[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Congrats Karthik on the Awesome 10R addition to the garage. And if your thread on enjoying motorbikes is to be considered I'm fully convinced the 10R will have some really good adventures and track time for sure!

Let's catch up soon and squeeze in a ride too while at it!

Heres to wishing you many many happy miles with the 10R!!

Thanks a lot for the kind words KP. Looking forward to catching up on a ride or for a coffee at our usual bike wash place!

Originally Posted by TheCelestial

Congrats Karthik! Wish you many happy miles on the 10R!

Thanks a lot TheCelestial!

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Congrats Karthik, what a fantastic acquisition. Your seems to be perfect bike garage. Please post some comparison of the both bikes suspension and comfort as well, it could be very helpful to some folks. Waiting for the full ownership review eagerly.

Thanks a lot Rahulkool!
I'll definitely speak about the comparison between the two litre class Kawas in my 10R review thread.

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

Congratulations Karthik sir! @neil.jericho had posted about this ZX10R on his GSXRRRRR 250 thread but never knew that you bought another litre-class Kawasaki! Also, this finally answers the 2024(???) signature that you had. As they say one bike is never enough. ;-)

Thanks a lot ex-innova-guy!
Haha yes it was a bit of a last minute switch, the ??? was actually meant for another pending (car) upgrade but that will have to wait for now, after the funds got diverted to the 10R, lol!

Originally Posted by krishsreedharan

Congratulations Sir! You are truly living the dream. Looking forward to your detailed and thorough review and also seeing the beast for real.

Cheers!
Krish

Thanks a lot for the kind words Kris sir!

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Congratulations and all the best Karthik! Extremely happy for you and I believe wise too. With your riding experience the 10R is a perfect buy rather than the 6R.

Will await your detailed review on this beast and of course a comparison of sorts between both the 1000’s.

Thanks a lot for your kinds words as always Cyborg sir!

How on earth do you manage to fit on the 10R A small round on the 10R and I was quite ready to get off due to the committed ergonomics and our “lovely” non-existent Mumbai roads.

Haha, I was actually used to this even with the tinier RC390 years ago and somehow prefer the crouch position. The 10R's posture is somewhat a more extreme position than even the old Daytona 675R (my original reference point) but I guess I will have to get used to it anyway.

Originally Posted by theredliner

Wow. Never expected a 10R to be a garage mate of an N1000. Congratulations!
BTW, did you get a test ride before putting down the moolah or was it a blind buy?

Thanks a lot the redliner!
I had test ridden the bike many months ago and knew what to expect, but was not sure if I would do any justice to that kind of powertrain with my limited skills (I always somehow thought a middleweight would be way more usable in full spectrum), but anyway here we are now so might as well enjoy the ride!

Originally Posted by pachchu77

Hi Karthik Sir,

Been a silent follower and admirer of this thread for sometime now.

Many congratulations on your new ride. Btw, did you ever consider Hayabusa since you already had a comfortable sports tourer in N1K ?

Thank you so much pachchu77!
I didn't consider the Busa. Just not my type I guess. It is not a track bike as such, and the 265kg weight and very low down seating are not to my preference either.

For this particular fascination from my younger days, it was always these inline-4 track bikes - especially the big 4 japs from the late 2000s - R1, ZX-10R, CBR1000 Fireblade and the GSX-R1000. That said I totally respect the image and heritage around the legendary Hayabusa that has stood the test of time since 20+ years now. Lovely bike in its own right. I have a few friends who swear by a Busa dream, and I keep pushing them to get one while it exists.

Originally Posted by Kashi053

Hi Karthik,

Congratulations on your 10R. Good that 6R had huge waiting period else you would've got bored of 6R in a years time. I think 10R is a keeper and wishing you decades of happy miles.

Thanks a lot Kashi053! Haha yes very much possible and this one sounds like a future-proof investment in comparison.

Originally Posted by mugen_pinaki27

Yay!! Congrats, Karthik! The 10-R looks monstrous and beautiful. Now, that you've got a tourer and a tracker, why not consider a cruiser to complete the garage? Something retro or old school would be an awesome fit in your garage. The Z900 RS would look very tempting alongside the other Kawi's. Wishing you loads of smiles and miles! Keep us posted!

