[Marssage]

Bjork3n PD valves are made by YSS all the adjustment comes down to the internal install setup; holes number and spacing, oil level and viscosity, and valve spring preload setting 1-7. I think better to let a pro setup,i told Red Baron 85kg, like to push it a bit and some roads could be better, they kept same viscosity, dont know level or valve spring setting but the forks now ride like a magic carpet. Fork springs are still stock. Link to european YSS PD valve YSS Europe b.v. PD Fork Valve Assembly Instruction

636karl your posts and pictures really pushed me over the edge to get this bike thank you, Red Baron did a fantastic job by me, set it up brilliantly. they also raised the forks in the clamps 5mm (the factory recommended) dropping the front end despite the bike being delivered with the forks being fully lowered in the clamps, this improved cornering and probably makes the aerodymanics better.

2012 ER6 theoretical top speed is 242 kph 11x22. 220 /230 pretty much comes down to aerodymanic drag (all bikes still get some rear wheel slip as against front wheel at speed). Test again after forks raised and rear end firmed, tuck in, use 95 octane, highway between Chaam and Hua Hin good place to try 6-7am on a still day. Possibly you might need to get the bike tuned to your pipe (regardless of manufacturers claims) think Red Baron can help if needed. Not all similar bikes perform the same, break-in is important. I broke mine in by doing about 20 km in BKK before riding it to Hua Hin and back including the new coast road between Chaam and Samut Songkram, none of this 4k 6k owners manual recommendation, first trip only took it to 170ish. After first time upgraded suspension and same trip again briefly hit 220+ and had more left.

Some may question using 95 octane instead of 91 as some motors do actually run better on 91 especially engines with a compression ratio <9.5:1, easy way to check for yourself if no opportunity for speed run exists, recommend empty multi-lane straight good surface highway 5+ km long, is to test fuel economy which on my bike is 1+litres better / 100kms, for 2012 Ninja 650 95 is the go.

 

[636karl]

The only problem running 95octane here in Thailand is that 90% of petrol/gas stations sell it with Gasahol added, i'm really not too kean on that stuff despite the manual stating it's fine to run the bike the stuff.
I broke my bike in pretty much the same way as you did, a relatively calm ride back from the dealership (heavy traffic) then the following day took her out for some hard pulls and 8-9k gear changes. As soon as the oil was changed and i was sure the engine wasn't running on thin break-in oil i took the bike up to it's max speed of 208kmh tucked in on a 3-5km straight heading out to Nakhon Nai yok. She got up to 180-190 pretty swiftly but 200 - 208kmh took perhaps another 1km of road. I am absolutly certain that as soon as i ditch this stock exhaust system the bike will hit 200-210 with relative ease and with a slight rise in the bike's peak BHP it should top out around 220, maybe 225kmh on the same road i used above.
At then end of the day i didn't buy the bike for it's top speed but being able to add a bit more power to the top end in 6th gear with make the bike a bit more exciting to ride for me
Where abouts in Bangkok do you live, we should go for a ride sometime, perhaps around Khao Yai's National park.

Karl

 

[TonyBKK]

If I'm not mistaken the 2012 EX650 has been tuned for more torque but it's cost a bit of hp at the top. At least that's been my experience riding a friends 2012 EX650 at the track and racing against 2012 EX650's. My 2009 EX650 can pull away from the 2012's down the straights, but the 2012's have more torque for powering out of corners and up the hills.

My old 2010 EX650 could hit 220 indicated (which after speedo drift is more like 200kph actual) and other than an Arrow slip on it was pretty much stock-

It's a persistent myth that high octane fuel creates more power or better fuel economy in an engine designed for lower octane fuel.

A new engine in good repair, designed and tuned for 91 octane, will not create more power simply from running higher octane fuel. At the bare minimum one would need to adjust the ignition timing and increase the compression for the engine to be able to benefit from higher octane fuel. You'd need to look at race cams and shaving the head if you want your EX650 to benefit from high octane fuel.

The newest PowerCommander V includes ignition control which will allow you as much as +/- 20 degrees of timing adjustment. If you hope to create more power by running your bike on high octane fuel I'd recommend at the minimum that you install the new PCV and adjust your engine's timing for the fuel you are using.

 

[Marssage]

636karl Chidlom, maybe sometime. I dont like gasohol either had gummed up fuel lines /pump before from this. I first only filled with 95 because it was the only fuel the local Caltex had without alcohol.


