Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

The bike in the article was in very bad condition. It was procured as 'write off scrap' from the owner. Motozone rebuilt the bike over a period of time and the bike is currently the fastest Ninja 300 in the country (see the post "The Quantum of Performance"). The bike has many of the elements of Ninja San and all the experience that was garnered during making of Ninja San has been used to make this bike.

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Thank You for clarifying. BTW How is the Ninja San doing ? Any further upgrades on the San ?

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

The bike has clocked 21,000 kms, and is doing pretty good. Further upgrades are in progress. A flowed head with revised intake track, bigger valves and stage 1 cams are in the execution stage. Its a major build of the top end which should give us some real gains. Hopefully, we should be finished with it by end of next month.

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Been reading your thread with a lot of interest.

Thinking maybe I should visit Motozone with with GT for some upgrades & changes I've planned

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

I was just getting bored in office.Ideally i would be always minitoring XBHP LIVE but today there was just no work at all.Saw this thread and started reading it .Completed almost all the pages.Its a treat to see such mods being made where even a weight reduction of Gram matters.Now thats called Dedication and Love towards your goal

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Hi Pratik, long time no updates!! How is Ninja san? It seems you have changed from Leo vince to GPR full exhaust system. Any specific reason for this? And any other updates?

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Updates are taking time as my Car project is taking all the bandwidth that we have. While all the parts for the next changes are in place, we do not want to take on more than what is possible to work on properly. Incidentally the work done on the car will help us with Ninja San's engine work. Its was very interesting and great learning process for us when we started working on the car engine.

Yes, I have changed over to a full GPR exhaust system. For couple of reasons. First and foremost being that due to the exhaust warps the LV system had become badly rusted. We had the choice of removing the rust, getting the pipes and headers polished and re-wrapping the exhaust with new insulation tapes. The other option was to buy a new headers and pipes. Since LV has closed down, that option was no longer available. The second reason, I was also curious as to how much of a difference with another make of pipes make. So considering these aspects we went in for a full new exhaust and are not using any insulation wraps.

The difference in performance? Yes, there is a marked difference in performance. Where the LV system made power right from 3,000 rpm and running out of breath at around 8,000 rpm, the GPR starts making power at 6,000 rpm and keeps making it till 12,000 rpm. So we have lost the initial grunt, but have gained significant power at the top end. We will try to compensate for the loss of initial power with Stage 1 cams.

For details of the car's work check out my thread on team-bhp.

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Can you give your car thread link here?

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

^^^ I honestly don't think it's really fair to put the link over here (being a competing forum which has a 2 wheeler section of its own). You can search for the thread with the keywords "Project ST Ford Fiesta 1.6 Duratec"

10,000 kms on Flo SS Oil Filter

This is a long term report on the Flo SS Oil filter. As mentioned in our previous post here, I have installed a stainless steel reusable oil filter on Ninja San. Having completed 10,000 kms on the filter and due for a oil change, I thought it was the right time to write about my experience with the filter.

It has always been my philosophy that Ninja San should equipped with the cutting edge components available at the time when the components are available and the oil filter was fitted to the bike in line with the philosophy. So what has been the my long experience with the oil filter? Quite frankly, the thought of the oil filter does not come to my mind on most days. Only when I do a physical inspection of the bike do I note the oil filter and check if there is any oil seepage from the 'o' ring.

So what does that say about the oil filter? Contrary to what most people will think, it just means that the oil filter is doing its job without any fuss and is extremely reliable. I have not had any problems whatsoever with the bike. Even after clocking over 20,000 kms when we checked the valve clearances we found that the valves were well within the factory settings. The bike starts on first crank every time I start it (sometimes the bike is left standing for upto 10 to 15 days), which incidentally is also a testament to the Lithium battery which has been installed on the bike. The machined billet aluminium outer case with added cooling fins adds some cooling efficiency to the whole setup (remember; 70% of the cooling of a engine is done by oil).

