The Initial Regret!
Hello BHPians! It's a bit of a shame that I'm writing my first proper detailed review/post on this forum 4 years after joining a place where I feel right at home. Nevertheless as it is said, "It's never too late!". For some weird reason, I kept on postponing writing a good read, thinking I'm the busiest or the most loaded (everyone have their own set of issues to handle, so clearly I'm wrong in thinking so!) person. Back in 2019 when I joined the forum, I had kept photos of my then comparatively new YAMAHA R15 V2 ready to write a travelogue on the innumerous trips I did on the bike, but never wrote one!
Inception of the journey...
So finally the time comes to pen down my thoughts. So as the post title would suggest this post will be more about my current vehicle, the Ninja 300 2022 MY and my adventures with it. But before that I would give a brief intro about my love for automobiles in general and my journey so far! So sit back and enjoy the long read!
The curiosity and love for automobiles was in me from the moment I started to understand the world around me as a kid and it just kept on growing, to become my everything from profession to daily activities. As a kid I used to be fascinated by all machines around me, especially automobiles, for them being moving one's! And my father used to ensure that his son doesn't get disappointed on his birthdays, with those automotive toys ranging from 2W's, 4W's and even rikshaws!
My second birthday pic with one of my favorite toys! The Rikshaw!
And the madness kept getting bigger, as I reached my engineering studies (I had decided myself at a young age that I would be nothing other than an automobile engineer!), where I got my first chance to exploit this love of mine. I joined our college Formula Student Team as a young prodigy full of energy to be unleashed. And in true fashion my then team captain, friends and even my family supporter me a lot to give my best in what I loved to do. I started that little journey (3years - from 2nd year to 4th year of the engineering course) with tuning the KTM DUKE 390 engine using Performance Electronics ECU - PE3 (USA based aftermarket ECU maker) and on the way built custom cooling system (the engine being used in a car weighing around 230kgs gives out more energy in the form of heat due to the increased load) and became on the team drivers, especially for the acceleration and endurance events (kind of makes total sense considering the fact that I weighed less at 62kgs and knew the engine performance IN and OUT). The journey ended on a high note with our team (Team Octane Racing representing COEP college) gaining it's best result till that date, standing in at 4th in the event and we embarking on a journey to turbocharge (to take on our fellow competing colleges some of which had the mighty 600cc engines from Honda, Kawasaki and KTM) the crazy 390cc engine from Austria! But as is with all good things, part of the journey being the end, I got separated from my college team work as I got placed in Chennai R&D center of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, miles away from Pune, to give any kind of support to the team in the tough job that they had in their hand! (The team did a splendid job of successfully turbocharging the beast in next two years albeit with a healthy hand of help from BAJAJ AUTO R&D center; in the process making India's only turbocharged KTM 390cc engine!)
Our team (me doing the customary rituals) praying the newly sponsored KTM 390cc engine (by BAJAJ AUTO) to support us all round the year!
The last car of our team that I rode as a driver and the 3rd one designed and manufactured by my batch.
The Honeywell Sponsored Turbocharger (the same is actually used in the TATA ACE 2 cylinder diesel engine!) modified for our unique application.
The turbo setup on our 2018 car! One last of it's kind 
; after which the team switched to electric powertrain!
But life is all about embracing new challenges and adventures and I started my hyper riding journey from there on.
Start of the hyper riding journey…
The craze of owning and experiencing the driving dynamics of a sports bike was rooted in my mind from childhood as most of us enthusiasts have those dream bike posters on our walls. It all came true in 2017 when I graduated as a mechanical engineer and stepped into the real world of automotive engineering, with the purchase of the segment conquering Yamaha R15.Having previously owned the venerable HERO HF DELUXE, this was a huge jump indeed. I didn’t have the patience to wait for the launch of the V3 model back then and don’t exactly regret the decision as performance wise there wasn’t a night and day difference between the two variants and I particularly like the engineering quality of the panels of V2 over V3.
Start of the Sportsbike Journey...with some much required blessings!