TonyBKK cant comment on speedo drift other than it seems a reality on most older bikes say those who can test. What I can comment on is fuel economy on my 2012 650 95 v 91. 91 5 bars fuel guage each way BKK to HH same trip exactely 4 bars each way, not a little difference on a 180+ trip (highway 35-Samut Songkram Chaam road), in fact quite shocking.

I know its true high octane fuels caused a lot of problems burnt valves etc. in times gone past for some configurations especially low compression points timed engines. I also know that almost all recent engines electronic timing systems incorporate a knock sensor that eliminates the retarded ignition of higher octane fuels and that I got no pinging, flames or knocking on 95 just much better fuel consumption and a smoother ride. The only thing that really matters is what actually happens.

Interestingly, the 2012 650 KAWASAKI OWNERS MANUAL SAYS TO USE FUEL WITH A MINIMUM 91 RATING AND THAT IF PINGING OR KNOCKING OCCUR USE A HIGHER OCTANE FUEL Anyone interested in this with a 2012 650 ask your bike shop and give it a try if they say it is OK and post your findings, I and obviously others would be interested. Did I get 2 different doses of bad 91 or do I have a freak 'flaw' in my bike that favours 95 or is the bike actually designed for higher octane fuel and just can run on 91 for tax purposes ???

 

[LexNinja]

Lower fairing to take off was a pain.. you take off the 3 push pins at the bottom, then you have to get behind the upper fairing to unscrew the screws behind it that attach to the lower fairing. How frustrating, it was a big pain in the .... just to get the lower fairing off. Next time i'm just going to try my best to just pull put the 3 push pins and seperate it a little. And how lame is the position of that oil filter. After getting the filter off the excess oil pours all over your pipes.. *do not attempt to open the oil filter until the bike is cold, but do drain the oil through the bolt when the oil is still warm. Only advice I can give.

Yea the whole setup is kind of shitty. I wish the fairings just clipped together rather than those screws they have set up in a weird position.

 

[TonyBKK]

636tony Chidlom, maybe sometime. I dont like gasohol either had gummed up fuel lines /pump before from this. I first only filled with 95 because it was the only fuel the local Caltex had without alcohol.


TonyBKK cant comment on speedo drift other than it seems a reality on most older bikes say those who can test. What I can comment on is fuel economy on my 2012 650 95 v 91. 91 5 bars fuel guage each way BKK to HH same trip exactely 4 bars each way, not a little difference on a 180+ trip (highway 35-Samut Songkram Chaam road), in fact quite shocking.

I know its true high octane fuels caused a lot of problems burnt valves etc. in times gone past for some configurations especially low compression points timed engines. I also know that most recent engines electronic timing systems incorporate a knock sensor that eliminates the retarded ignition of higher octane fuels and that I got no pinging, flames or knocking on 95 just much better fuel consumption and a smoother ride. The only thing that really matters is what actually happens.


Anyone interested in this with a 2012 650 ask your bike shop and give it a try if they say it is OK and post your findings, I and obviously others would be interested. Did I get 2 different doses of bad 91 or do I have a freak 'flaw' in my bike that favours 95 ???

Speedo drift is easy to measure- just carry a GPS to compare actual speed vs indicated. Many (most?) vehicles have optimistic speedos. Seems most Kawasakis suffer about a 10% drift.

You've got the octane / burned valves backwards. Running a high compression engine on low octane fuel leads to pre-ignition knock and burned valves, not the other way around (unless you're running extremely high octane fuel, like 100-110 octane race fuel). Running regular high octane fuel in a low compression engine doesn't cause damage, it's just a waste of money.

Happy Trails!

Tony

 

[Marssage]

TonyBKK you maybe right about burnt valves and regular high octane but back in the day me and friends played around wth high octane/alcohol fuels and burnt valves and exhuast detonation were the most common problems.

I modified my earlier post with quote from Kawasaki Owners Manual and repeat 95 is the go on 2012 650 at least for fuel economy and probably more.

"Interestingly, the 2012 650 KAWASAKI OWNERS MANUAL SAYS TO USE FUEL WITH A MINIMUM 91 RATING AND THAT IF PINGING OR KNOCKING OCCUR USE A HIGHER OCTANE FUEL Anyone interested in this with a 2012 650 ask your bike shop and give it a try if they say it is OK and post your findings, I and obviously Tony would be interested. Did I get 2 different doses of bad 91 or do I have a freak 'flaw' (+4ish% octane =12+% better fuel economy) in my bike that favours 95 or is the bike actually designed for higher octane fuel and just can run on 91 for tax purposes ???"

