[Vignesh_N/A]

Brilliant review. As Amit_breakfree mentioned, you managed to teleport us to a track ride.

Originally Posted by narula123

P.S - dreams never get done. They only get upgraded. I say this since I met a particular lady called the Ninja H2

Now that's a dope way to end a review. Awaiting the sequel.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Vignesh_N/A

Now that's a dope way to end a review. Awaiting the sequel.

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

P. S. Loved the ending to the review. Can't wait to see a certain H2 in your garage next

Thanks guys. if only Gandhiji wasnt so elusive and the prices for these babies in India wasnt so ridiculous, the sequel would have been sooner. As of now dont think Shredder will get any new siblings for atleast half a decade. The tin-can and the 650 are lined up for an upgrade next on the cards.

[Sachin_Nair]

Tasty mods LEGEND! I read in few online reviews that the bike is gutless below 7K rpm and loosing one tooth in the front sprocket irons out the low and mid range issue considerably.

Which exhaust have you decided to go for?

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Sachin_Nair

Tasty mods LEGEND! I read in few online reviews that the bike is gutless below 7K rpm and loosing one tooth in the front sprocket irons out the low and mid range issue considerably.

Which exhaust have you decided to go for?

It is quite a baby below 6k rpm. I plan to do the sprocket mod soon.

Exhausts are expensive these days man. Specially for this class. And you need to back it up with a Woolich kit etc to get some extraction out of it. Overall about $1500-$2000 worth of kit. No mood to splurge that much at least in this year. But when I do I would prefer to get the Akra for it.

[djay99]

Many Congratulations Varun bhai for a lovely ZX10R. Amazing review and loved reading it.

I remember your short review of riding a ZX10R some time last year and you were praising its capabilities. 2016 is in a different league altogether and looks to be VFM when compared to its peers.

Is it easy to ride in Bangalore traffic? I guess you take out Pulsar or N650 for city rides but I was curios to know how is 200+ bhp bike to ride in congested city traffic

[narula123]

Originally Posted by djay99

Many Congratulations Varun bhai for a lovely ZX10R. Amazing review and loved reading it.
I was curios to know how is 200+ bhp bike to ride in congested city traffic

Thanks djay. I hardly take her out in the city unless I am going to the service station or for an airport ride. She is quite easy to manage in the city. Put her into L power mode and shes even easier. Only issue is that in bumper-to-bumper peak hour traffic she starts to get hotter which is not a very comfortable situation. So far though despite traffic she has never ventured close to her temperature cutoff limits.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by narula123

They say its important to dream, it gives you a goal, an ambition in life to chase.


My honest advice - dont buy a litre supersport unless you know what you are doing on two wheels. After years of riding at the track, I still got my jollies in a bunch on the first hot lap i did on her.

The suspension is the WSBK spec Showa Balance Free Forks. They are the dope. Pure dope. Its the best suspension on any production bike hands down. Dont believe me? Youtube some reviews. and trust me they arent BSing you.
She is more comfortable over broken roads than my 650.
Is she perfect? I would have wanted the brakes to be even sharper

P.S - dreams never get done. They only get upgraded. I say this since I met a particular lady called the Ninja H2

Whoa, whoa, that's a big ticket Varun, awesome acquisition - many congratulations. You're still in possession of that ancient 220 ? I thought I was the only one.

I dare say, that guy on the RC390 following you in the 2nd picture - that helmet suits your suit and bike colors way better.

Why the warning about literbikes ? I'm still gonna ride a litrebike like a cruiser most of the time, like I do with the 675. Not that I need more power, but heck I do want more.

Coming to technicalities, how do the latest KYB/Showa suspension fare compared to the Swedes, if you have ridden any of the Ohlins-suspended bikes, especially of another tri-color flag country of origin long and hard enough to form an opinion ? Asking because for the longest time, Japanese suspension makers have been regarded second-rung, mass market items, while the Euro brands regarded as exotic, closest to perfection at NASA parts prices, and if it worth paying through our noses.

I find separate function forks to be odd (compression damping adjustment on one leg, rebound damping on the other leg). It's not like the other leg doesn't do any compression/rebound damping, is it ?

Brakes, brakes - don't we always find them lacking no matter how much better they get ? I blame Newton - the laws of physics are a hard nut. Even what feels like "wow, did it really decelerate that quickly" , then when you're done braking, you're still doing well into double digit speeds - in metres per second - still too high for comfort. I don't see magazines do brake tests often, but 100-0 in about 30-35m/102-118ft is the range where it's been stuck at for over a decade at least.

Practical aspects of the Ninja ? How are the vibration levels across revs, how good are the lights and mirrors ?

