Changing of the Guard (Adios, Bandito! Hello, Ninja!)

[MX793]

I wheel the Bandit out of the garage door for one last ride.  I turn the key and watch as the gauges go through their initialization.  The tach sweeps from zero to twelve and then back to zero; the LCD display lights up.  From under seat, there's the sound of the fuel pump starting up, priming the injectors.  I push the starter button for the last time.  It manages only two labored turns of the motor and then... nothing.  Dead battery.  With places to be, I quickly wheel the bike back into the garage and pull off the seat.  I hook a battery charger up to the terminals, plug it in, and use it as a jump starter.  It struggles a bit, but finally fires after 6 months of hibernation.  The 1255cc engine settles into its usual, muted idle.  It's a refined sound with no aggressive edge or growl or snarl behind it.  Just a smooth hum.  I disconnect the charger, put the seat back on, and wheel her back out of the garage.  I close the door behind me, throw a leg over the saddle and flip the kickstand up.  I pull in the heavy, hydraulic clutch with my left hand and push down on the shifter with my left foot to engage first gear.  The green light in the dash turns off as the transmission clicks into gear.  I ease out on the clutch and I'm away.  The smooth motor nonchalantly doles out thrust in concert with my right wrist.  No theatrics, no drama, no howling battle-cry; just a smooth surge of acceleration whenever it's called for without question of complaint.

I turn onto the highway and get up to speed.  Here the chill starts to set in.  While my jacket is plenty warm, my vented gloves do little to keep the cold out and my fingers start to ache.  It's gray and cloudy and unseasonably cool, with temperatures barely over 50F.  Dark clouds threaten to drop rain at any moment.  Some places on the road are ever so slightly damp, as though a light shower had recently passed through.  A few droplets of water land on my face shield, but nothing more.

Roughly 10 miles and 15 minutes later, I'm turning off of the rural highway and into the dealership parking lot.  I pull into a space in front of the building, slip the transmission into neutral, and turn off the motor for the last time.  I flip the kickstand down, alight from the saddle, and make my way into the building.

After signing a few forms and handing over a check, the transaction is done.  The Bandit was no longer mine.  It had been traded in for another bike.  The salesman disappears for a moment and then appears again in front of the building with a shiny, new bike.  My shiny, new bike.  At that moment, the clouds break and the sunlight shines through.  The bright, candy blue paint stands out in sharp contrast with the much more reserved, gray-blue metallic of its predecessor parked nearby.  The word "Ninja" written in black with a silver outline on the side of the fuel tank and the numeral "1000" below on the fairing.  "Kawasaki" stands out in white letters on the black underskirt, just beneath the engine covers.  The overall appearance is athletic, aggressive, and modern as opposed to the much more understated, innocuous, and dated appearance of the older Bandit nearby.  Of course, that bike wasn't particularly modern-looking when new, instead opting for a more conservative and less polarizing styling approach.

The salesman provides a quick tutorial of the features of the new bike.  With the exception of how to cycle the various traction control and fuel mapping modes, all of it was standard fare.  I shake his hand and thank him for his time (and he thanks me for the purchase) and then thumb the starter on the new bike.  The 1043cc motor jumps to life and quickly settles into an idle.  The sound emitted from the dual exhausts has a bit of edge to it; a hint of snarl.  I blip the throttle and the snarl is a bit more pronounced, though not dominating.  It's just enough to let you know this motor has some teeth, if you care to unleash them.

I throw a leg over the bike and lift it up off the side stand.  It's light, relatively speaking.  Even with a full tank of fuel, it's noticeably lighter than the machine I arrived on.  With the sun now gone back into hiding behind a thick, gray cloud and the threat of damp roads and impending rain, I opt to set the traction control to its highest setting and set the motor in its reduced power mode as some added insurance.  (The latter, as it turns out, was unnecessary since it only reduces power in the upper third of the 11,000 RPM band where I had no intention of operating the still-green engine anyway.)  I pull in the cable-operated clutch, much lighter than its predecessor's "3-finger" hydraulic unit, and tap the shifter down into first gear.  I ease out the clutch, find the friction point, and then roll away.  I let the bike creep along at a walking pace for a few yards in the parking lot and then pull in the clutch and give the front brake lever a squeeze to feel out its sensitivity.  What would have resulted in a gentle stop on the old bike instead generated an abrupt halt that shoved my gentleman-parts firmly against the fuel tank.  These brakes are strong, with far less lever travel than I'm used to.  There's no need for more than a single finger on this front brake.

