Whoa...It's been quite a while since i logged into xBhp and i have just stumbled upon this thread!!

Congratulations, Mr Raghu..First the Duke, then the CBR, the Baby Kwacker and finally you decided upon this beast, the 650R. Damn good choice and i must say you are lucky enough for having saved your time and money for something this worthy.

Wishing you countless happy (s)miles all along the way!!

Heartiest congratulations, BP, on what is a most sensible purchase. If I was not so fed-up with faired bikes - no tinkering potential - I would have bought the 650 pronto. Currently, I am waiting and waiting and waiting and.... for the Triumph Bonnie to grace our shores. If it does not Triumph by 2014, then I shall Kawa

What is your wife's reaction to the pillion seat? 'Cause if I get one, my wife will lynch me if I don't take her to Leh on it!

Hey Chicane thanks for your wishes buddy. Well the dreams were never ending for me CBR, Duke, Baby Ninja ........ I believe, I made a wise decision on the 650 just love her, except when I have to push her around . You should test ride one, you will love the torque but be careful the brakes are a nightmare .


As for the fairing problem, there is some good news for you, the naked 650 with ABS is on its way, don't ask me when, this was revealed on the 650 facebook group.

As for pillion comfort, the problem for me is, I have a son, 3 years old and he wont let us travel together and he will insist on joining us, I take them on small rides with in my locality, but believe me if anyone wants to join pillion then you have to ride below 120 and accelerate slowly, if u start blasting, it is a pain for the guy at the back.

Intrigued | Interested | Salivating | Pinching my Self | Dreaming

+1 to that, took my dad for a spin and while he was mighty impressed with the power of the bike - he did mention that his grip on the grab rails would have led to zero blood flow into his palms.
So all in all if someone is willing to grab you around the waist, u can ride this bike to its potential. if not, be nice, feel for the pillion.... for he/she is like a oscillating pendulum who is holding on for dear life.
Interesting observation after riding with my wife sitting pillion. On the FZ16 there are no dramatics from her end, she rests her hand around my waist with an open palm. On the 650 she starts off in the same manner, then there is twist of the throttle and her palm closes into a fist wit my T-shirt being clenched in it and pulled to one side. Mighty uncomfortable for me and the T-shirt feels wierd on you at this stage. So a further twist of the throttle and the right hand follows the left and the T-shirt straightens out. Bottom line, with a pillion, you can either ride this bike slow or fast, in between its uncomfortable.

@Praful :- Save up and go for the Ninja, I too was thinking on the same lines as you and was looking for a single cylinder bike that fit my budget, but then I had not purchased a bike for more than 10 years and felt if I had to buy a bike, it better be more than a single cylinder, I did think about the inline 4 cylinders but I have read so many ownership threads that talk about their impracticality and finally settled for the N650, if you haven't ridden the 650 let me know, we can meet and you can ride her and decide , I am sure you wont refuse this offer.

Now for some ownership update

I did a ride to Dubaare forest near Kushal Nagar, it was around 250+ kms one side, I left to Mysore at 6:30 AM on Sunday, the bike odo read 11xx, I had to do another 500 to finish the runnin, reached Macdonalds before Maddur around at 8:00 AM, a photographer at MacDonalds caught hold of me and he started asking me questions and at one point he bluntly asked "Why did you buy the bike?", I was stunned for a moment, I dunno this guy and what question is he asking me, the conversation went on and then he mentioned that he is a photographer and would like to shoot a panning shot of me, I agreed, the snap that he took looked neat, now waiting for him to send it across, by the time I saw the watch it was already 8:25, Mysore was another 70 kms from there, decided to hurry up and did some good speeds, at one point hit 175 kmph and did not even realise, all you need is small stretches of 200 to 250 meters to see those speeds and off course empty roads too, since it was early morning, there was less traffic, reached Mysore by 9:10. Picked my friend from Mysore and we left for Dubaare, this time I was pillion and I decided to hold the grab rails instead of falling on my friends back under braking, that was the biggest mistake I did, by the time we reached the destination I had a severe thigh muscle cramp. We had done some 80+ kms in 60 odd minutes, 650 is born for the highways.
While returning, left at 2:30PM, on the way back I rode and friend was pillion, we rode slowly as it was getting tiring, accelerating and braking was taking a toll on the pillion. We reached Mysore by 4:30. I left to BLR by 5:00 PM and kept on over taking everything that came in my way, I was just cruising and enjoying the ride, overtaking four wheelers is biggest smile that this bike gives the rider, effortless is the word I would love to use again, one small burst of acceleration and the cars just vanish from the rear view mirrors, due to the horrible traffic in Chennapatna and Ramnagar, I reached Nice road by around 7:30 PM took a break for 10 minutes, by this time the bike had already crossed the 1650 kms mark and I felt a huge improvement in the smoothness of the engine, the harshness that is felt between 4 to 5k rpm had subsided by a huge margin and she felt unbelievably smooth, I once again opened the throttle on the Nice stretch and boy even after 500kms of ride she was putting a smile on my face, once you cross 5k rpm she is electric motor smooth, reached home in another 30 mins. I had covered a total distance of 530 kms and the bikes odo is close to 1700 kms now. The ride had taken a toll on my neck and I had severe neck pain yesterday, feeling better now.

