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So after riding an RE for past 2 years I started looking for an upgrade this year around may. My regular riding on the RE was the daily office commute. Never thought of taking it on the highway. I don't know if all REs do this but if i try to go above 80kmph mine vibrates so much it feels like parts will fall off if i dont slow down.
I was told by the RE mechanics that the vibrations would subside as the bike clocked more and more kms. It’s been two years and almost 8000kms. The vibrations are still there and don’t feel like reduced at all. It is kind of ok upto ~70kmph. But that's it. You start approaching 80 and the vibes increase to uncomfortable levels and the whole bike starts shaking. Haven't had the chance to test anyone else's bike so not sure if this is specifically my bike's problem or a general problem with all.
I just ride mine under 70. Actually it would be more accurate to say that I am not brave enough to try doing 80 or above on this bike.
So anyway, after a few months of mulling over this, I decided to sell the RE and buy something else. I didn't really know at this point as to what I wanted to upgrade to. All I knew was that it should be able to do 120 on the highway without any fuss, be sporty and yet comfortable at the same time, and had a wind shield too.
I initially started with checking out the 300cc twin cylinder bikes.
First one was the Ninja 300. I had previously thought of buying the Ninja 250 when it was launched back in 2009 but it didn’t work out. Ninja300 seemed a bit too costly for a 300cc bike, especially when there are others like the Yamaha R3 and the Benelli TNT300 around.
R3 didn’t appeal to me much. And the Benelli was a naked which I am not so keen on.
Somehow from Ninja 300 I ended up looking at the Ninja 650 and even started considering that price range seriously.
There was the Benelli 600i too - priced pretty nicely, looks good, and has an inline 4, but it too is a naked.
Eventually decided to research the Ninja 650 further and started reading up about it on forums.
A common complaint about the bike was that the brakes aren't good (so far it doesnt feel like it. maybe its because i haven't had to brake so quickly till now).
The headlights aren't very good. Not sure if its the bulbs or the reflectors. This surely needs an upgrade. Any suggestions?
The bike is very quiet (idling as well as on the highway - or maybe my helmet is too good at keeping out the external noise
). It sounds just like any other bike out there.
So on the 5th of Aug, after months of looking at photos, watching videos and reading hundreds if not thousands of posts related to the bike, I called up KTM Bund Garden showroom here in Pune to ask about booking and whether there was a bike available. By the way, I did ask for a test drive and was told they don’t have a bike available for test drive but there was one available for immediate purchase.
Anwar (contact person at the KTM showroom) took me to their Wakdewadi showroom to show the bike. I just wanted to see it once before putting down the booking amount.
Somehow it so happened that i got busy in office after that day and couldn’t call up Anwar again until the 18th to confirm my booking and when I did, I was told that the bike was sold and now it will take some time for a new bike to arrive after I make the booking.
Went and paid the booking amount same day. They said it will take around 90 days (that’s the official waiting period). They even have you sign a paper which says it will take minimum 60 to 90 days.
And on the 1st of Sep, just 15 days after signing a paper that said "it will take 60 to 90 days" I got a call from Anwar saying the bike has arrived in Pune.
Told him to finish up all the formalities and get the bike ready for delivery as soon as possible (had already provided all the documents required for registration).
Also asked him to remove the saree guard before bringing the bike to the showroom for delivery.
On 16th Sep, I got the registration number. Also informed KTM guys that I will be picking the bike next day. Couldn’t sleep properly the whole night. Got up early, told my wife that we'd be going to pick the bike and asked her to get ready.
The weather was also good that day … but wait, how could a happy story end without any last minute twists!!!
Right after i was all ready to go, wife tells me that the 'shraadhs' had started the day before and it was not an 'auspicious time' until 1st Oct. I don’t believe in these things but the way I saw it was that the monsoon was going to continue for at least until end of Sep (which it did) and it would have been a shame to bring the bike home and not be able to ride it. So called up Anwar at KTM and told him to take care of the bike for 2 more weeks.
One good thing that did happen was that due to excess work load in office I didn’t have any time to miss the bike during those two weeks. Those days just went by.
Finally the day to pick the bike arrived (again) and it started raining in the morning.
The forecast for the next day didn’t look good either... so I decided to take the bike same day no matter what. Couldn’t let a few drops of water keep me waiting anymore.
Reached the showroom with the family and there it was, in the middle of the showroom – they had even put a garland on it ... which I promptly removed as it was spoiling the look
Took some pictures. There were a couple of papers that needed to be signed before the delivery.
Got a short demo which explained some things that I am sure are important but I don’t remember anymore.
What I do remember was that I was not supposed to rev it beyond 4k rpm until it’d done 800km and not beyond 6k rpm until 1600km. The first service was to be done at 1000km.
Finally I thanked the guys at KTM and took off from the showroow. The very first traffic light i stopped, a agentleman next to me pointed to my headlights saying one was on. I said its ok, it always stays on and he made a face like saying "WTH??" so i turned on the highbeam too.
Since then this has happened with me every day. All i do is shake my head like a nod whenever someone points to my headlights.
