[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by wolfy

Beautiful addition to the garage Karthik! looks great!
that 400 is such a capable machine. Have seen a few on the track and boy can they fly and carve corners! Wishing you unlimited happy miles!

Cheers!

Thanks a lot wolfy!

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

KarthikK's garage is turning out to be a desirable one which is practical too!

Congratulations on the baby Ninja... There's no other Ninja 400 review on the forum. The details you bring in might serve as one

Thanks a lot for your kind words surjaonwheels! I’ll definitely write one when I get some time off .

In addition, looking forward to the Hi-viz green riding gear set!

Happy cornering,
surjaonwheelz

Haha that may not happen this time, I’ll probably share the riding gear among the two Ninjas, lol!

Originally Posted by WalterWhite

Congrats @KarthikK. Ninja 400 looks fantastic in the original Kawasaki Lime Green color. Waiting for the 1st Ninja 400 ownership review in the forum... I wish you a lot of thousands of happy miles on your Ninja Assassin.

Thanks a lot for your kind words WalterWhite!

One month back, I was also looking for a sub 500cc motorcycle as an upgrade to my 5.5-year-old Lex(Yama Fazer 25). And I have finalized the 2023 Ninja 300 Lime Green. Ninja 400 was also on my shortlist but I had to let go because of my budget constraints. I also didn't want to go for any single-cylinder motorcycle. But gave Honda CB 300R a shot because of the Honda badge and a lot of positive reviews. But Honda's little cub couldn't pass my refinement test at cruising speeds (120kmph). I had summarized my thoughts here (Test Ride : Why I chose the Kawasaki Ninja 300 over the Honda CB300R)

Now, I am waiting for the Ninja 300 delivery...

I remember reading your very well written thread on how you arrived at this decision, very nice analysis and thought process. Hope you get your bike soon and start enjoying it .

I am leaving the pic of the 2023 Ninja 300 Lime Green below. The color theme looks precisely similar to the Ninja 400. Good job from Kawasaki. I think this is the first time they bring their flagship color to the Ninja 300 after localization.

This lime green color scheme of the N300 was just launched a month ago with the BS6 phase 2 emission norms compliance. It is easily the best looking N300 color scheme currently on offer.

Originally Posted by aqualeo2040

Congrats Karthik!
I still remember your Thunderbird.

Quite a journey from there.

Where did you source the Diablos from please? My Ninja might need new shoes shortly.

Thanks a lot for your kind words aqualeo2040! I sourced the tyres from TorqueBlock, who seem to be a popular option for sourcing premium bike tyre offerings among biker circles. They had it in ready stock so I picked it up from them.

[jackofsome]

Many congratulations on the 400. Perfect set of shoes as well. I admit, I instantly raise a toast of appreciation on the taste of a person who buys a Ninja 400 over a RC390 as its a fantastic bike as well in its own right.

What i would suggest you to do is to get a set of lowered clip ons, and hit MMRT with the bike. The grins inside the helmet when you see what this motorcycle would do would open a whole new chapter in motorcycling. (MMRT is inexpensive as well)

[nbhat24]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Signing off until my next update.
Until then, Ciao[/i]

Looks like you wrote & posted this review while waiting at Silk Board signal.

Jokes apart, bhai what is this! This is something else! Well explained in detail, anyone can refer this! Very nice to read your thread. I challenged your patience and read entire thread with the similar patience. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by jackofsome

Many congratulations on the 400. Perfect set of shoes as well. I admit, I instantly raise a toast of appreciation on the taste of a person who buys a Ninja 400 over a RC390 as its a fantastic bike as well in its own right.

Thanks a lot jackofsome!

What i would suggest you to do is to get a set of lowered clip ons, and hit MMRT with the bike. The grins inside the helmet when you see what this motorcycle would do would open a whole new chapter in motorcycling. (MMRT is inexpensive as well)

I'll definitely keep this in mind when I eventually take it to a track and experience it there. Thanks again for your kind words!

Originally Posted by nbhat24

Looks like you wrote & posted this review while waiting at Silk Board signal.

Actually I wrote this during the strictest lockdown era of the first wave of Covid . If I re-read it now, I wonder why I made it so long and excruciating for readers, lol!

Jokes apart, bhai what is this! This is something else! Well explained in detail, anyone can refer this! Very nice to read your thread. I challenged your patience and read entire thread with the similar patience. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!

Thanks for your kind words sir! And happy motoring with your awesome Tiger 660.

[sam264_2000]

What a beautiful travelogue! What beautiful pictures! Lovely! Enjoyed reading the post and admiring the pictures sipping my hot coffee on a rainy day here in Pune. We had been to Ooty in April/May this year and the place was too crowded for our liking. Guess it was due to summer holidays. We left the place making a resolution that the next time we come here would be in monsoon or winters and stay at Coonoor. Now I know which post to refer to when I plan that trip Thank you.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by sam264_2000

What a beautiful travelogue! What beautiful pictures! Lovely! Enjoyed reading the post and admiring the pictures sipping my hot coffee on a rainy day here in Pune.