Having completed 10,000 kms with the oil filter, it was time for a oil change and cleaning of the oil filter. It was going to be interesting to see what the condition of the oil and oil filter were like.

Upon draining the oil we found it to be in very good condition with no metallic debris that we could see. Considering that the oil had run for 10,000 kms, it was in remarkable viscous condition. It was smooth and consistent in feel. While admittedly this not a scientific feedback (mass spectrometry analysis is required to know the true condition), it did tell us that the oil had held well for 10,000 kms.

When we removed the oil filter, the inner SS core was found to be coated with debris and significant amount of gunk. The Oil Filter casing is fitted with a very powerful magnet. The purpose of this magnet is to capture any floating metallic debris in the oil and keep the oil relatively clean. Upon inspection of the magnet we found it coated with metallic debris. The magnet works as it was designed to work and it works like a charm. Many will feel that the metallic debris is a sign of something abnormal with the bike. It is not. Wear of the engine and its moving parts is as inevitable as day following night. There is no preventing it, it can be minimised with supply of good oil to all parts of the engine. To supply good oil over a extended period of time, one needs a good filtration system. The Flo SS oil filter does an admirable job of getting the work done (Flo claims 200% more filtration rate).

Once the inner filter core was detached from the outer case, both parts along with the 'O' ring were washed with mild soap and water. The components were allowed to dry out and then were sprayed with Motul Carb and Fuel Injector cleaner. The result was 'Vim' sparkling clean components. The oil filter was assembled and fitted back and new oil was put into the engine.

Normally, when you drain the oil and replace it, it takes a few seconds (even as much as 15 to 20 seconds) before adequate pressure is formed to supply oil to whole engine (one of the reasons why you should not rev the engine immediately after oil replacement). With the Flo filter we noticed that the oil pressure was built in less than 10 seconds. Flo claims a flow rate that is 7 times higher than paper filters. This seems to be borne out by our above observations.

I am impressed by this abilities of this filter and will consider it as an essential upgrade of all my future bikes.


Oil after 10,000 kms.


SS Filter Core (Note the gunk).


Magnet with metallic debris.


Outer Case with Spring.


Outer Case washed with mild soap and water.


Filter Core, O ring and Spring after wash.


Inner core being cleaned with Motul Carb Spray.


Inner core after being cleaned with Motul Carb Spray.


Cleaned Filter installed.


Fresh oil.

Ninja San and I suffer a shattering crash!

Ninja San and I suffer a shattering crash!

May 1, 2017 started as any other day. As I had some work in Pune and had not met Vikram and Vijay of Motozone for quite sometime, I decided to take quick ride to Pune and back.

After a good night's sleep and a nice breakfast, I started for Pune at around 10.30 AM. The idea was to reach Pune by 1.30 PM, have lunch with Vikram and Vijay and finish my work before returning to Mumbai by 7.00 PM.

As it was a national holiday I expected traffic to be less than usual. Alas it was no different from any working day. The charm of old national highway to Pune has worn out and it is no longer an enjoyable ride. Speed breakers, worn out roads, heavy traffic density and undisciplined traffic has take all the charm out of this route. One has to be double of careful with the situation awareness.

I reached Khopoli by 11.30 PM and stopped of a hydration break and called up Vikram to let him know where I had reached and what time I expected to reach Pune. After a 15-minute break I once again started the journey. I crossed Lonavala 12.30 PM and continued towards Pune.

Through out the ride I was maintaining an 85 kmph speed comfortably depending upon the traffic conditions with occasional burst upto 100 kmph to overtake comparatively slow moving vehicle.

Oh Crap!!! Brake, brake, brake, nope, ran out of time and distance!!!

About 15 minutes from the outskirts of Pune, I was cruising comfortably at 85 kmph in the first lane (left lane) with a clear empty road in front of me. There was a car in the second lane that was ahead of me. As we approached a break in the median, which was 100 feet away, the car slowed down. Suddenly, a Toyota Etios approaching from the opposite side of the median took a turn without stopping and looking out for oncoming traffic and entered into our side of the road. After having barged into our side of the road, he noticed that I was in the first lane. Taken by surprised that there is a vehicle on coming, the driver stopped dead in the middle of the road completely blocking the first lane.

