2023 Kawasaki Ninja 650 road test review - is the package complete? | OVERDRIVE 

Got my 2023 Ninja 650 on first week of Jan and just did around 400kms of city ride and a little bit of highway. I'm loving the bike. here's my short review. Note: I upgraded from Avenger street 2020. Pros: - great beginner bike if you want to ride the big guns down the line. - it delivers the power you want the minute you want. in initial days I had some trouble overtaking because it was so fast that i had already overtaken the car I want to overake even before finishing that thought and a mile becomes so short after this bike - great control. I haven't gone insane speeds but I have driven at 120kmph and it felt very easy to control. - overall it turns a lot of head in the streets. many people have approached me to talk about the bike in signals and tea shops etc. Few kids would come and ask me to rev the bike etc. I don't mind it but for some this might be annoying. Cons: - the ground clearance is a joke. I've come to peace with it. If you have a pillion all those ilegal speedbreakers will hit your underbelly. There is nothing you can do. Just try to go over them at less than 5kmph - The bike is super linear in performance. If you come from Duke or other more exciting bikes, you will feel super bored. I came from avenger 220 and I'm okay if my bike is linear. but some of my friends who ride KTMs and Yamahas hated it because it is super linear. What I mean is, in a duke, you would have somewhat linear acceleration until u hit 3000rpm and then the acceleration somewhat goes exponential above it. but Ninja 650 is linear. there is nothing like, it shines in top end, it shines in mid range etc. it is exactly the same in all ranges. People get bored of Ninja 650 in a year or two because of this before they move to 1Liter bikes. Note this doesn't mean the bike has no power. It will absolutely screw you up if you don't ride it well in open throttle. But its still just linear. - The heat is bad. but not worse than any other faired superbike. I'm in Chennai and in Jan, when the sun is not that bad, I get 107 degrees in my screen sometimes when im moving in bumper to bumper traffic. It can be uncomfortable at times. But the heat regulation is very good in the bike, so the moment you start moving above 50kmphj, the heat gets fairly reduced. - In my opinion, you should not care about mileage if you are getting a superbike so I usually don't care about it. But for the interested people. I use "Speed" exclusively and never use any other petrol. I get around 16-18 in city. When I say City, its mind boggling city traffic. Like I'm talking about 20 minutes idling on a signal kind of city traffic. Not sure about highway because I haven't driven it that much in highway but I'm assuming i should get 23-ish. - The Dealer and service center are absolute trash. There is only one dealer in Chennai and they are super lethargic. They don't give a shit. I try my best not to interact with them. NOTE: There is no free service in Kawasaki. So all services are paid. I paid 7.3K for my first service. So my advice is, do the 3 service with Kawasaki and then just find a good mod shop and only go there. Overall, I enjoy the bike. I'm sure I'll have a good time with it. It listens to me and gives me what I want. Considering its a Kawasaki, it wont have any kind of mechanical problems for the next 10 years. I still see people riding 2011 Ninjas with minimal maintainace. But Clearly, This bike is not for everyone. If you want your bike to be young and exciting, don't get a ninja 650. If you are fine with your bike being classy and mature and linear but delivers when needed, then Ninja 650 is a good bike. If you worry about things like Mileage, Maintainance etc, then don't get a Kawasaki. while I was searching for bikes, I also researched on other bikes. so if you are looking for a good 650, get an interceptor or Continental GT. both are amazing bikes. If you want a sports bike, get an RC390. it has so much soul and its dead cheap if you break it.

Points only made known to in ownership forums(Indian sites): 1. Sub par dealership experience. They don't have test ride bikes in most cities including Bangalore or Chennai 2. High maintenance cost wrt spares and labour charge,esp for a Japanese brand. Costlier than suzuki/Honda. 3. Sub par service centre experience. 4. Real world mileage is 18 city ,20-22 for highway. 28-29 would be a dream come true. I don't see owners reporting the same on xbhp or teambhp. 5. Low ground clearance This is a good bike let down by a pathetic dealer and after sales service experience. The high maintenance cost only adds salt to this. Kawasaki should focus in improving their customer service while they still hold the first mover advantage. But I've heard they're apathetic outside India as well.

Damn. I'm cooking and listening/looking from time to time but I gotta rewarch this later. Sounds like a good review! Been wanting a really detailed 2023 Ninja 650 review!

What an emotional start

Please make videos in 4K quality, even small youtubers are doing that nowadays! Nice review btw, was waiting for this for a long time.

Awesome review. Presenter getting emotional at the beginning was so touching.

Great video, I was waiting for the new reviews for this and the 1000 SX. What leaves me hanging still is the choice of colors launched in India. I so wish the silver grey and all black themes were still available. If one were to pick up the most "utilizable" sport tourer, will this be your choice or 1000 SX considering the budget can be managed for the elder one as well.

great review man, review style subtle yet engaging

Welcome Back Rohit !! Seeing you after a long time again on RU-vid. 🤟

Great review!

Dear Rohit, Can u please give us a comparison between Tiger 660 vs Versys650 vs Vstorm 650? Eagerly waiting for that video.

Superb review!!

Lmaooo tell me y at 2:35 the check engine light came on

It's because of roads like these that ADV bikes have become so popular. A Versys 650 would fare better here now. But hey, great video as always, Team OD.

0:23 - best point

Why does that exhaust sound so tame 😂

Good video!! You missed the low slung exhaust! Our road conditions won’t help it

Was this shot on iPhone? The fake blur is very disturbing.

In my overall analysis Kawasaki Ninja 650 has not changed a lot since 2011 because in the year when it was launched I was a very well researched biker. And the advantage they are claiming that time again will be limited only up to the papers. It's very very overpriced... Continuing enjoying KTM Duke 390 raw power. It's rocket 🚀

Yes the ninja 650 is a good bike. it looks good, it has good features and the engine performance is decent but Kawasaki could have given little bit more power. The engine sound also could have been improved, the ninja 650 is not the best sounding twin cylinder bike. It almost sounds similar to the ninja 300 or 400. They should have given a 270 ° crank that gives the ninja more Bass to the stock exhaust. Overall its a decent 650 cc bike for touring and commuting, its comfortable and practical. But if Kawasaki will solve these issues that's mentioned here, the ninja 650 will be Even better motorcycle to be considered .

I considered this motorcycle before deciding to go for the z900, this one just seems a little over priced for what it offers, or wait… maybe the z900 is excellent value for money?

Hey guys...the colors the video is off-putting...please dont over do the color correction.😊

can a 5'6 dude ride this comfortably ?

Would pick a street triple R any day! Worth the extra few lakhs, you're getting almost twice the bike! And in the used market probably get it for the same price as the kawasaki! This bike is really not worth more than 5.5 to 6 lakhs!

8 Lksh for a 650cc bike...yeahhh I'll pass..🤕🤕

What? 8.2 lakhs on road! A sparingly used Tiger 660 is available for 8.5 lakhs certified by Triumph. Sounds like a proper super bike with all the bells and whistles for touring.

Currently it's not worth for the price.

Instead ninja 650 better buy Z900 or Zx4R

400cc

Telescopic forks 😑😑... Are they on weed..

Is it legal to remove the saree guard? Coz it's look both awful and ugly.

Entire line-up is too much expensive and uneasy to maintain.... Bad dealer network... Tier _2 cities very bad

Not complete no helmet hooks

Kawasaki is in Kawasaki Japan, never reachable

Always in india you pay high tax...

Road review or bike review 😡😡

Only stickers and colour update to the most ugly looking ninja

Does it have a character yet? Or is it still the same characterless shit