So far i have done just over 1100 KM and now need to give the bike for servicing.
Sharing a few photos of the bike below.
I was told by the RE mechanics that the vibrations would subside as the bike clocked more and more kms. It’s been two years and almost 8000kms. The vibrations are still there and don’t feel like reduced at all. It is kind of ok upto ~70kmph. But that's it. You start approaching 80 and the vibes increase to uncomfortable levels and the whole bike starts shaking. Haven't had the chance to test anyone else's bike so not sure if this is specifically my bike's problem or a general problem with all.
I just ride mine under 70. Actually it would be more accurate to say that I am not brave enough to try doing 80 or above on this bike.
So anyway, after a few months of mulling over this, I decided to sell the RE and buy something else. I didn't really know at this point as to what I wanted to upgrade to. All I knew was that it should be able to do 120 on the highway without any fuss, be sporty and yet comfortable at the same time, and had a wind shield too.
I initially started with checking out the 300cc twin cylinder bikes.
First one was the Ninja 300. I had previously thought of buying the Ninja 250 when it was launched back in 2009 but it didn’t work out. Ninja300 seemed a bit too costly for a 300cc bike, especially when there are others like the Yamaha R3 and the Benelli TNT300 around.
R3 didn’t appeal to me much. And the Benelli was a naked which I am not so keen on.
Somehow from Ninja 300 I ended up looking at the Ninja 650 and even started considering that price range seriously.
There was the Benelli 600i too - priced pretty nicely, looks good, and has an inline 4, but it too is a naked.
Eventually decided to research the Ninja 650 further and started reading up about it on forums.
A common complaint about the bike was that the brakes aren't good (so far it doesnt feel like it. maybe its because i haven't had to brake so quickly till now).
The headlights aren't very good. Not sure if its the bulbs or the reflectors. This surely needs an upgrade. Any suggestions?
The bike is very quiet (idling as well as on the highway - or maybe my helmet is too good at keeping out the external noise
). It sounds just like any other bike out there.So on the 5th of Aug, after months of looking at photos, watching videos and reading hundreds if not thousands of posts related to the bike, I called up KTM Bund Garden showroom here in Pune to ask about booking and whether there was a bike available. By the way, I did ask for a test drive and was told they don’t have a bike available for test drive but there was one available for immediate purchase.
Anwar (contact person at the KTM showroom) took me to their Wakdewadi showroom to show the bike. I just wanted to see it once before putting down the booking amount.
Somehow it so happened that i got busy in office after that day and couldn’t call up Anwar again until the 18th to confirm my booking and when I did, I was told that the bike was sold and now it will take some time for a new bike to arrive after I make the booking.
Went and paid the booking amount same day. They said it will take around 90 days (that’s the official waiting period). They even have you sign a paper which says it will take minimum 60 to 90 days.
And on the 1st of Sep, just 15 days after signing a paper that said "it will take 60 to 90 days" I got a call from Anwar saying the bike has arrived in Pune.
Told him to finish up all the formalities and get the bike ready for delivery as soon as possible (had already provided all the documents required for registration).
Also asked him to remove the saree guard before bringing the bike to the showroom for delivery.
On 16th Sep, I got the registration number. Also informed KTM guys that I will be picking the bike next day. Couldn’t sleep properly the whole night. Got up early, told my wife that we'd be going to pick the bike and asked her to get ready.
The weather was also good that day … but wait, how could a happy story end without any last minute twists!!!
Right after i was all ready to go, wife tells me that the 'shraadhs' had started the day before and it was not an 'auspicious time' until 1st Oct. I don’t believe in these things but the way I saw it was that the monsoon was going to continue for at least until end of Sep (which it did) and it would have been a shame to bring the bike home and not be able to ride it. So called up Anwar at KTM and told him to take care of the bike for 2 more weeks.
One good thing that did happen was that due to excess work load in office I didn’t have any time to miss the bike during those two weeks. Those days just went by.
Finally the day to pick the bike arrived (again) and it started raining in the morning.
The forecast for the next day didn’t look good either... so I decided to take the bike same day no matter what. Couldn’t let a few drops of water keep me waiting anymore.
Reached the showroom with the family and there it was, in the middle of the showroom – they had even put a garland on it ... which I promptly removed as it was spoiling the look
Took some pictures. There were a couple of papers that needed to be signed before the delivery.
Got a short demo which explained some things that I am sure are important but I don’t remember anymore.
What I do remember was that I was not supposed to rev it beyond 4k rpm until it’d done 800km and not beyond 6k rpm until 1600km. The first service was to be done at 1000km.
Finally I thanked the guys at KTM and took off from the showroow. The very first traffic light i stopped, a agentleman next to me pointed to my headlights saying one was on. I said its ok, it always stays on and he made a face like saying "WTH??" so i turned on the highbeam too.
Since then this has happened with me every day. All i do is shake my head like a nod whenever someone points to my headlights.
So far i have done just over 1100 KM and now need to give the bike for servicing.
Sharing a few photos of the bike below.
). 
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