And the Green Affair continues
Finally got my Icon Overlord Type 1 Jacket. One of my friend's brother brought it from US. Photos do not do justice to this jacket.
Features:

• Icon attack fit
• Durable textile chassis
• Removable icon CE field armor impact protector elbow and shoulder
• Removable icon dual-density foam back pad
• Icon external injected plastic protection on shoulders, elbows and back
• Custom printed icon graphics
• Heavyweight ballistic impact panels
• Integrated fighter mesh panels for venting
• Gathered elastic flex panels on elbows and shoulders
• Removable insulated wind resistant liner

very nice mate,

also on the radiator cover, it is a good and worthy thing to do, the fender extender can not provide the same protection as radiator cover.

Yes, Radiator guard is on the cards and would be done soon. Will post details here once done.

Date: Sun, 27th Dec'12
Destination: Charoti, MH
Total Distance: 190 kms
Route: NH8

Yet another fine Sunday breakfast ride but this time with a group of SBK's from Mumbai. Rode till Atithi Hotel which is right after the Charoti Toll Naka. Some pictures from the yesterday's ride.

Pic Credit - Keith Pires

nice article sachin and congratulations for the new beast.
hope to meet u soon on the interstate meet.

Date: Sun, 3rd Feb'13
Destination: Kamat's, Lonavala
Total Distance: 190 kms
Route: NH4

Yet another breakfast ride done with all Mumbai Ninjutsus & Mumbai SAB Group and it was good to catch up with everyone. Nice swift ride which started at 6am and I was back home by 10:30am.
Since, I do not get to ride her on weekdays (Mon-Fri) due to office, I try to make the most of my early Sunday morning

Few pictures of last Sunday's ride and I promise to bring in a lot of pictures for the next update.

Midori has completed 7000 kms and the going can't get any better than this. I am awe struck by the Kawasaki experience. Recently did a Goa ride on NH17 and the bike is simply awesome in corners. It is effortless, super fun and you'll be all praises for the bike once you ride it in corners. This is one ride I would love to do again just for the love of twisties

I would upload all the Goa photos soon (probably before end of this week). Below is the Fuel Efficiency N650 gave during Goa Ride.
Total Fuel Consumed: 43.15 Liters
Total kms run: 1125 kms
Mileage: 26.07 kmpl





2nd Service - 7000 kms
Service Interval for N650 is 6K kms and only Oil Filter has been replaced in this service. 3rd Service would be at 13,000 kms.
1st Service was done at Ghatkopar however I was not happy with their working area and overall experience. This time I went to KTM Service centre in Sea Woods and it was a fantastic experience. Mechanic named Rehman did a fair job of fixing the things I told him to do and there is less crowd and more area to work. Would be going to Sea Woods hence forth.

1) Oil Filter - Rs.450
2) Motul 300V 10W40 - Rs.1576
3) Kit Chain Spray - Rs.145
4) VAT - Rs.271
5) Paid Servicing - Rs.1140
6) Service Tax - Rs.136
7) Education Cess - Rs.4
------------------------------------------
Total Service Cost: Rs. 3725













Add On's: Hel Performance Front Brake Lines (HEL Performance Stainless Steel Motorcycle Brake Lines)

Installed Hel Performance Front Brake Lines. It took close 1 hour to bleed the brake lines properly but end of the day it was all worth it.

I rode close to 180 kms after installing the Hel brake lines and the feedback from front brakes have seen a drastic change. I no longer need to brake earlier to ensure the bike stops where I want it to stop and it allows me to ride more comfortably now. Now, once EBC brake pads gets installed the braking would be perfect to match the power of this bike







Also did proper bike wash, wax and polish at 360 Motocare, Kharghar and the bike looks absolutely chic right now.













Add on's Coming Up: EBC Brake Pads & Fender Extender.

I am still waiting for my RC card to arrive. Following up with KTM sales guy to inquire the status but without any success till date

Nice overall review I must say. Keep it coming

I have done back to back rides in the last few weeks and due to update pictures and experience of all the rides.
Goa ride (1100 kms), Solo Mumbai - Bangalore - Mumbai ride (2000 kms) have been done and Malvan trip is coming up so thread would be loaded with pics and experience. COMING SOON!!!

WHOA! Couple of months off and so much has happened! Awesome stuff Sirji! Eagerly Waiting! FTW \m/

Malvan Ride

Date: 2nd & 3rd Mar'13
Destination: Chivala Beach, Malvan
Distance Covered: 1100 kms
Route: Thane - Vadhkal - Kasal - Malvan via NH17 & Malvan - Sawantwadi - Amboli Ghat - Kolhapur - Pune - Thane via NH4

A biker's phone call is all that takes to plan a ride and go for it. As soon as you rest yourself for a week, next week the biking 'Keeda' hits you to go for a ride. I got a call from one of my friends post which I analyzed, summarized, did the plus minus and there you go another ride just got planned randomly out of no where

Riders:
Rohit Mayadev - FZ1
Gavin Mcfarland - ST7
Keith Pires - '11 Ninja 650
Me - '12 Ninja 650

We chose NH17 to reach Malvan, met Gavin a Vadhkal Naka who came from Pune and the ride began. In scorching heat, we rode till we reached Kashedi Ghats. There is one word to describe riding here, Mind-blowing! Ninja 650 is an awesome, one hell of an effortless bike to ride in the ghats and I just the love riding it in the twisties. Although I was riding pretty hard I was amazed to see Gavin's ST7 matching my speed corner to corner. Considering the length, weight and sheer size of the ST7 able to keep up with a fast paced N650 was pretty damn impressive. The twisties and turnies continued all the way till we reached Malvan. Evening was a disaster as the home-stay where we booked to halt did not have food and booze facility. Unfortunately, we had to leave the place and search for another hotel began. Finally halted at Hotel Chivala Beach which checked all the right boxes (Food availability, Booze provided) Enjoyed brilliant sea food and lots of very good discussions which went all night.

