[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Great write up Karthik. Frankly speaking i haven't gone through the entire post yet. Completed half of it and marked it for further reading. As mentioned by Neil, this would become a ready reckoner and sales pitch for the bike in comparison to not so great reviews about service by Kawasaki. I really liked the accessories list you added to the bike, bare required for any sport tourer and not too much of addition.

Thanks a lot Santosh, Yes I tried to keep cosmetics to a bare minimum and now that the functional accessories are all in place, it is time to spend future money on trips than on fitments

Originally Posted by alphadog

Wow!, That was one superb piece of review. Easily one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive reviews I have read here on the forum. I guess it just reflects a methodical, patient mind and how much you must love your ride.

I did eye the N1000 when I went in to get my Z900, I was in two minds whether to go for the former. But I held back, as I wanted my other bike to be an Adv-tourer and did not want to increase my budget spend on the 1st bike. Hence, chose the Z. But, if I had gone for the N1000, it would surely have been in the black. I just hate the Kawasaki green colour with a vengeance. The black looks so sleek, menacing and shall I say does justice to the name, Ninja.

Also, what I liked is that you seem to have spent well on the accessories and good quality riding gears too and did not scrimp on that. It also helps to have the better half who is also enthusiastic on touring on the bike. That is a rare thing indeed. My mission now is to get my missus to do the same once this pandemic passes and your review and pictures will be one in my armamentarium to persuade her.

Wishing you many more miles of happy touring and rides on your beautiful machine.

Cheerio!

Thanks a lot for your kind words alphadog, glad you liked the review.

You have an enviable pair of beauties yourself. One for solo fun and another for the adventure trails, and good decision in going for the Z rather than the N1k since you used that money for another Adv-tourer.

[shaikhmimran]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Looking at something like the KTM 390 Adventure?

A small ADV will be a good starting point for the ADV love affair. BMW 310GS is also rumoured to be launching in it's BS6 avatar with a revised price tag soon.

I couldn't agree more. Considering his past experience with KTM, a 310 GS would be a wonderful way for Karthik to get into adventure biking.

[KarthikK]

Decided to update this thread with a small piece of news - the Ninja's smallest garage-mate, the retired workhorse HH Karizma R is on its way out of the garage.

Considering the resale value is anyway pathetic now, one part of me felt I could retain it as a collectible, but the practical side of me felt even that wasn't worth it. Although it had served me well, it did not find a solid purpose anymore to justify the increased maintenance costs (It is in its 11th year) and space occupancy to continue holding on. I don't want to just park something there for the sole reason that it once served me well, and then keep fixing age-related niggles which are like a blackhole. I've blown up quite a bit of money on resurrecting it and keeping it in ship shape during my ownership, and I'm glad it ran well till the last day it was in my garage.

It has been 4 years and 40,000 km of owning this humble machine, and I've had the pleasure of being able to use this bike to the fullest of its (and my) abilities. This bike was a true jack-of-all trades and took on everything passed its way reasonably well - excelled as a daily urban commuter and beater, performed well as a 2-up roadtripper on highways (albeit slowly) and we've even done some rugged trips to remote areas, etc where (my) other bikes would not have made it.

Riding into the sunset - thanks for all the memories and for re-igniting that biker spark in me!



Anti-climax twist to the tale: There is a mystery entrant which has taken the Karizma's place though, and joined the Ninja 1000 and the Interceptor 650 at position 3 in the bike garage. What bike could it be?



The clue lies somewhere in the passage above.
Until my next update, ciao!

[bf1983]

Honda CB Twister ? :P

The bike looks huge so I am probably wrong but in a garage with a Ninja 1000 and a Interceptor 650 I can see where a city commuter like the CB Twister can find a place in such a garage.

[Avinash_R]

390 adventure?

Looking at the height and all, it looks like the 390 adventure..that would be one hell of a garage if it's indeed the adventure. One for regular cruising, one for off road and another for that speed rush/ track days.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by bf1983

Honda CB Twister ? :P

The bike looks huge so I am probably wrong but in a garage with a Ninja 1000 and a Interceptor 650 I can see where a city commuter like the CB Twister can find a place in such a garage.

That Ninja 1000 is getting a complex w.r.t size. Surely an ADV under the covers.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

What bike could it be?

Knowing your past bikes, my bet would be on a Xpulse 200. Perfect beater for our road conditions, great for those off road trails and remote places.

[bf1983]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That Ninja 1000 is getting a complex w.r.t size. Surely an ADV under the covers.

