[Kashief]

Rejuvenate yourself each day by doing what makes you feel good - read this quote somewhere and I feel rejuvenated every time, when I ride my Green Horse.

What I like:

1. Torquey parallel twins pulls like a locomotive.
2. Suspension is compliant with the chassis and provides good balance.
3. Toned down front design derived from flagship model ZX-10r works well.
4. Excellent fit and finish, it will long last.
5. Top gears are well tuned for touring purpose and not required to downshift unless a very quick pass required.

What could be improved:

1. 130mm GC is very low for our road conditions. Have to be extra careful in speed breakers.
2. Miniscule dealership in Tamil Nadu. There was only 2 till last month and luckily 1 more added near my place. After sales service could be a problem for potential buyers.
3. Headlight illumination is insufficient especially during rainy conditions.
4. Underbelly exhaust can gets grease dirt from the chain and cleaning is a time consuming process.
5. For riders 6 foot and above, there is a slight inconvenience with rider triangle.

A short background about my learning phase. I learned to ride motorcycle at a very young age, thanks to Bajaj Chetak 12v electronic. It's a 150cc engine mounted in a way that makes you feel maximum weight towards the right side, eventually helping me learn how to ride with uneven weight distribution. Although tyres are of smaller size(don't remember the tire size) it helped me understand how to ride in gravel and rainy conditions. Special mention - The Hand Gears for teaching me gearshifts precisely very early in my learning Phase.

I feel that movies do have some influence in teenagers when selecting their 1st bike. To name a few Hollywood - MI Series, Bollywood - Dhoom Series and I fell in love with Pulsar when I saw it for the very 1st time. 1st gen was a beautiful bike with the round light and twin pod speedo. 'Definitely Male' tag line was an instant hit and I had my share of influence from Kollywood movies - Run and Polladhavan where the pulsar was used by the Protagonist. After graduating from college, I got a job offer and my work location was Pune. Far away from home, new place, new people, new culture and my work hours are between 3-11pm. Even though the company cab facility was available, I went ahead and bought my 1st bike Bajaj pulsar 150 - 2nd gen in 2007. I Still have lots of good memories associated with that bike especially the monsoon rides in western ghats - just awesome.



Finally after a decade its time to bid farewell to my beloved pulsar(with a Heavy heart). As I enter in to the next phase of my Life "Marriage". Being a family man necessity’s change and decisions are greatly influenced by mind over heart. So this time we decided to buy a scooter for its practicality and better-half can also use it. Our 2nd ride - Suzuki Access 125 bought in 2017.



In my Opinion owning a scooter is a sensible decision to run family errands but somehow it doesn’t satisfy the riding desires like a commanding position, wringing the throttle with manual gear shifts.. So adding a bike to my garage was always in my mind and my expectations are,

Above 150 CC.
Good after sales service.
Japanese make would be a plus for trouble free ownership.

I was interested in KTM 250 street model and Kawasaki Ninja 300. By the time I decide to have a test ride, BS4 Ninja 300's Production was stopped. Covid put my plans on hold and in the mean time my friend bought an Interceptor 650 and I rode it for a short spin. OMG! Is this a RE, that’s what I told my friend after the ride and I appreciated him for buying it. RE classic 350 was in my consideration around 2013, but the vibrations and weight that I felt while navigating in traffic conditions made me rethink my choice. Time passed and this time I was more attracted towards the twin cylinder for its beautiful torquey nature. Thanks to my friends interceptor ride. Then comes the Big announcement BS6 Ninja 300 launch. We visited the JMB motors showroom in Chennai however there were no test ride vehicles available and I only got to look at Ninja 300 waiting for delivery. With the Information from sales advisor that Ninja 300 takes upto 3 Months for delivery (once booked) we checked out other vehicles from Kawasaki lineup and felt that there is a noticeable difference in build quality between Ninja 300 and other higher CC models may be because they are CKD units. Got the Quote (which had all Kawasaki models price breakup) and left the showroom. Few more days passed and my mind started thinking about 650 for its superior build quality and extra power/torque offered. Before making the Choice I considered,

• It’s 4L expensive than ninja 300. Heck, 9 years before I got my first brand new diesel car for ninja 650 price.
• Usage pattern is solo rider and not even occasional pillion. On top of that, I'm spending 8L for 1 seat instead of 4 with a roof.
• It’s not like Pulsar days where lot of unplanned rides done.
• I don’t want it to be a garage queen, at least 3k/year odo will do justice for the amount spent.
• It will not be used for regular commute and I cannot plan rides with overnight stay at least few more years, as there is an infant in home.
• One of the reason to sell pulsar was to free up some parking space. How can I justify by filling again with bigger size.
• How to inform my father about spending large amount of money on a depreciating asset?

