Hey thanks... I know that would have stumped me too. It was sheer chance that I decided to park the bike to have a detailed look and then I realized that stand was already engaged!
And nice pics from your Pune g2g - thanks for sharing!

Thank you - I have one more coming up. I just came back home after spending 10.5 hours non-stop on the Ninja and covering 519 kilometers in the process. It sure is tough to do that distance on 4000 rpm! Anyway, I am past the 4k rpm stage now, my odo now shows 824 kilometers. Am tired as heck but will see if I can post something tonight. I also have a DIY #2 to share too.

You have the correct part nos. And it is great that you are getting the Xena lock with the 10mm pin - you just have to keep in mind that it will be heavy, very heavy.

Yes, I did top the 4 liters of reserves with another 8 liters of Power, but the bike did not act cranky. But after what you recommended, I got the tank filled with 10 liters of Shell Super. It definitely sounded better than Power, but after I ran out main fuel reserves during the trip today, I put in another 10 liters of Extra Premium. I liked Extra premium - the bike sounded good on it. Maybe it was also the fact that I had crossed 800 km on my odo by that point and I was then revving the Ninja at 6-6.5 k rpm. So can't say which sounds better - Shell or Extra premium. Maybe I will get a better sense after few more re-fueling sessions!

You are a superman......!!!!! Eagerly waiting for posts with some pics....

It was close to 1pm, and I had been riding for over four hours and 211 kilometers. My palms were beginning to feel numb, my wrists were strained and my legs felt ready to cramp. Today was a cloudy day, but it was also starting to get warm. I opened up the vents on the visor and suddenly felt the air rushing in, howling like a banshee and working its way around my head. Below, the Ninja's engine purred contently at 4000 rpm. I decided to take a break for a couple of minutes and stretch my limbs; I pulled up to the left and parked my bike. As I stretched my tired limbs and started thinking about my aches and sores, I saw a strange sight on the road behind me. At first, it looked like a goat walking in fast lane of the highway. Then I saw a bus coming towards it, doing around 80 kmph, and then the driver saw it too - he sharply swerved towards the left, tyres screeching trying to avoid hitting it. And then I saw what 'it' was - an old woman, her back bent with old age, walking in middle of the highway using a walking stick. Cars and buses zipped by, and no one bothered to stop and help her to the side. By now, I was absolutely certain that if she stayed where she was, one of the cars or buses would hit her head on - not a pretty sight if that was to happen. I waited for around 30 secs - and then I ran to where she was and helped her walk to the left unpaven side of the road. She mumbled something in Kannada which I did not understand, but at least she started walking on that path, away from the highway traffic. I looked at her go, and then thought about my own temporary aches and sores - that gave me a lot of perspective. Having rested enough, I thumb started the Ninja to life, and then went on my way.





Which begs the question - what am I doing on the Bangalore-Chennai highway? Did I not come here a couple of days ago for my first proper ride? I did, but that was only 275 kms, a long shot way from the 800km first break-in phase. My office was also to start again from the 4th and I was not sure, I would get enough time for a ride on my bike. So last night, after a late night dinner with my friend, I decided to ride at least 500 kms today. That would complete the first stage of the engine run-in, and also get rid of the annoying 4000 rev limiter. I left home at 8:30 in the morning, went to the Shell fuel pump and had the Ninja's tank filled with 10 liters of the finest. Today was Sunday, and traffic was sparse. Getting to the highway did not take long and soon I was crossing familiar landmarks which I had seen a couple of days before. I intended to ride 260 kms, take a U-turn, and then ride back to Bangalore. That would make it just over 500 kms and into the next stage of the break-in.