 

[636karl]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
STOP IT!!!!
No more fuel debates please......

 

[djvyhle]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
STOP IT!!!!
No more fuel debates please......

I second that! lol

 

[TurboMan]

636karl Chidlom

Interestingly, the 2012 650 KAWASAKI OWNERS MANUAL SAYS TO USE FUEL WITH A MINIMUM 91 RATING AND THAT IF PINGING OR KNOCKING OCCUR USE A HIGHER OCTANE FUEL

Page 41 in my manual says to use a minimum of 87 rating.

 

[Marssage]

Page 41 in my manual says to use a minimum of 87 rating.

US version? Thailand 91

Now happy to stop fuel discussion, just tried to point out for members an actual circumstance regarding the 2012 650 that surprised me for others consideration, as the only things that really matter is what actually instead of what should happen.

 

[636karl]

Page 41 in my manual says to use a minimum of 87 rating.

I think the US models have a different map to allow for lower octane fuels. Here in S.E Asia the manual states 91 (as did all the stickers on the tank) and i think it's the same case for Europe too.

 

[Marssage]

2012 owners manual supplied by Motaholic Thailand '91 and above' can use E10, crew at Motaholic recommend not to use E10 gasohol and like real 95 benzene. 87 turns out to be for Brazil only, US 91 and above uncontaminated benzene only.

 

[TonyBKK]

I think the US models have a different map to allow for lower octane fuels. Here in S.E Asia the manual states 91 (as did all the stickers on the tank) and i think it's the same case for Europe too.

No, the US just measures Octane differently. US is RON, most of the rest of the world measures octane in PON.

 

[TonyBKK]

2012 owners manual supplied by Motaholic Thailand '91 and above' can use E10, crew at Motaholic recommend not to use E10 gasohol and like real 95 benzene. 87 turns out to be for Brazil only, US 91 and above uncontaminated benzene only.

My Suzuki GSXR requires high octane fuel. My Kawasaki EX650's do not.

Running the EX650 on 95 will not cause any damage, but it is a big waste of money considering the fact that 95 benzene is hard to find and costs upwards of 46 Thai Baht a liter here and will give no measurable performance gain on an engine designed to run on 91 octane, which currently sells for around 36 Thai Baht a liter, or about 22% less.

 

[ryanokrant]

So done with the fuel talks... Lets change this up.

I bought my red 2012 Ninja 650 on April 27th. The first thing I did was de-badge the whole bike, no more stickers... I did the fender eliminator and also had 8 of my black fairings painted to match the stock red.


I just got my dual HID conversion kit in the mail, I hope to put it on this weekend. I also got these sick bendable strips of white LEDs that I am going to try and make some eyebrows with... I am only going to put them in if I can make it look OEM.

I just ordered 2 yards of carbon fiber cloth. In the next few weekends I am going to be covering the majority of the remaining black plastics with it. I am also going to make a real carbon fiber tank pad which should be rather unique as well.

Has anyone else added carbon fiber to their bikes? Show some pics!

A few more steps and it is going to be the only thing like it on the road.

 

[ryanokrant]

Well, I couldn't wait for the weekend... The LED eyebrows turned out sick... just waiting for some silicon to dry before I put them back in. I will put another pic on later when they're on the bike with the HIDs too...

 

[NinjaNinja]

Well, I couldn't wait for the weekend... The LED eyebrows turned out sick... just waiting for some silicon to dry before I put them back in. I will put another pic on later when they're on the bike with the HIDs too...

Amazing! From where did you order the items?

 

[ryanokrant]

Amazing! From where did you order the items?

I honestly can't remember where I got the LED strips because I ordered them a year ago with the intentions of making brows for my Audi... but I found this website and they have similar options... Flexible LED Strips

I bought the HID kit off eBay, nothing fancy there, just a kit the has small ballasts to mount easier on the bike.

I can't wait to put it back together in a few hours.

 

[Maintain33]

Incredible bike and incredible skills you have. I'm a new rider and just bought the same bike, 2012 Red & Black Ninja 650. I have limited riding skills and no motorcycle mechanics skills. I need to replace the left mirror. Any suggestions? I plan on getting the service manual ASAP!!! I'm scared on how much the dealer will charge me. I definitely need to get the frame sliders also.