[sasta_rider]

Averted Major Repair Unknowingly?

QUICK STATS:

Date: 16-Oct-2024
Ride Start Time: 05:35 am (slightly drizzling at Bengaluru)
Ride End Time: 01:07 pm (sunny and hot like oven)
Odo Start: 22197 km
Odo End: 22577 km (till Mangaluru only)
Destination: Mangaluru
Distance as per G-Map: 367 km (via Nelamangala, Sakleshpura, Hassan, Shiradi Ghat, Uppinangadi)
Fuel Economy: 37.56 km/L (calculated from Fuelio App)

With sun yet to rise, drizzling shower outside, I left my residence with raincoat over the riding jacket. This time, I had my hands on the GoPro Hero 11 + Media Mod combo (brought separately), which I received as a replacement for my faulty Hero 10 under warranty!

Always a pleasure to start the ride at this hour, that too when starting point is Bengaluru!

Within 50 minutes, I reached Nelamangala. Drizzling was present: at some places moderate and at some places minimal. Since my transparent visor of MT helmet had scratches, I took the pace lightly as I was not in a hurry. Gave a quick break for mandatory morning tea and breathe some fresh air before hitting the 'speedbreak' free highway, unlike the service road of Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway which has more speedbreaks than highway!

Previous day, the weather forecast had showed me at Mysuru there was more chances of rain, and Hassan had comparatively less. And since I had my destination as Mangaluru, this was the nearest route for me. Somewhere near the Kunigal Bypass road, there were no more rain droplets hitting my visor. I slowly took side on a straight stretch of highway, attached the media mod to my GoPro and clicked few pictures while enjoying the sounds of Fortuner, Innovas, Fleets, Ashok Leyland and Tata trucks cruising on empty highway.

Somewhere after Kunigal: empty roads like this is what I crave for!

As I reached near to Shanthigrama, it was time for some 'pet pooja', which is mandatory during early morning rides. Stopped at the Vegetarea, Pure Veg restaurant which is attached to the Empire chain of hotels. I was the only 'crowd' here when I reached, later people started to come in.

I ordered the mini-tiffin, which was quite heavy for me. I usually eat light, but this was not bad either. So, why not! Taste was fine for me, as I am a vegetarian and not mcuh of a foodie.

From here, I almost got a sign from the climate that there is no where I will encounter rain till I reach home. Weather was calm, traffic was moderate and roads. I will come back to the road rant soon. Bike was serviced few days back, front brake had some issues which was fixed and I had mentally prepared before the ride. No worries, so far so good.

Whenever I used to do hometown long rides previously, I used to get the single point fuel indication when the trip meter had covered around 350-380 km range from the previous full tank fill up. However, this time, after the Shiradi Ghat's major descent, when in Gundya, I got the blinking fuel sign.

By then, I had only covered 280 km till there and I was surprised. How on earth this can happen?

Few things stuck my mind:

• I had revved happily on highways, maybe fuel consumption is very high this time? But with the same speed when I had cruised in Expressway before, I did not see this quick reduction in fuel.
• Is there fuel pump leak by any chance due to horrendous roads before Shiradi?
• Or is this only because of the fuel sensor is not working right? I did not open the fuel lid as well to verify this, my bad.
• I checked chain slack, which felt lose, provided I just had received the bike few days before the ride. How come it is so lose?

Did not bother much on mileage as the ride was uneventful throughout. From Gundya, I took the ride a little slower, because now it was hard finding a petrol bunk. Finally, near to Kadaba, I got into a Bharat Petroleum and got the tank filled completely to avoid getting the bike pushed on road after becoming popper. Something inside me was not happy with this fuel experience but continued with caution till I reached home. I reached Mangaluru around 01:00 pm, had a good lunch and took some rest.

Mandatory tire story picture after a ghat section ride!

In the evening after I woke up, came out and just glanced at my blue baby parked, I could see below the bike, there is some kind of liquid spillage. I was a little concerned. Touched with finger, smelled it & it was confirmed that this is engine oil. Fresh engine oil! What else can I do as a basic check-up: bend down and inspect, only to find this:

Notice the diameter of the oil spread and the drain pipe tip.