My 260 km U-turn point turned out to be under a NHAI board which announced the remaining distance to Chennai as 96 kms. Though I was tempted to go up to Chennai and turn back, I knew I would be pushing it. It was already 1.30 and my helmet had a tinted visor( I forgot to carry the spare), so unless I made it back to Bangalore before sundown, I would be asking for trouble due to limited visibility. I also did not stop - I did not have lunch, nor did I stop for a drink break. I had downed a bottle of Gatorade at the 211 km point and I felt that would keep me going till Bangalore. When my trip meter flashed 380 kms, the low fuel light came on. And just as suddenly it had appeared, it disappeared in a few seconds. The same thing on-off thing happened a few times, leaving me a little mystified. Then it stuck me - the gradient of the road affected the fuel sensor in the tank. So when I was riding on a decline, the low fuel light came on. And when the road started going uphill, the fuel warning would disappear. I assumed that the sensor was located in the rear tank (near the seat) , so in case of a decline the fuel would move to the front and the warning would come on. So a word of caution to would be Ninja tourers: if you plan to ride uphill for a few hours( be it the ghat sections or mountains), make sure you have enough fuel, and if you think the fuel is low, try parking the Ninja on a flat surface to get the true low fuel reading.

There's another thing - not many petrol pumps sell high octane or premium fuel, so make sure you start on a full tank, and memorize the pumps on the way where you see the right kind of fuel being sold. In a worst case scenario, that might help you get back there in case of an emergency dry tank. With me, I had to ride for 40 more kilometers on reserve before I could find a pump which sold Extra-premium. I filled her up with 10 liters and then got back on the highway. Before entering Bangalore, my odometer touched 800 kms, and I celebrated that by revving the engine up to 6000 rpm! It soon started touching speeds of 80-90 and I started overtaking slow moving trucks as if there were standing still. The engine note also changed as I moved from 4.5 k rpm to 6000 - not exactly a shriek, but a promise of what lay next after 6k!

The traffic in the city was very thin due to today being a Sunday, and I made it home at 7 pm, having covered 519.6 kms in 10.5 hours. As soon as I reached home, I took a quick shower and then jumped under the bed covers and lay down, savoring the moment after spending 10.5 hours on the Ninja 250R...






NEXT POST TOMORROW NIGHT: DIY #2 on the Ninja 250. Here's a teaser picture!!!

@blue cool yaar fun with ninja cont,how much is the mileage ? checked ! jantha Q lol.

Gosh u really are going to finish it off in a weeks time , huh buddy? once i get my bike i am handing it over to you to finish off the running in

I can imagine how tough it would be ride a bike @60KMPH continuously for 500 odd KM's when u know u can rip it apart at 160KMPH. Now that u have completed ur phase I of run-in, have more fun with the Bike.

waiting for your DIY #2.

Hey, in case bluevolt is busy, I am more than happy to finish it off for you.

At 4000 rpm at 60kmph, it gave me 36km per liter. This was during the run-in phase, so maybe it might go higher? I haven't calculated mileage in city riding yet.

Recently, I joined Pune G2G ride to Kas Lake, Satara which is located around 130 km from Pune city. The ride involved blasts upto 165 kmph and overall riding was extremely fast. I observed fuel economy @ 28kmpl for this ride.

Generally in city riding, bike gives similar average. Of course, on saner speeds, the fuel economy may go up considerably.

Secondly, I had observed a side-by-side rocking when the bike is idling or sometimes even after switching off. Just yesterday night, I found out that it happens when you fill up your tank to the brim. Have any one else observed this?

Its due to the fuel splashing around inside the tank-happens in my R15 too.

^
True! Even I was startled the 1st time. Its because the fuel moves around in the tank...

@ Bluevolt- excellently written piece! What is the 2nd DIY?

Congratulations Bluevolt! That is one sweet machine you have

DIY #2: Sticking paint guard on the Ninja 250!

On my first 275 km ride on the Ninja, I was wearing a two piece leather suit with in-built armor.I parked the bike home in the evening, and then next morning I did a quick round of the bike to see if there were any damages from pebbles or scratches. I noticed that my leather pants had scuffed (not scratched) the surface of the tank in the side areas where you would normally hug the tank with your knees while riding. I also saw that the extra key in the key chain had left a scratch in the area just below the ignition key. Alarmed, I set out to apply a thing called a 'Paint Saver' on my Ninja 250R.

