[sasmit]

A baby Ninja it is!

Never thought I’d own a sports bike and that too a Kawasaki. I had a Gixxer250 which was bought in 2021 post pandemic. Had plenty of power was utterly reliable was capable of touring 200-300 kms easily, there was no need to buy a new motorcycle at all. It all started when I took a relatives Interceptor 650 for a ride. The quantum of change you feel from a single to a larger displacement twin is hard to explain. Though I was still not convinced with the weight and handling of Interceptor. Kept on chugging with my 250 but in the back of my mind the twin cylinder itch had got planted. A year down the line started looking at the Nx500, watched a lot of YouTube content and almost paid an advance to the Bigwing. Then out of nowhere came the RS457. Took a test ride and was surprised by the power on tap and the not so committed riding posture. Before this I had a very wrong picture of all faired sports bikes of having a very uncomfortable and committed riding posture. Since I started looking up content on the 457, the Kawasaki Ninja500 also was slowly pushed into my feeds by the “algorithm”, visited the only Kawasaki dealer just to find out that they don’t have a test ride bike for the 500, Just had to make peace with sitting on the bike and having a feel for the riding posture. Lot of questions from the wifey and family as to why in my right mind I would buy a Ninja on the wrong side of 40, make me have rethink and put the idea on hold for a while but ultimately decided to take the plunge.

The elimination process

Nx500

Was almost going to buy this blind without even having a test ride since there were no test ride bikes with smaller bigwings. What put me off however was the dealership experience, even before I bought it. I had visited the showroom at least 5 times to just to be able to sit on and have a feel of the Nx500 before I book it. The dealership however never had the courtesy of calling me back even once. I had requested them multiple times to call me up whenever they have one for delivery for me to have a sit and feel. I also felt that these dealerships were only interested in selling 350 and its variants and there was pretty much nothing else on the showroom floor except for a lone 300R. I had even asked them for an update on the next shipment of Nx500 which they never came back on this also. I figured if this is the response of the dealership even before I buy, was scared to think of the post sales response. Some of the youtubers I watched who had the Nx500 and Cb500x also complained of parts scarcity even in cities like Delhi and Pune for something as basic as a brake pad. For parts like chain and sprocket the wait times were 15-20 days! In smaller city dealerships like Bhubaneswar this would surely be a nightmare! This put the Nx off my list sadly.

RS457

This was 2nd on my list after the Nx500 went off the list, had a test ride visited the only dealer for Aprilia here in Bhubaneswar! The riding position although not as committed as say an R15 was still on the aggressive side and not something you would enjoy on a commute in the city. The suspension was also on a stiffer side, you can feel every small bump on the road. Mind you this is coming from someone who rides a road bicycle pumped up to 55psi every day. Although the parts availability situation was definitely not going to be like the Nx500 but the dealership was subpar. There was one dealer who was so bad they got black listed and removed by Piaggio and the new dealer is a Yamaha dealer who shares half the showroom with Yamaha bikes. The same dealer also doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to the Yamaha itself. The test ride bike also had a very poorly adjusted clutch with wear near the lever pivot leading to a very awkward feeling when moving from standstill or slow speeds. The gearbox although positive shifting felt very clunky in all gears. All this coupled with Aprilia reliability put me off. I had almost put my upgrade to shelf after this and decided to wait a while.

Triumph… Niinja500

The title is not wrong, after the RS457 one of the weekends just went to have a look and feel of the 400 twins to see what the hype is all about. Took a test ride of the speed 400, but to be frank did not feel like an “upgrade” from my Gixxer250. Conveyed this to the sales rep and he was laughing until I handed him the keys of my 250 and told him to have a round. He did have one for 5 kms and came back amused at what Suzuki bike is this! This is one of the blunders that Suzuki did, poor marketing. The higher up Triumphs were just out of my league, way too big and pricey.
The Kawaski showroom is just on the opposite side of the highway from the Triumph and you “have to” pass through it. So, I thought let’s just have a look, the dealership experience even with no intention of buying was amazing. Very eager to talk about any bike anything. I was given a test ride of the Ninja650! Although the power was wonderful, I was not convinced by the low GC of the 650 and the age of the platform and it was on the edge of my budget too. A few days go by and I almost gave up on the idea of an upgrade and decided to stick with the 250. Out of the blue get a call from the Kawasaki sales person that he has arranged for a test ride of the 500 and there was a 15k discount also! Went there on a weekend and took a short test ride of around 5 kms on a brand-new bike with 2 kms on the Odo. The test ride was a revelation! Since I already had test ride of the 457, I could immediately point out the differences. Ninja500 had a much more relaxed riding posture, no strain on the wrists and back. Engine is way more refined than the 457, it almost is like inline 4 smooth below 5000 rpm. It had adequate low-end grunt to do a 40ish km/hr on 6th without any complaints. Post 5k the pull is amazing! at least to me who comes from a 250 single. What convinced me more is the dealership is very professional and the reliability of the 400.aka 500 platform. The platform has proved itself internationally to be very reliable and easy to maintain.

Booking, PDI and delivery!

