[TusharK]

The Kawasaki Ninja 650 and Z650 now come equipped with a traction control system. This feature is available on the MY2023 bikes.



The traction control system offered on the Ninja 650 and Z650 is said to be a fairly basic unit that uses wheel-speed sensors alone. It has three settings – in Mode 1, the system prevents wheel spin under quick acceleration. Mode 2 is for road surfaces that offer limited traction and Mode 3 switches the system completely off.



Both bikes are powered by a 649cc, parallel-twin engine that makes 67 BHP @ 8,000 rpm and 64 Nm @ 6,700 rpm. With such performance on tap, it’s always good to have a traction control system.

The 2023 Ninja 650 and Z650 will be introduced in the Indian market in the near future. The Z650RS and Vulcan 650 are yet to get this feature.

[roy_libran]

I thought that the parallel twin's firing order automatically cuts power for a significant part of the crank's rotation, effectively reducing the potential for slip (inherent traction control), unlike say an inline 4 where the power pulses are much closer together, so somehow the electronic traction control feels a bit of a moot point.
I recently moved from a Versys 650 to Versys 1000 and this difference is quite perceptible when the latter has it's KTRC set to off or on level 1.

But, it's what the market expects nowadays and allows Kawasaki to get more margins, so why not. Also syncs with the general direction of travel for regulators globally.

The only downside - the bikes keep getting costlier and more complicated. :/

[doga]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

But, it's what the market expects nowadays and allows Kawasaki to get more margins, so why not. Also syncs with the general direction of travel for regulators globally.

The only downside - the bikes keep getting costlier and more complicated. :/

The new KTM RC390 comes with traction control now and its power pulses are as separated as possible
Frankly given road conditions in India it's good to have it on any bike north of a 250 CC. Trick is to engineer it as 'invisible' as possible.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by doga

The new KTM RC390 comes with traction control now and it's power pulses are as separated as possible
Frankly given road conditions in India it's good to have it on any bike north of a 250 CC. Trick is to engineer it as 'invisible' as possible.

Yes agree.... Maybe only the least intrusive setting is what is needed.

The other thing though is that all these rider aids, whilst boosting safety on low and mid capacity bikes, also let bad riding habits get ingrained, which can be deadly to carry forward when one moves on to large capacity machines. Example - adding lean and throttle simultaneously mid corner, which I learnt NOT to do back from my RC390 days.

[doga]

I totally agree about some of these aids potentially fostering bad riding habits, but remember people were saying the same when ABS was launched. Thing is given the absolutely pathetic condition of roads-here in Mumbai it's in shambles-no matter how amazing/experienced a rider you are you are bound to be caught out. So good to have these aids.
Unfortunately riding in India would always be dangerous no matter how good you are. There may be a huge pothole in an otherwise decent stretch. Manhole covers may be 5 inches below the road surface. Gravel on the side of road. I'd rather have all the aids even if it's at cost of not evolving as a rider. It's a bit sad though as there's a certain joy in riding a raw hair chested superbike from the previous era.

[abhi802]

Good that these are finally coming to the 650 Kawasaki bikes, although in a basic version.

As @doga, said better to have it & not having to use it, rather than not having it and thinking what if it could've made the difference in our not so great riding conditions & pathetic state of "following" of traffic rules