Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

[ankitipr]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Congrats on the new bike !

Could you disclose how much you are getting it for ?
5.58 On Road 2019 model.

About accessories I am not the best person but safety is important so I am decided between frame sliders or an engine guard. Frame sliders are around 9k while the engine guard is about 18k
Radiator guard from Motofusion: 3k
Frame sliders and front fork sliders from roadrash: 3.3 and 1.8k respectively

Other than that future upgrades are LED lighting by removing the stock headlight and replacing with LED and maybe add aux lights if I do lots of night riding.
Yup.

Also on the list are bubble seats to see if they improve comfort.
I am considering Ride on Air product https://rideonair.in//?product=adv-sport/


Non bike accessories would be a puncture kit and getting all the riding gear from jacket, helmet, gloves, pants etc.

I am hoping to get my steed by 10th of January. Fingers crossed.

[TheVaas]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

I am hoping to get my steed by 10th of January. Fingers crossed.

Congrats on the purchase. It's a great bike and you'll have much fun on it - I can vouch for that!

With respect to replacing the stock halogen with LED bulbs - I'd suggest you to not do that because the reflectors are built for halogen and the LED throw is very 'directional'. If riding in city, the stock lights are bearable considering you can always get help from surrounding vehicles or the road/street lamps. For night riding/touring, I'd suggest to invest in a decent AUX light setup - which you can switch on during night rides.

For protection, the frame & fork sliders are more than enough considering the bike isn't going to be thrashed around on off-road terrains. If you're careful, you can make do with the sliders. No need to add the bulky engine crash guards etc since that'd just add to the weight of your bike. With respect to the radiator guard, I'd suggest go for a better branded and trustworthy name like Evotech or R&G. Yes they are in the range of about 6k-8k but its worth the investment. I had a R&G radiator guard on my Z and hence can vouch for the same. You could get a side stand extender/shoe - it's quite handy in places where the ground can be tricky for the bike to rest on.

Cheers!

[bf1983]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

I am hoping to get my steed by 10th of January. Fingers crossed.

Well any luck ? Did you get the bike ? How was the experience ?

[Chandan92]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi,

Has anyone changed the halogen headlight bulb to LED bulbs. Kindly share your experience and what are the positives and negatives.

I am using Cyclops 10.0 Ultra LED bulb from last four months, illumination is far better than stock one and it's must to have. This LED bulbs produces 38W in low bean and 76W in high beam, 10k lumens is generated in high beam. Beam temperature is 5600K. Cost was around Rs.7,900/-.

[Sam John]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Two of my indicators have broken in the last 20 days and the third one is expected to break anytime. I think the plastic has gone brittle and lost its strength. The indicators cost a bomb and they say it will take 30 days against order. Never expected Kawasaki to give such low quality indicators.

Kindly suggest alternate solutions if any. I do not want to spend heavily and if it breaks again it will be a pain.

[TheVaas]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Two of my indicators have broken in the last 20 days and the third one is expected to break anytime. I think the plastic has gone brittle and lost its strength. The indicators cost a bomb and they say it will take 30 days against order. Never expected Kawasaki to give such low quality indicators.

Kindly suggest alternate solutions if any. I do not want to spend heavily and if it breaks again it will be a pain.

The OEM kawasaki Z650 indicators costs around 3200 INR per piece. So the best option is to opt for the KTM duke 390 LED indicators (cost about 520 a piece). It's not plug and play hence you'll have to do some re-wiring (which is not difficult). Secondly, you'll need to get a bracket fabricated in order for the 'sleeker indicators' to fit cos the OEM ones are 'rubber mounted'. Aliexpress has a lot of options for this bracket - kawasaki turn signal indicator plates or something. This option works cos the indicators are mounted on the fibre/plastic fairing (unless you have an aftermarket tail tidy). And install an LED flasher relay (not needed if you're okay with the hyperflash - doesn't overload the fuse anyway)

I had the same 'brittle' issue wherein the rubber mounts only gave way - happens due to the heat and vibrations while riding/commuting. I went in for the TST integrated tail light and LED turn signals - I got it from the US.

Cheers.

[bf1983]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

What frame sliders do people use and recommend. There are road rash frame sliders for dirt cheap prices but I don't know if they are of good quality?

Or should I just bite the bullet and go all in with engine crash guards?

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I am using Cyclops 10.0 Ultra LED bulb from last four months, illumination is far better than stock one and it's must to have. This LED bulbs produces 38W in low bean and 76W in high beam, 10k lumens is generated in high beam. Beam temperature is 5600K. Cost was around Rs.7,900/-.

Thanks. I'll definitely try this as its a lot cheaper than good quality aux lights and as I hate night riding I definitely won't be doing a lot of riding in the dark.

