Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

[siddharthsure]

Hello everyone. I stay at Mulund, have booked a Ninja 650 from the Kanjurmarg showroom. Booking date :10-01-2013. I'd like to tell a small indecent.
Me and my father had been to see the Ninja 650 the first time. Date of visit : somewhere around 29th december. We both liked the bike and i decided to book it for myself. So i booked the bike on the above mentioned date. Finance was taken from my co-op bank in my area as i have a good tie up with them.
On 9-01-2013, I had been to book the bike, I was attended by a very kind person from the showroom, lets call him Mr. X (I do not want to take any names here.) and his senior was busy on the phone, lets call him Mr. Y. Mr. X help me out in showing the bike, the engine and all the possible technical details of the bike. But when it came to booking, he had to hand over the issue to Mr. Y. Now me, my dad and mum are waiting to book the bike, its 8;10 on the clock and the showroom closes at 8;30, and Mr. Y is happily busy over the phone least bothered to attend us, even after knowing we are here to book the bike. Unfortunately we waited for 10 minutes and had to leave because of some urgency, although knowing this situation Mr. Y was least bothered to attend us. Extremely irritated by this even, we had to leave from the showroom.
Next day I took the booking cheque again to the same showroom, and was attended by Mr. Y. We did all the formalities and were done by 10 minutes. On that day Mr. Y said that the waiting period is of 60 - 90 days, which we accepted, but just for the note, to tell off the record he told us that the bike "MAY" be delivered in 45 days. We took the receipt and left.
After one week, i called up the showroom to as the status, so that i could proceed with the bank formalities as i had to arrange the funds and other things, Mr. Y answers the phone, I ask him about the bike and i get a blunt reply, " You have signed the contract and it mentions the delivery period", I kept quite, kept my head cool and asked the second question, whether he could at least tell me the approximate timing of the delivery as i had to put forth my documents and down-payments in the bank and he replies, "I cant tell anything right now". My father further took the phone and asked politely whether he could atleast tell the tentative date so as to carry out the procedure in banks, to which Mr. Y replies "Please refer to the contract copy which has been handed over to you". By now my dad had lost his cool. My dad finally told Mr. Y that "We know what is mentioned in the contract and accept it completely, it is just out of good faith and off the record which I'm asking you by what time the bike may arrive and I'm not asking for any commitment", on which Mr. Y replies "Please do not call me till the waiting period is over".
So we call to the Shreeram headquarters one good afternoon at 3:00 pm. We are attended by the customer care executive to whom we asked about the query of delivery period, on which we were told to contact the showroom. I replied that we do not want to talk to the showroom as the Mr. Y is rude. On knowing this she calls up the showroom and asks Mr. Y to call us. Mr. Y calls and starts to argue "When was i rude, I am just telling you the contract terms etc. etc." and the conversation ends up abruptly.
Now, even after rigorous follow ups, continuous contacts to all the possible numbers which i could find online, nobody is ready to tell me the status of the bike exactly and the showroom has been extremely rude to me. And i fail to understand that why people are being rude to us even after booking a bike, which costs as much as bomb.
If any seniors can help me out in this matter, i would be highly obliged, because the calling the dealership is of no use.

The world is changing dude... That's what I can say.. There is no respect for Lakhs now.. It has become like thousands.. R15's ninja duke are all so common nowadays even bmw's and Audi... May be if u get an Harley u can expect some special respect or anything like that... it's about crore's now dude does not mean Harley costs a crore... Atleast they follow their tradition

[zimbly]

The world is changing dude... (glad you noticed, otherwise we would be living in the stone age and still inventing the wheel)That's what I can say.. There is no respect for Lakhs now.. It has become like thousands.. R15's ninja duke are all so common nowadays even bmw's and Audi... May be if u get an Harley u can expect some special respect or anything like that... it's about crore's now dude does not mean Harley costs a crore... Atleast they follow their tradition