Lol yeah definitely an ADV. I guess I took the Twist remark literally ! :P

He did mention a line that probably says its definitely an ADV -

"... we've even done some rugged trips to remote areas, etc where (my) other bikes would not have made it."

[KarthikK]

Here's an update on something I added on the Ninja which is quite handy for touring and even in general to keep a tab on. Tyre pressure is something we frequently worry about and feel the need to monitor - more so in the case of performance vehicles where the smallest difference in tyre pressure if ignored can lead to other issues. How about if we always had some real time interface to check the tyre pressure on the bike without having to use an inflator machine or buy a separate gauge to press and check every time?

Exactly what this accessory tries to address. I found this product called SensAiry TPMS (external sensors version) which tethers on to the tyre valve pin screw threads similar to your regular filler caps but keeps sending information via Bluetooth to the app on the phone where you can see all the TPMS data and also some historical statistics, etc. The app is pretty nifty and even sends you notifications if the pressure drops below a certain threshold value or if the temperature is too high. Pretty handy for touring to detect any anomalies and take quick corrective action.

Do note, there is already a review for SensAiry internal TPMS sensors (mounted inside the tyres) here (SensAiry : An app-based TPMS), but that is not the version I am reviewing here. These are external ones which can directly latch on to the valve pins and don't need dismantling of the tyre and alloy wheel rim. Added advantage - the battery is replaceable and removable easily and so is the sensor itself. Disadvantage - prone to extra attention and some persistent thieves who might try to wrench out the sensors! The app will trigger a notification for that too, by the way (when the pressure suddenly drops after dismantling)!

This is the two wheeler version with 2 sensors



I couldn't help but chuckle at this obvious mistake printed on the side of the box - the two-sensor version should have 'two' of everything, not four! It does indeed contain only two, but the printing seems to have missed the eyes of the package designers.



The two wheeler version costs around 2800 INR and the app integration is quite seamless



Opening the box revealed this - two sensors, two coin cells, two anti-theft nuts and a wrench for the anti-theft nuts, along with two spare washers in case the ones in the sensors wear out over time. Also supplied is a quick setup QR code which helps to register these particular sensors on the installed app on the phone (app prompts for this QR code during first launch after logging in)



Spare set of washers for the sensors to be used after ageing of the supplied set



Dismantling everything



Meanwhile I downloaded the SensAiry app on the iOS app store and logged in. It prompted me to scan the QR code on the supplied leaflet to register the two sensors for me. It auto-setup the profile, calling my vehicle as 'My Bike', and registered the sensors with one for front tyre and another for the rear. Notice the unique IDs for the sensors - these are also printed on the individual sensors. The sensors can also be manually registered if need be.



I tried to rename the bike and found out - there is a 13 character limit to the bike name ! All you ocd enthusiasts who try to store the full name - sorry you have to make do with just nicknames for now



And so I named it 'Ninja 1000'. You can setup other profiles for other vehicles and each of those will have their own set of sensors obviously, all being kept track of vehicle-wise.



With that name bit cleared, now the dashboard for the Ninja 1000 looks like this. Hey wait - we didn't power up the sensors yet, so let's go ahead and do that next.



Adding the Maxell CR1632 coin sized batteries into the sensors



Need to make sure to remember the ID of each sensor and match it on the app to find out which one is marked as the front and which one is on the rear. If you still goof-up, you can always swap the front and rear by dragging and dropping on the app. Always better to get it right the first time itself though!



There are lot of settings one can play with in the menu



The main step is to set the threshold values for the tyre pressure for both of the tyres. For front, I run 36 psi normally so I'll set lower and upper thresholds for 34 and 40 psi respectively.



It was throwing a low pressure warning because I hadn't yet installed them on the tyres



The next step was to mount the anti-theft nuts and then the tyre pressure sensors and lock them in place using the wrench





Instantly the front tyre display shows up a valid value, while the rear is still not installed



Repeat the procedure on the rear tyre



Need to take care to match the appropriate sensors with what we identified as front and rear on the app, like I mentioned earlier



Unless one has a discerning eye, these sensors will pass off as slightly fatter tyre valve caps and may not attract too much attention. Lets hope the anti-theft nuts are sufficient to deter any attention/mishaps for now.



After installation, this is how the dashboard looks with the front and rear tyre pressures shown.



I set the tyre pressure to 36 psi at the front and 42 psi at the rear. After a ~50km run in the city the pressure shows a slightly higher value as seen from the screenshot. The threshold value is now set to 2-3 psi below the ideal numbers, so I now know when to top-up the pressure, and while out on a trip, any abrupt drop will turn up as a notification.

