[neil.jericho]

I joined a few fellow enthusiasts for a relaxed ride to Vazhachal falls this past weekend. Vazhachal falls doesnt boast of the grandeur and spectacle of the much more popular Athirapally waterfalls and it is a few kilometers upstream of the latter, which is a major tourist attraction in this part of the state. That said, the big advantage of the Vazhachal falls is that the walk to waterfront is very short and bereft of the arduous mini trek that is a part of your Athirapally waterfalls visit. All said and done, Vazhachal falls is quite a soothing sight for the weary city soul.

A couple of the riders joined the ride on their scooters, so that was a bit of a change as compared to some of my previous group rides. Since it was a relaxed ride, none of the two wheelers held each other up or slowed down the group's pace.

The full line up


Vazhachal Falls


The view of Athirapally falls from the main road

Overall, the weather was quite pleasant and the company was fun so it was a good Sunday ride to get rid of the weekly blues!

[neil.jericho]

My plan for some solo weekend beach exploration was cut short by the Home Minister, who in a rare moment of intervention, decided to join me for my exploratory ride with the caveat that it could only be the Triumph and not the Royal Enfield, that got wheeled out. Sigh! We ended up heading to the same place that I had discovered a week ago and I must say, on the same roads, in similar weather condition (though a week apart in time), the Triumph is so much more comfortable than the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535. Of course, one costed a fourth of the other when they were new and hence this is not an apple to apple comparison, but the riding experiences, though fun on both bikes, are as far apart as can be. Now if I can get an affordable A2 level offroader next, my garage will be complete!

Back to reality and back to the GT 535. For a change, I decided to switch the GT's seats and I had to dust off the dual seat from the storage room. After a couple of vociferous tugs on the cable in question, the shapely solo seat popped out and the double seat went in. The double seat feels a lot more comfortable to me now while pottering around town as compared to the solo seat, which on second thoughts, really does seem counter intuitive. I dont recall it being this nice when I used it last, though those were likely to have been highway runs. I do want to get some additional padding added to the double seat, especially after seeing some of the successful experiments on the 650 twins thread.

I had a few errands to run today and the battery once again seems to be giving some heartache, as it requires a few prodigious kicks with some gumption in them, to get things rolling. Now this wouldnt have been a problem if the forsaken kick starter wasnt bent from that topple almost 2 months ago, which makes the poorly designed footpeg come in contact with my skin during my vigorous kick starts. I checked the records and on the 5th of October, the Service Advisor had placed the order for the replacement kick start lever. The 5th of October! Here we are at the end of November and there is no sign of the kick start lever from Royal Enfield If someone from Royal Enfield is reading this, can you please just send a kick start lever for the GT 535 from your plant in Madras to Cochin!

Meanwhile, I have switched my loyalty from the IOCL bunk on Durbar Hall road to the fairly new COCO one that is towards Vytilla. This pump isnt really out of the way for me and I filled up there in my car last week and the experience was good. Most importantly though, it has the new age air filler that has a small nozzle and hence can easily fit onto the GT 535's spoked wheels. All the other pumps struggle with this since they have the long nosed metal fillers that are a pain to deal with given the bike's spokes. I was having a chat with the fuel attendant and this was obviously the first GT 535 that he had filled as he was curious as to how the bike was taking in so much petrol after the automatic cut off happened. I had to explain to him that such is the design of the bike's tank, I really havent noticed this with many other bikes.

Mileage: Since the last ride was a leisurely group ride to Vazhachal falls, I was expecting a 38 kmpl or so figure. Distance covered : 194.6 kms. Petrol consumed : 4.56 litres. Mileage: 42.68 kmpl which is quite a good number indeed given that the bike doesnt usually get into the 40s range.

[dew]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Your Yellow GT looks stunning! I prefer yellow over red, black and green.

I finally replaced Paioli's with Apache 180's Gabriel Shocks. I was not sure about the size however, I found this page (http://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcy...spension/32855) and it was clear that RTR's will fit being 360mm. I checked all kinds of shocks from platina's sns to new GT's gabriels. New GT's cost 13-14k. Pulsar 220's are 400mm and costs lot less. Karizma and Xtreme's shocks are a bit short in length. RTR's are not only same length but looks nice too. Its been about a month now and these are working great, a bit soft compared to Paioli's. There is enough room for adjustment however I haven't tried it yet. I like the current setting.