After readjusting myself in the saddle, I roll off towards the parking lot exit.  I look both ways and roll out onto the highway, hoping to make it home before the clouds over head unleash their watery bombardment.  Behind me, my old Bandit sits in the dealer lot waiting to be scooped up by its next owner.  I hope it finds a good home.

As I run up through the gears, the first thing I notice is that this bike, while plenty potent, doesn't have quite the chain-stretching grunt of the big Bandit off the bottom.  The motor is plenty smooth, at least through the first half of the RPM band that I sampled on my ride home, and seems eager to rev.  Give it the spurs and it'll oblige you with a pleasantly aggressive howl and a firm forward push.  The fueling is crisp and precise with no unpleasant abruptness at the on-off transition.  Every bit as good as the Bandit, which itself was lauded for its excellent FI system and smooth throttle.  Blip the throttle to rev-match a downshift and you're treated to a nice "brap" from the exhaust.  The gearing, beyond first gear, is shorter than I'm used to and with more tightly spaced ratios, shifts need to be quicker if they are to be smooth.  There may be a sprocket change in the future to stretch the gearing out a bit, and bring RPMs in top gear down ~10%.

The roads between the dealership and home were fairly smooth, but the suspension soaked up what bumps there were pretty well with its stock settings.  The suspension feels reasonably plush, but still firm enough to feel well planted at normal speeds.  Longer rides on more frost-heaved country roads will paint a better picture and determine whether I'll need to do some tinkering with the fully adjustable suspension.  It feels pretty light on its feet when dodging manhole covers and potholes, though there was no real opportunity to try any twisty roads.

Adios, Bandito! (file photo)



Hello, Ninja!

[FoMoJo]

Very nice.

[MexicoCityM3]

Nice. Congrats. Ninjas a decade ago looked ricey. That looks very good.

[MX793]

The above all actually happened yesterday.  I drafted that up but didn't post it until today. 

Today I gambled on the weather and went out for a ~95 mile ride on a mix of roads.  I was watching the radar and checking hourly forecasts and thought I saw a ~2 hour window over a decent area that I'd be able to go out and not get caught in the rain.  It's cooler out than I'd ordinarily go riding in (high 50s), but tolerable so long as you're not being rained on.  Unfortunately, the gamble didn't completely pay off and I ended up suffering through a few miles of miserably cold rain (and got my bike all dirty).

A few additional impressions:

Suspension:  I smacked into a few decent sized frost heaves on my ride today.  The largest ones actually popped me up off of the seat a bit.  And yet, they didn't seem as jarring as on the Bandit.  I'm not sure why.  The Bandit seemed like the back end would buck on frost heaves, throwing me forward and causing me to chop the throttle, which would throw me forward even more as the engine braking kicked in.  This bike seems to just pop up more vertically.  Maybe the shorter wheelbase coming into play?  The fact that this was early in the ride and my back wasn't tired probably helped as well.  Frost heaves early in the ride on the Bandit were much more tolerable than those hit after being in the saddle for 150+ miles.  I'm thinking I may have to do a little dialing in of the suspension to try to soak up some of those bigger bumps, but I think I'll need some longer rides to get a better feel for it.

Engine:  This is a sweet little motor.  For as powerful as it is, it feels very user-friendly.  Maybe it's just because it has a bit less punch in the low to mid-range than I'm used to.  Also nice having an exhaust note with some character (while not being obnoxious).  I took it up to ~80 mph on the interstate and felt only the slightest buzz (nothing remotely uncomfortable or extremity numbing) through the interface points (seat, bars, pegs) despite turning a much higher RPM than my old bike.