She has been consistently delivering 25+kmpl, so on tankful I manage to do more than 250+ kms, when the fuel indicator starts blinking, which indicates that the bike has around 4 litres in the tank, I have done around 40 kms in this mode riding slowly in 6th gear on one occasion. If ridden consistently at around 120 to 130, I am sure you can stretch her close to 300 kms.

All in all, if you are into touring, the 650 is the bike to have.


@Zimbly :- After yesterdays ride I have decided no pillions if riding in sport mode .

Missed reading this thread as I'm a little less active these days.

A big Congratulations!

Thanks for sharing your experiences guys. Worth reading while I wait for my dream bike to arrive. Booked it 3 weeks back (27th Oct) and have been informed that mostly will get my Ninja 650 by 1st week of Dec. Hope the commitment is true as I am all set to Go Green

Upgraded from 12 BHP to 72 BHP, please welcome the Kawasaki Ninja 650

@bprag: neat update. Thanx for sharing.
I have had a 250 for 2 yrs now. Around 14k on d odo. No aches n pains.

But the moment i have started riding the 650 weird aches around neck n upper back!! Gotta figure out my riding posture again i guess. A 2k km trip coming up end dec, gotta be in tip top shape for that.

You are welcome buddy, I believe such ownership threads give people confidence in owning such expensive bikes. I wish you too start an ownership thread, it will help a lot of other guys too.


That's an interesting observation from you, for me the pain was a little severe, I still have it, the 650 guys on the facebook are suggesting me to start exercising. I love it when I open the throttle it feels awesome, since I am done with the runnin, I am planning to redline her after completing 2000 kms, I have already done it once unknowingly she is just wow and I love the soft exhaust note.

Since you come from the N250, how do you find the brakes on the 650 . Next month I am planning to upgrade to EBC brake pads and Galfer lining.

All of you Ninja owners please do join the 650 face group, lots of interesting discussions, rides and off course accessories too.

I have requested today to join N650 group on Facebook. I will start an ownership thread as well once I receive the bike.

I would love to go for it and in fact have been tracking this bike much before it got launched here, but a few wrong career moves means that I have to wait some more before I can afford to get one!

So for now will make do with a single cylinder as a stop gap solution!

I would love to meet up though and click a few pics, might not ride it since then I'd totally loose it and probably loot a few banks on the way back

^^Praful bhai,Ninja 300 zindabaad .Intezaar ka fal meetha,naya aur sasta hota he. If only it gets launched in India in next couple of years

@Bprags - Congrats on your ride,Have a wonderful time on the highways

Cheers
Biru

The 250/300 though perfect bikes and would like to keep one of those as the 3rd or 4th bike in my garage! *someday*

I need something that I can take anywhere without the fear of breaking too much. *Sigh* Kawasaki should get the Versys/KLR650.

Till then Duke 390 zindabad!

EDIT: Non OT, Bprags how about some more pictures Most of the 650 owners are barely clicking any pics!

Knowing you and your appetite for instinctively planned long distance trips, a Ninja 650 will make tremendous sense. It might break your bank for the moment but will be a better choice for the long term. Think about it!!