So i passed my test about in mid February on my friends VFR800, had a thread up here about the number plate as i was worried it was too small. It was fine, only recommendation tester made about the bike was the rear brake light as it needed good lever pressure to activate the light. Didn’t think he’d catch that but he decided to test the brakes while i was putting my gear back on.

I got lucky with the weather for the test day as the day before was awful and i had a pretest so was out practising. The day i went in to Limerick for the pretest it hailed, it rained, it was single digit temperatures all day and the heated grips on my friends bike were for show only it seemed! My new winter gloves did well but were bulkier and played on my wrist/grip so i called it a day shortly after lunch. Test day was great in comparison, sun out most of the time and i decided to use my leather gloves. I was roasting inside in the test centre waiting and opened every vent in the gear lol. All went well after called, questions answered right away, u turn in centre used all road and even though i stalled the bike on the test he never mentioned it.

Anyway after that i was mad to upgrade the bike (Ninja 250R) but being older (wiser, maybe) i had always said I’d keep the bike for a year then change. Not long to go since it was start of April last year i started riding. So i made a list of the bikes i wanted; middleweight category as i still don’t have enough experience to go bigger imo plus i think my girlfriend would freak. It was between the MT07, SV650 and Ninja 650. I was swaying towards the N650 coming from a N250 but there wasn’t many around and they were more expensive than the others. I was just about to put a deposit on an unregistered “new” old stock SV650 as i was getting it at a good price or rather a good trade in price for my Ninja 250R. Anyway a Ninja 650 turned up on DD and i showed a bit of interest, he contacted me again a few days later saying he dropped the price by 500 and then i was interested. I would have to sell my own bike but that didn’t bother me too much.

The N650 doesn’t have the most power of the middleweight group (SV650) or the most torque (MT07) or the nicest sound (SV). The weight, brakes, suspension and seating position are all roughly the same going from reviews. It does have the best wind resistance but really i choose the N650 over the SV due to the looks, i prefer faired bikes and the price between the two was nothing. I gave a deposit after a chat and pics over d’interweb. I was hungover doing this as i was at a wedding (weekend ones) and i hoped i didn’t make a big mistake.

I travelled into work one Friday on the Ninja 250R, left it behind work where its safe with its bike lock on. After a half-days work I left and walked down to the bus stop wearing my bike jocks, holding my helmet in its drawstring bag and the rest of my gear in my backpack. It was Dublin Coach’s time to take me to Dublin to collect/purchase the bike. Non event heading up bar passing crouching tiger hidden Garda shooting motorway fish in a barrel. Took the Red Cow Luas one stop as i was feeling lazy and walked the final km to Bikeworld where i was meeting the seller.

Sooo we meet and greet then go in to get the bike which is, as i knew already, a brand new N650. They drop it round the front and the seller makes the final payment to Bikeworld and i confirm there is no finance outstanding. We go outside and make our own transaction and the bike is now mine. He had a year on the 2018 one and is upgrading to a new BMW so didn’t want to keep the 2019 BOGOF. The only downside is that he’s the first owner on the log book (Bikeworld BOGOF T&C specified this) but never took the bike home. He taxed it online for me and sent on the log book after he got it.

Here she is:

With 2km on the clock, never owed anything from new as very few new cars interest me:

I was cautioned to mind the first 100km with new brakes/tyres and keep it under 7k rpm until after the first service. Following that i geared up for home and drove the bike for the first time; the slipper clutch is the first thing i noticed, it was very light even compared to the N250. I headed out the N7 which was slow because it was home time, then it pretty much stopped on the M7 before the roadworks. Filtering is fine on this bike, its light and quiet slim although i did manage to bump a mirror off an artic trailer. I saw a red Daytona 675, i think, on the opposite side of the N7 at some stage if it was someone on here?

After the roadworks the motorway opened up and the bike pulled nicely, the torque was more than i expected even at low revs. Also the induction noise is fantastic when you pull the throttle wide open, the exhaust noise is OK but the induction makes up for this. After awhile at motorway speeds i was forced down to the national limit due to bad winds. I got off the MW in Port Laoise and went via national roads to Thurles to give myself a break from the winds and try a few bends. It was dark by now so nothing mental but it was easy to lean and reminded me of the N250, the suspension was nicely compliant on bumps too. I got back on the MW to Mitchelstown after Horse & Jockey to get blown around some more, called to a friends to show them the bike and went home after having food there.

Brought the N250 home from work the next day and noticed how poor the brakes are in comparison, the wider wheels give more low speed stability too. The shed is getting a bit crowded now but i’ll have to sell the N250 someday as it wont be used. In the process of getting insurance now as my renewal is up shortly, MCE not quoting new insurance after 28th of March due to Brexit btw. It will also need its first service in 300km, i presume Ross MC in Cork will do as the Kawasaki dealer service…

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