Wow you sure have the economics all figured out dont you. i assume you ride a harley, given that u seem rather keyed in about the experience of buying and owning a harley(if not then i wonder how you say things like the above with such surety). I can vouch for the N650 as a product and as far as the experience of purchasing the bike is concerned, i had no complaints(bought it from a different outlet), everything went of smoothly as did the subsequent service. What Nicky_Cool_dude_2004 has undergone is very regrettable. But that can be attributed to basic lack of etiquette and unpleasant demeanor of the sales rep in question. it surely doesnt have much to do with lakhs being equated to thousands or even crores for that matter.
A suggestion... your handle - siddarthsure reflects that you seem pretty sure of things, apparently not the case. You could consider changing it to siddarthunsure.

[s1d]

Wow you sure have the economics all figured out dont you. i assume you ride a harley, given that u seem rather keyed in about the experience of buying and owning a harley(if not then i wonder how you say things like the above with such surety). I can vouch for the N650 as a product and as far as the experience of purchasing the bike is concerned, i had no complaints(bought it from a different outlet), everything went of smoothly as did the subsequent service. What Nicky_Cool_dude_2004 has undergone is very regrettable. But that can be attributed to basic lack of etiquette and unpleasant demeanor of the sales rep in question. it surely doesnt have much to do with lakhs being equated to thousands or even crores for that matter.
A suggestion... your handle - siddarthsure reflects that you seem pretty sure of things, apparently not the case. You could consider changing it to siddarthunsure.

i think the guy siddharthsure was just generalizing the pricing to 'treatment' equation light heartedly. Of course its all 'relative' the crores and lakhs etc.. but there definitely exists a 'differentiation' in treatment when you buy an 'expensive' bike.
remember the P220 was once sold exclusively under the PBK showrooms, making the customer 'feel' special.. but now what.. its just another bike sold at every dealer. spending close to/around a lakh for a bike has become 'common' so don't expect any 'special' treatment. there are a few guys who've had trouble even getting their cbr 250's fixed with bad experiences at the asc.
well this is india, and imo the 'customer care/relationship' is still nonexistent to a great extent. i agree there are a few chaps at few svc's who are helpful, but the overall attitude is still 'chalta hai'
mostly it is just their 'niceness' when you go in to book the bike, and after that they don't really give a damn, unless you are able to strike up a personal/friendly relation with the dealership.
like i always said, it doesnt matter if you buy a n650, a harley, a space shuttle, or a tvs 50(oops its no longer sold, make it the xl soooper) - you are to be treated fairly and not looked down upon because your bike is 'cheaper' in cost than another bike made by the same manufacturer.

@nicky > just shoot a mail to bajaj and if not try a different dealer (if any) or better record your conversation with that mr.Y and email it to bajaj i once did that with honda when they refused to sell me oil/air filter (and were RUDE) - the rudeness pissed me off.

[nicky_cool_dude_2004]

The world is changing dude... That's what I can say.. There is no respect for Lakhs now.. It has become like thousands.. R15's ninja duke are all so common nowadays even bmw's and Audi... May be if u get an Harley u can expect some special respect or anything like that... it's about crore's now dude does not mean Harley costs a crore... Atleast they follow their tradition

I appreciate your humor my friend, but I would like to know a honest opinion, guess thats what the forums about right.

i think the guy siddharthsure was just generalizing the pricing to 'treatment' equation light heartedly. Of course its all 'relative' the crores and lakhs etc.. but there definitely exists a 'differentiation' in treatment when you buy an 'expensive' bike.
remember the P220 was once sold exclusively under the PBK showrooms, making the customer 'feel' special.. but now what.. its just another bike sold at every dealer. spending close to/around a lakh for a bike has become 'common' so don't expect any 'special' treatment. there are a few guys who've had trouble even getting their cbr 250's fixed with bad experiences at the asc.
well this is india, and imo the 'customer care/relationship' is still nonexistent to a great extent. i agree there are a few chaps at few svc's who are helpful, but the overall attitude is still 'chalta hai'
mostly it is just their 'niceness' when you go in to book the bike, and after that they don't really give a damn, unless you are able to strike up a personal/friendly relation with the dealership.
like i always said, it doesnt matter if you buy a n650, a harley, a space shuttle, or a tvs 50(oops its no longer sold, make it the xl soooper) - you are to be treated fairly and not looked down upon because your bike is 'cheaper' in cost than another bike made by the same manufacturer.