Handling:  I'll preface this by saying that I never push a bike anywhere near its limits on the street.  For starters, public streets are too unpredictable an environment for that kind of thing and, secondly, I'm just not skilled (or brave) enough to push either this bike, or the Bandit before it, near their true handling limits even if I was in a controlled environment.  That said, after riding down one of my favorite twisty roads, this thing handles very nicely.  After only a couple of corners I found myself feeling pretty comfortable taking curves on this bike.  As comfortable as I was on the Bandit.  Maybe moreso.

Brakes:  As previously noted, the front brakes are quite strong, but not abrupt or grabby.  Very easy to modulate smoothly once you realize that they don't require much effort on the lever to dial up the stopping power.  The rear brakes are OK.  About the same as the Bandit.  Takes a pretty good amount of pressure to actually get the wheel to lock up, or rather, trigger the ABS.  As with most bikes, almost all of your stopping power is coming from the front.

Seating position/comfort:  Pretty similar to the Bandit, really.  It looks like a sportbike, but the seating position is much more standard/upright (dirtbike-like) than its ZX-R repli-racer cousins.  The pegs feel a little higher and the bars are a little bit further forward than the Bandit's, but overall it's a pretty neutral and comfortable position for someone of my proportions.  I rode non-stop for the better part of two hours and no stiffness whatsoever.  The seat is fairly narrow for most of its length (widens at the very back) and pretty firm.  Firmer than the Bandit's.  I often blamed the Bandit's softer seat for some of the posterior discomfort experienced after about 3 hours in the saddle.  We'll see if this one is better, worse, or the same.  I think the seat is a shade higher from the ground, but I can still put both feet flat on the ground and lift my backside off of the seat at a stoplight.

Wind protection:  The windscreen is adjustable, with three height/angle settings that can be set without any tools.  Simply push and hold a lever located under the instrument panel and move the windscreen up or down.  I wouldn't try it on the fly, but it could easily be done at a stoplight to dial up more or less protection if so desired.  So far I've only ridden with it in the middle position.  In that position, the air stream hits me just below the tops of my shoulders.  The air flow is clean with no buffeting of my helmet.  Compared to the Bandit and the taller, aftermarket windscreen I had installed, upper body wind protection isn't quite as good.  But we'll see if moving the screen up in its highest position makes a difference.  Thanks to the full fairing, lower body protection is better than I'm accustomed to.

Instrumentation:  Like the Bandit, the instrument panel consists of an analog tach with an LCD display for everything else.  With the Bandit, the LCD displayed speed, fuel level, time (below the speedometer), and either the odometer, trip meter A, or trip meter B (just above the digital speedometer readout).  Display of these latter three was cycled via a button on the instrument panel.  Anything else (water temp, oil pressure, ABS fault, etc) was communicated via a warning light.  On the Ninja, the LCD shows fuel level and speed all of the time.  Below the speedometer readout you can display either coolant temperature or the clock.  Above the speedometer readout you can cycle through the odometer, trip meter A, trip meter B, instantaneous fuel economy, average fuel economy, or range (miles to empty).  Display of all of these is controlled either via buttons on the instrument panel or via a handy toggle on the left handgrip (so no need to take your hand off the grip).  There's also a little "ECO" icon that pops up when you are getting optimal fuel economy.  I really like having the fuel economy and range readouts, as well as the ability to cycle between them without having to take my hand off of the handlebar.

Fuel economy:  Here's a not-so-bright spot.  After my ride today, with a total of about 106 miles on the clock, I decided to top off the tank despite still having about half a tank left on the gauge (and 100 miles of range showing) just to see what kind of mileage I got.  Based on watching the instantaneous mpg readout, I was only getting around 42-43 mpg at steady highway speeds.  Based on the amount of fuel it took to fill the tank, I averaged only 40 and change.  The Bandit, when ridden similarly, got 50+ mpg.  The Bandit was also geared considerably taller.  I'm toying with the idea of swapping to a smaller rear sprocket (or larger front, or some combination) to see if I can bring my RPMs in top gear down by 8-10% and see if that improves the fuel economy.  I'll have to see if the mileage improves as the engine breaks in.  Also, it was pretty cool out today, so different temperature conditions may also make a difference when it's 20-25 degrees warmer out.  Interestingly, I noticed that the readout was telling me that I was getting the same mileage at 60 mph as I was at 75, despite the motor spinning 1000 RPM higher and, obviously, the aero drag being higher.