I added/replaced few more things:

• Visited the same welder that helped me make the skid plate and got a tail tidy made form 16 gauge steel sheet. Then aerosol'd it black.
• New tail lamp from Karol bagh.
• Reflector from the stock mudguard.
• Crash guard with rope wrap from Karol bagh
• Exhaust wrap from Karol bagh, it was black but these GT's are so "hot" it turned silver, which I think looks even better.
• New headlight grill

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by dew

Your Yellow GT looks stunning! I prefer yellow over red, black and green.

I finally replaced Paioli's with Apache 180's Gabriel Shocks. I was not sure about the size however, I found this page (http://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcy...spension/32855) and it was clear that RTR's will fit being 360mm. I checked all kinds of shocks from platina's sns to new GT's gabriels. New GT's cost 13-14k. Pulsar 220's are 400mm and costs lot less. Karizma and Xtreme's shocks are a bit short in length. RTR's are not only same length but looks nice too. Its been about a month now and these are working great, a bit soft compared to Paioli's. There is enough room for adjustment however I haven't tried it yet. I like the current setting.[/list]

dew, when the Paioli rear shocks started leaking on my bike, even I had explored different options and the RTR ones were the closest fit from what online research I had done. The only hesitation I had at that time was that the weight of the RTR (around 140 kgs) was quite a bit less than that of the Continental GT 535 (around 185 kgs) and hence I wasnt sure how well they would perform in mixed conditions and if I had a pillion. But do keep us updated on how well the shocks perform in the long run. How much did they cost you? The new colour scheme of the Gabriel RTR suspension does change the look of the bike quite a bit, I really do like that golden colour that is a good contrast to the black suspension coil. If you do paint the front and rear mudguard in black, it will further complement the look of the bike.

I like the list of your mods, they are definitely tastefully done. I had one question on the sump guard though, this had occurred to me when you had first posted pictures of it but I was waiting to see the final product. Wont the screws that are sticking out act as an anchor and snag things that are sticking out on the road?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The only hesitation I had at that time was that the weight of the RTR (around 140 kgs) was quite a bit less than that of the Continental GT 535 (around 185 kgs) and hence I wasnt sure how well they would perform in mixed conditions and if I had a pillion.

If it puts your mind at ease my 160kgs motorcycle is running on rear shocks designed for a 120kgs motorcycle, and she fares quite well on the rockies with close to 250kgs payload at the softest setting without scraping the bottom even once.

I guess the reason it works is cause the weight of the engine and fuel tank predominantly rests on the front suspension whereas the weight of the payload predominantly rests on the rear suspension with an overlap somewhere there in the mix.

Regards,
A.P.

[dew]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

dew, when the Paioli rear shocks started leaking on my bike, even I had explored different options and the RTR ones were the closest fit from what online research I had done. The only hesitation I had at that time was that the weight of the RTR (around 140 kgs) was quite a bit less than that of the Continental GT 535 (around 185 kgs) and hence I wasnt sure how well they would perform in mixed conditions and if I had a pillion. But do keep us updated on how well the shocks perform in the long run.

I had the same concern. Thats why explored karizma and pulsar 220s shocks both bikes are 155-160ish KG. However, Karizma's shocks are unavailable and pulsar's are 400mm. I spent some time on a friends RTR 160 before I purchased these. Apache RTR 180s manual says the payload is 130 KG. Which I think is fine since I mostly ride single.

Also, I saw this TVS star city video and was convinced to take this leap of faith.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fws1XkcTHys

How much did they cost you?
Local shop quoted much less 2500ish, however they were not box packed. So I got these for 4020 Rs. from authorized TVS service center packed in a box with original label.

The new colour scheme of the Gabriel RTR suspension does change the look of the bike quite a bit, I really do like that golden color that is a good contrast to the black suspension coil.
Thank You! I loved the color, matches both the brakes.

If you do paint the front and rear mudguard in black, it will further complement the look of the bike.
Thank you! I plan to paint/wrap the tank chrome and the vics vapour rub (toolbox/filter box) and the single seat cowl black.