@nicky > just shoot a mail to bajaj and if not try a different dealer (if any) or better record your conversation with that mr.Y and email it to bajaj i once did that with honda when they refused to sell me oil/air filter (and were RUDE) - the rudeness pissed me off.

That's a good idea, but i do not want to do it at the cost of Mr. Y's job. . I may look for some other showrooms, but considering the fact that i have already booked the vehicle, i guess it won be much of a viable option. I had tried Bajaj's toll free and customer care centre numbers, but people over there dont know a bit. Emailing them tonight, lets see what reply i get.

[siddharthsure]

Wow you sure have the economics all figured out dont you. i assume you ride a harley, given that u seem rather keyed in about the experience of buying and owning a harley(if not then i wonder how you say things like the above with such surety). I can vouch for the N650 as a product and as far as the experience of purchasing the bike is concerned, i had no complaints(bought it from a different outlet), everything went of smoothly as did the subsequent service. What Nicky_Cool_dude_2004 has undergone is very regrettable. But that can be attributed to basic lack of etiquette and unpleasant demeanor of the sales rep in question. it surely doesnt have much to do with lakhs being equated to thousands or even crores for that matter.
A suggestion... your handle - siddarthsure reflects that you seem pretty sure of things, apparently not the case. You could consider changing it to siddarthunsure.

Waaa..... i just told the general situation here in INDIA...Ntng else.. Y so serious??

[Sunnyside_up!]

Hello everyone. I stay at Mulund, have booked a Ninja 650 from the Kanjurmarg showroom. Booking date :10-01-2013. I'd like to tell a small indecent.
Me and my father had been to see the Ninja 650 the first time. Date of visit : somewhere around 29th december. We both liked the bike and i decided to book it for myself. So i booked the bike on the above mentioned date. Finance was taken from my co-op bank in my area as i have a good tie up with them.
On 9-01-2013, I had been to book the bike, I was attended by a very kind person from the showroom, lets call him Mr. X (I do not want to take any names here.) and his senior was busy on the phone, lets call him Mr. Y. Mr. X help me out in showing the bike, the engine and all the possible technical details of the bike. But when it came to booking, he had to hand over the issue to Mr. Y. Now me, my dad and mum are waiting to book the bike, its 8;10 on the clock and the showroom closes at 8;30, and Mr. Y is happily busy over the phone least bothered to attend us, even after knowing we are here to book the bike. Unfortunately we waited for 10 minutes and had to leave because of some urgency, although knowing this situation Mr. Y was least bothered to attend us. Extremely irritated by this even, we had to leave from the showroom.
Next day I took the booking cheque again to the same showroom, and was attended by Mr. Y. We did all the formalities and were done by 10 minutes. On that day Mr. Y said that the waiting period is of 60 - 90 days, which we accepted, but just for the note, to tell off the record he told us that the bike "MAY" be delivered in 45 days. We took the receipt and left.
After one week, i called up the showroom to as the status, so that i could proceed with the bank formalities as i had to arrange the funds and other things, Mr. Y answers the phone, I ask him about the bike and i get a blunt reply, " You have signed the contract and it mentions the delivery period", I kept quite, kept my head cool and asked the second question, whether he could at least tell me the approximate timing of the delivery as i had to put forth my documents and down-payments in the bank and he replies, "I cant tell anything right now". My father further took the phone and asked politely whether he could atleast tell the tentative date so as to carry out the procedure in banks, to which Mr. Y replies "Please refer to the contract copy which has been handed over to you". By now my dad had lost his cool. My dad finally told Mr. Y that "We know what is mentioned in the contract and accept it completely, it is just out of good faith and off the record which I'm asking you by what time the bike may arrive and I'm not asking for any commitment", on which Mr. Y replies "Please do not call me till the waiting period is over".
So we call to the Shreeram headquarters one good afternoon at 3:00 pm. We are attended by the customer care executive to whom we asked about the query of delivery period, on which we were told to contact the showroom. I replied that we do not want to talk to the showroom as the Mr. Y is rude. On knowing this she calls up the showroom and asks Mr. Y to call us. Mr. Y calls and starts to argue "When was i rude, I am just telling you the contract terms etc. etc." and the conversation ends up abruptly.
Now, even after rigorous follow ups, continuous contacts to all the possible numbers which i could find online, nobody is ready to tell me the status of the bike exactly and the showroom has been extremely rude to me. And i fail to understand that why people are being rude to us even after booking a bike, which costs as much as bomb.
If any seniors can help me out in this matter, i would be highly obliged, because the calling the dealership is of no use.

