Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

[niku]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Ninja in Tamilnadu shouldn't cost that high. Like the other members have said a price tag of 3.5 L is what is Acceptable... Except for people looking specifically for it, other bikers stay away from it due to low FE in city and the cost of maintenance esp., the fairings.
Please also look up for a good pre-owned Yamaha R3 or Ninja 300 ...unless the N650 top end is what you are looking for. Both the 300cc class bikes can do 170 while a N650 can do about 220~240 kmph. We do not have safety even on highways for speeds exceeding 100 kmph , that too depending on your reflexes and Luck. So in my humble opinion a Yam R3 and secondly a N300 makes more sense since it will be cheaper and does most of what a serious biker wants , and is also Pocket friendly...Both bikes can cruise at 140~150 kmph all day..

Thank you for your inputs sir. I have a 2013 D390 for touring now but I've my eyes on the old 650 for pillion comfort and more upright posture (which i prefer) than the current 650s. I'll keep looking for Pre-owned 650s for a while.

[psr]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs sir. I have a 2013 D390 for touring now but I've my eyes on the old 650 for pillion comfort and more upright posture (which i prefer) than the current 650s. I'll keep looking for Pre-owned 650s for a while.

Yes the old N650 had better seating position and were also a bit thrifty is sipping fuel. The rear seat comfort is not that good. The ER6N was better due to wider and more plush rear seat...you can even think on those lines, once you get your N650.
Good Luck.

[niku]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs everyone. I got my Ninja 650 (2013) with 17k odo yesterday evening. I already had test rode the bike (also had a ER6N owner with me who also took a ride before I did) The battery needs to be changed, the rear brake pads need to be changed, there's oil leak in front right suspension and the throttle cable play is bit loose. Adding the oil, air filter, brake fluids, chain and throttle body maintenance, I've got some good amount of stuff to take care of for a while.
Getting my own Ninja (250) was my dream for around a decade and finally, I've made it there [emoji16]

[Manoj Sivaraman]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs everyone. I got my Ninja 650 (2013) with 17k odo yesterday evening. I already had test rode the bike (also had a ER6N owner with me who also took a ride before I did) The battery needs to be changed, the rear brake pads need to be changed, there's oil leak in front right suspension and the throttle cable play is bit loose. Adding the oil, air filter, brake fluids, chain and throttle body maintenance, I've got some good amount of stuff to take care of for a while.
Getting my own Ninja (250) was my dream for around a decade and finally, I've made it there [emoji16]

Congratulations bro!

[B7ACKTHORN]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs everyone. I got my Ninja 650 (2013) with 17k odo yesterday evening. I already had test rode the bike (also had a ER6N owner with me who also took a ride before I did) The battery needs to be changed, the rear brake pads need to be changed, there's oil leak in front right suspension and the throttle cable play is bit loose. Adding the oil, air filter, brake fluids, chain and throttle body maintenance, I've got some good amount of stuff to take care of for a while.
Getting my own Ninja (250) was my dream for around a decade and finally, I've made it there [emoji16]

Niku congratulations. Finally you've made the double graduation. Regarding the nitty gritty items, these already would have made a hole on your pocket. I'd recommend you read Shv's Ninja 650 thread, definitely might come in handy and an excellent guide book for new 650 owners.

https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/superbike-imports/39598-something-mean-something-green-my-kawasaki-ninja-650-a-11.html

Cheers!
VJ

[niku]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Niku congratulations. Finally you've made the double graduation. Regarding the nitty gritty items, these already would have made a hole on your pocket. I'd recommend you read Shv's Ninja 650 thread, definitely might come in handy and an excellent guide book for new 650 owners.

https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/superbike-imports/39598-something-mean-something-green-my-kawasaki-ninja-650-a-11.html

Cheers!
VJ

Thank you.. I've made notes from the Green Elephant thread and I have been troubling for him for few weeks now. [emoji16]

[rreneav1987]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs everyone. I got my Ninja 650 (2013) with 17k odo yesterday evening. I already had test rode the bike (also had a ER6N owner with me who also took a ride before I did) The battery needs to be changed, the rear brake pads need to be changed, there's oil leak in front right suspension and the throttle cable play is bit loose. Adding the oil, air filter, brake fluids, chain and throttle body maintenance, I've got some good amount of stuff to take care of for a while.
Getting my own Ninja (250) was my dream for around a decade and finally, I've made it there [emoji16]

Congrats brother. I can understand the situation you are in as I have come past it 2 years back.. for the same machine.