I like the list of your mods, they are definitely tastefully done. I had one question on the sump guard though, this had occurred to me when you had first posted pictures of it but I was waiting to see the final product. Wont the screws that are sticking out act as an anchor and snag things that are sticking out on the road?
Thank you bro! I visited the local welder again and he trimmed them. Looks much better now.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

I guess the reason it works is cause the weight of the engine and fuel tank predominantly rests on the front suspension whereas the weight of the payload predominantly rests on the rear suspension with an overlap somewhere there in the mix.

Regards,
A.P.

Ashwin, even I was leaning towards this exact line of thinking but it was the very rare cases of riding with a pillion or luggage that caused me to doubt the performance of the Apache's shocks in extreme conditions, given the absence of any long term documented success of this solution. If this set of replaced Paioli shocks also does give up though (I believe there are a couple of owners who have gone through two sets of leaking Paiolis), I certainly will look at more cost effective options since my running is quite limited nowadays.

Originally Posted by dew

I had the same concern. Thats why explored karizma and pulsar 220s shocks both bikes are 155-160ish KG. However, Karizma's shocks are unavailable and pulsar's are 400mm. I spent some time on a friends RTR 160 before I purchased these. Apache RTR 180s manual says the payload is 130 KG. Which I think is fine since I mostly ride single.

You have done more detailed research on this than me Once again, your bike is looking quite lovely, I do really like how you are continuously evolving the look of the bike till you reach the intended perfect look. I have so many ideas on what I want to get done, at least visually, on my bike but just havent got around to doing it yet. Maybe 2020 is the year!

[neil.jericho]

As the year winds down, the number of days left for my motorcycling in 2019 also drastically reduces on account of the impending holidays and festivities. The last few times that I had wheeled the Continental GT 535 out, I had to kick start it a bit and the battery would subsequently charge up while I was pottering around town. However, on the last ride I found that the current (no pun intended) Exide Bikerz battery wasnt able to do that properly and the motorcycle needed a few kicks after I had stopped for some errands, and hence I realized that it is time that I got the battery replaced. The current one has completed 27 months and it originally came with an 18 month warranty. Now kickstarting the bike wouldnt be too much of a problem, but the current kicker is bent and it is made worse by the fact that its almost 2 and a half months since the company dealership has placed an order for a kicker and it hasnt been delivered to Cochin. 2 and a half months. Jeez. I'll come to that later though.

The owner of the first battery shop that I went to, recommended the SF Sonic's Mobiker battery (Rs 2,800 after exchange) that is 14 Ah rated and is a direct fit for the GT 535. Ive had a round of bad experiences with the same SF Sonic battery model that have been chronicled on this thread, and wasnt very keen on it but I was told that apparently Exide no longer made 14 Ah batteries under their brand name. This was apparently due to the large number of complaints that Exide had received with the existing 14 Ah product range. Now, SF Sonic batteries are also made by Exide and sold under the SF Sonic brand, I suppose this is to differentiate themselves from the parent company. The SF Sonic Mobiker battery comes with an 18 month warranty.

Armed with this information, I checked with the GT 535 owners and they suggested different brands like Gulf, Poweron and Prestolite, all of which come with dry cell offerings. On further research, I found that none of these are available in Cochin though. I happened to stumble upon a shop selling Amco batteries, this was quite a pleasant surprise. They have a 14 Ah rated battery which comes with a 24 month warranty and the exchange price worked out to Rs 2,700. So definitely a step up from the SF Sonic option.

Meanwhile I checked the Exide website and saw that they dont have a 14 Ah option but strangely enough, a few days later, a fellow rider from the Continental GT owners group posted about a new dry cell zero maintenance battery from Exide, under the Xplore - Motorcycle VRLA range, that incidentally was available at a shop that was walking distance from my place. The price quoted was Rs 2,900 and it comes with a monster 48 month warranty! Thats a third more what Exide themselves offer on their own SF Sonic Mobiker battery. So the Exide Xplore battery has become the sure shot choice for the battery replacement, I have postponed getting it installed on my bike until after the holidays.

Now, back to the bike, last year, Royal Enfield had sent out an SMS for a service camp for the Continental GT 535. I had availed the offer to get a good discount on the final bill. I have been waiting for it to get the bike serviced but this year though, Royal Enfield seems to have forgotten the Continental GT 535 owners and no such camp seems to be forthcoming.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I was quite pleased to see this SMS today. Time to get my GT serviced!