Under-seat storage:  Another area where the new bike is inferior to the old.  Not that any bike (excluding the Honda NC700) has a lot of storage under the seat, but the Bandit had probably double the volume under the seat.  The road map I used to keep under the seat of the Bandit won't fit in the Ninja (well, maybe if I fold it differently I could get it to fit, but it's laminated so I'd prefer not to create new folds).  But since I also ordered the optional hard panniers (they hadn't arrived when I picked the bike up, should be in next week), I'll have considerably more on-bike storage than I previously did.

Other items of note:
-Remote rear spring preload adjuster:  The cylindrical thing just above the passenger's footpeg in the picture is actually the rear spring preload adjuster.  It's basically a screw-type hydraulic cylinder that is connected to a piston above the rear spring.  Turning the knob in or out makes the piston expand or contract, adjusting how much pre-load is placed on the rear spring.  To adjust the rear preload on the Bandit (and a number of other bikes), you need to get a special wrench out of the bike's tool kit and turn a nut that's mounted above the shock to achieve the same affect.  Can be a bit of a pain since space to turn the wrench can sometimes be tight.  Very handy when you want to change the preload for riding 2-up vs solo.

-Traction control:  As previously mentioned, this bike has TCS.  It can be set to one of 4 modes:  Off, Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3.  Mode 1 is the least intrusive.  It's essentially race mode.  Mode 2 is the default, "normal conditions" mode.  Mode 3 is the most intrusive and meant for riding in slick/wet/rainy/gravelly conditions.  I'm not sure how much this feature is going to do for me, or if I'll ever even get it to engage, but I guess it's nice to know that the safety net is there.  Much like testing the ABS on my front brakes (which I've never done), I'm not so sure I even want to whack the throttle on a wet road to see exactly how well this system works.  I don't ride hard enough in the dry to break the rear tire loose, nor do I want to on public streets, and in the wet I simply take it easy with the throttle and run in the highest gear possible to avoid losing traction.  I set it in mode 3 when I picked the bike up from the dealer and it will probably never be changed from that setting the entire time I own the bike.  If you want to change it, you can alter the settings via the toggle on the left hand grip when the bike is stopped.

-Multiple fuel maps / Power modes:  The bike has 2 power modes:  Full and Low.  Low reduces peak power to 70% (roughly 100 hp).  From what I've read, it basically just cuts power above ~7000 RPM.  According to magazine tests, it's also supposed to soften throttle response slightly at lower RPMs.  I've ridden in both modes and didn't really notice a difference at lower RPMs.  I don't intend to break 6000 RPM until the engine has a few hundred more miles on it, and even then I don't anticipate 7000+ RPM being visited that regularly.  Then again, this bike seems to encourage revs more than my old one .  Like the TCS, I'm not sure if this is a feature I'll get much use out of.  I think it's intended to be used in wet/slick conditions, but if the conditions are slick enough that you consciously are engaging a power map that cuts power at 7000+ RPM, you should probably be mindful enough to simply not operate the motor at those RPMs when it's slippery.  I suppose limiting the power may also be nice for a more novice rider or one who is just stepping up to a liter-bike from a middleweight.  Like the TCS, also controlled via the toggle on the left grip when the bike is stopped.

