DANCE LIKE NUREYEV ON A LEAN MACHINE
Some bikes encourage you to sit back and enjoy the ride. And some bikes urge you to lean forward, move around in the saddle and enjoy the ride even more.
That’s up to the point where they become extreme sports bikes which get you to lean forward so much the only way to take the weight off your aching wrists is to ride everywhere at 150mph so the wind under your chest gives them a break.
Up to the point where you end up in jail, A&E – or at least with a chiropractor.
All hail, then, the Kawasaki Ninja 650 where the riding position, although slightly compact, is on the upright side of sporty, allowing your pinkies to fall to the bars as lightly as the shadow of a small ghost, leaving you free to admire the small but informative TFT screen and reasonably useful mirrors.
The red line is at 10,000rpm, but sadly, with only 68 miles on the bike, any time I got close to it, the screen nagged me unmercilessly to change gear, to the point where even in sixth gear it was flashing at 4,000rpm.
After a while, I just ignored it, since the engine’s more or less the same as in the bulletproof ER-6f, and this is definitely a bike which responds best to keeping the revs singing in the upper register.
The seating position makes it almost compulsory to lean into bends, shift your weight and dance on the saddle like Rudolf Nureyev. The combination of light weight, shortish wheelbase and firm suspension had me doing a bit of a Rudolf myself at speed over an upsydownsy road, but it was more humorous than lethal.
The front brakes, with two discs up front and only 193kg of bike to haul in, are so effective you’ll never need to go near the back except into downhill corners.
After an hour, that compact riding position was getting a bit too compact, so I suspect taller riders will need the occasional stop to stretch their legs.
The main issue will be price, since its obvious rival, the Suzuki SV650, is over a grand cheaper, and the Honda
CBR500R is £500 less.
Bike supplied by Phillip McCallen Motorcycles. phillipmccallen.com