!!ATTN RIDER!!Get complimentary vehicle check-up, 50% off on all labour,15% off on all parts & a lot more only @ the Royal Enfield <<CONTINENTAL GT>> service camp from 08-Nov>> to <<14-Nov,18>>.To locate your nearest service center visit <<https://goo.gl/fQUANc>>.T&C apply.

This was from my post in November 2018 on this thread. Why no more love for the Continental GT 535, Royal Enfield? Considering that there are only a few thousand owners across the country, a service camp for the GT 535 will cost Royal Enfield less than peanuts, in the grand scheme of things but it appears as though the current twin kings of the Royal Enfield stable have left the former top of the line offering to slowly get relegated down the proverbial ladder.

Meanwhile, I was going through the previous service bills and observed something quite unusual.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The first thing on my agenda for Tuesday morning was getting the bike to the Koramangala SVC for the 21,000 km service (it had done around 20,350 kms by then) as well as getting to the bottom of the whole spark plug issue.

For the 21,000 km service that happened in January 2018, I had gone to the Koramangala service center and among the different parts, the cone set was a major item that was replaced. The part name for reference is the Ball Race Kit w/ Cover - Continental GT 535. The rate of the item is Rs 892.97 and with all taxes it worked out to Rs 1,143.01. The labour cost for the same has a base hourly rate of Rs 250 and with taxes included, the total amount was Rs 737.50. So combining the part and labour with the corresponding taxes, the total amount came to be Rs 1,880. This was the first time that the cone set was replaced in 3 and a quarter years and the bike had done 20,343 kms since the bike was purchased. Fair enough.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Here are the details of the bill that I paid while collecting the bike after the chassis replacement.


As I had detailed in my earlier posts, the main costs were from the cone set and centre stand which were actually unrelated to the chassis work and would have come up at the next service.

Now, jump to July 2019, when the bike had the chassis issue and I was told that the cone set needed to be replaced. The odometer was only at 23,980 kms at that point. Fortunately, Royal Enfield had waived off the labour as goodwill but I did pay Rs 1,143 within a span of a year and a half with only 3,630 kms of riding for the cone set to be replaced again. I dont want to draw any conclusions without proof but this does appear to be very, very strange!

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I had a few errands to run today and the battery once again seems to be giving some heartache, as it requires a few prodigious kicks with some gumption in them, to get things rolling. Now this wouldnt have been a problem if the forsaken kick starter wasnt bent from that topple almost 2 months ago, which makes the poorly designed footpeg come in contact with my skin during my vigorous kick starts. I checked the records and on the 5th of October, the Service Advisor had placed the order for the replacement kick start lever. The 5th of October! Here we are at the end of November and there is no sign of the kick start lever from Royal Enfield If someone from Royal Enfield is reading this, can you please just send a kick start lever for the GT 535 from your plant in Madras to Cochin!

Now back to my request to Royal Enfield! If someone is reading this, can I please have my kick start lever? Its only been 2 and a half months.

What is this thread without a picture of the Continental GT 535?

[R-Six]

Hey Neil,

Hijacking the thread yet again to post my updates. But since this is the most active thread on the GT 535 on our forum, I think this is the best place to post it in the interest of other readers as well.

So, I had moved to the Himalayan handlebar set up early this year and was not really happy with it. The overall feel of the bike was good, but the thunderbird handlebar mount I had used was not something that inspired a lot of confidence. Lately, there was some movement around the mount (to and fro rocking movement at hard breaking) that was bothering me quite a bit. It was due to the mess that the mech had made while drilling the holes.

I was also thinking that I should revert to the clip-on set up for winter rides. I was planning to get that set up back when the bike was due to for its next service. But all this plan changed when I chanced upon the custom handlebar riser set up a Bangalore based fabricator had designed specifically for the GT 535 listed on Amazon. But it was out of stock at that time. Reached out to the seller (Viv Design) through FB and got to know that he might make the next lot sometime later if he has enough prospects. All the excitement I had after seeing the product listing went in vain. He promised me to inform me once the next slot is ready. But since we do not have too many GT owners, I was not really expecting any good news any time soon.

But I was in for a surprise when Viv Designs reached out to me on FB to confirm that the next lot is ready and wanted to see if I'm still interested. I told him yes without a second thought. The custom handlebar set up is almost a copy of the handlebar riser designed by UK based Hitchcock Motorcycles.