This gave me a rough idea what might have happened:
- During previous service, the mechanic did not tighten the oil drain bolt in right manner.
- Even if he did, maybe this time it might have failed.
- Due to the pathetic roads, did the oil sump take any hit from the rocks? This was my biggest fear!

This answered my question of the poor fuel economy. This can also mean that there was oil leakage during the ride as well from one point of time, till then! But due to the climate being rainy, roads being wet at most of the places, and me taking minimal breaks did not bring my attention towards this. Even in parallel universe, I would not have imagined this could happen, that too after the periodic service. But then, we know what fate is: must live with it!

Yamaha Mangaluru is near to my location. Took the bike straighaway, informed them the scenario and the lazy, uninterested SA attended by concern. Asked how many hours it would take to get the bike back, he informed "sir, 3-4 days aguthe. Drain bolt and O-ring illa stock alli. Barakke time togolutte" (translated to "sir, it will take 3-4 days. Drain bolt and O-ring are out of stock and will take time to get shipped").

I could see so many R15s that had come for service and they do not have stock of items which does not take much space to be stored in a warehouse! I lost my cool but I needed R15 back soon. I enquired for the parts at Yamaha Kasaragod, they had it and were happy to sell. I sourced it through our daily Kasaragod-Mangaluru goods transport the next day & my brother delivered it to the service center as I fell sick due to viral fever.

This was the final bill for this small repair work. The SA informed me that the drain bolt had not been placed properly & due to long ride, it gradually losened! Nevermind.

Due to this quick parts arrangement, I got my R15 with freshly filled engine oil and chain work done the very next day, thankfully! If I hate one thing about Yamaha in India (non-metro cities), it will be their time required to source a spare part. They just love to make it more time consuming!

Coming to the roads (Sakleshpura-Mangaluru stretch): how do I even describe this here! Just more pathetic than last time when I had travelled by 4W. I had complained about this entire dirty stretch of so-called National Highway via CPGRAMS and I got a response for only the 10 km stretch mentioned below:

All I am waiting is till Jun-2025, post which, I will be appealing if work not done. Either do not collect tax/tolls from us or provide us with the best road infrastructure. Never loot the common citizen by collecting hefty taxes and only filling the stomachs of politicians!

And the Mangaluru division NHAI, is even more lazier. They are the ones who took almost 10 years to finish Pumpwell flyover stretch of national highways. What more can we expect from such irresponsible officers who are only namesake government employees?!

Now that I have got her back with right chain slack, lubed and engine oil back in place. I need to see how the fuel capacity plays during the return journey. Will keep you all updated.

Until then, ride safe!
Sud.

[sasta_rider]

Clutch Plate Replacement (Avoided) and Installed NGK Spark Plugs:

Those who have read my previous post of this thread may recall that I was complaining about poor fuel economy. Why? There was an engine oil leak during my Bengaluru-Mangaluru ride, which I was unaware of due to the monsoon rains. I realised this only when I had parked her for a day or two, when there was oil spillage on the floor. I did feel lack of power during throttle response but all my attention was drawn by the faulty engine oil sump drain bolt. Somehow, I arranged the drain bolt and drain plug from Kasaragod, got her repaired at Sharief Bikes, Mangaluru where I did not like customer service. Since work was satisfactory, I did not speak a word. Surprisingly, they stole my 6 mm Allen key which comes by default in R15 v4 (under pillion seat). Just worse than Pioneer Yamaha, Kasaragod!

After this quick repair (which I was a little concerned), I had my return journey on 01-Nov-2024 (Friday). Day of the ride, I left Mangaluru at exactly 06:35 am. The route was one and only notorious "Mangaluru -> BC Road (pathetic roads) - > Shiradi Ghat -> Sakleshpura -> Hassan -> Kunigal -> Nelamangala -> Hebbal -> Seegehalli" where the roads are just horrendous. High road tax/tolls and third class roads for the public. Never mind! During most of the stretch, I did feel that the throttle response was not as satisfying as it was few months back. I was doubting Sharief Bikes: did they actually replace the engine oil? Did they do the work effectively?