-Center stand:  There isn't one.  Not even a provision to mount an aftermarket one.  It's the one feature the Bandit had that I will truly miss.  It's really handy for oiling the chain or adjusting chain tension, and when storing the bike it allows the bike to take up less space because it stands completely upright instead of leaning.  A lot of sportbike guys (and gals) argue that bikes are better without them because a center stand will reduce your cornering clearance, but that's not always the case.  Just looking over the bike, I'm 99% positive the center stand was not the limiting factor on the Bandit's cornering clearance.  The Honda VFR800 Interceptor also has a center stand and it is not the limiting factor for that bike's cornering clearance.  Kawi has somewhat positioned this bike as a sport touring machine and sport touring riders all want, even demand, a center stand.  Especially on bikes with chain drive.  But it is what it is.  I'll have to buy a pit stand before winter so I can optimize space in my garage when the bike is being stored.

[12,000 RPM]

Wow very thorough review. Nice bike man. I love these but the Z1000 is just too damn sexy. I would probably get an old Bandit 1200 for touring and an old Z for twisties/track days

[MX793]

Got out of work early and then did a ~250 mile ride yesterday afternoon.  I'd say comfort is at least as good as the Bandit.  I was starting to get a little saddle sore over the last 30 miles or so, but seeing as this was my first motorcycle ride of more than 100 miles for the year, that's not unexpected.  I honestly would have liked to have gone another 40 or so miles to hit a few twistier roads that I like to frequent, but it was getting late and I was getting hungry so I headed home instead of continuing on for another hour or so.

Frost heaves don't transmit quite as harshly through the suspension (no bucking that would result in the throttle getting chopped), but you still take a pretty good wallop and I found my self grimacing after hitting some of the larger ones later in the ride.  Fuel economy is much better than my first tank.  I topped up twice along the way (didn't have a full tank when I left) and averaged 46-47 mpg on both fill-ups.  Still lower than I'm used to, but much better than the 40 I got on the first tank.  Makes me wonder if the dealer really filled it to the top or if maybe they left it about a pint short.  The fact that it was ~25 degrees warmer today than on my last ride probably helped as well.

Played with the windshield adjustments a bit.  Fully up results in pretty much no air hitting my torso, which is nice in cooler weather.  Looks a little strange, though.  I put it back in the middle position since it was pretty warm today and I wanted the added airflow into my jacket vents.

Love this engine.  Another hundred miles and it should be broken in enough to crack into the upper half of the RPM band.  Manual says not to exceed 4000 RPM for the first 600 miles, but that's not really practical since that limits you to under 60 mph and highway traffic typically flows at 65-75 mph.  But I've been limiting myself to 6000 RPM for break in and it's been surprisingly difficult.  Engine sound is so much more intoxicating than the Bandit and it just kind of eggs you on to wind it out.  The Bandit dealt out so much low end grunt and the soundtrack wasn't anything special, so there was never really an incentive to wring it out.  Every once in a while I'd get on it in second gear and wind it out to 8 or 9 grand, but in gear acceleration kind of started trailing off after 6500 RPM as the power curve flattened out.  Based on the dynos, this bike is just getting into its stride at 6K and gets even livelier in the 6K-8K range.

[MX793]

Break-in mileage reached.  First oil change complete.  I'll be getting a smaller strap wrench and a pit stand before I attempt another filter change.  What a pain in the nuts that was.  Filter was too tight to remove by hand and there wasn't enough space to get channel locks onto it and then turn it.  Might have been able to get the channel locks to work if it had been on a center stand or pit stand (or if the filter had been on the other side of the motor), but on the side-stand there just wasn't enough clearance between the ground and the filter.  I started to try to take the faring off, since I definitely would have had enough room to work then, but that was a much larger task than I really wanted to get into so I improvised with the strap wrench I had, which was just a hair too large for the filter.  I managed to get it to work by using a rag and a screwdriver to fill up some of the space.  It is nice that they at least designed the faring such that you can change the filter without removing bodywork.  The filter is also located where it's easier to replace without burning your hands on the header pipes, unlike the Bandit where it was in the center of the cylinder bank between the front of the block and the header pipes (and would spill oil all over the exhaust pipes when you pulled the filter off).

