Venugv’s review put me in the mood to write my own. His piece, like my own, is probably one of the few reviews in this space by someone who’s actually ridden the thing. I’ll try and make it as helpful as possible for the prospective buyer.
Cons:
This bike is not for the acceleration freak. The bike does need to be revved into the higher thousands before it comes into its element. If you get your kicks from a pickup that tends to separate the rider from the bike, get a P220(for now).
The bike is way too pricey. End of discussion. Forged diasil engine and liquid cooling do not give you an advantage anywhere other than a race track and a very long race at that.
Please don’t ask about mileage. Which, unfortunately is the second question most people ask me about my bike, after the price of course.
Pros:
As I implied above, the bike starts to wake up in 5th and 6th, and it does so with a vengeance. You will find it hard to keep the rev count, and consequently the speed, within a sane limit once you cross 6000. 5000rpm sets a speed limit of around 70kmph, and you’ll be wise to limit yourself to this during the running in period.
Handling is superlative; out of this world, or at least this country. Leaning into a turn comes about practically unconsciously - think left, and you turn left. If you’ve come into a corner too fast, all you need to do push more on the handlebars - and you feel like a fool that you didn’t trust the bike enough to make the turn without braking. In a straight line, the bike seems to grip the road magnetically, at any speed you choose to push it to.
It looks awesome. Please ignore all the stuff about bad rear end styling and thin tyres that many reviewers(with some good reason) have been harping upon. This bike has simply blown away every single one that has seen it on the road, and even more so in the parking stands. Stopping at signals and filling up at petrol pumps has become kind of tiresome because of all the questions I need to answer. Please believe me when I say that the pictures don’t even begin to do justice to this beauty.
The question is not whether this bike is worth all the hype that preceded its launch, but rather is it worth the price. If the Ninja 250 starts selling for anything below 2 lakhs, I’m not sure I wouldn’t try to sell off my R15. Sure, this bike has set new standards technically and performance-wise as far as the existing Indian bike scenario is concerned. But every other manufacturer is going to join the bandwagon soon, and you just have to decide how long you can wait and how much you can pay before you settle for any bike.