During water break at Gundya, I did Google to find authorised Yamaha enroute Bengaluru, just in case, if I had to take her for a quick check-up under worst case scenario. Even if something would have happened, it was a state holiday (01-Nov). FNG was my only hopes. Thankfully, nothing unfortunate happened. I made it to my location by 02:10 pm, safe and sound! Surprisingly, that day, Bengaluru was literally empty. This is how I expect Bengaluru to be!

Quick stats of the ride back to Bengaluru, along with the machine herself:

Odo Start: 22790 km
Odo End: 23172 km
Trip: 382 km
1st Fuelling Point: MRPL, KPT, Mangaluru
2nd Fuelling Point: Bharat Petroleum,
1st Fuel Economy: 37.55 kmpl
2nd Fuel Economy: 37.99 kmpl

Note: I always calculate fuel economy by full tank to full tank method.

At Mangaluru, during the early hour that day!


Yes, that is me!


At my residence


Close-up of the beautiful dirt!

Once back at Bengaluru, I badly wanted her to be inspected by Vinayak Yamaha. I planned to explain them about the engine oil drain plug leak, the poor throttle response and lose brake levers. Let me say this, the brakes felt a lot more lose after Sharief Bikes worked on her. I wanted to go back and ask them "why is the brake levers lose when you had worked on engine oil replacement?" but did not get time due to work and family time. I just chucked it, believing nothing unfortunate would happen, which would have compromised my safety!

Before going to Vinayak Yamaha, I thought to do some research in YouTube, Google search and TeamBHP forum. What I found was a little concerning and was worried about the frequent expenses since recently for a 155 cc two wheeler! Below were the conclusions I had made up in my mind:
What all possibilities existed, to cause this poor throttle response?

• Leaving the bike idle for almost 4 weeks separately between July and August 2024: moisture can accumulate in the clutch assembly, particularly if it's in a humid environment. It was monsoon during this time at Bengaluru. The lubricants in the clutch can dry out over time if the bike isn’t used. This can cause increased friction and wear when you eventually engage the clutch. If the bike sits for a very long time, the clutch plates can stick together, especially if the bike is stored improperly. Please note, the area I live, has a lot of dust! Other parts of the bike may degrade over time if not used regularly, which can indirectly affect clutch performance. For example, seals can wear out or oil can degrade, affecting overall function.
• High speeds and aggressive riding (during my long rides till date) can generate more heat, leading to faster wear of the clutch plates.
• Riding in back to back traffic: from few years, I have been travelling in back to back, slow moving traffic. Bengalurians can relate better. Be it when I exit/enter the city, travel to relatives place or even daily office commute. This can degrade the life of clutch assembly in general. Even the owner's manual does not say any specific interval when the clutch assembly needs to be checked/inspected!
• Placing fingers on clutch while cruising: I do not have this habit at all since the day I learnt driving/riding.

Fellow R15 owners (any two wheeler owners for that matter) or to-be R15 owners, please make sure to ride your beautiful possession in a right way. The story does not end here.

On 04-Nov-2024, I got time to visit Vinayak Yamaha to get her inspected. Before that, I had plans since recently to upgrade to NGK Iridium spark plugs. Why?

• Improved Ignition Performance (Iridium spark plugs provide a more efficient spark due to their fine wire center electrode)
• Enhanced Fuel Efficiency
• Longer Lifespan (Iridium plugs generally last longer than standard copper or nickel plugs)
• Higher Heat Resistance (Iridium has a higher melting point than other materials)
• Improved Cold Start Performance (Iridium plugs tend to ignite the air-fuel mixture more easily, which can be beneficial for cold starts)

I enquired about the availability of this product at multiple dealers:

• LRL Motors (available online and AFAIK, they do not have a branch at Bengaluru)
• Ryders Arena (they did not pick my call)
• Ride Adventure (they did not have stock for R15 v4)
• Htrz Modz, BTM Layout (they did have stock and I went there to get one, which costed ₹830/-).

NGK Iridium Spark Plug

My heart badly wanted to buy the Vesrah brake pads (front and rear) but since it costed around ₹1500/- each, brain did not agree. Additionally, the ceramic brake pad eats up the brake disc. Also, the price of this product was increased by ₹200/- recently. I did not find it worth anymore for my R15, but in future, if it is very much required, I might get one!