I had a casual discussion with my better half about my interests on ninja 650 and her opinion is to go ahead with the purchase but also suggested that it will be good if we add this amount to the car budget (we were also discussing to buy another car at that time), so that we can buy a car from luxury segment and all of us travel together comfortably instead of me touring alone. It really makes sense.

After much deliberation my heart says, go for it man, you are in middle of 30’s and it’s now or never. In the following days visitied JMB Motors with family to book MY 2022 Ninja 650. As per their T&C, booking amount for CKD vehicle is Rs. 50,000 and it’s non-refundable. Paid the booking amount on 18th Dec and they agreed to deliver it by the second week of Jan 2022. I didn’t opt for K-care package, Extended Warranty and Annual Maintenance contract or any accessories. They agreed to get insurance from outside with a condition that I have to give a consent letter mentioning that I'll be taking insurance on my own and I opted for Royal Sundaram Insurance. In the meantime, I read through all Kawasaki Bike related blogs/threads and found a very useful and detailed thread from the bhpian Mr. KarthikK - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...-years-up.html. Thanks to him for logging each and every important events of his beautiful bike journey, it helped me in many ways.

I got a phone call from JMB motors that bike has reached their Service Centre in Ambattur and will reach Kilpauk Showroom by 7th Jan. I reached showroom and anxiously waited for the big arrival. Finally, got to witness My Green horse as it was offloaded from the truck and very excited.



Keeping the excitement aside, the sherlock holmes in me started inspecting the bike for any damage and did a PDI, thanks to team-bhp checklist. The Inspection passed with flying colors so proceeded with the registration process. While the registration process was ongoing I handed over the basic accessories to the sales personal and requested it to be fitted before delivery. As soon as registration is completed (4 days), without wasting much time I reached showroom on the same day for delivery. I was happy to unwrap my Green horse wrapped with a satin green cloth and shared sweets to cherish the happy moment followed by a short Demo about the features.

Fired up the Green horse for the 2nd time, as I already did once while performing PDI.



It is comfortable for the rider with the height from 5.5 foot to balance the bike with both legs touching ground. It will not take much effort to bring the bike to straight position. 200Kg Kerb weight is very well masked and you don't feel on the move. It is nimble, visor is effective and I can lean and duck in certain angle to avoid the head wind. The fairing with air duct on both sides of the head lamp aides in better aerodynamics and agility.

Rider View:



Ignition with regular setup on/off, push and close locking mechanism. Fuel tank - 15L, Recommend fuel type - unleaded petrol with ethanol content E10 or less. Minimum octane range RON 91. I regularly use Indian Oil XP 95 and good thing is, it is available in most of the bunks. PPF was not installed properly over the key hole cowl.



Simple Key that lights up the electrical, electronic and mechanical things.



LCD Display shows various information,

1. Gear position indicator.
2. Tachometer.
3. Speedometer.
4. Clock.
5. Coolant temperature.
6. Odometer
7. Trip meter
8. Avg mileage
9. Cruising range.
10. Service/Bluetooth/eco indicator.

To enter menu mode, push and hold the left and right meter button to enter or exit. Left button used to move highlighted item or choose item. Right button used to shift next screen or go back to previous screen. There is a Kawasaki Rideology app which provides various information about your driving style and logs.

Right handle bar - Starter button and Engine stop switch.



Left handle bar - Dimmer switch, Hazard switch, Turn signal switch, Horn button



Brake and clutch levers are adjustable from 1(far) to 5(near). Marker indicates the current position. You can notice Pass button. The Clutch lever is smooth to use and slipper clutch aides while performing high rpm quick shifts .



Gear shifts are precise and it took few days for me to apply the right pressure to Neutral.



Brake pedal



Fire up the engine and you can hear very subtle exhaust note. Compare to BS4, BS6 ninja 650 is further muted and it will definitely not wakeup your neighbours during early morning rides. It takes a minute or two to heat up the engine and then the engine note slightly differs. Engage the first gear and with half clutch bike moves without any throttle input. I'm a sedative rider and occasionally build up some speed if I find a good tarmac without any traffic. I find the sweet spot of this parallel twin is between 4-6k RPM. In city limit, its difficult to go beyond 4th gear and engine temperature shows between 90 - 105 based on the traffic. While crusing in highways 6th gear is good enough for the speed between 80-120 Kms. It will also return some good mileage 25kmpl. There is a slight vibration I feel in handlebars in 5th gear beyond 5K RPM. I have seen, at a max engine temperature goes up to 106 degrees. Kawasaki engineers diffused the hot air in a way that you won't feel anything in your legs but you can sense hot air near ankle if you are wearing sandals or floaters when you are in stand-still. Overall I would say the bike is tourer friendly and I have done 750kms ride in a single day and it is comfortable with regular intervals.