The R15 V2 was a precision sports bike with near perfect handling dynamics (Courtesy to the Pirelli Tyres I had upgraded to in the second half of the bike’s life with me), hard charging 150cc mill, decent braking and most importantly no frills or gimmicky features to talk of. Heck it didn’t have ABS too and so the braking was very predictable even in the last few millimeters of travel with no ABS intervention to talk of. The 35000 kms of travel over various terrains and innumerous experiences are absolutely unforgettable (worth mentioning was the blastic drive down the Munnar-Theni Road; the road being the best I have driven so far)
One of the many long trips....this one being from Chennai-Coimbatore-Mangalore-Chennai
Crucial tyre change before the Munnar Trip...tyres being a pair of Pirelli Angle CITYs.
During the Munnar trip...
The longest (non-stop) so far on the R15; Chennai - Pune, during shifting the vehicle between the two cities.
I’m SPEED…
Fast forward to 2022 and I was getting increasingly impatient to upgrade from the single cylinder 150cc mill to a more displacement, smoothness in the top end and a definite lust for more top speed as I wanted to experience the adrenaline rush and the dynamics of the vehicle at high speeds. My criteria's made the buying decision ever so simple. I needed a brand new (that eliminates the option of second hand options) double cylinder sports bike not exceeding a budget of 5lakhs onroad, and that led to only one option currently on sale, the Kawasaki Ninja 300.
So the purchase was very straightforward; go to the nearest Kawasaki dealer and put down the booking amount and choose the color; which in my case was Candy Lime Green. Luckily I got a free upgrade to the 2022 color from Kawasaki which looks much brighter than the same color of the previous version.
The prefect upgrade! Pic taken during delivery.
Since I was tight on my budget, the upgrades were already decided; a set of stickier rubber from Apollo (Alpha H1 Radials) and PPF coating on the tank (learnt from the R15V experience that the tank gets a crazy amount of scratches from the tank bag and your pants near thighs area!). The delivery date was set to 7th of May, and I was ready for my near perfect upgrade. Why a perfect upgrade, you ask me; the Ninja has the same ethos as the R15 V2 of being no nonsense buy with (if R15 was a Corner craver, the Ninja is a Speedster) no frills or gimmicky stuff! So the Ninja journey started with blessings from parents and almighty Lord Hanuman.
The best cost to performance ratio tyres for the 300cc segment! Apollo Alpha H1's. Swapped the MRFs to these on day 1 itself.
Much required PPF coating on the tank, to save the excellent paint job!
Taking the blessings...
Some noteworthy points are as follows:
Highs:
- Wicked of an engine which is absolutely docile at low speeds and totally changes its character after 7000 RPM! Ballistic Performance in the top end as I wanted it to be.
- Super stable handling in the corners due to the long wheelbase. (which is also it’s enemy as I found out later)
- Excellent Quality and a special mention to the paint job!
- Good headlights!
- Excellent driver ergos.
- A near perfect sports tourer considering the good ride quality, smooth engine and the massive 17L tank (The only thing holding it away from taking away the trophy being that scant 135mm of Ground Clearance!)
- Not a fuel guzzler considering the performance on offer. Constantly gives 22kmpl even when wringing the throttle all day long and about 26kmpl if driven in a calm manner.
Lows:
- That long wheelbase coupled with the low Ground Clearance value of 135mm (and not 140mm as marketed by Kawasaki) is the best recipe for scraping the exhaust over the regular nonstandard speedbumps we have here in India.
- Just adequate brakes with not much feel on the levers (not acceptable for a bike that can go upwards of 180kmph!)
- Some form over function stuffs are really frustrating - Radiator gets all the muck and dirt from the front wheel and having an aftermarket rear tyre hugger is a must without which your Pillion will definitely be fuming on you during rainy days!
- Adding to the pillion's unwillingness to come with you for long journey's is that seat which is a bit on higher side to get on (especially with the modification I did as we'll come to know soon) and the sharp taper in the profile towards the rear.
