Style
it is a bike which will attract quite some attention on road while you are driving. It is actually longer than its big brother 650cc ninja. Beautiful, attractive and agressively designed bike.
Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox
the fuel economy claimed is 25kms per litre, i have ridden about 128kms and am down by 2 ticks in the fule gauge ( there are 6 in all before the last one starts blinking) extrapolating i may get around 23 to 24 kmpl which is pretty decent. There is an optimal riding fuel indicator which stops appearing in case you are driving in the wrong gear. For the first 800kms it is advised that you dont get to go beyond 4000rpm which translates to around 54kmphr.
It comes with a six gear gearbox and as i said, gearshifting is not a problem at all. The engine sound is music to ears but is very controlled and is not loud.
Ride quality & handling
the ride quality is amazingly cool, while riding the bike at low speeds too, the balance of the bike remains awesome. It does not complain if you are driving in the first two gears, this is something very common on mumbai roads while commuting to the office everyday. Have driven it for over 100kms till now and i am enjoying every minute of it. I am not a biker at heart and wanted to try a higher cc bike, although the price of this bike is on the higher side, but it is worth every penny.
The turning radius of this bike is larger than the smaller ones but in a day or two you getused to it. The rear view mirrors are foldable. The daylight running light (low beam) is too powerful and even the tiniest of the potholes are visible at night. The high beam is most of the times not required at least in the city driving.
Gear shifting is a pleasure with the slipper clutch. The engine braking can be put to good use while downshifting.
I am a little concerned about driving during the rainy season as there is no abs version for this bike. The colours available are white and green. While ninja lovers will abide with the signature green colour i will strongly recommend the white colour.
The pillion riding is not good and comfortable at all. Do not plan to take the bike in case you are married, this could result in one of the reasons for an altercation, my case the ride with my wife is for only 10 kms so i took a chance. This is a bike which believes in the saying with great power (39hp) comes great responsibility, it gives you a lot of control while riding and does not tempt you to go higher up in the revs. During the test drive itself i could gauge that.
The crash protector is a must for this bike this is notonly for the bike but also important for your foot so that the 172kgs beast does not pulverise it.
Final words
riding this bike is sheer pleasure. The moment the bike starts rolling the twin parallel engines revs give an awesome combination of vibration and controlled accelaration. Of course you will be the first one to be seen after the signal turns green the 0 to 60kms in less than 6 secs. Overall a very good bike gives a big bike feel and stands apart from almost all the bikes.
Areas of improvement
can come up with the abs version this will also help in controoled braking during the rainy season. The pillion rider seat can be ergonomically designed better.
Pros
looks, control, ride quality
cons
price, no abs version available
