Im really happy that bajaj did release this. Good pricing and a go anywhere bike is the need for the day. The only superior bike than this (in my view/need) will be DL650 of suzuki.. but its not gonna be in India soon. So this is the best buy for any grading tourer.

1) Nobody blamed Hero Honda when they put 'R' on a Karizma! So spare Kawasaki.

2) A ZXR series Kawasaki is always better performing than any other ER series. Hence the ZX250R must be obviously better than an ER6F.


3) And after reading gsferrari's posts, All the litre superbike owners in India are probably idiots to buy such bikes! Poor them!

Not in the near future which is like 6-8months from now. I guess based on the success of the non ABS version and the number of units it sell the decision might be taken whether to bring the ABS version or not.

I rode the bike in peak traffic mostly bumper to bumper for close to 2hours. The engine heats up very quickly but then stays at one level, you can feel the heat but it is not uncomfortable.Before riding I was of the opinion that with the kind of traffic I was riding in I might have to shut down the vehicle in between but I was proved wrong. Even after two hours of riding I could feel that I can ride another hour in traffic with ease.

You can easily ride at 50-60 in top gear, I didn't check anything below that. In traffic I was mostly riding in 3rd gear.

1st the quarter liter baby ninja...now the half liter 650R...next is what?

Dear Sunny,
The Photographs are phenomenal. It could have been on the official brochures and print media. Keep it up. Thumbs up.

However w.r.t. the pace and hurry the review came up, it made quality sacrifices. I personally expected more from the seniors. We look up to you guys more as a guide to the superbikes rather than just a critical review of the bike launch. The connection at XBHP stay that bit more longer, I hope you get it.

Kindly see if the review can be re-edited as its going to be revisited time and again as the market matures and thus its an invaluable archive for bikers. The negative undertone came as it got compared but the tool is for totally different purpose. The masses will get confused as they might go for a TD thinking of it as a track bike rather than an all-rounder, Bajaj itself started the confusion so cant blame the masses.

Looking forward to a great one.

Cheers!

Any pictures of this?

@GS:- You rarely speak out, but when you do its all fireworks man. How I wish you posted more frequently.

Please man ............

Aditya there is even more reasons why practicality beats balls-out-speed.

1. Regular bent steel tube handlebar:

Drop a bike with clip-ons and when they break...pray you have auto-rickshaw fare to take you home and call for the Tata Ace / 407. With a regular handle-bar you can simply whack it back into shape and provided the levers haven't broken - find your way back home. I crashed my Karizma at MMSC at Turn-2 and the handlebar was bent 90 degrees. Rode back to the pits...hammered it back out and I was back out on track 20 minutes later. Repairing the scrape on my ass took longer than that! A friend dropped his R1 and the first thing that broke was the clip-on. Game Over!

On a long ride...(just imagine Ladakh) if this happens to you...which would you prefer?

2. Upright riding ergonomics:

I cannot say this enough - The best riding posture for us non-racers is the upright posture. It gives you the best all-round visibility and you can therefore react to situations much faster. It is easier to get your feet down to the ground when things get slippery for that little bit extra support. You will need this when you suddenly find oil on the road in front of you (Mumbai), Sand on the road in front of you (Chennai), Gravel and rocks on the road in front of you (Bangalore) and Desi Kudis on the road in front of you (Namma Delhi). Wrist pain, lower back pain and neck pain - anyone who rides a superbike longer than 2-3 hours at a time will feel this stiffness.


3. Narrow tires:

They don't look that "Manly"? So what...lets see who is manly when you are ploughing through a 2-3" thick layer of sand on the road on your 300 section rear tire More like sailing in this case. Narrow tires WORK for India. They pick up less rubbish, work better in water and debris on the road, wear more evenly and are cheaper to replace! They also generate less drag and improve fuel efficiency and vehicle performance.

4. The fugly windshield:

Rossiter had an eagle land on him in a real Neil Armstrong moment...at something like 180 Kph on the R1. He is still here with us but I am sure a nice tall windshield might have done a better job of protecting him. On a long ride it is really nice to get out of the way of the wind...the buffeting gets awfully tiring after a while. I know - I ride a naked bike and I am only partially deaf now.

Need more?

My questions:

1. What about the Ninja 650R with ABS? Will it ever be released in India, with a higher price tag? This was the last moment shock by Bajaj, when they launched this bike without ABS.

2. What about it as a commuter? What mileage, and what minimum speeds in top cog can it manage without snatching?
I found lack of details in this small review, and although we may find this info on net, but not everyone goes through all sites, and reliability factor is also there.

3. I hope Xbhp magazine has different and more extended review of 650R than this one. Otherwise, it would be a repeated article for many of us.
Moreover, we (most of members here) need more info on this bike than what is currently given.


But otherwise, its a good review, a bit less on new details though. Most of us already know its basic details like under engine exhaust, tall windscreen, etc.

Exactly my thoughts Guru. Some people will want all these fancy bikes to be launched and once it is, they'll crib and complain about the maintenance costs.

Some of these people who crib about the service costs (regular service and not repairs) go berserk and rant about wanting bigger bikes with I-4 engines and that no one is launching it here cos they are idiots.

Regular maintenance itself on these machines cost a bomb and if its a crash or a slide then its even more worse. Will cost an arm, a leg, a kidney and a lung too.

AFAIK, on this forum apart from Ajay (strider) and few others, very few have ridden supersports for long distances. Thats why we see most of these bikers riding only some 100kms on sunday morning and back.

Why not put in Z750 also?

Ninja 1000 is NOT a track bike. Please get your facts straight.

+1 Satyen.

@ Captain Koli - Please be clear about what kind of bike you want. Is it Sports, Sports-tourer, cruiser, naked ....... ?
Please understand that ZX6R or 10r are not coming to India any time soon. Also please, please understand that R6, CBR600RR etc. are NOT being launched by festive season this year (whatever anyone else says). I, myself would love to own a CBR600RR but it is not legally available in India.

Also please try and understand that this is a thread to discuss xBhp N650 review and not a wish list. Also please understand that when a moderator deletes your posts, it means that the post does not match with the discussion going on in that particular thread. If you check your earlier posts, you would find most of them deleted by moderators. Ask yourself a question - Why? . . . . . think about the answer for next couple of weeks . . . . . . then post a sensible statement.

@ captain Koli - I am sorry for this extremely blunt post but it pains me to see another fellow member getting banned.


If you expect beyonce to marry you and she does not give you a second look, would she be making fool of you? NO. ZX6R was NOT supposed to come. What you expect is up to you.

n it has ABS too.

That's really beautiful machine !

yes zx-6r and zx10r are track bikes but ninja 1000 is best of both worlds so u go and read the review of the bike in mcn or other sites

yes you are right i agree with you bajaj is making fool of us.
the following was supposed to come or what atleast i was expecting