Engine Specification,

• DOHC, 2 cylinder, 4-stroke, liquid-cooled
• Engine oil capacity - 1.8L with viscosity 10W-40
• Displacement - 649 CC
• Bore - 83 * 60 mm
• Compression - 10:8:1
• Horse power - 68 PS @ 8000 rpm
• Torque - 64 NM @ 6700 rm

Suspension setup:

Front Suspension is 41mm hydraulic telescopic fork and Rear is a mono shock absorber with 7 adjustable positions.
1st position - Soft/Weak action/ Good road/ Low speed.
3rd position - Standard setting. It’s middle ground between soft and hard.
7th position - Hard/ Strong action/ Bad road/ High speed.



I use the OEM setup - 3rd position and the bike is very much comfortable in most of the Indian road conditions.



Chain, Sprocket and Evotech Rear bobbins / Paddock stand swing arm holders(accessories)



Twin cylinders exhaust pipes and radiator protected with Evotech Radiator cover(accessory)



Warning sticker in radiator cap



Basically Exhaust pipe is of 3 parts and 1st part mounted from the engine



2nd part Exhaust Can located in underbelly. Grease from the chain is sprayed in this exhaust can and it sticks like a tar dirt. Clearing it is a difficult task where I have to spend between 30 mins to an hour for maintaining spic and span.



3rd part Exhaust muffler towards the right side



The famous gull swing arm mounted with Single 220mm petal-type disc and single-piston caliper and ABS. Bike comes with Dunlop sportmax roadsport 2 tyres and Rear tyre profile is 160/60 R17 with 36 psi recommendation. Both the brakes from Nissin are good enough to stop the bike on time and performed well in some emergency braking conditions and never felt nervous.



Front tyre profile is 120/70 R17 with 32 psi recommendation. Dual 300mm petal-type discs and 2-piston calipers and ABS. Bike has a Turning Radius of 9.2 ft and I feel cumbersome while making short U-turns. Ground clearance is 130mm and while returning to home after getting delivery, I scrapped it on a big speed breaker near my home and that was a heart break moment. Lesson learned in a hard way that too very first day of my ride. After that I always downshift to 1st gear and approach the bumps either left to right or right to left based on the situation.



Tyre thread pattern and from my experience the bike needs a upgrade with better grip. In few emergency braking condition I felt the rear is unsettled. Once the current set wear out, would like to upgrade with a better grip ones. Any recommendation is welcome.



Bike comes with led light setup except all 4 turn indicators which are regular bulbs. Below picture taken at 6:45 AM. From my experience the illumination is not so great and its insufficient in rainy conditions and city roads which are illuminated with lights.



Parking light and Front Indicators. It gives a angry face look with sharp chin design.



The famous X rear led setup, turn indicators and grab rails. For aesthetic purpose I thought of removing the grab rails but I have to push the bike backwards in the parking ramp to squeeze it between the wall and car, its difficult to push ~ 200kgs without the grab rail and left as it is. Anyway it looks better compare to Ninja 300 grab rails. I removed the rear saree guard, as it is of no use and after removal, bike looks better from side view.



Small and effective rear license plate light



Bottom view of grab rail and key hole to unlock the seats.

[Kashief]

Under seat storage is very limited. Tool kit is tied with a rubber strap, 12 V 8.6 Ah Battery from Yuasa and additionally I keep bike documents hard copy.



Sturdy side stand to hold the bike with a Kerb weight 196 kg



Foot pegs for both rider/pillion



Accessories fitted:

1. Evotech Radiator Guard - Rs.9000
2. Puig Frame Sliders - Rs. 10000
3. Evotech Front Fork Bobbins - Rs. 5000
4. Evotech Rear Bobbins - Rs. 5500
5. Moto Graphix Transparent Tank Pad - Rs. 2250
6. PPF over the Tank - Rs. 5700
7. Display screen guard - Rs. 1749

Dealership charge to fit above accessories - Rs. 1600

Riding Gears:

1. Scorpion EXO-490 Helmet - Rs. 13999
2. Revit Riding Jacket - Rs. 13500
3. Solace Tank Bag - Rs. 3999
4. Rynox Air GT Gloves - Rs. 3450
5. Balaclava - Rs. 550

Maintenance:

1st paid service interval is 1000kms or 1 month and subsequently 6 months or 6000kms whichever occurs first. I have completed two services and charges are around Rs. 6000 per service. Periodically I take care of cleaning and lubing the chain after every 500kms. Bike is under covered parking and protected with Oxford Rainex which I feel is a very good investment.