Then, I headed to Domlur. As usual, Mr. Chandar Singh (SA), attended my R15. He went for a quick test ride after I briefed him about the issue. I reminded him about the latest periodic service (8th). He then confirmed that the clutch assembly and the clutch ball has to be replaced which will cost around ₹4500/- (including labor). Since this work has to be carried out, the engine oil requires to be drained. Which means, engine oil and engine oil filter needs to be replaced afresh. I handed him the NGK spark plugs and he added the labor charges for this task as well. Thankfully, I had a free wash coupon I got during the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) purchase this year. The R15 did deserve a good wash after my recent ride. As usual, the chain clean and chain lubricant was added, to which I did not deny.

On 06-Nov-2024 (today), I did not receive any call from the ASC till noon. I decided to check with them (SA) by calling myself. Chandar Singh picked the call, I asked him if my bike is ready? What he replied gave me a sigh of relief and made me trust them/their work even more. He informed me that clutch plates and clutch ball did not require any replacement as they were in good condition. Hence, they topped up with fresh engine oil and engine oil filter. Big relief! Happy me, took the metro from ITPL, went to Domlur and took the delivery. The total bill turned out to ₹2189/-, invoice below for those who might find it useful:

Since I had been seeing how Toyota used to return the old components back to customer after service, I went and enquired about the old parts here as well. Since clutch parts were not replaced, all I asked was for the old engine air filter and stock spark plugs (which is also NGK but not of Iridium material). This is how the condition of both the components were:

Heck, heavy rat droppings on the air filters! This is when I started to recall the issues I faced during the rides. I hate this animal! The mechanic who worked on my R15 said "sir, the filter is completely destroyed by rats by pooping and urination!". What more should I say: I was speechless?!

Not an expert here, but is this how a degraded spark plug looks like? Was it a right decision to replace with NGK ones? Could this spark plug have clocked few more ignitions? Feedback much appreciated.

Clogged air filter never came to my mind at any point of time, even though I was very well aware about the dusty conditions in India. All my attention was diverted to other factors I mentioned above. Never in my dreams I thought a rodent can find access all the way up-to the engine air filter. Now, how to prevent this from happening again is what my concern.

When did rats find all the time to do this? I can now recall and confirm that it was during the period Jul-2024 & Aug-2024 (3 weeks each month). I did place Mortein's rat biscuits near to rear suspension (which is where the rats find an entry towards the battery chamber) & nearby area in my apartment at Bengaluru before going to hometown. I had even sprayed 3M's anti-rodent spray. Should I plan to get the entry points meshed? Next research (and a post maybe in future) will be on this fear. Another sigh of relief when the pocket does not get cut wide open.

I also learnt a new lesson today: while on the way back after taking her from ASC, near to Indiranagar 100 ft road, at the traffic signal towards KFC signal, I could see white (thick) smoke emanating from the rear brake pedal area. I did knew that after the service, few engine oil deposits which was spilled, get evaporated and this smoke pertains to that. But this lasted a little longer and I panicked mid traffic. As the signal turned green, I took to the side and inspected for any drain bolt leakage again this time. But could not find any. Slowly, put my hand (being aware of the hot silencer) to feel for any kind of lubricant spillage. Could not find because I was not able to see behind the fairings. Immediately captured the video, sent to my SA and asked if this was normal. He consoled my tensed mind saying this is normal. Since the clutch assembly was removed and new engine oil was used, there would have been a little more spillage than usual. Once heated for some time, it should evaporate. If it still persist, get the vehicle tomorrow. We can check. Even after this conversation, when I was near the Swami Vivekananda Metro signal, the smoke was coming. Concerned fellow riders pointed out to me and I signalled them all is well. From there, the smoke did not turn up. Another quick relief. Thank goodness!

The throttle response has now come to the expected way. But I believe, the NGK spark plugs does require some time to come to its optimal performance. My R15 turned off thrice at multiple occasions when I was moving ahead from a stand still. From then, I managed to give a little more throttle feedback while moving from stand-still to avoid bike turning off mid-traffic. Will post more on this after few weeks maybe.