The booking process if you can call it that was just me transferring the amount to the dealership account. The very bike I test rode is the one they would sell me of course as this is the only 500 that they had in stock, which not bad since I already test rode it and everything seemed fine. Still, I went there one more time too have a look at the cosmetic aspects and get the manufacturing details. Turned out it was an August 2024 Thailand manufactured unit that the dealership had received in October 24. So was with them for around 4 months, not too bad. Only thing was I was worried about the battery to which the dealership responded that it was not a worry since they charge it with their trickle charger … not very convincing to me. However, battery also would have warranty for a year so no worries as per dealer. Even when I test rode it started with half crank so I thought it must be fine. No cosmetic defects except for some numbers scribbled on the seats with a marker. Paid them the full amount and was told it will take 2-3 days for the registration and hsrp plates.
Took delivery on a Tuesday the next week, not a believer in dates and days so told the dealer let me know whenever you have the HSRP fitted will drop in and take delivery on any weekday I have time. To their credit the dealership arranged for cake and delivery Instagram shoot on an hours’ notice which I gave them on the day of delivery!

The good bits

Some of the finer points I noticed, which you do when you’re looking at especially a new car or a bike.

• The fit and finish, paint quality is a step above Aprilia and of very good quality. The paint finish especially is amazing. I mean there is zero “orange peel” in the paint and the clear coat feels of a very high quality. There’s zero choice of colors however, since India gets only the Carbon metallic grey. To me this color is something I would have gone with anyway as the signature Kawasaki green is too lould and attracts too much attention.
  
  
• Finish on some of the parts like the Nissin calipers or the KYB front forks is very different from the finish I am used to seeing on the likes of say my Suzuki, the Aprilia or the 400 twins. I think the callipers are cast out of a powder metal or have a sintered finish very different from the die cast finish for the Bybre callipers. May be for heat dissipation, just my guess. Same is the case with the forks, the finish seems very durable.
• The handle bars seem to be a bit thicker in dia compared to both my Suzuki and the Aprilia. This I noticed since I had trouble holding the throttle with gloves on especially on longer rides. The thicker throttle felt vey easy to hold even with gloves.
  
• The seat is on the firmer side but did not feel uncomfortable at all on a breakfast ride of around 100kms and also in my office commutes. One thing I notice is the ergonomics are spot on, everything feels in place.
  
• The gearbox has very short and precis shifts. Positive neutral finder also unique to Kawasaki is a nice thing.
• Although the 500 misses out on the electronics and TFT display, I feel the engineering on the bike is very well done.
  
• The display has all the info you would ever need down to a distance to empty, is very legible in all light situations and that’s all I want from it.
  
• The light setup although not exceptional like the new KTM 390’s is not bad. Has two projectors for low beams, two reflectors for high breams and two DRL’s. Looks very good and performance is good, I would not say excellent though.
  
• The clutch is feather light and is very easy to use in traffic, coupled with the torquey motor is very forgiving.

Some dislikes.

• I would have loved adjustable levers; the bike misses out on them. The lever reach for the brake is something I wished I could adjust. Especially on downshifts where you need to blip and have the brake applied would have been easier with an adjustable lever.
  
• The horn placement is really bad, it ends up deafening the rider more than the traffic ahead.
  
• The mirrors are very difficult to adjust on the move, they reach out far too wide to be comfortably adjusted on the move.
  
• Pillion seat is unusable for anything other than short hops. Not that you expect to have someone on the pillion seat.
  
• One annoying side effect of being a CBU is does not have grab rails, which are mandated I think for India built motorcycles. I saw them on the Ninja650 too but not on this. Its very difficult to move around the bike manually if you want to hold it from rear.
  
• The bike has a provision for the USB socket, but its not fitted in India spec bikes nor is available as an OEM accessory. Plenty of other options though but if you want to stick to OEM hard luck!

Some clicks of my baby Ninja!

[Rohitthebest]

Terrific Ride, that is, and hearty congratulations. Age is just a number, and you just proved it. I am almost on that side of 50 (turned last month), and my heart is on Eliminator 450, which I believe carries the same engine forward. One reason is that we both are barely above 5', and that is the only bike we can carry with confidence on highways.

On Kawasaki dealers - I guess they all are the same across India, super enthusiastic people with good knowledge of competition too. The Kawasaki guys in Mumbai were also super friendly, and we almost rode 2-3 bikes. They didn't actually care whether we ended up buying or not, but made us feel welcome to the showroom and gave us a fantastic experience. The Pune sales guy is now a friend as I have frequented their showroom quite a few times. High time I gave him a sale now for sure in 2025.

Wish you many miles of safe and happy riding.
Looking forward to your posts on detailed ownership experience, too.

[mp417]

Heartiest congratulations. Loved your entire experience and the bike looks stunning in this colour.

Do share the price breakup. It will be interesting to understand if the CBU pricing is different.

Did you ever considered Honda CBR650R or a pre-used super bike?