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Two of my indicators have broken in the last 20 days and the third one is expected to break anytime. I think the plastic has gone brittle and lost its strength. The indicators cost a bomb and they say it will take 30 days against order. Never expected Kawasaki to give such low quality indicators.

Kindly suggest alternate solutions if any. I do not want to spend heavily and if it breaks again it will be a pain.

This is crazy! Did you crash or damage the indicators in any way for this to happen? Can't believe the indicators are of such poor quality. My old cbz front indicators lasted me over 12 years without breaking while the rear I broke often mostly when the helmet hit the indicators.

[Sam John]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

The OEM kawasaki Z650 indicators costs around 3200 INR per piece. So the best option is to opt for the KTM duke 390 LED indicators (cost about 520 a piece). It's not plug and play hence you'll have to do some re-wiring (which is not difficult). Secondly, you'll need to get a bracket fabricated in order for the 'sleeker indicators' to fit cos the OEM ones are 'rubber mounted'. Aliexpress has a lot of options for this bracket - kawasaki turn signal indicator plates or something. This option works cos the indicators are mounted on the fibre/plastic fairing (unless you have an aftermarket tail tidy). And install an LED flasher relay (not needed if you're okay with the hyperflash - doesn't overload the fuse anyway)

I had the same 'brittle' issue wherein the rubber mounts only gave way - happens due to the heat and vibrations while riding/commuting. I went in for the TST integrated tail light and LED turn signals - I got it from the US.

Cheers.

Thanks, Will hunt for other options cos it costly to get the OEM indicators and update.

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What frame sliders do people use and recommend. There are road rash frame sliders for dirt cheap prices but I don't know if they are of good quality?

Or should I just bite the bullet and go all in with engine crash guards?

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----


Thanks. I'll definitely try this as its a lot cheaper than good quality aux lights and as I hate night riding I definitely won't be doing a lot of riding in the dark.

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This is crazy! Did you crash or damage the indicators in any way for this to happen? Can't believe the indicators are of such poor quality. My old cbz front indicators lasted me over 12 years without breaking while the rear I broke often mostly when the helmet hit the indicators.

No crash or hits it has taken, It just breaks away near the joint. The plastic has gone brittle.

[ankitipr]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread



Finally got my steed on 16th . The overall delivery took 2 hours as I had to install fork sliders, frame sliders and radiator guard but I had to acknowledge that the process was smooth and special thanks to Viraj and Sudip at Kawasaki Ahmedabad, who were very thorough.

As a token gift, got a polo kawasaki t-shirt

[bf1983]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Congrats on your new bike! Wish you have many happy miles on the bike.

Also did you buy the frame sliders from the dealer or you just asked him to install them?

[ankitipr]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Congrats on your new bike! Wish you have many happy miles on the bike.

Also did you buy the frame sliders from the dealer or you just asked him to install them?

I bought frame sliders and axle sliders from Roadrash and guard from motofusion. These were installed by the dealer.

[bf1983]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Sorry one last question. Other than a helmet what else do you need to bring to take delivery ?

And how much did the dealer charge to install the accessories ?

Thanks

[ayebot]

Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Congrats! Wish you ride tons of miles with a wide grin under the helmet!

[Bikerwithacamera]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Hi People !

I am Ankit from Surat, and I writing this with a wide smile and much eagerness that I have my Z650 awaited to arrive in next few days.

In a short brief, I owned a Benelli TNT300 since past 2 years, was throughly satisfied with it for my purpose and i knew exactly where it lacked and what i wanted from my next middle weight bike. After not so much thoughts and ponder i came across some reviews and articles upon Kawasaki '650 Family' and decided to make a visit to the showroom here and took decision in minutes go for Z650 (as i wrote above.. i knew exactly what i wanted from my next bike ).

This will be my 4th ride till now and as always, i can hardly pass days awaiting to hear from the dealer about its delivery date. I am hoping to get it delivered around 26-27 of this month. Thanks to all who've already put up their experiences with this beast, it'll be easier to process things while taking delivery. I've had my homework done upon the requirements and what all it needs once bike is here.

Only suggestion i am seeking for is about the Windshield. I had PUIG universal for my benelli which served well, and i see there are couple of options available for Z650 as well from PUIG but if there are any other options available in India.

Thanks for heads-up in advance.

Ride Safe Always

[bf1983]

Re: Z650 Ownership Experience Thread

Congrats on your new bike! Hope you have great fun riding it. Actually even I was searching for a screen for the bike but the puig at 14k was the only option I found locally. I asked the Mumbai kawasaki dealer and he said they don't have the screen in stock and no plans to order it anytime soon. So the only option is to buy the puig or order from ali express and hope to get a good screen. I am leaving towards the puig but the cost is putting me off.

Also did you test the benelli tnt 600? Since you already had a benelli bike?