Since I ordered directly through FB and made the payment through G-Pay, it cost me 5900+480 (shipping to Ahmedabad). It was listed on Amazon for 6300+shipping.

Link to the listing on Amazon if someone wants to take a look: Viv Designs Aluminium Handlebar Raisers for Royal Enfield Continental GT 535

I got the parcel in less than a week and I gave the bike sent for the pending service and handlebar change the next day. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the new set up. The vibrations have reduced considerably when compared to the order Himalayan + Thunderbird handlebar mount set up.

Here are some pictures of the new set up.









Ride Safe,
R-Six

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by R-Six

Here are some pictures of the new set up.
R-Six

On a stock handlebar setup you'd find thick rubber cushions to dampen the vibrations, which is missing on aftermarket kits.

This due to direct metal to metal contact would result in jarring vibrations at the top end of the rev range.

I had installed the KTM holder and bars on my motorcycle and missed out on the cushions they were all fine until I had to hit the interstate for a 3 day 1600+ kms run, at 10,000 RPM my teeth were literally clattering due to the vibrations.

So it would be wise to whack open the throttle on the highways and see if you're comfortable with the vibrations up top.

Now comfort aside, make sure to generously use thread locker on all concerned bolts, don't even think twice.

Regards,
A.P.

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

This due to direct metal to metal contact would result in jarring vibrations at the top end of the rev range.

My earlier set up was borrowed from Thunderbird. I had used all the OE rubber bushes to support the setup.

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

So it would be wise to whack open the throttle on the highways and see if you're comfortable with the vibrations up top.

Already tried this, no unnatural vibes that a RE rider will be surprised of. In fact, with the new set up, the vibes are much less at triple digits compared to the thunderbird handlebar mount.

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Now comfort aside, make sure to generously use thread locker on all concerned bolts, don't even think twice.

Do we apply the thread locker fluid before tightening the screws?

Ride Safe,
R-Six

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by R-Six

Do we apply the thread locker fluid before tightening the screws?

Ride Safe,
R-Six

Take the whole thing apart, refit after applying thread locker on every bolt.

Usually advised to use sparingly, but since this is the handlebar we're talking about, be liberal, think of French fries dipped in spiced Mayonnaise.

[ArizonaJim]

Originally Posted by R-Six

...



Do we apply the thread locker fluid before tightening the screws?

Ride Safe,
R-Six

Yes.
If you are using the Blue, medium strength thread locking compound which is the right kind to use in this situation, you apply it to the exposed threads on the bolt (or screw) before it is screwed into the nut. It only takes a small drop of it to do the job.


This stuff is interesting in that it doesn't harden until it is squeezed between the threads when they are tightened. It also doesn't immediately harden like super glue would. It takes some time.


Do not use the red, permanent kind. Someday you may want to loosen the bolts or screws.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by R-Six

But I was in for a surprise when Viv Designs reached out to me on FB to confirm that the next lot is ready and wanted to see if I'm still interested. I told him yes without a second thought. The custom handlebar set up is almost a copy of the handlebar riser designed by UK based Hitchcock Motorcycles.

R-Six, thanks for sharing the details. The quality of work looks to be quite good. Do you have any side pictures of the bike with this setup? The price on Amazon seems to have bumped up to Rs 6,552 with an additional Rs 170 for packaging.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by R-Six

...

Do we apply the thread locker fluid before tightening the screws?

Ride Safe,
R-Six

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

...

Usually advised to use sparingly, but since this is the handlebar we're talking about, be liberal, think of French fries dipped in spiced Mayonnaise.

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

... It only takes a small drop of it to do the job.


This stuff is interesting in that it doesn't harden until it is squeezed between the threads when they are tightened. It also doesn't immediately harden like super glue would. It takes some time.


Do not use the red, permanent kind. Someday you may want to loosen the bolts or screws.

AJ is right. It only takes a small drop off the stuff to do the job. Excess fluid doesn't help in any way since the fluid cures only in the presence of metal and in the absence of air. So whatever is outside the fastener is a waste.

I only want to add that as a precaution the fasteners threads should be cleaned with degreaser to remove oil and grease. An anti-rust spray such as wd40 or similar contain oil and therefore is not to be used. If available, a brake cleaner spray or petrol with a clean brush work well.