hi

hi people , a very happy new year to one n all........guess what ? i just heard on the news that there will be duty cuts on imports from malaysia and thailand starting new years.....now correct me if im wrong but doesnt bajaj import the ninja in ckd units from thailand ? if thats true then the price of ninja should come down ....wot say people ..........

I don;t know should i answer your query in this section if it's a off-topic, mods you may shift or delete the post.

"Duty cut on imports from Malaysia, Thailand
NEW DELHI: Imports of several items such as fish, apparel, cheese, tyres and construction equipment from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand will become cheaper from Friday as India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement comes into force with these countries in the first phase.
Only three of the 10 members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are implementing the FTA with India from January 1. But they account for bulk of the $44-billion India-ASEAN trade. India’s trade with the three major ASEAN economies — Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand — stands at $40 billion.
“The Finance Ministry is expected to notify changes in the structure anytime now,” a Commerce Ministry official told PTI. As for the remaining seven members of ASEAN, they would take few more months for getting the India-ASEAN trade pact “internally approved or ratified by their parliaments,” the official added.
By March 2010, Myanmar, Brunei and Vietnam are also expected to implement the trade pact, while the rest from June, the official said.
The FTA signed in August would open the 1.7 billion people market in a phased manner, beginning 2010.
By 2016, duties of bulk of the bilateral trade would get eliminated or drastically reduced on about 4,000 products. — PTI "

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This is limited to certain range of products and auto is being excluded from the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods (TIG) Agreement. Hence no change in the price, it seems ... but Kawi is bringing in bikes in the CKD format, so can't comment on legalities, may or may not ... guys you all can throw some light on this.

@bluevolt - the rear is looking awesome! congrats man!!!

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Congrats bluevolt! Must say the green tail looks really neat. Knowing the way you explain things i am sure the ownership thread will be really enriched. Looking forward to seeing your bike in flesh

Thank you - it actually looks as big as the black now


That was one thing I wanted changed pronto - so I did without procrastinating Thanks...

Thank you - I just came back home after finishing a 275 km proper first day ride, and will post pictures and comments later today!

Guys a query.....when the bike is started after it cools down the bike idles at a higher rpm - 2 to 2.5 krpm and then goes down to about 1 Krpm....is that expected? Also, how long do you guys typically wait for the bike to warm up?

When I rode it home last evening, I thought the idling RPM was too high (2K ish) so I called Prasanna, the engineer. He said that it is set high initially but will bring down 500 or so after the first service. On the new bike, I believe ideal is around 1.5-2k rpm.
I just let the engine run for 2 minutes before slotting it into first gear.

275!!on day 2 of ownership looks like you're gonna finish off the running in in a week's time. Must've been difficult controlling the right wrist, eh?
your green tail has again swung me in favour of the green ninja. how much did u pay for them? And lastly please post the trip log and pics.

At last! The Kawasaki key goes into the special key chain I bought for the Ninja 250R Yesterday was reserved only for the DIY session (swapping the tail covers), so I did not get a chance to ride the bike properly, except for the trip from showroom to home. It also started raining last evening, so I could not even take pictures. But after googling on Bangalore weather for Friday, it showed as clear and sunny; a perfect occasion to kick off the first ride of the Ninja.

I wanted to do two things today -ride the bike in horrible traffic (so that I could get more comfortable riding the bike in everyday conditions), and then get a 'touring demo' on the highway to assess how I felt after riding it for 6-7 hours straight. So after a long time, I took out my full riding kit for the ride after spending the last night prepping my kit. Armors were inserted inside the jacket, checked the screws on my street boots, and pulled out my long football socks which I normally wear with my boots and pants.

I reckoned 11.30 am would be when the traffic starts to build up on the Hosur road, so I left house at 11am. When I turned into the main market street, I saw another Ninja heading towards me - a black one. The guy on the bike was Startrek (Praveen) and he had come to get a new embossed rear license plate in the market. I made a U-turn and went on other side of the road, where we did a quick snap-snap session:

That's me on my Green Ninja!:


Startrek on his Black Ninja:




The black and the green Ninja's together!



I was in my leathers which gets VERY warm if you don't keep moving, so we went on our ways after the quicky photo session. As I approached Koramangala and Electronic city on Hosur road, the traffic kept on getting worse. Strangely, this is what I was looking for -if I had listened to my heart, I would never take my Ninja to these parts, but this was the only way I could get accustomed to the bike. There were a lot of crazy drivers, and I wondered if I could make it home in the evening without a single scratch on the Ninja's bodywork. Just when I had this thought, a moped with a TN-24 number and family of four rear ended my bike. Luckily, he hit my tyre and not any part of the body, so there was no damage. Before I could say anything, he zipped away on a kuccha lane. Anyway...

Soon the traffic started getting sparse, and after crossing Hosur, the highways opened up. I was very mindful of the 4-5k rpm limit during break-in, so I did not rip the bike though it was very tempting to do so on an open road. A little before Krishnagiri, my low fuel light in amber flicked on, so I stopped at the next fuel pump and got around Rs.400 of petrol filled it. It was a modern looking HP pump which sold Power and I asked the attendants whether Power was 91 Octane. He had no idea what I was talking about and his eyes glazed over... Nevertheless, I had the Ninja filled up with Power and then went on my way to Krishnagiri. I had been riding the bike for more than a couple of hours, so I took a break at a nice quiet place and squeezed a few shots:





I was wearing my full riding gear and I was on a green motorcycle, so I was an instant hit with the kids in buses, cars and 3 wheelers. One of the cars came close in the adjacent lane and there was a kid inside trying to take my photo. I obliged and flashed a 'V' sign to him...