And with fresh oil and a broken-in motor, I decided to open her up.  Past 6500 RPM, it really rips.  I pulled onto a straight, empty stretch of 55 mph rural bi-way and rolled into the throttle in 1st gear and the TCS light started blinking somewhere north of 7000 RPM.  According to the manual, the TCS will cut in to prevent wheelies, so I'm guessing the front end was getting light enough that it decided to step in.  I didn't feel any obvious cutoff in power when it happened, though.  Just happened to notice a little yellow light blinking in the instrument panel in my peripheral vision that I later determined was the TCS light.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

congrats

[FlatBlackCaddy]

You going to get a rear license plate/light eliminator?

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Nice! Are you gonna put an after market exhaust on it?

[MX793]

You going to get a rear license plate/light eliminator?

Probably not.  I ordered the optional panniers from Kawi (to be installed next week) and there's no place on the tail to put the rear turn signals with the bags installed.

Nice! Are you gonna put an after market exhaust on it?

Maybe.  I'm pretty happy with the stock exhaust for now.  I have some other, necessary expenses left this year (like finding a replacement winter car and fixing some damage to my house caused by a roof leak this winter), so definitely nothing in the near future.  Finding something that works with the panniers would likely limit my choices.  I think Akrapovic makes a set of slip-ons that clear the cases.

[MX793]

Really been racking up the miles this season.  My old Bandit had just under 12K miles on it after 7 years.  I'm just shy of 3900 on this bike after 2.5 months.  If we keep having nice weather on the weekends, I may hit 6000 miles before the season is done.

The panniers are so nice to have.  I can pack a light lunch in the morning and take off for the day, as well as have a place to keep my jacket liner and/or an extra shirt for cooler weather.  Great for when it's cool in the morning and then warms up mid-day, as I can just pull over and remove layers and stuff them in the cases.  In the past I had to ride with a backpack to have that sort of versatility, which I generally didn't like doing.  Also nice being able to stash my helmet in one of the cases when I stop somewhere so it's not out baking in the sun (and easier than screwing around with the under-seat helmet lock).  Bike still looks great with them off, unlike a number of other luggage kits I've seen on some other bikes.  Kawi did a great job integrating the case mounts, though I haven't ridden without the cases since having them installed.  Definitely cost me a little bit of fuel mileage, though the convenience more than makes up for it.

I've also noted that the miles to empty readout is painfully optimistic.  Take today for example.  The tank holds 5 gallons and I had gone 70 miles since the last fill-up.  My instantaneous fuel economy gauge was bouncing between 42 and 48 mpg at steady speed on relatively flat ground and the bike was telling me I had 200 miles left before empty (which means I'd have to be averaging over 50 mpg).  I've yet to get better than 48 mpg on a tank.  44-46 is more typical, particularly since adding the panniers.  How it figures I can go more than 250 miles on a tank is beyond me.  Maybe the computer thinks it's a 6 gallon tank?  Minor niggle.  I'm used to relying just on the trip meter, fuel gauge, and my general knowledge of my typical MPGs for a given set of riding conditions to know when to fill up, so I really don't have much need for a range remaining gauge anyway.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Cool, having fun and saving some money(fuel). Can't beat that.

[MX793]

Cool, having fun and saving some money(fuel). Can't beat that.

Saving gas might be a stretch since all of these miles are purely joy-riding, so I'm burning gas I probably wouldn't have otherwise burned.  I suppose some of the sight-seeing I've been doing I might have done by car if I didn't have the bike.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Saving gas might be a stretch since all of these miles are purely joy-riding, so I'm burning gas I probably wouldn't have otherwise burned.  I suppose some of the sight-seeing I've been doing I might have done by car if I didn't have the bike.

I figured you were driving to work with it.

[MX793]

I figured you were driving to work with it.

Weekday weather this summer has been spotty.  Seems like it's rained at least 3 weekdays a week since early June.  Don't really care to ride into, or home from, work in the rain.  Even if the weather is good, I'm not big on commuting by bike.  In the past, I probably only rode the bike into work a 3-4 times a year.  Usually Fridays since the dress code is more lax and I can wear jeans.  In general it's just easier to jump in the car.  And my commute is so short that I'd only save $5-$6 a week taking the bike vs the car.