Kawasaki Ninja

Kawasaki Ninja Owners Manual: Shifting Gears

Kawasaki Ninja Owners Manual / How to ride the motorcycle / Shifting Gears

WARNING

Downshifting to a lower gear at high speed causes engine rpm to increase excessively, potentially damaging the engine and it may also cause the rear wheel to skid and cause an accident.

Vehicle speed when shifting


NOTE

The transmission is equipped with a positive neutral finder. When the motorcycle is standing still, the transmission cannot be shifted past neutral from 1st gear. To use the positive neutral finder, shift down to 1st gear, then lift up on the shift pedal while standing still. The transmission will shift only into neutral.

Moving Off
Check that the side stand is up. Pull in the clutch lever. Shift into 1st gear. Open the throttle a little, and start to let out the clutch lever very slowly. As the clutch starts to enga ...

Braking
Close the throttle completely, leaving the clutch engaged (except when shifting gears) so that the engine will help slow down the motorcycle. Shift down one gear at a time so that you are ...

Other materials:

Headlight Aiming Adjustment
NOTE Do not turn the bolts [A] because the reflector in the headlight comes off. (In the photo, the headlight unit has been removed for clarity.) NOTE The left adjuster [A] and right adjuster [B] can move the direction of the headlight beam to up, down, left and right by turning each a ...

Stick Coil Primary Peak Voltage Inspection
NOTE Be sure the battery is fully charged. Remove the stick coils (see Stick Coil Removal). Do not remove the spark plugs. Connect the ECU to the harness. Measure the primary peak voltage as follows. Install the new spark plug [A] into each stick coil [B], and ground them onto ...

Fuel Hose Inspection (fuel leak, damage, installation condition)
If the motorcycle is not properly handled, the high pressure inside the fuel line can cause fuel to leak [A] or the hose to burst. Remove the fuel tank (see Fuel Tank Removal in the Fuel System (DFI) chapter) and check the fuel hoses. Replace the fuel hose if any fraying, cracks [B] or ...