By the time the above events took place I was now running parallel to the car in the second lane. Both our vehicles had covered 40 feet to the break in the median. At this point of time, the distance between the Toyota Etios and me was 60 feet. It took a fraction of a second to process what was happening. At 85 kmph the bike is covering approximately 77 feet per second. Therefore, I knew I was in deep trouble the moment the car stopped in the middle of the road. I had no place to maneuver. A vehicle in the next lane prevented me from going any place but straight into the Etios. My first reaction was "Oh crap!". Time slowed down and the mind was processing all that was happening with surprisingly level of clarity. I started braking and braking hard. The rear wheel immediately locked. I knew it was mistake, but I did not have the time to release the rear break and correct the mistake. Between a bad situation and a worst situation, I chose to concentrate on application of the front break. As I approached the Etios and t-boning it become inevitable, I kept applying the front break till the point of locking. The handlebars started to oscillate as I approached the locking point of the front brake. A fraction of a second later I hit the car still carrying considerable of momentum and speed.

All of the above happen within a couple of seconds. I had run out of time and distance and now had to ride out the crash as best as possible.


The Toyota Etios




Impact imminent!!! Brace!!. brace!!. brace!!.

As I hit the car on the front passenger side door, time slowed down dramatically, the mind was processing everything that was happening with amazing clarity. The initial impact with the sickening crunch, the rear lifting up as the momentum was not completely absorbed by the impact. The front tyre burst and the fork moving inwards before the force of the impact wrenched the handlebars out of my hands, breaking the radius and the ulna bones in my right forearm in 3 pieces. The rear of the bike lifted up and propelled me through the air over the car. As I was being lunched through the air, the left handlebar violently hit my left leg on the thigh breaking my left femur bone. My helmet hit the top edge of the door/roof before the force sent me over and beyond the car.

As I was flying over and above the car, it crossed my mind; "Impact is too big. This is serious and you may not survive this, there seem to be too many things broken in your body".

As I saw the oncoming ground, my immediate thought was to tuck my hands to my chest to protect it. I landed on my helmet, forearms and my legs. The initial impact broke the radius bone near my left wrist. At this point the brain shut down and filtered all sensory perception along with time. I slid along for a few feet before coming to a halt.

While I was conscious, the brain had essentially shut down all inputs. I was aware that I had crashed, but the details of how and why were in a mist. The excruciating pain of broken bones was pushed into the background and a voice in my mind kept saying don't move. As darkness started overcoming my consciousness, I asked the voice if it was time to go. I didn't get an answer, so I asked again, a sense of peace and darkness were alluring.

Then something clicked and I was once again conscious. And I tried to getup by putting weight on my left hand. There was a sharp dull pain and I said to my self that's broken. Thereafter, I tried moving all my limbs one by one. I took a score of all that was broken. I heard a voice say that an Ambulance is on its way. I lay still and waited for the ambulance to come.


Ninja San after the crash.



Amazing First Responder's response.

The crash took place at approximately 1.10 PM. The ambulance responding to the call was at the crash site at approximately 1.20 PM. The 10-minute response time is simply amazing and was better than even response time I have seen in Dubai and Europe. The ambulance system is the one recently setup under the "108" number for National Highways.

The ambulance personnel quickly loaded me onto a gurney and loaded it on to the ambulance. They collected my tank bag along with my bike keys and put it into the ambulance. As soon as the ambulance was moving they removed my helmet, neck brace and my riding shoes. One of them instructed the other look for my cell phone in the bag. After retrieving the cellphones from my bag, one of them instructed the other to dial the last number on the phone. Luckily, the last number dialed was Vikram's. They informed Vikram about the crash and the hospital to which they were taking me.