Good luck assembling the Ninja army. If the 650 is the sergeant, and the 10R is the colonel, can we call the H2 general (insanity!) ? Out of smilies here, heh.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Why the warning about literbikes ? I'm still gonna ride a litrebike like a cruiser most of the time, like I do with the 675. Not that I need more power, but heck I do want more.

Coming to technicalities, how do the latest KYB/Showa suspension fare compared to the Swedes, if you have ridden any of the Ohlins-suspended bikes, especially of another tri-color flag country of origin long and hard enough to form an opinion ? Asking because for the longest time, Japanese suspension makers have been regarded second-rung, mass market items, while the Euro brands regarded as exotic, closest to perfection at NASA parts prices, and if it worth paying through our noses.

I find separate function forks to be odd (compression damping adjustment on one leg, rebound damping on the other leg). It's not like the other leg doesn't do any compression/rebound damping, is it ?

Practical aspects of the Ninja ? How are the vibration levels across revs, how good are the lights and mirrors ?

Good luck assembling the Ninja army. If the 650 is the sergeant, and the 10R is the colonel, can we call the H2 general (insanity!) ? Out of smilies here, heh.

Thanks mate. The 220 still runs strong albeit with a new piston, rod and gearbox. She is a little long in the tooth but perfect for the city and can still lift her skirt and run when teased by the new orange kids on the block.

The Balance Free forks on this are a work of art Ricci. They dont operate like the staple seperate function forks. On these each fork has an external gas canister which modulates the damping basis the type of input being fed to the forks. Which basically means that it is intelligent enough to differentiate between the movements due to a pothole / speed hump vs a 50 degree lean and modulate the damping accordingly in real time. Thats actually pretty close to the logic on which RICOR made its Intiminators which transformed the way my 650 handles. I have ridden the tricolor Beauties with Ohlins at the track and from a completely neutral and an average skill-level rider's point of view, the BFF Showa are a league ahead of the Ohlins. They are that bloody good.I would still wish for an Ohlins TTX for the rear though if I was racing competitively.

Engine is butter smooth across the range but has a lot of soul in the second half. Lights are ok and mirrors are fantastic with a very good field of view and absolutely no vibes no matter how high your speeds. She is practical and comfortable enough to putter around town on if only one wasnt scared of the poor thing getting mobbed in public parking.

I am ok with someone buying a litre bike and riding like a cruiser, my warning was for those who move up from the sub 600s onto a monster like this and immediately try thrashing her around like you would an RC or a Duke. If you misbehave, she will spit you off despite all the electronics. So a complete no no for the kids who want to jump up from their quarter litres without the required skill or experience.

[CoolBlueBiker]

Congrats Narula !! More power to the Ninja clan

I test rode this bike at my local dealership and this thing is a beast with more torque all throughout the rev range. Shredder sounds just right, given the character of the bike. KRT paint scheme looks cool as well.

Ride safe mate !

[niranjanrvce]

Congrats Narula on the beast! The electronics package on this machine is mind boggling. I had the opportunity to tail a '16 10R for two days over gravely roads and heavy rain in the ghats and the bike stuck like glue to the road even on Battlaxs'. My rear was all over the place in those conditions and my amazement for this machine went up many notches.
Enjoy the ride and ride safe!

[narula123]

Originally Posted by CoolBlueBiker

Congrats Narula !! More power to the Ninja clan
I test rode this bike at my local dealership and this thing is a beast with more torque all throughout the rev range.

Thanks. Your 6R looks yummy too.

Originally Posted by niranjanrvce

Congrats Narula on the beast! The electronics package on this machine is mind boggling. I had the opportunity to tail a '16 10R for two days over gravely roads and heavy rain in the ghats and the bike stuck like glue to the road even on Battlaxs'. My rear was all over the place in those conditions and my amazement for this machine went up many notches.
Enjoy the ride and ride safe!

Thank you. I rode the bike twice on the highway in the monsoons and was scared to bits thinking about the almost-slick Bridgestones on wet roads but the bike dint bat an eyelid. Infact over the 200 km journey not once did the TC kick in. I have run through the stock RS10s now thanks to two track outings and am running Metz M7s for the road presently

[quickdraw]

Congratulations on getting your dream, the 10R has always been the crazy out of the lot. I remember my 2005 10R used to go well over 170 in first gear but it was extremely prone to slappers and was quite a handful to ride. 10 years down the line I'm not sure if I would even be able to handle a bike like that.

Really happy to see you hitting the track. After all, she was made to dominate over there. I think loads of riders in India put too much weight on their wrists when you should actually be holding the tank with your knees, I had the chance to ride the previous generation at a test ride event by Kawasaki and it made my Street Triple feel like a moped on the ride back home.

Ride safe and hope to see you get her to BIC one day.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by narula123

I am ok with someone buying a litre bike and riding like a cruiser, my warning was for those who move up from the sub 600s onto a monster like this and immediately try thrashing her around like you would an RC or a Duke

That much is true even of the 600s, whack open throttle carelessly in the wrong gear/RPM combo is asking for trouble. The 1000s will just get you in serious trouble faster.