Ninja 650 is a gem.. Ride safe and fly low.. All the Best

[niku]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Issue : Crackling/grinding Noise when starting the bike.

So when I first went to check the bike at the previous owner's place and tried starting the bike, it didn't start. The headlamps went low but it didn't start, i thought it was due to low battery (and I've changed it on Day 1). When the owner guy started the bike, there was a crackling sound but the bike came to life. I thought it might be because the bike wasn't started for long time. The next time I went to see the bike, the sound wasn't there during start.

But I had similar issue in Karizma ZMR earlier except that the bike will not start but the crackling sound only keeps coming as long as I press the ignition switch. It was also parked for long time and I had to change the one way clutch and the issue was gone.

Also a friend had this crackling (but bike will start) issue in his RC390 and it was the one way clutch.

Based on these, i decided it is the One way clutch and got a slightly used (1900 miles clocked) part from a US ebay seller via a friend who was travelling to India. It costed me 7k whereas Kawasaki Chennai said 19k for new part.

And I got the One way clutch assembly changed but guess what, the sound is still there. It occurs randomly. May be twice a day suddenly and once in three days after that. This has been the case from the day I took the bike.
The mechanic said the One way clutch which was in the bike itself is good but he changed the part as I had bought it anyway and gave the stock one (pic below) to me.

Next up is checking the Starter Motor(as suggested by Shivanga).
Please let me know if it rings a bell to anyone. Thanks

[theironhorse99]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Thank you for your inputs everyone. I got my Ninja 650 (2013) with 17k odo yesterday evening. I already had test rode the bike (also had a ER6N owner with me who also took a ride before I did) The battery needs to be changed, the rear brake pads need to be changed, there's oil leak in front right suspension and the throttle cable play is bit loose. Adding the oil, air filter, brake fluids, chain and throttle body maintenance, I've got some good amount of stuff to take care of for a while.
Getting my own Ninja (250) was my dream for around a decade and finally, I've made it there [emoji16]

Battery - Amaron 1700 bucks
rear brake pads - Nikavi - amazon.in ( india make- pretty decent and super cheap)
front fork seal - OEM 1300+ each. get yamaha R3 fork seals. much cheaper works fine. ( Fork oil - Motul 20w)
Engine oil- Shell Rimula/ Shell Ultra
Air Filter - get from bikemoksha ( Pm me will send you contact).
brake Fluids - Dot 4 - do it yourself (TVS girdling bottle costs - 120 bucks )
Chain set lasts much longer if taken care of. see what is needed. you might just do away with just a sprocket change and keeping the chain.
throttle body - buy 3M TB cleaner - amazon.in

you just saved ton of cash

[niku]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Battery - Amaron 1700 bucks
rear brake pads - Nikavi - amazon.in ( india make- pretty decent and super cheap)
front fork seal - OEM 1300+ each. get yamaha R3 fork seals. much cheaper works fine. ( Fork oil - Motul 20w)
Engine oil- Shell Rimula/ Shell Ultra
Air Filter - get from bikemoksha ( Pm me will send you contact).
brake Fluids - Dot 4 - do it yourself (TVS girdling bottle costs - 120 bucks )
Chain set lasts much longer if taken care of. see what is needed. you might just do away with just a sprocket change and keeping the chain.
throttle body - buy 3M TB cleaner - amazon.in

you just saved ton of cash

Thank you. I've done everything the same way you've mentioned except that I used FZ oil seal and not bleed the brakes yet and the sprocket looks good for now [emoji16]

[sauravalwaysurs]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Hello,

Today I visited Kawasaki showroom in my city to ask about final discount on ninja 400 and 650.
Ninja 400 bs4 is sold out and one last ninja 650 bs4 is left but it is test ride vehicle. KMS clocked on test ride bike is 1600 and the final on road price they are offering is 5.35 lakhs. Visually, the bike looks good. Do you guys think that it is a good deal?