By the time we reached the hospital and I was rolled into the casualty ward, Vikram and Vijay were there. The ambulance personnel handed over all my stuff to Vikram.

Ordinarily, you and I would not have even dreamed of stepping into the hospital that I was taken to. However, hats off to the medical team at the hospital for doing was right and necessary within the golden hour of crash. They immediately took a CT scan of my brain, X-rays of my limbs and examined me for internal injuries. After a through examination, they isolated my leg with a splint and my arms with temporary plaster and bandages. I was then shifted to the ICU till my wife and family came from Mumbai.

My wife and family arrived at around 4.30 PM and made arrangements to shift me to Mumbai for further medical care. I was loaded onto another ambulance at around 7.00 PM for my journey to Mumbai. This ride turned out to be one of worst rides of my life. I have felt every bump and pothole from Pune to Mumbai during the ride.

We reached Mumbai at around 10.30 PM. After completing all the formalities I was admitted at Lilavati Hospital, Bandra for further treatment.

At the end of a long day I thought; "what a crappy day it's been! But I should be ok with all my family and friends around me".

Next day the consulting doctors came in to look at me and gave me prognosis of 3 months of healing and 3 months more for getting back to 100% fitness.

I was operated in 2 stages with the leg being taken care of first. A rod with 3 nails was used to secure the femur bone. The hands were taken care of the day after with 3 plates to secure the respective bones. I was discharged on the 6^th day and sent home to start my recovery. 15 days after the crash I started attending work again.

I also steeled my heart to look at the photos of the bike for the first time. It broke my heart to look at the bike in such condition. However, it also filled me with resolve that this was not the end. First let me get back to 100% fitness and I will deal with the bike when its time to do so.

If you have a $10 head wear a $10 helmet.

35 years ago when I started riding my first helmet was a Vega. One day my mentor and close friend gave me an issue of Motorcyclist magazine. The magazine had an infamous advertisement of the Bell Aerostar Helmet. The advertisement was headlined "If you have a $10 head, wear a $10 helmet". That advertisement changed the way I thought about helmets and safety gear. The Bell Aerostar became my first serious helmet. People use to make fun of me, saying you have a Rs. 8,000/- helmet for a Rs. 22,000/- bike.

Such leg pulling has continued for 35 years now. While I have quite a few helmets now, I usually gravitate to the helmet that is most comfortable. It's like having a favorite pair of shoes. Every time you open the shoe cupboard, your eyes will first gravitate towards your favorite pair of shoes.

My favorite helmet was an AGV Tech. I just love the fit and comfort it provides. The helmet also had a 5 star Sharp rating and an ACU Gold sticker for safety rating.

Quite simply the helmet saved my life. The helmet took the initial impact of the car door on the left side chin. This impact snapped my head back in to a hyper- extension. Fortunately I was wearing a neck brace. The neck brace prevented my neck from hyper extending and causing serious damage to my spine. Instead of passing all the force into my spine, the neck brace absorbed the force and a passed it down the whole back to dissipate it. While the impact left me with sore back muscles it prevented some very serious life changing damage from taking place.

The initial impact on the chin was great enough that if the helmet had not absorbed it, I would have been left with a broken jaw! After the initial impact the helmet further absorbed the drag forces as can be seen from the photos. The visor was strong enough to hold its integrity and without the helmet and visor for protection I would have had a ripped open face!

That I have come out of the crash without any head, spine and internal injuries is thanks in no small part to the quality of my helmet, neck brace and body armor and riding gear.

My shoes prevented any serious ankle injuries, though I was left with a lot of bruising on my left ankle. The body armor prevented broken ribs, lever and kidney damage, though I was left with bruising at the edges of the body armor. It's a miracle that I have no road burns and not a single scratch on the body.

Lady luck, God, blessings, good safety habits, all had a role to play that day and I was very lucky to get away with just the injuries that I had.

Oh, by the way, my friends and family no longer pull my leg for the expensive gear.


Helmet save lives.


Initial impact on the left side chin.