Thanks a lot for the wishes mugen_pinaki27!
No more Kawasakis for me though, lol!

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Congratulations! This is truly a dream come true and may you be in the best of health to enjoy it to the maximum. I'm sure over time 10R will get a lot of indulgence in terms of performance parts and accessories. It'll be an interesting ownership thread!

Thanks a lot for the kind words surjaonwheels!

Sadly, the N400 is leaving us without an ownership thread!

Seriously, I was so lazy to write it despite having one. One regret that will stay.

So for the time being the seat cowl stays? Any plans for a quick 2-up ride on the 10R?

Oh no, by default the 10R is registered as a single seater and comes with the cowl. There are no footpegs either. The whole pillion seat and footpegs package have to be procured as OE accessories and installed.

The better half already has the Ninja 1000 for pillion seat, so the 10R will be a pure solo thrills bike only .

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Wow! Just looking like a wow Karthik.
Too good and so happy for you.
Congratulations for the superlative performance machine at the best value for money price we in India can think of.

I saw the ad for N400 recently and was wondering what it will be . I will wait for your signature style ownership review and the routes you cover with this beast.

Please convey my equally best wishes to your formidable best half.

Ride safe and enjoy in pink of health.

Thank you so much for the heartfelt wishes Abhi_tjet sir!

Originally Posted by AtheK

Congratulations Karthikk Sir, the final frontier conquered! ZX10R is a great bike, but the seating is very committed, so longer rides will need regular breaks. I have had the privilege of riding this bike and it sure is a rocket!

Wish you years and years of safe riding on this green missile!

Thanks a lot AtheK ji! Hope to join you on some rides!

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Congratulations Karthikk on adding a proper light weight missile in your garage

Thanks a lot SnS_12!

Turning 40 this year and was mentally prepared to get the 25th anniversary Busa in that gorgeous limited colour shade but life had other plans and eventually I was looking at my 40th to be a year of nostalgia and wanted to do things or own which I couldn’t many moons back and life has been very kind in offering me an opportunity to fulfil those dreams and have added something to the collection for which grown up men and teen’s would have gone crazy at a time when I was not even born..

You have an enviable garage, I always love reading your updates and how you passionately seek out, source and look after all of your vehicles.

Originally Posted by shyamg28

What I have absolutely enjoyed about your threads @KarthikK, is that they are relatable to me, if not most of us.

Despite the fact that you tour on a litre class sports touring beast. With a pillion

Congratulations! You certainly are one of a kind - not only in your choices, not only in the fact that you actively work towards fulfilling your dreams, but that you are able to achieve them.

Kudos! Looking forward to yet another fantastic thread!

Those are big words shyamg28, not sure if I am deserving of such big words! Thanks a lot for being so kind!

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

Congratulations on the new bike. These are my liter class twins.

Attachment 2644908

Attachment 2644909

Thanks a lot Mr.Ogre!
You have a nice duo there, I always love reading your posts.

Originally Posted by akshayhonda

Congratulations KarthikK Saar,

Cannot wait for the super comprehensive ownership/ride/trackday experiences in near future.

Thanks a lot akshayhonda sir!

And why do I feel a pillion peg and seat combination will come on this too someday in the future. LOL

Haha, no it won't. Since the Ninja 1000 and the CB500x take care of all the 2-up duties, the 10R will remain a solo thrill bike with the cowl at the rear, lol!

Originally Posted by loki

Congrats man!

Thanks a lot loki!

Whats coming in 2025?

Car upgrade is long pending, will have to shift focus to that for a while, lol!

- Chuck the CB500X and get a Versys or something (I hear theres a 1100 coming up) - Make it an all Kawi garage ?

I somehow don't prefer bulky and large adventure bikes because they become a bit too unwieldy for my style of usage. While I like sportbikes fast, I prefer my Advs to be lightweight, not overly fast and relatively simple. The 500X is somewhat in a sweet spot of ~47hp and some ~198kg of kerb weight. Approaching 20,000km on the odo, but this simple but capable bike will stay for many more years to help explore the country on long haul trips and to remote regions too.

- You are missing a Naked / Cruiser types. Z900rs? W800?

Haha, never been my type. Cruisers - definitely no, nakeds - Let's see what the future holds *winks*!

