasy when surrounded with other people in traffic, so it's just a matter of time getting used to the bike.
When I collected the Ninja last weekend after the impending repairs were complete, the first thing that struck me when I sat on the bike was, i
t's so small and it feels like a toy. The bike also felt slow and powerless and I was like can we
get moving a little faster?
On the open roads however, the Bonnie is a mile muncher. Right from 40 kph all the way to triple digits, she accelerates in top gear effortlessly and urgently like a rocket. I do miss the 6th gear as I am constantly searching for one more gear to shift up to.
The ride quality however is nothing short of luxurious as the suspension is on the softer side at the rear and slightly stiff on the front. The King and Queen seat adds to the plush ride. Handling is a breeze and she takes corners with ease and inspires confidence. I have ridden only around 500 odd kms so far and feel that this is the bike anyone can ride all day long without breaking a sweat. The switchgear quality is good, alloy wheels look fab and the mirrors surprisingly offer very good rear view. The headlight seems to be inadequate for riding after dark and the horn is feeble but the TOR pipes make up for the latter's lack of performance.
The headlights are DRL and light up when the ignition key is turned on (even without the engine running). The bike itself is very understated which is a blessing. No one cares about the bike in a public place and the only time they notice it is when the engine comes to life. I love the understated retro look and frankly wanted something like this since the Ninja used to scream for attention and I used to worry about people manhandling the bike when it was parked.
The heat even in peak traffic is very bearable. I rode my friend's scrambler in traffic and wanted to jump off the seat as it was cooking my thighs but the heat from the bonnie is significantly lower when compared with the Scrambler. This despite 865 cc's and being air cooled.
The tank capacity is 16 liters (The ninja is 17 liters) with around 4.5 liters being the reserve capacity. The low fuel warning lamp comes on at this point and I noticed the tank range is limited to around 250 kms on a tankful @ 20kmpl which the bike delivered on my last ride. The Ninja however delivers around 350 kms on a full tank of 17 liters (4 liters being reserve capacity) @ 27 kmpl which I consistently have been getting.
The Bonnie is shod with Metzellers and it offers excellent grip. Life of the rear tire is around 10k kms based on what I have heard.
The brakes are super sharp and coming from the Ninja they are equally good, if not better. The bite and feedback is excellent. However the clutch is super heavy and riding in traffic is painful for the left forearm so much that it feels like a workout. The handle grips could have been softer as my palms hurt after a morning's worth of riding but I guess it will take time to get used to. The Ninja has softer rubber on the handle grips despite having an aggressive riding stance. The levers on the bonnie look fab with brushed aluminium finish but they have angled edges which hurt my fingers. All in the process of getting used to a different bike.
The engine is smooth as butter, refined and offers almost negligible braking compared to the Ninja. On the ninja, roll off the gas and she slows down due to ample engine braking. However, on the Bonnie, she just keeps going and going and going and slows down very gently. You'll have to use the brakes to slow down faster or roll off much earlier.
Pillion comfort is excellent, so much that my wife dozed off for a few mins on our return leg from Mysore last weekend.
I'm planning on a few accessories such as the pillion back rest, crash bars or engine protectors from SWMototech or Renntec, headlight protection (metal grill) to avoid any damage from stone hits, LED aux lights, etc. I'll try sourcing some of these from USA soon. The crash bars and back rest will be bought and installed locally.
Overall, happy with the purchase and can't wait for the weekend to take her out for a spin.