Thanks a lot sam364_2000! Glad you enjoyed reading through it!

We had been to Ooty in April/May this year and the place was too crowded for our liking. Guess it was due to summer holidays. We left the place making a resolution that the next time we come here would be in monsoon or winters and stay at Coonoor. Now I know which post to refer to when I plan that trip Thank you.

Indeed, these towns get horribly crowded during summer vacation months when everyone tries to go there to get away from the summer heat, and of course school vacations add to this burden even more. Generally in the summer months we avoid this route like the plague for the massive traffic snarls that ruin the experience. Typically June onwards these towns get a lot better in terms of crowd and traffic and stay that way until next year's April. There will be some increase in crowd again during the Dussehra vacation but it is not as crazy as the summer months.

Do try these places in monsoon and winter. Apart from the fact that monsoons will be gloomy and wet on many days, or that winters will be quite cold with temperatures dropping to single digits, the places by themselves are far more peaceful and allow for proper exploration.

[100Kmphormore]

Lovely hotels saar. What’s the ballpark of the cost for a night? Do they come with meals included and those tea tasting sessions if they have in-house restaurants?

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Lovely hotels saar. What’s the ballpark of the cost for a night? Do they come with meals included and those tea tasting sessions if they have in-house restaurants?

Thanks a lot 100Kmphormore!
The rates for the hotels keep varying with season and I did land some off-season discounts by booking directly with the hotel. You can look up the current prices on the booking page of either of the hotels’ websites, I believe they are also listed on aggregators like MMT.

Some hotels do offer full board plans but in places such as these, close to towns where we want to go out and explore, we generally choose only the bed-and-breakfast plan and choose to explore other meals at popular / unique eateries in town.

The tea tasting was done at another property where we didn’t stay. They charge only for the tea tasting session and high-tea separately. You can look up details on their website.

[Pynummoottil]

Thanks for the great travelogue. Especially for the descriptions accompanying the photographs.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

We also ended up visiting the famous Nilgiris supermarket which happened to have a nice collection of Cheese varieties. Coonoor, by the way, is famous for Cheese factories. Me being a self-confessed cheese enthusiast, couldn't resist picking up a few cheese blocks to take back home

Lovely report and ride Karthik. I used to be a boarder at Kotagiri Public School. Coonor was a hot spot for us, for 'Bird Watching' from the other schools, if you get my drift.

On that Amul Gouda cheese, the last time we bought it, it was horrible. Almost tasteless. Amul changed the supplier and the manufacturing process that it does not taste anything like Gouda. They've been making this for over 15 years and we've been buying them regularly. We stopped from the last purchase. So if you've had good Gouda cheese before, this one will likely disappoint.

[mh09ad5578]

Epic ride mate! Loved every bit of it, great pics of the terrain, weather and above all the food. Thanks for sharing.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Pynummoottil

Thanks for the great travelogue. Especially for the descriptions accompanying the photographs.

Thanks a lot Pynummoottil! Glad you liked it.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Lovely report and ride Karthik. I used to be a boarder at Kotagiri Public School. Coonor was a hot spot for us, for 'Bird Watching' from the other schools, if you get my drift.

Thanks a lot Sandeep! I can imagine how it must have been, lol!

On that Amul Gouda cheese, the last time we bought it, it was horrible. Almost tasteless. Amul changed the supplier and the manufacturing process that it does not taste anything like Gouda. They've been making this for over 15 years and we've been buying them regularly. We stopped from the last purchase. So if you've had good Gouda cheese before, this one will likely disappoint.

Your observations were spot on! The Amul Gouda was actually below average and did not taste like Gouda at all, definitely avoidable in future. I just wanted to try it because I hadn't seen them offering Gouda earlier. The other dutch imported cheese(s) were excellent though.

Originally Posted by mh09ad5578

Epic ride mate! Loved every bit of it, great pics of the terrain, weather and above all the food. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks a lot for the kind words mh09ad5578!

[KarthikK]

Sixth Annual Service / 57 months Maintenance Update (~25,000 km up)

This time of the year is usually when I get the Ninja's annual service done. Well, usually I get it serviced in August every year, but considering there were a few monsoon rides coming up, I thought it is best to get the bike serviced a bit in advance.

The Ninja is ageing gracefully, and the bike has been completely trouble-free over the past ~5 years and performed flawlessly over multiple rides and trips. That said, there were a few wear-and-tear parts which needed periodic replacement due to age. I scheduled a service appointment with the Rideventur Kawasaki service centre, Jayanagar. Veteran service technician Radhakrishna (also called RK there) did a thorough check-up of whatever was required to be done, plus whatever minor complaints I had asked him to look into.