[sasmit]

The eliminator should be very easy to handle , it’s more or less the same frame and engine. Which should carry over the nimble and lightweight nature of the Ninja. In fact I had a sit on the eleminator and quite liked it. It looks quite substantial in person, although not as bulky as the Meteor.
Performance should be ample although gearing might be a bit different from Ninja.

[sasmit]

Originally Posted by mp417

Heartiest congratulations. Loved your entire experience and the bike looks stunning in this colour.

Do share the price breakup. It will be interesting to understand if the CBU pricing is different.

Did you ever considered Honda CBR650R or a pre-used super bike?

CBR650R was never in my consideration, price wise it would have been significantly more expensive.

[Gypsian]

Congratulations!! This is the most capable machine in the 500cc category barring the fact that the RS 457 is more feature loaded. The Ninja 500 is so capable that it can do 140+ kmph all day long. A couple of Ninja 400s in our group cruise comfortably along side the litre class bikes. Wish you many more happy miles.

[sasmit]

1700 kms update :

Did my first service around the 800km mark as it was one month, nothing much done. Oil and filter changed, chain cleaned and lubed, set me back by 8K.
Found no perceptible change in the engine behavior. Performance has remained more or less the same.
One thing I observed is the engine performance does vary with higher octane fuel. Although this is a relatively low compression engine (11.3:1) compared to super sports stuff, it does seem to benefit from xp95.

Went on a small solo trip to my paternal village which is a 600Kms round trip.
Carried my Viaterra tailbag, which thankfully fits on the Ninja very well.
Its a breeze on the open road, cruises beautifully from 80-120. The route takes you though a brief section of the 6 lane Kolkata Chennai - NH16 and then turns on to state highways which pass through some very scenic extended eastern ghats.
Fuel efficiency i got was 27 kmpl ! with cruising speeds raising from 80-130 on the state highways and few bursts of 160 on the 6 lane NH16. Some clicks I took on the way .

Starting from home , all suited up.


Beautiful tree canopy on a state highway section


A not so full reservoir of an earth dam closer to my destination


The steed






On a beautiful jungle section in the Satkosia tiger reserve

[Soorajkumar1511]

Hi @sasmit congrats on the new ride - your motorcycle looks amazing! I'd love to hear how those Dunlops are holding up on the road.
Thanks

[sasmit]

Originally Posted by Soorajkumar1511

Hi @sasmit congrats on the new ride - your motorcycle looks amazing! I'd love to hear how those Dunlops are holding up on the road.
Thanks

I am not a very experienced rider on the super sports or sports categories, but still I find them much better than the zapper radials that my Suzuki gixxer 250 had. These were exactly the same size as the Ninja 110/70/17 and 150/60/17, so a fair comparison. The zappers always made me nervous on anything less than perfect Tarmac.
Ironically even though the Dunlops though more road biased and imho softer compound still give me loads of confidence and high speed stability.
High speed confidence may be a result of the better chassis of the ninja the tires still doing a mighty fine job. On this trip took them through some gravel loose dirt type roads, jumped a few speed breakers ( unintentionally) had no issues. Had carried a puncture kit and pump but thankfully didn’t have to use it.

[aston_martyr]

Originally Posted by sasmit

1700 kms update :

Went on a small solo trip to my paternal village which is a 600Kms round trip.

Very nice. Congrats on the purchase.
You look quite tall. How is the riding triangle?
I incidentally loved the R3 but could not find my groove with the riding position.
How protected are you from windblast at speeds between 80-120?

[sasmit]

Originally Posted by aston_martyr

Very nice. Congrats on the purchase.
You look quite tall. How is the riding triangle?
I incidentally loved the R3 but could not find my groove with the riding position.
How protected are you from windblast at speeds between 80-120?

I am 5’8” which isn’t very tall I think, the camera angle makes me look taller. For my height there’s absolutely no issue of the 500 feeling cramped or uncomfortable. I did continuous 200kms and took a break and then covered another 100km. Didn’t feel fatigue on the wrists or back.
Wind blast 80-100 is manageable, I wear an entry level LS2 modular helmet which works fairly at these speeds . 120-160 works well if you tuck down slightly. There’s a taller windshield option available both oem and from puig .

[sh@rpshooter]

Originally Posted by Rohitthebest

Terrific Ride, that is, and hearty congratulations. Age is just a number, and you just proved it. I am almost on that side of 50 (turned last month), and my heart is on Eliminator 450, which I believe carries the same engine forward. ....

Similar situation ie on the other side of 50 and the got the Eliminator 5 months back and love the feel the Bike has. I got back to Riding after several decades and the Eliminator was just the right feel.

Originally Posted by sasmit

The eliminator should be very easy to handle , it’s more or less the same frame and engine. Which should carry over the nimble and lightweight nature of the Ninja. In fact I had a sit on the eliminator and quite liked it. It looks quite substantial in person, although not as bulky as the Meteor.
Performance should be ample although gearing might be a bit different from Ninja.

It might be a more relaxed as its gearing is more suited for cruising. At your age you will enjoy the ninja. the Meteors Thump is a differentiator but not being a very experienced biker found it far more difficult to handle especially when need to manoever it around for parking etc