i own one of the first 650's in Chennai (2011) and have over 24k kms on the clock. i frankly have nothing amiss to report except an exceptional ownership experience and service from the dealer in Chennai who is widely acknowledged as one of the best. My booking experience was not so great however and I did go through something similar, though I knew it was nothing to do with the dealer. For reasons best known to BAL, the dealers are as much in the dark as you are regarding deliveries. No commitments are forthcoming regarding delivery at all. So much so that the dealer in subsequent years takes bookings only for bikes that he knows are enroute to him.

I suspect your dealer is in a similar situation and doubt you will have much luck in hearing from BAL either. That of course does not give him the excuse to be rude, which is IMO simply poor salesmanship.

[nicky_cool_dude_2004]

Yes my friend. That's exactly my point. What has irritated me is the rude behaviour not the commitment. I did not ask for any commitment but just a general query.

[icemang]

Hello everyone. I stay at Mulund, have booked a Ninja 650 from the Kanjurmarg showroom. Booking date :10-01-2013. I'd like to tell a small indecent.......

The basic reason why this happens with unfailing regularity in India is because we, as a people, have a completely false sense of ego and prestige. We cannot distinguish between good ego and bad ego. One can see this behaviour but everywhere in the country. We feel that treating a customer well is beneath our dignity - why should I be at his beck and call, I am not his servant, if he wants the bike, he can take it or lump it etc.

Secondly, there is almost zero training of the point of contact person one encounters at dealerships. Most of them have pathetic communication skills and even lesser technical knowledge. For the most part, they are either very recent pass-outs from mofussil colleges with a degree not worth the paper on which it is printed but with the attitude commensurate with an alumni of Harvard. When confronted with a customer, who by the function of his choice of bike, is numerous echelons up the socio-economic and tech knowledge ladder, the defensive response kicks in and is manifested by hubris.

Ultimately, our so-called Indian corporate bodies are atrocious at CRM. They simply just don't get it - every single entrant into the showroom is a viable prospect who, with careful nurturing will not only turn out to be a customer but a repeat one by way of his recommendations of the brand, model, dealership, sales rep et al. He {no gender bias whatsoever; writing "he" needs lesser keyboard manipulations than "she" (sorry, ladies, I am a bit lazy,), but my female counterparts are very much on board here} needs to welcomed with intelligent persons who are able to size up his requirements and offer him a deal in an honest, friendly and professional manner.

This state of affairs has been created due to the hangover left by the License Raj. In your case, there is no competition to the N650 (I am really sorry, but due to quality issues, I do not consider the Hyosung 650 as a worthwhile competitor) so if one wants a high quality 650 twin, one has no choice other than the N 650. And the dealer for this bike is Bajaj. Ergo, one is subject to whatever are the CRM proclivities of individual dealerships of Bajaj.

I must agree with the POV of siddarthsure but only because he has spoken the truth albeit in a tangential manner. The cost of the bike puts it in a super-premium category in India. A customer of the N650 has every right to be treated like royalty by every single dealer across the country and when he is treated like the prospect for a commuter sub-100 cc bike, the rage is righteous.