The riding position is quite ergonomic, with a near neutral biased position. After being on the bike for 6 hours straight, I did not feel any aches and sores in my back and shoulders, but I did feel pressure on my wrists and forearms. It's too early to say, but it might be due to incorrect gripping. I will try a different way of holding the throttle and clutch grips and see if that slight discomfort goes away.

The seat is quite uncomfortable for touring long distance - rightly so, because the Ninja 250R is a street bike and a not a inter-state mile cruncher. I have been pampered by my RE's sofa-like seat, so my bums started aching after 150 kms. There is little place to move around too, so if you want some relief, one has to park on the side lane and massage your bums to get the blood going. (some sight that is going to be on the highway! ) Now I know that my next add-on for the Ninja is going to be the Corbin padded leather seat...

I turned left towards Chennai and kept going for some before I realized that I had only Rs.100 rupees in my pocket and no clothes for the night, so I thought it was wise to head back to Bangalore! I took a U-turn from the highway and stopped at a roadside shop to tank up on H20 and eat something. The green Ninja takes just under a minute to attract a dozen people, and from the shop I could see people pointing inside the bike and talking to one another. A photo outside the shop:



After 10 minutes, I sat on the bike, switched on the engine and put the bike into first gear. It stalled. I tried again. It stalled. I am now thinking, 'what the ...?' But I soon found out why - I thought I kicked the side stand upwards when I got on the bike, but it did not lock properly and came back down. I kicked up again - properly this time. I had read that the engine does not start with the kickstand in place; that is incorrect. The engine starts, but the bike will stall if you try to put it in gear.

And here's my take on the 4k rpm limit during break-in: You will have to quickly shift up if you have to keep it at 4,000; in lower gears the needle will start going past 4.5km if you are in 4th or 5th and trying to do 60 kmph. The tops at 4k rpm will be 60kmph on 6th gear. The engine does not knock or clatter at that speed in spite of being in the highest gear; the bike will actually pull cleanly towards a higher speed without down shifting to 5th. At one occasion on the way back, I ended up behind a line of slow moving truck chasis's, and I had to no choice but to accelerate for a short burst and move ahead. And boy, does the bike gather speed quickly - I downshifted to 5th and wrenched the throttle and it quickly went from 60 to 100 in no time. After a few seconds (and overtaking those trucks), I went easy on the throttle and
settled into the left lane at a sedate 60 kmph.

Once you get accustomed to the sound of the engine and get a aural sense of what RPM and speed is the engine currently doing, take off your eyes off the tacho and focus on your riding. When I was riding the bike from the showroom yesterday, I was constantly looking at the tacho and that distracted me a lot. After riding for an hour today, I took my eyes off the dash and concentrated on riding safely. Of course, there will be times when the RPM will go higher and be in the 4-5.5 range, but I think that is ok. If you keep looking at the tacho instead of the road ahead, you will rear-end a auto-rickshaw filled with goats and hay!

I entered Bangalore in the evening and pretty much the rush hour! I had left at 11am and parked my bike at 05:30 pm. Six and half hours of riding, 275 kilometers - that was my first ownership experience!

Ha ha! My target is to get rid of the break-in time asap. Hope you liked the trip log and pictures above.

I paid Rs.9000 in Melbourne for the tail covers, though it is available for only Rs.5000 in the US. So even after importing them and paying the duties, you should get it cheaper than mine.

Wonderfully written "first real ride" report there Bluevolt! LOVED it thoroughly. And it is real LOVELY to see you in your FULL riding gear!

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, this.

^^ great write up there... i agree whole heartedly with the comments on the bike! I take my bike out generally in the night time only. very rarely in the day. And if i do have to go in the daytime, then i make sure its always within visible range. The other ninja sold in fbd has two major scratches put on the tank by someone in the parking of a mall ( according to the owner). sheesh!

Thank you for the kind words, Aryan! I promised people on xbhp that I will write a proper report when I get my bike, so I'm trying to keep good on that promise.

The feeling of safety after wearing the full gear makes up for whatever discomfort I feel (it is mostly heat in stop and go traffic). I know that god forbid, if I slide on the road at 70 kmph, I have a much higher chance of walking back home with nothing more than a bruised ego and damaged leathers. People generally under estimate the potential damage of even light accidents - once I dropped my RE at 20kmph and that shred my leather gloves, but saving my palm in the process.

And of course, I look cool in them!

I don't think I will ever park my Ninja in a mall. In my apartment, it stays hidden under a waterproof cover, and in my office I will leave it uncovered with a motion sensor disc locks which will promise temporary deafness to whoever messes around!

Congratulations..

Wonderfully expressed there bluevolt! I can feel the excitement in every single word of yours. People still ask me questions regarding my P220 and iam imagining what if i were on a Ninja!
I guess this is the first proper report of the baby Ninja. Wonderfully written with nice pics. Do upload more pics of the Green Beauty.
And yeah u do look cool in those leathers.

This thread is going to get me fired, all i do at work these days is to read it.
Loved the pics and the log. Dude i'll be spending a lot of time with you once i get mine.9 grands is expensive, guess i might as well get fired and then look for a bette paying job.

Thank you! By the way, the p220 is a great bike which set industry benchmarks, and I almost bought it a year ago. I had to travel out on work and I deferred my purchase - and got procrastinated eventually

Here are a couple of more pictures from today which I have not yet posted - hope you like 'em!





Sure buddy, look me up anytime after you get your bike. And I was also addicted to this thread at work - I spent a LOT of time reading it. And the panels... maybe you can check with the US website (Kawasaki parts house) on what the total damage is going to be? Maybe around Rs.7000 or so instead of 9k. Australia is very expensive anyways so I paid so much for these.