- Devoid of any features what so ever! No Gear Position Indicator, Fuel Consumption Data or any sort of Bluetooth Features! (By God's grace there is a clock provided in the console)
A much required rear tyre mudguard to save yourself from an upset pillion!
Modifications on the bike and the riding gear:
- Ride Height Increasing Rear Suspension Linkages (as you'll read ahead).
- 5mm height handlebar riser.
- Saddle bag stay cum pillion grab handle.
- Side stand extender for the raised ride height.
Increased ride height (GC) due to the change from stock linkages to 162GC linkages.
A much required modification after the ergonomics get a bit aggressive caused by the installation of the ride height increasing rear suspension linkages. Above image shows two 5mm spacers installed under the main clip-on, one out of which was removed considering safety reasons, as the clip-on has to get positively locked and safely secured with the front fork tube, which protruded only 10mm from the triple clamp surface.
The modified (famously called UGLY) pillion grab handle....
....converted into saddlebag stays!
The improved lean angle of the bike with the side stand extender. It is must have after the increase in ride height, as can be seen from the first image in the gif!
All above modifications being self engineered and manufactured using the help of local vendors.
From my R15 days have been wearing all the required riding gears which includes a good MT helmet (one for R15 and other for Ninja; both colour matching with the respective bikes!), riding jacket from Cramster (albeit a gifted one by my friends), leg guard from Aspida (Bionic), riding shoes from BBG and riding gloves from Rynox (Air GT).
The Real Deal…
It didn’t take even a day for me to realize how real was the ground clearance issue of the bike as highlighted by the innumerous youtube videos I went through drooling over the looks of the bike before purchase. I live in an area of Bangalore where the road is in potholes and speed bumps are even better than the road itself! With one of my lightest pillion onboard, the bike easily scraped over one of the speedbumps leaving a huge scar over my heart! And it kept on repeating however slow I would ride (Bumping up the preload is not an easy task to start with because of the placement of the shock absorber adjuster and increasing preload doesn't actually change the GC number) and riding crosswards over speedbumps is not always possible due to traffic oncoming or following you!
The actual GC readings at the bottom of the bike. 140mm at fairing front edge, 135mm at exhaust CATCON, 137mm at wheelbase center again near the CATCON (Catalytic Converter).
So I had to solve this issue technically. Before I had even purchased the bike, I had noticed that it had a similar rear suspension setup to that of the R15, which is a linked type monoshock wherein the shock absorbers aren’t mounted directly on the swingarm. Rather it is a 4 bar linkage mechanism including the shock absorber that make up the rear suspension.
And from some past experience with some racing guys in Chennai I quickly recalled the fact that I can play with the ride height with the linkage length. Simply put, this suspension design is such that, as the eye to eye length of the linkage reduces, the ride height increases. The term Jack-up Kit used abroad for these reduced length linkages is most appropriate as the rear of the bike predominately gets lifted up compared to the front. For example when raising height from 137mm at the center of the wheelbase to 155mm (addition of 18mm), the height at the front edge of the fairing actually rises by only 7mm. But more on that later.
The Disappointment…
And so the hunt for the linkages started. I had to put questions on the Kawasaki Ninja 300 Global forum to get some relevant aftermarket suppliers of the linkages. I did get a contact of a German supplier called bikefarmMV and ordered the linkage from them costing me almost 4K including shipping to Sweden from where my friend was expected to bring it to India. To my surprise the purchase became a nightmare and I never received the product along with my money gone. The supplier never shared the tracking ID with me, which led to suspicion that he never actually sent the linkage to the shared address at all! Later my suspicions were confirmed by the google reviews of the supplier wherein people have had similar issues! This horrendous experience led me to come up with a solution of my own.
From some values to start with, as suggested by one of the forum users on the Global Kawasaki Ninja 300 Forum, who himself had installed a Rear Suspension Lift Linkage enabling a 10mm seat height increase, I started doing my own iterations using cheap steel and lasercut of the required eye to eye length linkages.