As a quick summary, till date, below parts were changed/replaced during different occasions/intervals:

Please note: I did not include oil change, oil top-up etc because they are taken care during all the periodic services.

Here is a snap of my beautiful R15 before I end this post on a good note, at the ASC, who takes care of her, meeting my expectations:

Ride safe!
Sud.

[sasta_rider]

Completed an year with Michelin Road 5 Tires:

Odo During Installation: 13585 km
Current Odo Reading: 23260 km
Total Kilometers Covered till date: 9675 km
Installation Date: 08-Nov-2023

Pros:

• Provides more confidence than the stock MRFs. I have done many long rides and have no complaints so far. For an extent, I can easily lean her and attack the curves.
• Never had a puncture with this set of tires. All thanks to the way it is built: thick, rough & tough. While, MRFs had given me 4 minor punctures and 1 major which required mushroom puncture fix by removing the wheel. All within first 5 months of ownership.
• Excellent wet road grip: did not get time and a chance to abuse her during the monsoon, but after the recent ride to/from hometown, I can say it proves what it is meant for!

Cons:

• Quite expensive, considering for a 155 cc motorcycle. I had to vent out ₹18000/- for front and rear set of tires, purchased at Kasaragod from my regular wheel alignment shop (Yogis Tyre House). If I would have got this from Bengaluru, it would have costed me another ₹2000/- extra and fitting charges separate.
• On lose gravel, need to be a little cautious, especially while leaning. On certain occasions, I did feel slight jerk or the bike being pulled away from the rear. This will purely depend on the rider, how well the weight is distributed while leaning.

The profile of the tires (especially rear) does attract fellow R15 owner's attention. Two such instants had happened: one at Whitefield Yamaha when I had been there for chain maintenance and another near Indiranagar KFC Signal.

Ride comfort wise, I could feel comparatively more softness when she had hit Bengaluru's notorious potholes multiple times. Normal roads, cracks on road, bumps etc are not felt much during regular cruise/crawling speeds. In the MRFs, I could feel my hand fatigue whenever the roads were bad.

Since few years, I have been filling nitrogen instead of air for multiple reasons:

• Nitrogen molecules being comparatively larger than air, cannot escape through small punctures.
• Air contains moisture, which can deteriorate the rubber life on long runs. Since nitrogen is inert, the tire life does not take the hit.
• Heating of tires is well managed when nitrogen is filled. This in turn can reduce the chances of a tire burst when on high speeds.
• So far, I have not faced any issues in finding a nitrogen filling stations. Before my long rides, I ensure the correct tire pressure from nearby wheel alignment shops. Many Shell petrol bunks do have nitrogen filling done for free of cost. During the long ride, I never encountered any occasions where nitrogen fill up was required.

Below pictures clearly shows the current state of the tires, after 1 year of usage:


Tread Wear Indicator visible on the side profile.


Buttons, still clearly visible, ready to clock many more happy kilometers!

Looking at my usage and the condition of the tires, I am expecting it to run for another 16000-20000 km from now. But, fingers crossed. Will update more on this topic in Nov-2025.

Until then, ride safe!
Sud.

[sasta_rider]

(Second) Solo Ride to Goa:

A very happy New Year wishes to everyone, wish you all safe kilometers ahead!

Quick Stats:
Trip Start: 05-Jan-2025, 06:00 am
Trip End: 11-Jan-2025, 02:11 pm
Start-End of Trip: Mangaluru
Odo Start: 25559 km
Odo End: 26479 km
Total Trip: 920 km

Context:
This was not my first Goa ride - I have completed two visits before: one with college friends and second one a solo ride, for the India Bike Week 2023. Goa plan with my college best friend was happening since her departure to Canada back in Aug-2021. During every long distance conversation, we used to plan and imagine how our Goa trip would look like one day! Finally, the start of 2025 itself happened with this long-pending Goa trip with the right person, who has seen me through my ups and downs of life!

From 19-Dec-2024, I was at my hometown due to year end break, new year and WFH until 20-Jan-2025. So, my start and end point for the Goa ride was Mangaluru.

