New 2013 Kawasaki Ninja 650R review: Slick and Savvy

Ride, handling and braking

The most striking feature of the Ninja650R’s handling is it’s rock solid poise. In a straight line, irrespective of the speed you’re doing, the Ninja 650 feels incredibly stable with its boulder steady poise. We can’t tell whether it’s by virtue of the superb twin tube chassis or the heavy 211kg weight, but this machine feels totally unshakeable at speed. Minor undulations, road imperfections, gravel or plain potholes, there’s no taking away the sturdiness and sure-footedness from this motorcycle.

We were riding the Ninja 650 on an extremely wet day, and while passing through the open valleys approaching Lonavala, we encountered some really strong crosswinds. We could feel our helmets wobbling around our head, but no change in the bike’s own behavior. It’s after riding bikes like these that you come to know where smaller machines like the KTM 390 Duke could improve as regards straight line stability.

Making an important contribution to the Ninja650’s poise are its 120 / 70-17 front and 160 / 60 – 17 Dunlop Roadsmart II tires. Even while riding through absolutely rain lashed highways which had patches of mud and other predicaments strewn all across, the Dunlops offered astonishing grip levels. We were thoroughly impressed with their performance in wet, and can only imagine how good they would be in dry conditions. The good news is, those tyres are known to be quite durable too, and should last you a good distance before requiring to be replaced.

Braking duty is handled by dual 300mm petal-shaped disc brakes with twin-piston calipers up front. At the rear you have a single 220mm petal-shaped disc. There is no dearth of braking power or feedback. We do think that the lack of ABS as standard on such an expensive machine is a grave omission. This holds especially true as the recently introduced KTM 390 which is a third of the Ninja’s price has the feature as standard.

The Ninja650R is shod with a 41mm Telescopic fork up front with 120 mm travel, and a 7 – step adjustable single offset lay-down shock with 125 mm travel at the rear. At the default setting, the Ninja 650R feels just right with one rider. It soaks up a whole range of road imperfections with legendary aplomb, without being perturbed one bit. There is a bit of a problem though when you are riding two-up. On default setting the clearance gets reduced and you manage to scrape the underbelly exhaust much more often than acceptable. That factor is one small blemish on the Ninja 650R’s otherwise spotless personality.

As regards handling, the Ninja 650, though not a razor sharp corner carver like the ZX-10R, is a plausibly well sorted handler. While naysayers would want to drive your attention to the high handlebars and the relaxed riding position of the bike, you can easily ignore such extremists in the real world. Going extreme, SuperSport style would render a bike unusable for long durations. Those of you who have ridden a proper supersport like the Yamaha R1 or as an even more extreme example, the Ninja ZX-10R, would know what I am talking about. Within an hour of riding those ‘sharp handlers’ your shoulders and wrists start aching to an extent where you cannot continue riding anymore. You need to ride those bikes on a regular basis for long hours to keep your body in shape to handle those extremities. The Ninja 650, on the other hand welcomes any and everybody who may want to ride for hours at a stretch.

So while there may be some compromises for a racetrack, the 650 is absolutely spotless for your real-world corner carving adventures. The turn-ins are effortless. Even with its weight, you can lean and lift back the bulk of this machine quite naturally. The balance and the linear power delivery ensure that you can crack open the throttle while making an exit on a corner. And that’s why the Ninja is so good for our conditions. Try being a cowboy on a liter class machine, twist the wrist with too much enthusiasm while still being leaned over and you will find yourself on the other side of the road in the gutter.

Sure, there are better bikes for the racetrack which will swallow and spit the Ninja around a circuit, and will help you train better as a professional racer. However, in the real world, for the real world rider, the Ninja really is the real deal.
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