The blue bike looks wow. I just hate that exposed shock absorber, they could have atleast painted it black or according the to the bike color.

Since the exhaust is below the engine, will it have any ground clearance issue on our roads?

Are you sure it was a Ninja 650R? Its not launched here yet.

+1. I love that shade of blue. Would look awesome in bright sunlight and on a dark cloudy day. Just imagine, deep dark clouds in the background, a long winding road and a blue ninja parked on the side. Aah. Bliss !!!

Yeah,agree with you

Oh yes, i'm pretty damn sure.
KA 01 ER 0505 memorized the number !

The bike you saw might be an Import directly..

Fat chance of that, if some one is importing and has the $$ to do that then its very rare that they'd pick a bike like the N650R!

I'm pretty sure its the Indian Ninja. This usually happens a few weeks before the launch, call it a soft launch wherein the bike is sort of tested out there in the open.

EDIT: But what going against it being the 'Indian' Ninja is that its already registered. And the colour combo mentioned by Sourav is not in the 2011 colour combos for the Ninja.

So all in all this spotting is weird! Need to get a pic of this guy asap

+1 Praful. It makes more sense to import a supersport like the ZX6R than the 650R.

This must have been a test mule. Maybe its being tested as per ARAI's requirements. But then the absence of any camouflage beats me and then its not even on a temp regn.

But this will definitely be miles ahead than the Hyosung GT650R in terms of refinement, handling, performance, blah, blah.

will bajaj test a bike in Bangalore instead of Pune, their place?

Way back when the 220 was due to be launched in early 2007 it was seen in places ranging from the highways of Rajasthan to the twisties of Ooty!

Guys.. Back with some more on the 650R...

So I guess the news is officially out now... its true that the distributors have been informed of the launch and orders have been placed...

Also i got a chance to get up close and personal with the 650R day a few days ago.. dont ask where dont ask how... all i can say is that indian RTO guys (or some certification guys) were there as well..

It was good to see the mini-beast and trust me it looks much better in reality...

Here are my humble reviews on what i think of the bike.. i'm not an expert on bikes so you have all the right to disagree with me...

- The frame of the bike... its been built tight but that give you an impression of the bike being small...

- The seating is kept low and its a comfortable ride position so even if u are a 5feet 5inch guy... and weigh in the 60's ... you can still pretty much be as comfortable as on any other bike..

- the kerb weight is kept low and so its easy to manuever and pretty responsive.. thankfully (unlike the hyosung) no major vibrations at high rpm's

Now for the downsides...

- the same thing that might be an advantage to some turns out not so great for people like me.. i'm 6 feet tall and 75 kilos... the bike is kinda small for me... also the entire frame of the bike is as such "slim"..

- its been toned down for india and i wish there was more juice to it at low rpm's

- the front number plate holders just destroys the entire front look

- its not a split seat (single seat for ladiezz as ur pillion)

- They are still talkin about toning down the muffler as it sounds "too loud". the "they" are these RTO idiots. thankfully i doubt if thats going to happen. i hear bajaj is pretty adamant on it.

- I am NOT AT ALL happy with the sound anyways... just compare it with any bike from any major manufacturer (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati). Personally i love the way the honda 600 sounds... its an orgasm..

- the shockers could have been better.

- the parts are going to be BLOODY expensive..

- like most other superbikes... the heat from the radiator is considerable if u have to navigate through traffic at slow speeds.. so if u r planning to buy this... DO NOT take it for a spin in traffic on hot days.. u'll have a tandoori leg piece on return..!

Over all i would give it a 6.5/10 on the ride factor but a handsome 8.5/10 on value for money..

And yes lemme re-iterate this again.... I DO NOT WORK WITH BAJAJ.. or any other magazine/bike maufacturer/group blah blah blah... I was just at the right place with right people at the right time... got lucky i guess??

Cheers..!!

Keep the wheels turning and tires burning.

at the above part!

The 'slimness' and straight handle bars will actually be a boon in traffic!

And will agree on the sound part, but its a Parallel twin, can't sound as sweet as a I4 or a triple!

Just another 650R stalker, eh?

By the way, thanks for the info. Did you manage to ride the india-spec 650R?

@ Prasoon - Didnt really understand the orders have been placed bit. Also
is the price the same as what you mentioned earlier i.e. 5.5L OTR Delhi?

Price remains unchanged..
what i meant by orders have been placed is that each probike dealer has been allotted the number of bikes he/she will recieve in the first consignment and so on and so forth..

@NikhilB.. yes it was an india-spec..

Agree with you.But the GT650R has sporty ergonomics,big bike look and on-road Mumbai price of 5.51lacs.