Morning of 03-Jan, I dropped my R15 at Pioneer Yamaha, Kasaragod for quick check-up which included the following:
- check for any major part replacement, if any.
- chain clean, slack and lube.
- oil change (interval was not near but I wanted a smooth ride, hence I recommended this).
- break fluid top-up, as the front brake levers felt spongy due to 3-4 days of inactivity (worried about this though). Fluid top-up fixed this issue for now.

Below is the breakup of the invoice:

Glad that I had carried out this quick check-up at ASC. Prevention is better than cure: be it for humans or for our machines, does not matter!

Late evening of 04-Jan, after my work, I left to Mangaluru, which will be my start and end point of the trip. Starting from Mangaluru gave me an advantage: distance to Goa will become shorter by 50 km than if I would have started the ride from Kasaragod. I was on paid leave for a long period, carrying work laptop on my Carbonado Modpac was ruled out. This gave me enough space for dress, accessories and essentials. Both the Modpacs: 10L and 20L ones, were fully packed and strapped to the pillion footrest. Firmly placed it on the pillion seat using the 'C' type clips and to have headache-free experience during the ride, I used an additional bunjee cord from Grand Pitstop, to hold the luggage from leaning left/right.

Being born and brought up in coastal region, I assumed winter lining is just a joke during early morning rides. Only to be proven wrong this time. I was feeling very cold during the ride, until I reached Kundapura and when the sun was starting to shoot heat rays! Oh god. A lesson for next winter ride from hometown. While I rode from Mangaluru, my best friend would catch the evening flight from Ahmedabad to Goa (GOI). Everything went planned. Psych! Adrenalin was on the peak: for the ride and the trip altogether.

For breakfast, I stopped at my colleague's place who was doing his morning shift WFH, at Ankola. I was there by 09:30 am. Took an hour of break, doing as usual office gossips and then left towards Goa after an hour of resting there. The sun was getting hotter, I could feel my body being cooked from the inside. This time, I ditched the hydration bag at Bengaluru itself, as I was too lazy to wash it before the Bengaluru-Kasaragod ride.

By 01:50 pm, I reached Calangute, Goa. This place is the Indiranagar of Bengaluru for me. Do not ask me why, but I just love to stay here every time I visited Goa. While my Airbnb (a 1 BHK serviced apartment) was getting ready, I was checking on my Zoomcar booking for the evening 6 pm drive to pick her from GOI airport! The apartment was beautiful and aesthetic, which was booked upon her request. She loved it more than me!

The beginning of Goa trip went bad: the Zoomcar, a White Hyundai Creta (GA06F4004), which was supposed to be delivered to my location at 6 pm from South Goa, was nowhere to be seen. No calls from the host (Mr. Vishal Arondekar) nor anyone who was responsible for this delivery. My patience started fading as it was already 06:30 pm, she would have landed at around 08:10 pm. Travel time for me was around an hour, all thanks to the speed cameras and the police. The host was not responding, customer care number of Zoomcar did not work and their useless app had very minimal assistance options for a booking. Existing options redirected to the crappy customer care number which never worked. After several attempts of calling the host, he picked up and informed me (not even bothered): "sir, the car which you had booked was not delivered to us by the previously booking. Can I send you a Nexon tomorrow morning?". I lost my cool: "sir, I have an airport pickup in an hour. Do one thing, please cancel my booking, keep the car for yourself tomorrow and refund my entire money (INR 3581/-)". He agreed: "sure sir, since today is Sunday, I will initiate the process tomorrow.". What stopped him from initiating the refund on Sunday? I did not know! Lesson: Zoomcar have stooped too low since recently. I should have been cautious even after hearing bad reviews about their service.

I did not have time to waste on this at that moment. Gladly, there was a car rental just next to my apartment, who offered a red Maruti Suzuki Swift (Petrol, Automatic) for INR 1500 per day, starting 9 am with a deposit of INR 3000/-. FYI, this car had the black number plate with yellow embossing of the registration number. I would have denied renting a car with white number plate.