The Ninja 1000 waiting in queue for service on a weekday



The front brake pads were worn out after ~25,000km, so that needed replacement in 2 pairs. Each OE brake pads pair costs a hefty INR ~5600 plus labour. I prefer OE spares whenever possible, so I went ahead with the OE brake pads. The rear brake pads still have a lot of life left and were left intact. Along with this front brake pads change, the brake fluid was changed and brakes bled.

The front fork oil was changed, but the fork seals were still good to go for another year or so, that was skipped too.

Lately I was occasionally getting a subtle clunk feel on high speedbreakers, for which I suspected the cone set steering bearings. He checked it and saw one portion of it was getting worn more than other portions. The OE part was not in stock, but an equivalent aftermarket part from All Balls Racing was available and I got that procured and installed too.

The rest of the service items were regular oil and air filter change and labour associated with general servicing. RK did a fab job and even helped to clean the throttle body, plus he adjusted and lubricated/tightened anything necessary among the cables and on the frame. As always, a wonderful experience getting the service done at Rideventur Kawasaki - no-nonsense service work done, timelines met as promised, quality of work and attention to detail 10/10.

The bike was ready on the next day at the promised time, with all the tasks carried out to perfection, plus extra adjustments done by themselves without me even prompting



The cone set bearings set was procured from another place called Race Nation and costed INR 4200



Service bill part 1 - Labour costed almost INR 11,000 this time, but this set of tasks is only done once in 4-5 years and I had to swallow the bitter pill .



Service bill part 2 - Spare parts costed INR 18,000+ for this service. Front brake pads took up the lion's share of that number with more than INR 11,000+ contributing to the overall bill.



All put together, the service bill came to INR 33,000+, looks like a whopping high amount but it is actually only because of the 5-year age interval service needing more than the usual service tasks. I was jokingly referring to this as Kawasaki's Desmo service .

The service timeline sheet is now updated with the 6th annual service details



The bike was given a thorough wash at Carzspa, HSR layout to flush out all the mountain soil I had carried back home over the past few rain-ridden trips.



The next expensive items for maintenance might be the chain and sprocket replacement, new battery and spark plugs, which can be done in the next year's service after clocking another 8000-10000 km of touring. That's all on the service front for now!


New Shoes for the Ninja 1000

The Metzeler Sportec M9RR tyres that the Ninja is currently shod on, has completed 14,000+ km, which is actually excellent life for a supersport oriented tyre which sees almost 80% of usage on overnight trips with 2-up and luggage load and a multitude of weather and road conditions. I have never experienced tyres as grippy as the Metzeler M9RR! They grip like araldite adhesive no matter what the underlying road surface is like, sometimes even managing off-road situations also with equal aplomb during the last-mile parts of many trips.

The tyres are slowly squaring off and wearing out now and will probably last another short breakfast ride or two (going by the tyre wear indicator on the front and rear) before I will proceed to change them out. I wasn't able to source Metzeler M9RRs this time, so I went ahead and picked up a pair of Michelin Road 6 tyres for the third set of shoes on the Ninja. They may not be as sticky as the M9RRs, but they should pack a mean punch in longevity for touring and their wet grip levels are supposed to be class-leading. Fingers crossed for a fantastic experience



The tyres were procured from Torque Block, and I have safely stashed them for now at home until next month when I change the tyres out and start munching miles on the new set. I'll post an update once I install the new set of tyres



A look at my Tyre usage patterns in retrospective, showing trip type splits for the past 2 sets of tyres



The Ninja just got back from another ride, this time with BHPian friends to a homestay near Chikmagalur. The recent service has enhanced the riding experience even more after all the maintenance and TLC. Almost 5 years completed and eagerly looking forward to the next stint of continued Sport touring.



Signing off with a picture of the Ninja doing what it does best - putting a smile on the face of the rider



That's all for now! Back to trip updates from the next post, thanks for reading!

[VijayAnand1]

Ah! Being a Ooty-ite myself, such a relish this, it's as if I'm going through a picturesque deja vu. Being a regular on these routes. This picture you posted, those bajjis in their signature green plates, is exactly where I stop every time for a quick bite, before the 36 pins beckon. Can't believe how similar a photo I took a month or so back!!
Wonderful pictures. A regular at Earl's Secret and Open Kitchen Coonoor, their signature Oh Susanna and Salted Caramel, umm-hmm, my mouth waters! Though I feel, off late, their quality has taken a mild beating.. Yoikes! Am I even allowed to say that!! Let me know next time you head to Ooty, would love to catch for cup of cuppa.

Cheers!
VJ

[AKSO]

Your "record" keeping is superb. Looking forward to your feedback on the Michelin Road 6 tyres. As an aside, Kawasaki charges a bomb for labour! I recently had changed my front brake pads to Goldfren which is pretty good in terms of feel and bite. The pair cost me around Rs.5000/- including fitting. Took about 200 kms of riding to fully bed in the brake pads.