The neck brace save me from serious spine injuries.




The neck brace transmits excessive force through the whole back rather than concentrate it on the spine.

Post Accident Analysis.

No accident is one mistake in isolation. Accidents happen due to a series of events, which ultimately culminate with the said accident. To learn something from an accident, one needs to be brutally honest about the accident and accept what the facts and data represent.

While the car driver undoubted made a huge mistake and deserves a large portion of the blame, there were some significant mistakes made on my part.

My role in the said accident suggest the following:

1. I should have been more vigilant. I got drawn into a sense of false security as I saw a long stretch of empty road.

2. When the car ahead of me in the next lane slowed down, it should have been a warning to me that something is wrong, I should have slowed down instead of maintaining my speed.

3. Irrespective of whether the car had slowed down or not, when there is a break in the median, one must slow down and be extra vigilant. I was not, period.

4. I should have taken one more hydration break instead of continuing on my way. After lot of thinking I have come to the conclusion that there is a good chance that due the heat and slight dehydration, my level of alertness degraded substantially, which also led to degradation of reflexes.

Over here I would like to mention that I am not a very fast rider. I never was and I am never going to be. I am well aware of my limits and I have always listened to my instincts that have served me very well through 35 years of riding bikes. Every person has a natural rhythm and that rhythm decides that person's natural reaction times and event processing speeds. One needs to aware of one's natural rhythm and ride within these limits. All that is left after the event is to learn from the mistakes and try to make sure that they are never repeated again.

I am sure most of you are curious to know Ninja San's fate. The bike has suffered extensive damage. The reinforced front end actually help during the crash. The forged Marchesini wheel absorbed the impact and transmitted it to the forks and the triple clamps without disintegration. Had a stock wheel been in its place, the wheel would have broken into pieces and propelled me into the car instead of being flipped over it.

The front USDs and the reinforced triple clamp along with the titanium steering shaft withstood the impact forces and transferred them to the steering head. The steering head distorted as it absorbed the impact forces and the front assembly was pushed back till it destroyed the headers, radiator and radiator fan and popped the engine foundation. The front acted as a crumple zone rather than shattering to pieces. This helped prevent me from hitting the car in what would have been some serious momentum.

So there is some serious damage to Ninja San. Under ordinary circumstances most would say to write off the bike and buy something new. But Ninja San is no ordinary bike. We have decided to resurrect it and make it even better than before. For many it may be over, but for us the journey goes on.

We will record every stage of the resurrection of Ninja San in this thread, so stay tuned.


Piece of the forged Marchesini front wheel. The wheel maintained its structural integrity. The piece is now a paper weight on my work table.

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

So sad to hear that, very unfortunate. I hope you will get well soon and back on the saddle

Re: Making of Kawasaki Ninja 300 San

Quite sad to see the condition of the bike but I'm glad you're alive and kicking. That's what matters. The bike however much loved, can be restored. Human body, not always. Take good care of yourself.

Very interesting piece on the neck brace there. I might get one too.

Re: Ninja San and I suffer a shattering crash!

Wish you speedy recovery sir & yes san ninja will be reborn[emoji4].

Re: Ninja San and I suffer a shattering crash!


Really sad to hear about this turn of events friend. Your Ninja was an inspiration to say the least.
Thank you for the detailed analysis of what happened. Your meticulous approach is still visible in the Crash Analysis too.

I recently had a small fall too where I got hit by another bike from behind. Thankfully it was a slow speed affair and not much damage to the bike.
I however did end up breaking my elbow as I landed awkwardly on it.

You have very rightly said. I could shrug off my fall saying I was hit from behind, but I also feel that if I would have been more aware of my surroundings, I might have avoided it.

2 things that I have learnt from this:
1) Asses your crashes brutally honestly
2) I never knew Neck braces were available as stand alone items for street riding as well. If you would not mind, can you please post which one you have, its small review and where did you get it from.

Wishing you and Ninja San speedy recovery!!

Rachit