Immediately did the payment, took the Swift and reached airport in 50 minutes. Thankfully, her arrival was delayed. I had to wait for around 20 minutes while she came with her luggage, finally: we greeted each other with a warm hug, which we missed since years! Loaded the luggage onto the tail (was good for a medium sized suitcase) and then headed back towards Calangute. I had promised to return the Swift the next day morning. My deposit was also returned within an hour of returning the vehicle. Mr. Rohit, who rented the Swift, is very professional and humble.

06-Jan-2025:
Our plan was to wake up late, slowly get ready and leave towards South Goa (biggest mistake) on my R15, for Cabo de Rama beach and fort. To those who do not know, from Calangute, it is around 80 km: which included traffic while exiting Calangute, good stretch of highway and then narrow roads as we approached the destination. For me, it was all fine as I was the rider. She had a tough time coping behind me. Before starting the ride, I had asked her to do a practise session of getting on and off the bike, just not to become embarassed in front of public. She got comfortable at first not knowing how worst that decision can be.

After breakfast at Calangute, we headed to Vega helmet shop near to KFC, where I brought her a half faced Vega helmet. I know pillion helmet is not mandatory, but her safety was important for me than just trying to look cool at a tourist place. Hence, the helmet purchase.

By the time we left the helmet shop, it was already mid-noon. Sun was just pathetic and merciless that day. She got exhausted midway, we had to stop for a tender coconut break to beat the heat. We decided to call-off the plan towards Cabo de Rama and instead, changed the destination to Colva beach. Still, too far from Calangute but was near to our tender coconut break spot. Spent some time in the nearby shack, had our late lunch and a good lemonade to get energised for the rest of the ride back. I clicked comparatively less pictures today due to the heat. I will try to keep the coming Goa itinerary short to not make it boring!

07-Jan-2025:
We decided to rent the same red Swift for 2 days since we had South Goa in plan. Aguada Fort on the way was also coveredd quikly.

A wise decision of renting Swift, we took the previous day, for her to feel queen's treatment, I can say! Covered Cabo de Rama fort and the nearby beach. Drive was calm and pleasant: had a lot of gossips, work related talks and future plans.

08-Jan-2025:
Covered Condolim beach, followed by dinner at Palms n Sands Restaurant, where we had a good beach view dinner after a tiring long walk, listening to the waves & her blabbering.

09-Jan-2025:
Early morning, the Swift was returned to the owner again, before 9 am. We decided to explore North Goa today by bike. Sudden plans but it was worth it for the day! Covered:
Parra Coconut Tree Road: To those of you are not aware, one of the shooting scene from the movie 'Dear Zindagi' was shot here. Once which was a normal road, was converted as a tourist spot with facility to park the vehicles on either ends of this road. I was quite surprised! The road was crowded during my previous Goa visits as well, but the parking facility began recently I guess. Goa'ns: correct me if I am wrong. From here, we headed to Anjuna Sunset Point where we clicked some nice pictures of the sunset, obviously!

From here, we went to Anjuna beach where we walked until sunset. Later, we enjoyed dinner with some live music at Madhushala Restaurant. My bestie, songs, food and the ambience: was just a perfect combination!

10-Jan-2025:
Check-out was at 10:30 am and she had her flight back to Ahmedabad at 9 pm. We decided to be together after checking out, somewhere on the beach shacks. So, I rented the same Swift, AGAIN. All her luggage, including her, was in the car. Whiel, I checked in to the nearby hotel from where I rented the Swift. Not a good place for the newly married couple, families or senior citizens. For a bachelor like me, it was just fine. Hope you got what kind of a place it is!

We had breakfast after checking out near Calangute, from a nasty place which I regret. After breakfast, we visited the Bom Jesus church. From there, we spontaneously decided to go to Majorda beach, absorb some Vitamin D and enjoy the Goa'n cuisine from a nearby shack watching sunset. On the way, she wanted to drive the Swift (autmatic transmission comes handy) for some distance: which she did butter smooth. She recently got her Canada DL, so I had complete confidence on her and her driving.

From 3 pm till 7 pm, we were enjoying the Arabian Sea in front and the food nearby. At around 06:45 pm, I requested bill which took some time to arrive. While, Google Map suggested we would reach GOI by 08:05 pm, which is exactly when the baggage counter closes for her flight. We got a little panicked but was able to quickly reach the airport at exactly 08:00 pm! Saddest part was, I could not even say a proper 'happy journey' or even a hug at least, as the vehicles behind me had zero tolerance and patience! She went in, confirmed that she did not miss the flight and but the flight departure from bay was delayed by 15 mins. Thank goodness!