However, I take umbrage to siddarthsure implying that getting a HD will invoke a better response from the dealer. An HD customer may get a commensurately better attitude from the dealer only because HD may have invested in training its front-end staff better and/or that particular dealer is better than his colleagues. Not because it makes better bikes or is a more respectable brand than Kawasaki.

In most such cases, the senior management is pretty good but keeps itself aloof from interacting with customers. By the time it is involved, the arrogant, rude and irascible junior staff has already done the damage. It would have been a minor issue but in such cases, not only does the dealership acquire a bad rep, the company too gets trashed.

ncd2004, in the current state of deficient CRM, your best (and only...) bet is to find the best dealership from this forum and other sources. You can purchase the bike from Mr I - Care-A-***-About-My-Customers dealer but would be good to service it at more cooperative stations. And I wouldn't really care for Mr Y's job. He has demonstrated his inability to tenant it to the most important person for him - his customer - so should be divested of it at the earliest.

[Sushrut]

Dont know what is the problem with all the probiking showrooms. The one we have here has a grumpy manager. Wont give test rides of any sort. If one enters the showroom, his face bears an expression of indifference and irritation. Keeps the showroom closed at the slightest provocation. I have read a similar anecdote in a magazine years ago, when the probiking folks gave an extremely cold shoulder to a guy wanting to buy a Pulsar 180, the 'fear the black' machine.

[nicky_cool_dude_2004]

The basic reason why this happens with unfailing regularity in India is because we, as a people, have a completely false sense of ego and prestige. We cannot distinguish between good ego and bad ego. One can see this behaviour but everywhere in the country. We feel that treating a customer well is beneath our dignity - why should I be at his beck and call, I am not his servant, if he wants the bike, he can take it or lump it etc.

Secondly, there is almost zero training of the point of contact person which one encounters at dealerships. Most of them have pathetic communication skills and even lesser technical knowledge. For the most part, they are either very recent pass-outs from mofussil colleges with a degree not worth the paper on which it is printed but with the attitude commensurate with an alumni of Harvard. When confronted with a customer, who by the function of his choice of bike, is numerous echelons up the socio-economic and tech knowledge ladder, the defensive response kicks in and is manifested by hubris.

Ultimately, our so-called Indian corporate bodies are atrocious at CRM. They simply just don't get it - every single entrant into the showroom is a viable prospect who, with careful nurturing will not only turn out to be a customer but a repeat one by way of his recommendations of the brand, model, dealership, sales rep et al. He {no gender bias whatsoever; writing "he" needs lesser keyboard manipulations than "she" (sorry, ladies I am a bit lazy,), but my female counterparts are very much on board here} needs to welcomed with intelligent persons who are able to size up his requirements and offer him a deal in an honest, friendly and professional manner.

This state of affairs has been created due to the hangover left by the License Raj. In your case, there is no competition to the N650 (I am really sorry, but due to quality issues, I do not consider the Hyosung 650 as a worthwhile competitor) so if one wants a high quality 650 twin, one has no choice other than the N 650. And the dealer for this bike is Bajaj. Ergo, one is subject to whatever are the CRM proclivities of individual dealerships of Bajaj.

I must agree with the POV of siddarthsure but only because he has spoken the truth albeit in a tangential manner. The cost of the bike puts it in a super-premium category in India. A customer of the N650 has every right to be treated like royalty by every single dealer across the country and when he is treated like the prospect for a commuter sub-100 cc bike, the rage is righteous.

However, I take umbrage to siddarthsure implying that getting a HD will invoke a better response from the dealer. An HD customer may get a commensurately better attitude from the dealer only because HD may invested in training its front-end staff better and/or that particular dealer is better than his colleagues. Not because it makes better bikes or is a more respectable brand than K.

