That is the only kind of rubber they'll be burning...if you know what I mean

Anyway...waaay off topic here. Request a Mod to move the hydrolock discussion posts to a different section and thread.

Good review..I think you weren't enticed nor lured by the koreans :P
Btw guys have u seen the side profile of the bike. The rake angle tells the whole story and you know in an instant that the bike is designed more for straight line stability than for anything else.

noob question... arent all 'touring bikes' heavy.... noob question end

the burnout smoke is a photoshop filter.

What you are actually asking has its answer riddled in something called 'power to weight ratio' as we all know it. Compared to other breed of bikes the touring bikes are heavier yes. But not this heavy. Its lighter than the Hyosung though so it clearly is the winner for us right now.

Suzuki SV650 74PS/170kgs = 0.42
Suzuki Bandit 1250S 98PS/229kgs = 0.42

Kawasaki Ninja650R 72PS/203Kgs = 0.35

An OT connected to bikes underwater, but had to mention my experience :
I had a pulsar in Bangalore, and while I was travelling to Mumbai, the famous rain of 2003? happened and my bike, parked in a building's basement got completely submerged, I think for around a day !!
The water was muddy, and got inside everything, engine, lights, tank, speedo/tacho assembly, frame ... it was heart breaking to see her after returning. Anyways, the problem was mud from the water. Imagine all that mud inside your engine...Had to flush it out from everywhere using diesel and then oil (bajaj guys did all). Still, had to change the carb. later, as it always made fuel overflow. (headlight had to be changed as the reflector's glue came off, tail light changed, speedo assembly change) Still to date bike stops sometimes and takes a break for 30 seconds from time to time..
The electronics amazingly worked, even the battery! (after charging )

Small correction:
Suzuki Bandit (Kerb weight) - 254KGs/98PS

My point was more from a 'stability vs agility' aspect of it...

Nice review Payeng. Gives a very nice perspective for people like us who have been riding only "sporty" commuter bikes Short but on par with the review on t-bhp.

A quick question: Did you or anyone else get chance to have a pillion around. If yes, how comfy was it for the pillion. Also, is the seat hard like that of the 220 or softer.
.

Thanks.

The Koreans according to me would appeal to a different set of customers. So far all all I have done on the Korean duo is just "laptop biking"


True, that's one of the reason why the good old "Ambasador" car still feels comfy one to munch miles as a passenger.

Despite its weight, the acceleration of the Ninja 650R at low-mid range is phenomenal. The only issue/apprehension/fear for me is in case of a fall, I probably wouldn't be able to pick up the bike alone. But that's a personal thing.



Thanks Mik.

MG did try as a Pillion. According to him the rear seat of the Ninja 650R is quite comfortable for the pillion.

The issue with the rear seat of the P220 is not its hardness. A hard seat actually is comfortable over soft ones especially over longer distances. The thing with the rear of the P220 (according to what I have experienced) is that the pillion footpegs are placed a bit higher. Had the pillion footpegs been placed a bit lower, the bum of the pillion would have been more comfortable.

wow! very gud review! all points nicely put up! started loving the green birdie!

Thanks! Actually i quite prefer the harder 220 seat. Me and my wife have toured on both the zma and on the 220 and on longer rides, its the 220 which tends to be more comfortable. Hence the question.

Took me a pretty long time to read through every word and expression posted in the last 18 pages. And with the reviews, photographs, and the so-very-practical perspectives put forward by our mature biking fraternity here, it's been a joy to read. Thanks to everyone for their inputs.

All credit to Bajaj for giving us biking enthusiasts an enormously practical but powerful motorcycle, at such a mouth-watering price. I haven't seen the bike in flesh yet, but from whatever little I have gathered out here, I really can't see any negatives so far. At times, it's people who can't/ wont appreciate the positives of a great machine, tend to harp about the so-called negatives. Or better still, they tend to compare the machine with obvious superior machines, just to show the former in poor light.

For someone owning a Pulsar 220 or a Karizma, this is a mindblowing machine, whichever way you look at it. At the same time, for someone owning a Fireblade or an R1, this too is a mindblowing machine, especially for it's capabilities, which are worlds apart from what a Pulsar/ Karizma/ Fireblade/ R1 can do. Such is the technology and superiority of these breed of motorcycles. Ultimately, it all boils down to the preferences of the rider, and of course the cash in his/ her pockets.

I'm a Karizma owner, and that too, it's a 2003 model. It's still in a as-good-as-new condition, and rides like never before. And I love it to the core. Does what it's intended to do, and I extract the most out of it. At the same time, I have been yearning for a bigger machine for quite a while now, and by bigger, I was looking at an excess of 60-70 bhp. And to be blatantly honest, I had my heart set on the FZ (am hoping for the faired version launch to soon), and the Bandit was also on my wish-list. Love the Ducati Streetfighter and the CB1000RR too, but I somehow prefer a faired bike, even if it's semi-faired.....

But after reading this thread, and doing my own research online, and of course after having a look at the lucrative pricing, and the practicality I am seriously giving this a consideration...!!!


.....Simba

This bike is awesome guys, all the discussions about how it is and is not , blah and blue, is all mundane ... for someone who has not owned anything over Indian bikes, he or she would not care about if the red button pops out an automatic machine gun or not...
By the feel of it, this bike with its pricing is just a gift to India..
I mean even if I was told that this is for 6 lakh, I would not have been surprised....
@simba: go for it man !
p.s.- I have ridden the older model of this bike in Kolkata, so got a little bit of idea about it.

229kgs is the dry weight for bandit. My bad.
even with 254kgs as its wet weight 98PS/254kgs = 0.38

I wonder if your point was more from 'stability vs agility' aspect. Because thats a whole new question.
The Ninja650R is agile enough for a touring bike..but that its a heavy bike still stands. (power to weight ratio)

If touring bikes are generally heavy its not really because they achieve stability through being heavy. I mean to some extent being heavy is gonna help a bike be stable in a straight line but to strike a balance between stability and agility one need not really stop attempting to shed the weight of a bike. Lesser weight is always gonna be good for power to weight ratio

If you intended to ask if 'touring bikes' are all meant to to be stable and not agile and weren't really alluding to the weight at hand then the answer would be a 'yes' yet again. They are intended to be stable.
But to achieve that touring stability you speak of, the manufacturer will not really make the bike heavy but will rather tweak around with the rake angle and the trail and the wheelbase of the bike.
Needless to say..the rake angle of the Ninja650R is 25 degrees..as that of the able Suzuki Bandit1250S too and has a long wheelbase.
Rake angles of sportbikes is around 23 degrees(those 2 degrees make a huge difference in handling characteristics)

Now I only wish that the Ninja had been slightly lighter for then the punch felt in the rev range would have been slightly higher with the 72 horses at disposal. It would then have not felt heavy at slow speeds either.

So yeah...whatever..

We can simply say that for touring bikes, manufacturers do not endlessly pursue weight reduction (as they do in super sports) because it is not necessary.