Overall review of the product is good, I have a few trips lined up in the near future and I will update on my experience with these over time. Thanks for reading!

[imp!]

This TPMS system shows some promise. Have you had a chance to test it's calibration and accuracy on a cold tire?

Is it compatible with an OEM dash? Would be a much cheaper alternative than OEM accessories on many bikes.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by imp!

This TPMS system shows some promise. Have you had a chance to test it's calibration and accuracy on a cold tire?

Works the same way. Because I topup the pressure on a cold tyre, the reading is at the expected numbers on a cold tyre, give or take ~0.1-0.2 psi. Immediately after a ride the numbers are slightly higher due to the warmer tyres but they settle down after a few hours as expected.

Is it compatible with an OEM dash? Would be a much cheaper alternative than OEM accessories on many bikes.

Unless the OE dash is android or apple based, which is unlikely, unfortunately there is no way we can get the display integrated on the OE MID. You're right though - it would be easier than having a separate LCD display as is seen with some of the aftermarket TPMS systems for bikes. I would somehow prefer this phone app method though - it is always accessible in the pocket (or on the RAM mount when on the bike) and can be brought up with a few taps.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Do note, there is already a review for SensAiry internal TPMS sensors (mounted inside the tyres) here (SensAiry : An app-based TPMS), but that is not the version I am reviewing here. These are external ones which can directly latch on to the valve pins and don't need dismantling of the tyre and alloy wheel rim. Added advantage - the battery is replaceable and removable easily and so is the sensor itself. Disadvantage - prone to extra attention and some persistent thieves who might try to wrench out the sensors!

Thanks for sharing, this post certainly is very useful for many of us. I had a few doubts on this.

- How do we purchase this? Directly from their site or a third party site like Amazon or is it an in store purchase?
- How much would these sensors weigh approximately? I wonder if we would need to balance the wheels after putting these on? Or is that being a bit too pedantic?
- How do we fill air in the tires? Just have the air fuel attendant unscrew the sensor by hand, fill air and screw it back on? Is there anything to keep in mind here or do we just treat it like a normal valve cap?

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Thanks for sharing, this post certainly is very useful for many of us. I had a few doubts on this.

- How do we purchase this? Directly from their site or a third party site like Amazon or is it an in store purchase?

I picked it up from Bikenbiker, which is a retail store. It is available on amazon as well.
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07Z8VS86J/..._SRftFbVTQEMAZ

- How much would these sensors weigh approximately? I wonder if we would need to balance the wheels after putting these on? Or is that being a bit too pedantic?

They weigh ~8+ grams on my home weighing machine. Picking up a small stone or two in the tyre tread might result in the same effect without us noticing, so practically may not make a perceptible difference. Ideally yes we would need to add a ~9g counter-balancing weight on the opposite side of the wheel but I haven't felt any balancing issues yet. I'll continue to use it and check if there are any untoward experiences regarding the balancing getting upset, and will update my findings here if any.

- How do we fill air in the tires? Just have the air fuel attendant unscrew the sensor by hand, fill air and screw it back on? Is there anything to keep in mind here or do we just treat it like a normal valve cap?

Yes, this will involve an additional step before inflation.
If one does not use the anti-theft nut, they can be (un)screwed similar to the regular dust caps and the owner has to be watchful that the attendant doesn't silently flick it.
If the anti-theft nut is in place, to be able to unscrew the sensor cap, you have to loosen and detach the anti-theft nut with the wrench a bit and thereafter the sensor can be unscrewed to access the valve pin as before - one of the tradeoffs of the external sensor version
At home I use a portable Michelin inflator though, so I don't go to a fuel pump for pressure checkup.

[srinath34]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Anti-climax twist to the tale: There is a mystery entrant which has taken the Karizma's place though, and joined the Ninja 1000 and the Interceptor 650 at position 3 in the bike garage. What bike could it be?
Attachment 2046603


The clue lies somewhere in the passage above.
Until my next update, ciao!

When do you plan on introducing bike#3 to us fellow bhpians, KarthikK?

[Hells Bells]

Lovely review and it is the second time I have gone through it. The first time was an introduction to Ninja 1000 for me, the second time is now when I have started seriously considering a tourer bike and checked out the bike in flesh at Rideventur. What is your take on the Bangalore Kawasaki ASS? The alternative bike I am reading up (yet to check it out in person) is MTS950S. Hopefully, I would get to see it in real life on one of the upcoming weekends.