Nearly a Ninja
Updated Kawasaki middleweight twin Sporty handling and looks Less than £6500
Photography: Ula Serra & David Regondeau
KAWASAKI’S PR PEOPLE knew what they were doing when they chose to launch the Ninja 650 in the hills near Almeria in southern Spain. I’ve barely been riding the new parallel twin for ten minutes and already must have cranked it through several dozen bends as our route heads northwards on the tortuously winding A-391.
If ever a bike demanded a twisty launch route it’s the Ninja 650, which is feeling light, agile and sweet-handling for a modestly priced, mid-capacity twin. The Kawasaki is doing a pretty good job of living up to its Ninja name and racy looks, feeling far more like a small-bore sportsbike than could ever have been said of the ER-6F, whose engine it essentially shares and whose place in Kawasaki’s range it has taken.
The Ninja’s name and aggressive looks (especially in Kawasaki Racing Team green-and-black) suggested it would be perfectly at home on these well-surfaced and almost traffic-free roads. But it’s the twin’s new chassis and hugely reduced kerb weight of 193kg (a substantial 18kg less than the ER-6F) that are doing most to give the parallel twin a new lease of life.
Few bikes can have been restyled to such good effect. The ER-6F had a slightly gawky look, with those large frame tubes. It has been succeeded by an infinitely sharper looking, if more conventional, design.
The Ninja resembles nothing less than a small-scale version of the ZX-10R, from its sharp twin-headlamp fairing and narrow flanks all the way to its slim tailpiece. And it has a stubby, low-slung single silencer that looks like something off a race bike. Perhaps its only slightly incongruous feature is the way the handlebars, raised above the top yoke, give a much less sporty riding position than that of a genuine superbike. That’s the clue that the Ninja image is slightly misleading – because the 650 is aimed at a wide variety of riders, including females, learners and those downsizing from a bigger bike.
Beneath the bodywork, the familiar 649cc 8v dohc ER-6 parallel twin is retuned with new camshafts, reshaped intake ports, new throttle bodies, a revised injection system and a new, low-slung exhaust. The changes result in slightly increased low-rev performance but there’s a 3bhp drop in maximum power output, which is now 67bhp at 8000rpm.
That might seem strange given the Ninja’s more aggressive image, but this bike is essentially a faired version of the recently released Z650, which uses an
identical powerplant and chassis, in the same way that the outgoing naked ER-6N shared its main components with the faired ER-6F.
The most important change is to the chassis – and more specifically to the frame, which is a completely new steel trellis that weighs 15kg (saving a whopping 10kg over the ER-6’S thicker-tube design). The curved, pressed-steel swingarm, also new, saves a further 2.7kg and operates the diagonally angled rear shock via a rising-rate linkage, instead of working it directly as before.
The new frame also allows a lower seat, which is slim and just 790mm off the ground, but it was the Ninja’s lack of weight that made the biggest impression from the moment I lifted it off the sidestand. The bike felt fairly compact as I pulled away, looking out past the low screen and over the neat new instrument console (with analogue tacho and digital speedo, plus a comprehensive digital display readout).
Straight-line performance was never going to live up to the Ninja’s superbike styling but the Kawasaki was quick enough to be fun as well as very easy to ride. Its extra bit of midrange presumably helped but the reduced weight probably did more to make the bike seem a bit more lively than the ER-6F. There was just a touch of snatchiness in the low-speed throttle response, but nothing bad enough to want to complain about.
The Ninja changed smoothly through its six-speed box (there’s now a gear indicator light on the dash, as well as an adjustable shift light) and it revved quite strongly towards its 10,000rpm redline, despite that slightly cut-down top end. It cruised effortlessly at 70mph-plus and had enough power to rumble pretty quickly to an indicated 115mph on one short straight, despite having my lanky body and a flapping rucksack on its back.
Better still, the solidly mounted parallel twin was impressively smooth - or at it least felt that way thanks to the rubbermounted bars and seat bracket, and new hollow footrest rubbers. As before, the motor was economical, averaging over 50mpg despite constant throttle abuse.
The more miles went by, the more the chassis impressed. When the road from La Envía took its first sharp change of direction, the Kawasaki cranked smoothly into the turn, in response to a gentle nudge of the bars – then tracked through with an impressively precise and neutral feel.
The suspension is slightly basic but respectably firm and well-damped. The bike stayed stable through the turns, going where it was aimed with minimal fuss. With my near-90kg weight on board it was even better later in the day with a couple more notches of preload on the shock (the only suspension tuning option) which helped firm up the rear end and gave the steering a sharper feel.
The Dunlop D21 tyres were fine, even on occasionally dusty roads, and the twin 300mm front discs and twin-piston calipers were well up to the job of slowing such a light bike.
After a decent morning in the saddle, I found the Ninja was respectably comfortable, even though I’m very tall (but a few riders reported feeling cramped by
“Quick enough to be fun as well as very easy to ride”
the relatively short seat-to-footrest distance). After lunch I tried the thicker accessory seat, which increased legroom slightly and some riders definitely preferred (I wasn’t fussed either way.)
Removing the screen and bolting it back in its highest position gave noticeable extra wind protection. Kawasaki also offer a larger accessory screen and 12V socket that would give the Ninja extra versatility. As standard, its equipment level is basic but, apart from the need to press a button on the clocks to toggle info (instead of pressing a button on the bars) there’s very little to complain about. Mirrors were OK, control levers adjustable.
Ultimately, the only people likely to be disappointed by the Ninja 650 are those who take one look at those sleek lines and race paintwork and mistake it for a small-capacity version of Johnny Rea’s weekend bike. For all its racey looks and sportier handling, the Ninja is just as much of a versatile, rider-friendly, all-rounder as the ER-6F it replaces. Provided that’s what you want from a motorbike, there’s nothing remotely wrong with this one. ROLAND BROWN