I had got a roll of Paint Guard from OZ, a adhesive transparent film(also available in optional textures) which is around 1mm thick. You can cut different shapes and stick them on the bike, so that certain scratch prone areas (like the front area, and tail) are protected by this additional layer. What I will do today is to document how I went about the whole process. It will take you around 4 hours in total from start to finish, but it is worth the effort. And I think this applies to all bikes and not only the Ninja since every bike is susceptible to scratches and minor surface degradation. I got my stuff from Melbourne, but should be available online. The brand I used was 'Oxford Paint Saver' in clear texture.

STEP #1 - Trace the patterns you want, using the actual body contours of your bike. For this, you would need around half a dozen sheets of tracing paper, a drawing pencil with a soft lead (like 4~5B), Scotch tape and a measuring tape. First, using the tracing paper and tape, cover the areas of the bike you want to make the paint guard patterns for. Once you have done that (see picture below), start marking the edges of the bike component using the pencil lead sideways. Do you remember, as kids, we used to trace a 1 rupee coin on a piece of paper? Same thing - this does not require a high level of artistic skill. If you were one of the kids in the class who drew random shapes during the teacher's lecture, that's all the skill you need. (ps: I still do that during meetings ) Tracing the contours of the bike is important as the patterns will end up blending with the bike and not hamper the aesthetic look of the bike, as would plain vanilla rectangular patterns!









Once you are done with the tracing, mark the up, front and back direction and also an indication of how much margin you need in the pattern. If the shape of your adhesive film ultimately ends up matching exactly with the curve peaks of the bike component, it will start peeling off since there will be not be enough grip on the sharp contours. So you have to to 'shave off' a few mm's around the entire periphery of the pattern you have traced on the paper. I took a 3mm allowance. And instead of the one large, big pattern, break it down into two or more, otherwise when you start sticking the large patch of adhesive film, you will encounter wrinkles and air bubbles, not to mention going out of line.

Once you get the paper traces back to your room, redraw them again using a pencil to mark clear lines and curves (see first picture below). The edges should not be pointy; they should be curved so that the film has more surface area for adhesion around the edges. Once you are satisfied with the result, use a black felt pen to draw the final pattern on the pencil markings. Then it will look something like this as in the picture below:




Step #2: Cut the tracing papers patterns along the pen lines and go back to your bike, placing them over the target areas to see whether they fit well. This second round is very important as this will help perfect the shape and reduces the scope of error when you actually start cutting the adhesive film. And if you have planned two or more patterns side by side, place them in the target positions to see whether or not they overlap. If they do, make pencil markings on the paper to shave off the extra margin. Then get a sheet of white chart paper, put the tracing paper with the marking on it, and start cutting 'guide patterns' using a sharp cutter knife. If you have a cutting sheet (which I used), that is perfect, otherwise use a kitchen board. Just following the pen markings to guide your knife. Then the result will be cut pieces of the original tracing paper and corresponding chart paper. The picture below illustrates that, and clearly mark which way is up, front etc etc.



Step #3: Using the cut chart paper patterns as a base, start cutting the final patterns from the paint saver sheet. Cut them in such a way that you do not waste much (see picture below) and also use a sharp knife and apply pressure since this is 1 mm thick. If you are having problems cutting a curved corner, just cut them straight and then give it a curve later using a sharp pair of scissors. Don't forget that there are two pieces to be cut for each pattern, one for left and the other for right. This can be done by just turning the pattern upside down (reverse side, not rotation) and then cutting again.





Step #4: Apply the adhesive film to different areas of the bike. Peel a little bit of the film, stick it on the starting point of the component and then gradually move towards the back(while peeling off the paper on the film), applying pressure on the center and then outwards radiating from the center to avoid any air pockets. Once the film is pasted on the panels/tank, apply more pressure on the edges and seal the adhesion. And Voila - you have done it! The pictures below will show how it looks - one needs to look really close to see the film. From a distance, the color of the bike will shine through, yet safe under a mm of polyurethane film!

I just posted the DIY - not something fancy like the lime green tail covers, but very functional and practical IMHO.

Thank you!

Power/Speed/Extra ?? what about normal petrol?

Guys, I wlike touring. In my last weeks ride of 1530kms, I hardly found petrol pumps with Speed/power fuels. Now that I will get my Ninja this month, I would like to know that whether it will run on normal petorl (no speed or power) ?

No normal fuel - only 91 Octane or higher.