The innumerous iterations (done due to lack of virtual model of the bike)...
The initial days of installation of the linkages were painstaking ones as I was still figuring out the proper way and required tools for installation of the linkages (yes one can say that I'm a stubborn engineer who wants to learn everything by experience). In the initial days I was just using the car jack below the engine to lift up the front with a friend holding the bike steady from the rear, to install the progressively reduced length linkages. Using just the front jack was quite risky as the bike is lifted up on just one point and there were twice harry moments where the bike slipped off the jack (definitely not recommended to try all this out). Those mistakes immediately prompted me to buy a paddock stand which made the linkage changing affair quite easy. Though later I realized that the front wheel stopper and under engine jack combination was a fair bit better and less scary than the paddock and jack combination. But the front wheel stopper being significantly costlier compared to the paddock stand, I continued using the paddock stand, albeit with utmost care.
The installation setup requiring the rear paddock stand and a car jack under the engine, to release/loosen the stock linkages and installation of the new one.
The flat circular point on the oilpan where the car jack has to be placed.
The results of some of the iterations are as follows:
All above measurements are in mm and with the stock setting of the shockabsorber. The stock shockabsorber setting being the best compromise between comfort and handling balance.
The Triumph…
Now that I found out the solution, it ignited a thought in my mind to help other fellow owners of the bike with this issue, by commercializing the solution with a affordable price tag to keep the product accessible to everyone, especially those who might have went broke after buying this bike, paying for it’s astronomical servicing cost! This led to the start of a small side venture to keep me engaged on weekends and indulge in my hobby of designing solutions for my own vehicle issues/upgrades and the first product being the Explorer Series of Rear Suspension Linkages. The major task for the product was to get the appropriate values of eye to eye of the linkages to get the right amount of Ground Clearance for the given loading condition (Combination of Rider + Pillion + Luggage weights) and corresponding height of the rider. The height criteria was very important because a specific linkage resulting in increased GC would also lift the rear of the bike to the point that a person of lower height would not get his feet flat on the ground! (which is definitely not recommended). With the help of my friends (varying in measure of height and weight) I was able to achieve following product specifications:
Final GC value is the one at the wheelbase center as that is the point which is most vulnerable from the concept of break over angle.
It took 3 months to get the right values and another 3 months of testing by piling up the kilometers on the different linkages; in the process my own bike exhaust also had to take multiple scratches and hits. But the price paid was well worth it as I was able to solve the issue completely from a technical point of view. Hope it helps all others who buy this product!
The 170GC linkage installed on the bike.
Fully loaded during the Kanyakumari trip....both rear suspension linkages and saddle stays were thoroughly tested at high speeds, corners, bad roads and everything in between.
And the journey continues...
With the increase in ride height and the stand being stock, the bike was bound to lean more on the side stand. Had to design a lightweight, compact and durable side stand extender for the same. And so comes the one as shown below. The design is multilayer with first 2 and last 2 layers being made out of steel and the center layer being made of aluminium to keep weight of the assembly under check(too much weight will lead to drastic decrease in life of the side stand spring). Total height increase being 15mm from stock stand. Have been testing the extender for couple of months now, with no issues to report.
The side stand extender as installed on the stock side stand.
The design of the side stand extender....weighs in at 230grams.
Recently, I have got my R15 shifted to Bangalore for the daily office runabouts (the R15 feels far lighter and thus agile compared to the ninja in bumper to bumper traffic and in the narrowness of the city roads) and the ninja for the weekend trips, so both bikes get their fair share of odometer readings. The R15 stands at 43K kms and the ninja at 11K. Have been to only one long trip (>1000kms) on the ninja so far, the one to Kanyakumari from Bangalore, along with a lot of shorter trips of about 200-300kms one way.
With this I come to end of this exhaustive post and hope everyone enjoyed reading the same.
Would be more than happy to receive comments related to style of writing (this being my first long post, with high probability of making unknown mistakes), content or data shared.