With Battery Charger provision



None of the professional car washers in my area are ready to wash my bike, even though I offer to pay extra. I don't want to wash it in local bike service stations due to the washing process they follow. After washing, it is very difficult to wipeout the water drops in certain area due to the fairing. So I bought the blower to clear water droplets. Rest of the washing items are already available with me used to wash my cars and additionally purchased below items,

1. Pressure pump - Rs.8500
2. Bosch Blower 820W - Rs. 5248
3. Paddock Stand from Madarasi Engineering - Rs. 3000
4. Oxford Rainex Bike Cover from FC Moto Germany - Rs.9358

At the time of writing this post, I have clocked 4800kms in ODO. Adding Few pictures from my rides and did a long pending photo-shoot with the help of my friend Mahesh. Thanks to him for his kind support during the shoot.

Ride to Pulicat lake and Satish Dawan Space Centre



Enroute to Javadhu Hills and Vainu Bappu Observatory





















Thanks for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Cyborg]

Congratulations and all the best with your baby Kashief! Thank you for sharing your journey.

Lovely pictures and details provided. You have the bike on a paddock stand in many pictures on public roads, any particular reason?

Ride safe and have a ball.

Cheers

[Kashief]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

You have the bike on a paddock stand in many pictures on public roads, any particular reason?

Ride safe and have a ball.

Cheers

Thanks Cyborg. That Bye pass road is not fully functional and used by localities for morning exercise.

[anandkumargb]

Congratulations! Buddy

I totally agree with you on the pros and cons of the bike.

I recently purchased a used ninja 650 KRT edition 2019 make with 3700 kms on ODO. I have a thread on it here.

cheers, Keep Revving!!

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of bikes have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[bf1983]

Congrats on your new purchase!

That KRT green looks amazing! Unfortunately that ground clearance issue can be really irritating especially around Mumbai where we have some really bad speedbreakers.

Only option is either an illegal exhaust change (which I did for my bike) or a stiff suspension.

[Kashief]

Originally Posted by bf1983

Congrats on your new purchase!

That KRT green looks amazing! Unfortunately that ground clearance issue can be really irritating especially around Mumbai where we have some really bad speedbreakers.

Only option is either an illegal exhaust change (which I did for my bike) or a stiff suspension.

Thanks for the wishes bf1983!

Kawasaki sales personal claims that the low ground clearance helps in better stability, while doing occasional track days. Not sure how many Ninja 650 owners use it for track.

Agree, there are variety of exhausts available in market but I like to keep all my vehicles in stock condition. I don’t think stiffening suspension from setting 3 to 7 will help much in this case. So I used to be extra careful while approaching speed breakers and by any chance if I ride with pillion then I don’t hesitate to ask the pillion to get down

[btdhar]

I have a 7 year old er-6N ( older version of the Z650). For speed breakers, you have to learn to ride diagonally and not straight, unfortunately it's very painful with pillion

For the grease and grime on the silencer, use diesel when cold and it will be clean in no time. I have switched to diesel (filled into a sprayer like old Mr.Muscle bottle) since 3 years and a liter lasts like a year including chain cleaning.

[Kashief]

Originally Posted by btdhar

I have a 7 year old er-6N ( older version of the Z650). For speed breakers, you have to learn to ride diagonally and not straight, unfortunately it's very painful with pillion

For the grease and grime on the silencer, use diesel when cold and it will be clean in no time. I have switched to diesel (filled into a sprayer like old Mr.Muscle bottle) since 3 years and a liter lasts like a year including chain cleaning.

Yes I use the same technique in speed breakers and good thing is I ride solo.

During one of our Sunday morning rides, I noticed a Suzuki GSX 750 with all 3 tail pipes neat and tidy. Me and my friend where curious and asked the owner about how he maintain. He suggested to use blue harpic mixed with water (to reduce concentration) and brush it over the dirt for few times until it’s clear and finally to apply metal paste (I use autosol). I’ve only done twice and result is good. However it’s a time consuming process.

Pls note I’m not recommending this process as I’m not sure about its long term problems.

[btdhar]

Originally Posted by Kashief

Yes I use the same technique in speed breakers and good thing is I ride solo.
=====
Pls note I’m not recommending this process as I’m not sure about its long term problems.

I use Autosol metal polish periodically. The pipes don't get white but are bronzy and shining

[harmanjeet14]

The best way to tackle speed breakers is to stiffen up the suspension. If riding solo, that should solve issues for 90% of the time.

Diesel is fine to clean silencer but you need to be careful it does not get sprayed on the chain, as its corrosive for the o rings in the chain. You can always use the chain cleaner to clean of the grease.
Also switching to clear/ white ceramic lubes can help in keeping the bike tidy overall.

[dmaheshkumar]

Hi,
Congratulations on your new Kawasaki 650. Wishes to clock many more miles without issues. High end Motor cycles were getting price hike consistently it seems.
In 2016, Kawasaki Z800 Costed 8.66 Lakhs on road Coimbatore and now the 650 (twin cylinder) is also in the same price bracket.

[AKSO]

Congratulations on your new Kwacker. Just as a suggestion - keep those documents under the seat in some plastic else it may disintegrate with water and muck. Ride Safe!