In most such cases, the senior management is pretty good but keeps itself aloof from interacting with customers. By the time it is involved, the arrogant, rude and irascible junior staff has already done the damage. It would have been a minor issue but in such cases, not only does the dealership acquire a bad rep, the company too gets trashed.

ncd2004, in the current state of deficient CRM, your best (and only...) bet is to find the best dealership from this forum and other sources. You can purchase the bike from Mr I - Care-A-***-About-My-Customers dealer but would be good to service it at more cooperative stations. And I wouldn't really care for Mr Y's job. He has demonstrated his inability to tenant it to the most important person for him - his customer - so should be divested of it at the earliest.

I agree with every word you say. The Mr. Y I encountered is the senior of the store. Not only he's trained properly but also has a lot of technical knowledge. But the issue is about mistreating me and it doesn't stop there, his words itself before booking the bike and after booking the bike and his treatment towards me before booking the bike and after booking the bike are totally contrasting. It was as if he doesn't care now once I have paid the 40k, so I'll have to wait. And its this attitude which has ticked me off.

Well I haven't got any response from Bajaj lately so I am in a dual mind of thinking of cancelling my booking or not. But the issue rises of no other brand providing such a good package as Kawasaki as u mentioned and seriously HD is not my type. About hyosung, well, I'm a bit skeptical. The next contender is directly monster 795 which even though is costly, seems pretty expensive to maintain.

If the Mumbai guys know any other dealer whom I can talk to, kindly provide me the addresses.

[darkknight]

nicky please get in touch with vashi showroom

They are better than kanjur people

you can also get in touch with sachinnair here on xbhp who can patch you up with the right people there

[shrek]

I faced a similar issue with kanjurmarg, and took my booking to the Belgaum dealer instead, who is the nicest guy I've dealt with.
Email BAL about this. They should know. If you want to talk to the Belgaum dealer (Jagajampi Auto) then PM me for their number.

[nicky_cool_dude_2004]

whaat?

I faced a similar issue with kanjurmarg, and took my booking to the Belgaum dealer instead, who is the nicest guy I've dealt with.
Email BAL about this. They should know. If you want to talk to the Belgaum dealer (Jagajampi Auto) then PM me for their number.

From mumbai to belgaum??

[shv18]

From mumbai to belgaum??

As per my interaction with various showrooms when we were picking up one Ninja 250R for a friend of mine, The Vashi showroom can be considered the better bet. I suggest speak to the manager over there and before you do get the booking cancelled or shifted to that showroom tell them in advance that what is the reason you got the booking cancelled from the earlier showroom at the first place. The team is good there so i don't think you will have any other issues besides the travel and making your wallet lighter ..

Post purchase, servicing in Vashi SVC is better. I believe a stinker mail taking the name of the representative is important so that they value their customers and not treat them like dirt. They are not doing you favour by taking your bookings.. A bit harsh but i believe an important step to make them understand that you mean business.

Cheers,

[shrek]

From mumbai to belgaum??

Yup. Of course I called the three mumbai/new mumbai dealers first, then vasai/kolhapur/ahmedabad/pune/bangalore as well.
Finally Belgaum responded affirmatively, so I booked from Belgaum, rode back to Mumbai, registered myself at Thane RTO, paid octroi and road tax.
I wanted the bike by November, they said no bookings till January, I didn't want to wait, so pushed for a bike earlier.
Now that I read the above, it does seem a little over the top, but hey, I really really wanted the bike, and did not want to wait for months to get it.

I'd dropped an email to BAL and some prominent auto magazine editors copied, which swung things in my favour. In my email I pointed out that the flagship model motorcycle was not available to even view at the biggest showrooms in the metros of the country. Bookings were being handled very badly, if at all. BAL and Kawasaki are not waking up to the shortfall between demand and supply, etc etc.
Guess I got their attention. I also got the bike soon afterwards, on the condition that delivery will be at Belgaum (~550kms away). I did not have a problem riding back, had plenty of company too. The Belgaum chaps (Faroukh & Amit) were simply fantastic throughout my booking experience. I make it a point to visit them each time I pass by belgaum.