[mitz]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Hello,

Today I visited Kawasaki showroom in my city to ask about final discount on ninja 400 and 650.
Ninja 400 bs4 is sold out and one last ninja 650 bs4 is left but it is test ride vehicle. KMS clocked on test ride bike is 1600 and the final on road price they are offering is 5.35 lakhs. Visually, the bike looks good. Do you guys think that it is a good deal?

Unless you are desperately looking for the upgrade, please avoid. There's a good chance the bike is internally as good as it looks but I've known people thrashing test ride bikes badly (red lining unnecessarily, lugging the engine to test tractability, clutch-less break shifts even, hard braking tests etc). All of these are not the best for a bike in break-in period.

I'm not against buying a test ride bike/car but the deal has to be really tempting. At the price of 5+ lakhs, you are better of getting a single owner used N650 (even if the ODO is higher)

[krish2778]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Hello,

Today I visited Kawasaki showroom in my city to ask about final discount on ninja 400 and 650.
Ninja 400 bs4 is sold out and one last ninja 650 bs4 is left but it is test ride vehicle. KMS clocked on test ride bike is 1600 and the final on road price they are offering is 5.35 lakhs. Visually, the bike looks good. Do you guys think that it is a good deal?

Tread carefully with any bike Kawasaki.
If you get unlucky with any kind of repairs the service / repair bill is not going to show mercy at all.
If I was in your position, i'd just walk away.

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

[sauravalwaysurs]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Ok thanks for your inputs, I asked for test ride of that bike and they are not giving it.

Meanwhile I spotted a Nov 2019 ninja 650 on olx, ridden for 2000 Kms only. what should be best bet for this bike ( if there is no accident history etc)?

[fahim154]

Re: Ninja 650R - Ownership Thread

Hi All,

Hope everyone is coping well with the COVID-19 situation!

Need your inputs regarding my next purchase. But first a bit about me.

Was active here a lot around 2011ish I think! But I moved to Australia and got busy with Uni and part times jobs(mostly to save up for my bike), got back just before the COVID lockdown(lucky me) and intend to stay for 3-4 years.

So the timeline of the bikes that I have owned goes something like this.

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSI 2009-2013 India (Bought New and ridden about 70k)
No riding for about 6-7 months when first moved overseas.
Yamaha R125 2014-2015 Australia (Bought used and ridden about 20k)
Honda CBR300R 2015-2017 Australia (Bought New and ridden around 35k)
Honda CB500F 2017-2018 Australia (Bought used and ridden around 15k, realised I dont like naked bikes due to windblast, etc)
Yamaha MT-09 2019 Australia (Friend left it to me to take care of while he was overseas, ridden around 6k before he came back, this was a proper beast but not practical especially here in India)

Arrived here in Feb 2020, so its been about 8 months since I have owned a bike, have ridden a few owned by friends, also family owns a Suzuki Access 125 which I ride around when I am bored, its fun but certainly nothing fun or special. Itching to get back on the saddle as soon as possible, been researching the current Indian market since lockdown happened. I like Japanese bikes since I have owned a few and I like the engineering, robustness, reliability of the Japanese.

Also, I like to get a new bike, I trust no one to treat their bikes as I would

Had shortlisted a few
Ninja 400 (BS6 not launched)
TVS Apache (Not available for TR, no one know when it will be available)
Yamaha R3(Don't know if and when it will come back to India)

But when I visited the Delhi (Aurum) Kawasaki to check if they have any N400, they advised me that they don't but they showed me the 2021 N650, test rode the old one but will insist on TR of the new one before booking one.

I Absolutely loved it, ticked all the boxes for me, felt it like a jack of all trades, quite refined, manageable. Only con after the first sort of inspection was the underbelly exhaust which might get bashed up on the famous indian speed breakers, large potholes etc.

So I ask you my fellow xbhpians to please share your valuable feedback regarding the service and spare costs. Was advised at the showroom that the service cost will be something around 5-6k, is it accurate? are spares easily available? does the bike require a lot of maintenance? how long do the factory tyres last? Also, please share your experiences on the indian roads, does the bike feel heavy? does the underbelly get bashed up? Any other things to consider?

In any case thank you for reading through this long ass post.

ATGAT and Ride safe!