[TheStalwart]

Congratulations Karthikk sir! I have always admired your posts and am eagerly waiting for the full fledged review of the 10R.
The ZX10R is such a lovely beast and has always been one my favourites. I currently have a Ninja 300 and hope to gradually climb up the ladder! Wishing you loads of miles on this one sir. Ride safe.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

You have an enviable garage, I always love reading your updates and how you passionately seek out, source and look after all of your vehicles.

The collection has been growing at an unplanned manner especially since last year as accept the RX 135 and the Busa nothing I own was planned for and it so happened that the stars aligned at the right time and an opportunity presented itself and I just grabbed it.

The latest additions are really special and it just so happened that my work travel plans coincided with the purchase and I could stock up on all the necessary parts to get the bikes in a working state I would be satisfied with and to add to that my RD 125 will finally be on the streets soon after almost two decades since I purchased it.

The packages start arriving at my friends place in the UK.















The final box that I am carrying back home now.



And look what I spotted yesterday in London after reading your thread.

[VijayAnand1]

Karthik ji, hearty congratulations. From your savory threads, peppered with eye-soothing photos, stays, and now welcoming the all-new Green Goblin is nothing sort of a happy butterfly churning emotions, all over again. Sad to see the little Ninja will be finding another home -- but hope she finds someone who showered the same love as you did. Some things have to make way for even better things and I'm sure the ZX-10R saga would fill in that blank quite wide and tall.

Cheers!
VJ

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congratulations once again KK! Wishing you thousands of miles of happy ownership

Having two litre class machines in the garage is truly monumental - I'm so so glad that you decided to upgrade from the 6R to the 10R! Truly well deserved - and having tamed the Ninja 1000 for a good 40k kms - you surely are upto the task as well.

Now can't wait to see the CB500X getting upgraded to another litre class machine - the 1300GS or the Multistrada V4 maybe!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Karthik ji, hearty congratulations. From your savory threads, peppered with eye-soothing photos, stays, and now welcoming the all-new Green Goblin is nothing sort of a happy butterfly churning emotions, all over again. Sad to see the little Ninja will be finding another home -- but hope she finds someone who showered the same love as you did. Some things have to make way for even better things and I'm sure the ZX-10R saga would fill in that blank quite wide and tall.

Cheers!
VJ

Thanks a lot for your kind words VijayAnand1 !
You're right, the 10R will usher in a different genre of fun.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congratulations once again KK! Wishing you thousands of miles of happy ownership

Having two litre class machines in the garage is truly monumental - I'm so so glad that you decided to upgrade from the 6R to the 10R! Truly well deserved - and having tamed the Ninja 1000 for a good 40k kms - you surely are upto the task as well.

Thanks for the wishes CrAzY_dRiVeR!

Now can't wait to see the CB500X getting upgraded to another litre class machine - the 1300GS or the Multistrada V4 maybe!

You have been waiting since 2018 for me to get a big adv, don't waste your time anymore, because it won't happen . That budget will be put into a car upgrade instead, lol!

[KarthikK]

Seventh Annual Service / 70 months Maintenance Update (~35,000 km up)

July / August is usually the time that the Ninja is up for an annual service. The Ninja has been mostly soldiering on since the last service in July 2023, effortlessly and silently piling on miles through various trips done over the last 13 months. It is impressive how even into its sixth year, the battery had been holding up steadily and showed no signs of going weak at all. At around the 35000km (and 6 year) mark, I had covered almost ~10000 km since the past service, so it was time to visit the service centre again. I wanted to preventively replace both the battery as well as the chain sprocket kit, which I had procured and kept separately months before this service was done. The spark plugs were also into their sunset years and I decided to change them out proactively.

The details of the battery procurement were updated in a previous post here (Living an evolved dream: My 2019 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ownership review. Edit: 5 years up!).

The bike has been performing simply flawlessly and I really have to give credit where it is due. The Ninja 1000 has excelled in terms of providing bulletproof reliability through the years, ZERO niggles in 6 years and countless trips! "Fill it, shut it, forget it and keep touring" has been our way wherever we wanted to go with this bike, and it happily complied with every trip we wanted to do with it. 6 years have almost been completed, and it is impressive that there have only just been 7 service centre visits done ever, in all these years! Just the routine annual services and proactive replacements of important parts to keep the condition top notch and that is all I have done.