Morning we went to the beach, enjoyed morning breakfast and visited a school. Yes. you heard me right, A School! This was one of the reasons we went to Malvan off all the places. Rohit wanted to visit his great Grandfather's built school which is one of the first school's in Malvan formed in 1920. Rohit was extremely happy to visit the school (his first visit apparently) and was left speechless. Sometimes we ride to explore, sometimes just to ride and then there are few occasions when we ride for a purpose. Seeing Rohit happy what his great grandfather built must have been a proud moment for him. I also ended in a Maths class somehow but no matter how hard I tried I just could nt solve the Maths sum put up on board while other students did it with ease :P
Lemme see if anyone here can solve the equation in one of the pics below

Return leg was via NH4. Initial 150 kms till you hit NH4 was bad. Few patches were good and few were incredibly bad. We halted in between at Amboli Ghat before we moved on. Once we hit NH4 there was no stopping us as we cruised 100+ speeds easily. We really clipped it! Hats Off to the brilliant riding skills which Gavin showed as at one instance he was pushed off the road when he still managed to control the bike in gravel and come out of it. Post Pune the usual Indian Rossi's were available in plenty who would do anything to hear the FZ1's loud GPR exhaust. Super irritating characters and complete hindrance while on the roads! Finally said Adeois to Gavin at Pune and to fellow Mumbaikar's at Palm Beach start. Reached home satisfied with yet another brilliant ride on my Kwacker.









































A Proud Moment for Rohit. Standing beside the statue of his Great Grandfather who built this school in Malvan.




















I really miss my school days! Looking at these kids refreshed my memories. Although I would have preferred the last bench




7th Maths - Can anyone solve this equation?




Glad they allowed me to study for 5 mins. Felt good sitting in front of a teacher.


While other students are happily solving problems, I just can't find the correct solution :P


Chivala Beach, Malvan.


Stay at Malvan - Hotel Chivala Beach


Chivala Beach, Malvan.




Amboli Ghat












4 Beauties - Our Steeds for an incredible riding weekend.

That's a great ride report. I can only wish to do a ride like you guys did. Have one question for you, what's that exhaust on the FZ1, kinda looks similar to Racefit growler, but i know its not it. Please enlighten.

It's a GPR Slip On Exhaust.

Midori completes 10,000 kms in 82 days

Midori completed 10,000 kms in 82 days after I bought it. That is 121 kms per day although I only ride it in weekends and when I have gone on trips.
So far, my N650 has done trips like Entire Rajasthan (3500 kms), Bangalore (2000 kms), Goa (1200 kms), Malvan (1100 kms), and many other short weekend rides less than 1000 kms.

It's been one hell of a riding experience on Ninja 650 and I am super happy buying it. Few places I am struggling to ride her well is in bad roads, off roads. Muddy roads, Gravels and wet roads scare the s*** out of me. Still learning how to control the immense power this bike offers in such situations. Service back up has been great so far and I hope it continues this way.

More to follow as the rides continues...

Bangalore Solo Ride

Bangalore Solo Ride

Date: 22nd Feb - 24th Feb
Destination & Route: Mumbai - Bangalore - Mumbai via NH4
Distance Covered: 2000 kms

What happens when beautiful straight highways meet a powerful motorcycle? Answer is simple, a lot of fun and an action packed day.
Although 1000 kms in a day sounds ridiculously too much but on a motorcycle as powerful as the Ninja 650 you would just not feel like stopping. Since there was no company and this was a solo ride, there were only limited stops made with less duration. The plan was simple to start early morning and reach the destination before sundown.

Unfortunately I woke up late and journey started only by 5:45 am. Nevertheless, the fun began as I reached from Mumbai to Lonavla in 90 mins with the crack of the dawn. I was cautious while riding in dark and decided to increase the speed after daylight. Breakfast at Kamat's and I moved on. Now, I met horrible Pune traffic which starts as early as 8:30 am. Post I crossed Pune, my speed increased and empty highways made up for some lost time. Finally took a break for petrol filling in Karad after covering 325 kms. Moved on and reached the best stretch of NH4 (Kolhapur - Belgaum). This stretch is super awesome and I was safely clocking 120+ without breaking a sweat. Did another 310 kms before I stopped for fuel again. I had covered more than half of the distance for the day by now and was on time to reach Bangalore by sunset. No close calls, No near misses although I did have fun riding along side few cars at a decently fast speed. Firstly these cars overtake you and then think you would be disappearing from their RVM soon enough but not this one. The next thing is they get surprised when they check their RVM and finally when Ninja overtakes them again they think what the hell was that

Reached Bangalore (my destination) by 7:45pm which means in 14 hours including breaks Ninja 650 managed to do 1000 kms. Wonderful ride and a very memorable one for me. Met my friends and stayed there for a day before I started the return journey on Sunday although this time it took 15 hours to reach home, courtesy traffic in Pune & thereafter.

Although I would not do Solo rides often, a few solo rides are always welcome when it's just you, your bike and the road. Nothing else in between!