Re: Long Term Ownership Report - 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650

Nice Summary of all the expenses .

As I write this reply I am contemplating between Bonneville and Ninja650 as my next upgrade. I would not like to upgrade to anything else (N250/N300/D390/HX250 etc).

Your thread really throws up all the positives (Ease of ride,mileage and its touring capabilities) and downside (no ABS, Brakes which needs additional 15k of add-ons and Ground clearance) of owning a Ninja650.

Ninja is nearly 1L less than the Bonneville in which all the upgrades and many more can be easily covered. Performance I feel would be more or less similar (seems so on paper) with the extra 6th gear on Ninja making it a much relaxed cruising experience on the highway at higher speeds(>130 kmph) which is apparent in its mileage (Bonne is abt 21kmpl if I am not wrong).
Have you experienced Bonneville ? I do not see any Bonneville in your group rides but if you had any experience, would love to hear your story.

Thanks

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Luckily I know someone who can help you here. [MENTION=33779]icemang[/MENTION] - you had a similar dilemma going in your head before you picked bonnie so please help our friend here choose the right machine :-)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xBhp Connect mobile app

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Oh ! that is quite a lead.

Re: Long Term Ownership Report - 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650

[MENTION=31671]Sachinnair[/MENTION]. Any time. In fact, you are an even more apt candidate to switch to the Bonnie - it is perfect for your type of motorcycling.
[MENTION=12050]roshan3440[/MENTION]. Fire away your questions.

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

In that case, Cant they bring the CBR 650F via CKD or CBU like how Z800 or N650 is being assembled. But for 650cc mill an in-line 4 will be sweet. I am not sure if we can wait for this as this will definitely beat the sales of z800 as the affordable in-line 4's available in India. European pricing seems to be like GBP 6800-7000, In our country will rate around 6.5-7 L OTR.

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those are really nice pics bro...

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Thanks @icemang. I want to know two things

1. What were the thoughts which made you not go for Ninja 650 but instead the Bonne ?
2. Now, when you rode both side by side, what were your initial thoughts ?

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

I have included a link to a document here, which is a comparison of the two bikes based on purely factual data - numbers only. This was an exercise for myself, just for the heck of it. You may find the torque and power entries interesting.



To me, the N650 was a higher version of my current CBR 250. Add one cylinder, increase the cc by about 400 and I get a N650. Both were bikes of the same genre - sports with a strong bias towards everyday riding and some touring thrown in.

Actually, even the CBR was my second choice. The first was the humble KLR650 or V Strom 650. It represented to me the optimal balance of power, comfort, fuel efficiency and MRS (Maintainability, Reliability and Serviceability - a superb concept in the Corps of Elec and Mech Engrs in the Army which I subscribe to; I am an infantry officer extremely interested in tech). It would allow me to ride solo as and where I wished plus allow my wife to tour with me. Sadly, both bikes are N/A in India thereby depriving an entire segment of riders from enjoying what IMO, are the most completely rounded bikes in the world.

The next inevitable option was the V Strom 1000 and XC series which invalidated themselves due to their exorbitant costs in India - I am not in the bracket which can spend 16 lacs on a motorcycle without causing serious retrograde changes in the lifestyle of my family of a wife and two grown kids.

So, I wanted a powerful and comfortable bike within my budget. It had to powerful enough to carry two near 6 footers and their luggage to Leh and back, yet do so with the max comfort possible, esp for the lady on the pillion.There did not seem any bike other than the Bonneville which achieved the above two QR within satisfactory norms. In addition, it had simple, inoffensive, classic looks and a glorious history.

In conclusion, for me, substance ALWAYS follows style, not the other way round. Therefore, if not the KLR650/V Strom 650, then the Bonneville would have to do, esp at my age and in the coming years; I am 45 now and should be able to ride for the next 20 years without too much pain.

After riding the N650 and the Bonneville, my decision to get the latter was further strengthened, primarily by the pillion comfort levels on it.

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Read it somewhere in Autocar, tha HMSI has plans to launch CBR 650F by Q4 2015-2016, (i.e.) - Might land at our hands by November - December next year , But I see this as an opportunity to save atleast for the downpayment and rest all to EMI's.

Btw, if its CKD, what will be the expected price . N650 sells at close to 6L+ OTR in Chennai, not sure if it will be priced aggresively compared to N650(CKD) or Z800 (CBU).

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

I am not a big fan of Vstorm/GS/KLR. I am not so much of a cross tourer by nature. Very unlikely I would do something like 2-up on such a motorcycle.

But I am a fan of N650/Bandit/Bonneville and believe that all are very versatile to my liking of long distance touring.
Bandit tops the liking chart but it is showing its age somewhere ( I still like it but somewhere I feel it is due upgrade) and most importantly the price.
Bottomline: No money even to pay EMI for that motorcycle at this stage in my career.