During the last year's service (Living an evolved dream: My 2019 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ownership review. Edit: 5 years up!), I got the cone set steering bearings replaced and the front brake pad set (two pairs) replaced. While these two works bloated up last year's bill, this year's bill is also on the pricey side due to the battery, spark plugs and chain sprocket kit replacement. I also got the brake fluid replacement done on both the front and the rear brakes.

With these two major services done, I foresee the service bill reverting to just routine oil and filter services for the subsequent few years.

I reached the service centre early in the morning and the service chief and Kawasaki Guru Unni took over the bike immediately, tending to all my requirements and of course, in his OCD-style inspection, he told me a few more things he wanted to check and fix. I also pleasantly ran into friendly BHPians and resident superbike gurus krishnaprasadgg and wolfy, who were there for wolfy's 10R service. It was nice bumping into them both and chatting for a while .



My bike was ready the next day, after all the work was done diligently and brilliantly as always. Here is a picture of the bike ready for pick up



The items extra this time that were picked up by me outside of Rideventur were:
Yuasa YTX-9BS 8Ah AGM Battery - INR 9000
JT front and rear sprocket kit and DID Chain - INR 16000 (imported from USA through a friend)
NGK Iridium CR9EIA-9 Spark Plugs (4 pieces) (please ignore the goofed up hand-written entry in the invoice as CR9EIX, the correct model is CR9EIA-9 for Ninja 1000)- INR 7600
Silkolene Synthetic Engine oil and HiFlo oil filter - INR 5356 + 900
Maxima Brake fluid DOT4 - INR 650
I had a spare BMC Air Filter lying around at home that was never used, so I swapped that with the stock air filter - INR 0!



Kawasaki service report after OBD diagnostics check post wiring the bike up onto the diagnostics tool



Labour costs for the servicing work done at Rideventur service



All in all, the total costs this time came up to a whopping INR 49,035! Some of these parts were procured over many months, so luckily it didn't pinch all at once, but still things have to be collated when presented. But do note, this is for miscellaneous wear and tear items which have been serving well over the past six years, which I have grouped together and replaced in one shot and will work for another 5-6 years. The fact remains still, that despite being a reliable workhorse from a Japanese stable, big bikes are not economical by any sense of the word, lol! Here is the latest maintenance timeline snapshot, with details of the 7th service appended to my usual service table.



Some extra work which was done by Unni - throttle body cleaning, sub-frame bolt tightening (important if the bike is used with 2-up and luggage load), horn was cleaned and replaced, the brake lines were serviced and put back, etc.

New chain and sprocket kit to help touring for the next ~35000 km



The bike has transformed and feels totally new now after all these components have been changed out. While mechanically the bike got a refresh with this service, I thought it was time to give the bike a cosmetic refresh too. At my usual wash place I got a simple ceramic coating done on the tank for ~INR 2k to give it some more gloss and keep looking like new for some more years.



Before Ceramic coating, not that it is bad in any way, this shade of black still sparkles after so many years.



After ceramic coating, Gloss-mania!



An update on the Michelin Road 6 tyres - They have clocked around ~9000km so far in the past 1 year, and they astoundingly show no signs of wearing out or squaring off at all! The tread wear indicator block still looks far, far away, and I think these tyres can easily cross 20,000 km of usage even with my pattern of full load, 2-up and lots of mixed road usage.



Lots of tread life left!



Let us look at the tyre life timeline at the current point in time - the third set of tyres have been piling on miles rapidly, and I foresee that with my current rate of touring I will need a new set of tyres in another year.



Other miscellaneous updates - We got this Dainese Airbag Vest for my better half. It is worn inside the regular touring jacket (yes it inhibits air ventilation to some extent), needs to be charged, but is quite easy to use and check using Dainese's D-Air app on the phone. One still needs to wear a regular riding jacket for the elbow and shoulder protection as usual though. Think of this vest as more of a chest and back armour replacement.



That's about all I had for this maintenance / service update. August saw trips with other vehicles in the garage, while September will be a busy month with some house-moving and other related errands. I should be back to some heavy touring in October and November though, there are multiple Ninja trips planned for those two months. Until my next ride report, thanks for reading!

