I didn't see a specific new member section so here I am. I picked up my 2018 Ninja 650 Thursday night from a dealer in Cederberg, Wisconsin. I live in northern Illinois by the boarder but dealers around here do not budge much in the price.
This bike will be replacing a totaled 2016 CBR500R which I wrecked last November when the front end washed out in a corner. The Honda was a great commuter bike but believe it or not the build quality and paint were very poor.
I see the owners manual has a 1,000 mile break in schedule limiting the RPM's to no more than 4,000 for the first 500 miles. Well, I went slightly over that yesterday but mostly kept it under 4,000 before reading that part in the manual. It will be tough keeping it under 4,000 RPM as I will use it for commuting where the slow lane is typically 60 mph or better. I plan to get the maximum mpg out of this bike and thus far have seen as much as 54 mpg on the built in mpg gauge.
I have the KRT model which I really like over the other offerings. The blue and gray were also nice but green is the color when I think of a Ninja. I could have bought a new 2017 KRT but didn't like the color scheme with too much black. I have rear spools on order and hope to find a helmet holder like the previous Sato model that I bought for the CBR which looked factory. The ride seems pretty plush right now so only miles will determine if I need emulators or fork springs in the future. I have to say this stock suspension is better than the one on my previous CBR and I can tell that with not even 50 miles on it.
This bike will be replacing a totaled 2016 CBR500R which I wrecked last November when the front end washed out in a corner. The Honda was a great commuter bike but believe it or not the build quality and paint were very poor.
I see the owners manual has a 1,000 mile break in schedule limiting the RPM's to no more than 4,000 for the first 500 miles. Well, I went slightly over that yesterday but mostly kept it under 4,000 before reading that part in the manual. It will be tough keeping it under 4,000 RPM as I will use it for commuting where the slow lane is typically 60 mph or better. I plan to get the maximum mpg out of this bike and thus far have seen as much as 54 mpg on the built in mpg gauge.
I have the KRT model which I really like over the other offerings. The blue and gray were also nice but green is the color when I think of a Ninja. I could have bought a new 2017 KRT but didn't like the color scheme with too much black. I have rear spools on order and hope to find a helmet holder like the previous Sato model that I bought for the CBR which looked factory. The ride seems pretty plush right now so only miles will determine if I need emulators or fork springs in the future. I have to say this stock suspension is better than the one on my previous CBR and I can tell that with not even 50 miles on it.