Leading to N650/Bonne. Based on your last line, the doubt of pillion seating position being not so relaxed as in the case of Bonneville actually being true really tips the scale in favor of Bonneville. Bonneville is a platform for me to personalize and that really opens up endless possibilities to go crazy when the bike starts to look a bit (just a little bit) boring.

Thanks for the inputs guys.

Ok enough of hijacking the thread. Thanks @sachinair and @icemang for all the inputs. Will keep you guys posted.

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Yeah, even I am concentrating on saving for the downpayment. This bike is supposed to be manufactured in India too. So I am hoping it will be priced decently if not aggresively. The expected OTR price is around 7-7.5.

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Spot on bro...I read it online today that the price will be under 7L OTR...but that will vary from state to state as Karnataka has higher Road tax and Tamilnadu is a bit on the leaner side...so definitely TN price will be less than KA.... But yeah...lets start convincing our house mates first and then start saving....coz usual gyan we get is buy a car..blah blah blah...

Breakfast Ride to Parsi Da Dhaba

Date: Sun, 7th Sep'14
Distance Covered: 250 kms
Route: NH8

A short breakfast ride of 250 kms to Parsi Da Dhaba, Navsari.
Photo Credit: Avinash Keshav Ambekar

Chicken Cheese Omelette. Slurp


The Tasty Paratha's


Morning Drinks




Kheema with 1/2 Fry


Scrambled Egg reminded us of Goa


The Green Clan with their owners




The Orange Clan



Green Beans










Not All Those Who Wander Are LOST!


The LOST Clan!

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Beauuuutttiiiiifuuuulllll Sachin...Enjoy more miles on your Midori....

re: A Green Affair! Starring Kawasaki Ninja 650 Edit: Now Sold!

Thanks buddy. I will and lot of preparations going on for a 7000 kms cross country Bhutan trip which is planned next month. Hope it goes well!

More updates shortly when I get some time :-)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Lost in bhutan: 6 bikers, 20 days, 7500 kms of insanity!

It's been close to 6 weeks I have not updated this thread and there was a good reason why this thread was not updated. I was BUSY riding!
So where was I? Well, I was on the longest trip I have done so far on the Ninja 650 and the ride was to the most happiest country in the world - BHUTAN!!!

I went through all high's and low's anyone could possibly think of and it was a roller-coaster ride for all of us on this trip. To give some numbers., 6 Bikers, 7500 kms, 7 States of India, 2 Countries and 20 days of insanity!

Talking about the bike that took it all and brought me back in one piece - Midori! I did not expect the bike to be flawless throughout the ride so starting with the problems before the good part. There are two major problems with Ninja 650 especially if you are a hardcore tourer.

1. Fan Problem: There is a high possibility that the motor of your fan might stop functioning if you are riding the bike in slush, mud and too much dust. What happens next is as soon as the engine temperature rises above 118 degrees the coolant warning light will be lit and you will realize that he fan has stopped working No I did not face this problem in the trip but since I have faced it once I thought this is the best time to highlight it. You can fix this problem by adding a fender extender to your front fender as it fender extender will prevent the slush and mud from entering the radiator. We had carried a spare fan in this trip just in case of emergency.
2. Fork Seal Problem: If you have never changed your fork seal before a long trip like me, and if you are stupid like me to do a 7500 kms ride without replacing them then go on and read further I have never replaced the fork seals of my bike until this trip and first day of the trip my fork seals started leaking oil after riding some 40 kms of bad roads. I was lucky enough to find a spare fork seal set available en-route and got it changed.

Other than this the bike does not have any major issues to talk about. I did manage to break my top case mounting kit in this ride and had to dismantle it and carry it back home

Coming to the good part of the bike, got a mileage of 27.2 kmpl in this trip and yes it is a big thing for a 650 cc parallel twin engine which is powerful yet efficient. Surprisingly, I only scraped the bumps on a couple of occasions in the entire trip due to my mistakes and overall there was no problems experienced with rest to GC. Very comfortable, powerful when you want it to be and took all bad roads possible although I must say it will take a toll on the rider on bad roads to manage this beast for prolonged hours. For e.g. From Trashigang to Samdrup Jonkar which is 180 kms out of which 140 kms there are literally no roads. It took us 7 hours to complete this stretch and on such roads I wished I had a bike with better suspension travel & button tires.

You can read follow the link below to read the travelogue if anyone is interested
LOST IN BHUTAN: 6 BIKERS, 20 DAYS, 7500 KMS OF INSANITY! - L.O.S.T.

Some pictures from the ride below

Fog, dirt tracks are the recipes for a memorable and adventurous road trip


Ninjutsus Relaxing


At Chele La Pass, On the way to Haa Valley!


Riding above clouds is a feeling beyond imagination!


Phobjika Valley is hands down my favourite place. Picturesque valleys, very few human population and peaceful.


Chele La Conquered


Phobjika Valley - A place made of dreams!