[100Kmphormore]

Karthik, hearty congratulations on the beast (and dwarfing yet another large motorcycle ), cant wait to see it in person. Ducatis though similar in specs (217 hp, 238 if you go for that Akra exhaust and oil combination) are an extremely different breed due to the V4. I rode a 1200 with the DVT L twin and that was bombastic, nowhere close to an inline 4 according to a friend, while the V4S is more civilised, will certainly have you sweating.

Now can't wait to see the CB500X getting upgraded to another litre class machine - the 1300GS or the Multistrada V4 maybe!

I see this coming in a couple of years when the 47 hp becomes a bit boring. With 6 years of oops, the ground clearance is low must have created a thought + the time with 2 liter class machines by then. Never say never, saar!

[wolfy]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Seventh Annual Service / 70 months Maintenance Update (~35,000 km up)

I also pleasantly ran into friendly BHPians and resident superbike gurus krishnaprasadgg and wolfy, who were there for wolfy's 10R service. It was nice bumping into them both and chatting for a while .

It was lovely meeting you Karthik! I was telling Krishna that your bike is the cleanest bike in the service station! I don't believe you took her in for a cleaning after that! Lovely N1000 you got there.
We should get our 10Rs together some day...

Cheers!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Karthik, hearty congratulations on the beast (and dwarfing yet another large motorcycle ), cant wait to see it in person.

Thanks a lot 100Kmphormore!

Originally Posted by wolfy

It was lovely meeting you Karthik! I was telling Krishna that your bike is the cleanest bike in the service station! I don't believe you took her in for a cleaning after that! Lovely N1000 you got there.
We should get our 10Rs together some day...

You are very kind wolfy! Definitely we should do a 10R ride some day . Hope to catch up soon.

[akshayhonda]

Saar, the spark plug cost is quite overpriced by 1600INR

Check the link on MotoUsher https://shop.motousher.com/products/...9&_ss=e&_v=1.0

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by akshayhonda

Saar, the spark plug cost is quite overpriced by 1600INR

Check the link on MotoUsher https://shop.motousher.com/products/...9&_ss=e&_v=1.0

Yeah, I didn't do research and preorder the spark plugs like I did for the other components (which was a slip-up on my side), since I thought I could buy directly while at the service centre. Hence ended up paying a bit more for them due to the last minute purchase from Race nation . Kawasaki service centre sells these same spark plugs for an even higher rate, lol! In fact now that you mentioned it, a casual google search for that model of spark plugs shows prices between 1500 to 3500 per plug!

I'll do a comparison check on other websites next time I need any of these expensive parts. In fact for the 10R's first service I have ordered synthetic oil and filter from MotoUsher, they seem to have good reviews overall, but we Bangalore folks need 5-6 days buffer to get the parts delivered.

[akshayhonda]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I'll do a comparison check on other websites next time I need any of these expensive parts. In fact for the 10R's first service I have ordered synthetic oil and filter from MotoUsher, they seem to have good reviews overall, but we Bangalore folks need 5-6 days buffer to get the parts delivered.

I have been getting parts like oil filter, spark plugs, replacement kits/overhaul kits and brakepads (EBC) from Motousher since a long time now. They are really good and prompt.

Also Motul 7100 will work perfectly alright for the 10R in 10W40 grade. And available off Amazon or locally in BLR (MRP prices mostly) than getting it from Motousher. Unless you need Maxima only.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by akshayhonda

I have been getting parts like oil filter, spark plugs, replacement kits/overhaul kits and brakepads (EBC) from Motousher since a long time now. They are really good and prompt.

Oh that is good to hear. I’ll buy my stuff from them henceforth . Thanks a lot!

Also Motul 7100 will work perfectly alright for the 10R in 10W40 grade. And available off Amazon or locally in BLR (MRP prices mostly) than getting it from Motousher. Unless you need Maxima only.

I already ordered Maxima 530RR and will be sticking with that for the next change .

[Turbosailor]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Living an evolved dream? Or did the evolved dream evolve to include the original dream? (The Ninja 1000 gets another 1000cc Ninja sibling)

Congrats KarthikK for accruing another Ballistic missile. Truly needs to commend your effort and dedication. I am struggling to put mile on my Int650, here you have crossed 40K miles on N1K, meticulously penned your travelogue, ownership experience etc and now took a track weapon too. Wishing you many safe miles ahead.