My doubt was more like, for someone used to mid-to-large displacement bikes, with some 600 class experience, thus not one to simply go WOT right after hopping on, in 1st gear, esp on cold tyres , are there instances like say broken tarmac or wet roads , where even non-noob riders with adequate throttle control, can be taken by surprise where a 600 wouldn't lose it?

Originally Posted by quickdraw

I remember my 2005 10R used to go well over 170 in first gear but it was extremely prone to slappers and was quite a handful to ride. 10 years down the line I'm not sure if I would even be able to handle a bike like that.

Sweet, I hardly see any early-mid 2000s litre bikes around. Which color did you have, I loved the bright orange and the blue. I might be mistaken, but the ZX-10R always had a steering damper as OE, so was it is still a wild(er) ride than one would hope for ? That first gen 10R was also the one with rim crack/breakage issues - trying to go lightweight everywhere.

[narula123]

Originally Posted by Ricci

My doubt was more like, for someone used to mid-to-large displacement bikes, with some 600 class experience, thus not one to simply go WOT right after hopping on, in 1st gear, esp on cold tyres , are there instances like say broken tarmac or wet roads , where even non-noob riders with adequate throttle control, can be taken by surprise where a 600 wouldn't lose it?

I might be mistaken, but the ZX-10R always had a steering damper as OE, so was it is still a wild(er) ride than one would hope for ? That first gen 10R was also the one with rim crack/breakage issues - trying to go lightweight everywhere.

Yes. With the electronics on low intervention settings, the bike is menacing enough to spit an experienced chap off too. Sagar (Powerdrift fame) got thrown off his seat onto the tank thrice on the road test bike with the TC at level 1 and stock tyres at BIC. Which is why he took it a bit easy on my bike at MMSC on a lap(bugger still almost scraped elbows). 210bhp does deserve respect. Keep the electronics dialled in adequtely as per your conditions and you will not ever feel her flinch.

I dont think the Gen1 and Gen2 10Rs came with a steering dampner as standard. I may be wrong

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Congratulations on getting your dream, the 10R has always been the crazy out of the lot. I remember my 2005 10R used to go well over 170 in first gear but it was extremely prone to slappers and was quite a handful to ride.

Really happy to see you hitting the track. After all, she was made to dominate over there. I think loads of riders in India put too much weight on their wrists when you should actually be holding the tank with your knees

Thank you. The main purpose of getting the bike was mainly track riding. I think everyone who rides a big bike must go for a riding school to get their basics right. atleast an L1. Maybe it should become mandatory to get a license to ride a big bike the way it is in a lot of other countries.

a 2007 would be a Gen2 if my guess is correct. A more docile beast than the Gen1 which was nicknamed the Widow Maker infamously. With time the Ninjas have become a lot more tame but they still have an evil streak when compared to a saint like a CBR.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Sweet, I hardly see any early-mid 2000s litre bikes around. Which color did you have, I loved the bright orange and the blue. I might be mistaken, but the ZX-10R always had a steering damper as OE, so was it is still a wild(er) ride than one would hope for ? That first gen 10R was also the one with rim crack/breakage issues - trying to go lightweight everywhere.

2005 ZX-10R in Titanium

The 2005 edition didn't have a damper, I sold this bike to a friend who put one on it. This is the only picture I could find. It was a very very special bike and my friend still uses it frequently on the track. We did have rearsets break but no issues with rims. The bike has seen some serious milage too.

Originally Posted by narula123

I dont think the Gen1 and Gen2 10Rs came with a steering dampner as standard. I may be wrong

Thank you. The main purpose of getting the bike was mainly track riding. I think everyone who rides a big bike must go for a riding school to get their basics right. atleast an L1. Maybe it should become mandatory to get a license to ride a big bike the way it is in a lot of other countries.

a 2007 would be a Gen2 if my guess is correct. A more docile beast than the Gen1 which was nicknamed the Widow Maker infamously. With time the Ninjas have become a lot more tame but they still have an evil streak when compared to a saint like a CBR.

I had a 05 not 07, It didn't have a damper for sure. We had to put a rotary one on there because it was more or less unrideable on the road. Post that I rode a 600RR and was very happy with it for a long time because I was able to use most of the power, unlike the 10R which was quite a handful to ride. I was lucky enough to own the 05 GSXR 1K and 10R, they don't make bikes like that anymore. The 10R is closest to the good old days, the GSXR lost its magic 07 onwards.

I completely agree with what you say here, most people just know to twist the throttle and never even have used even 50% of the braking power that litre bikes have. Manufacturers should make a brief riding school mandatory for these things I'm quite sure it will save a lot of lives.