Felt a little emotional after she left, as I could not wish her, but life has to move on. Nevermind! I reached Calangute late night, handed over the Swift and packed my bags for the long ride back home the next day morning!

Left Goa at 05:30 am while the climate outside was cold. The car rental guy (who looks after the hotel room I stayed) bid me a safe journey. These small gestures from strangers makes the day to be honest. The early morning empty road towards Karwar was scenic & worth enjoying. Due to me vibing with the nature, my energised mind did not feel like clicking some GoPro POV pictures as the recording was on. To those who are interested to watch, check out this

link

.

I reached 'baked' Mangaluru at 03:30 pm. Why so late? Between the Udupi-Kundapura stretch, at certain areas, the road resurfacing was ongoing. Come on, seriously? This work could have been carried out quickly during the night without disrupting the traffic. Anyways, rants aside, the trip was worth memorable except for the Zoomcar experience. Surprisingly, while I am typing this, I got a mail from the Zoomcar customer care, with whom I had been liaising since past 3 days. Fingers crossed, awaiting for the refund to reflect in my bank account as well and not just over mail:

Now, I will need some time to mentally come out of this beautiful yet memorable trip which became true after years of dreaming. Cheers to us!

Regarding how the R15 has been during the trip, the pros and the cons:
cons:
- riding for long distance with a pillion can be tiring, unless you hit the gym very often or you are just fine bearing the pain of your pillion for a day or two.
- fuel efficiency: I wanted to talk about this since few months already. More on this after this.
- the chain became very lose, just after ~900 km of ride, which is my first time. I know this is normal but the chain did not get this lose till date with so less kilometers. Yesterday when I took a casual late night ride at Kasaragod in my neighborhood (without helmet), I could hear some sound from the rear bottom. When I checked, it was the chain slack. Need to get the chains tighted before the Bengaluru ride this week and the wheel balancing once I reach Bengaluru, maybe?!
pros:
- 155 cc, yet gives the "feel" of a superbike. This can sound ridiculous, but come on. Except for the power figure and the engine displacement, the bike likes to munch kilometers with ease at triple digit speeds.
- draws a lot of attention from the public: especially school/college going students and few elders as well. Evil eyes, please stay away!
- In Apr-2025, my R15 will turn 3 years. Still, there are no vibrations, lose panels/nuts or rattling of any kind so far. Except for slightly hanging rear left indicator. All thanks to some random careless guy (girl?) in the ITPL parking who was careless while moving away!

Regarding the fuel efficiency:

I assume the culprit for these fuel efficiency figures is: my riding style (first) and then the ethanol blended fuel in the market!

Anytime soon, I am very well aware that my bike's clutch plates will require a replacement, to which I am mentally and financially prepared. Apart from this, I do not wish to witness any unnecessary expenses of any kind. That's all for this post. Any feedback, suggestions or guidance is very much appreciated from the fellow members!

Ride safe!
Sud.

[R15M_Rider]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

(Second) Solo Ride to Goa:

A very happy New Year wishes to everyone, wish you all safe kilometers ahead!

.

Happy New Year buddy! Once again a very nice write-up! I must say, while you might be working from Bengaluru, whenever you are in KL, you do have wonderful sweeping roads you can access. Goa from Kasaragod, I would imagine is like Pondicherry for me in Chennai. Also love your YT videos, posted so far. Especially audio is very clear. Subscribed . Looking forward for more!

[sasta_rider]

Tried New Route towards Bengaluru:

This return journey to Bengaluru took place on 21-Jan-2025, following a month-long stay in my hometown, during which I completed a trip (read as ride) to Goa and attended several family functions. My mind was not yet ready to transition back to the Work From Office environment, but the show must go on.

I was quite fed up with the Kasaragod-Madikeri-Mysuru-Bengaluru route and the speedbumps across Mysuru-Bengaluru service road kept me away from opting this route no matter what. There is this route: Kasaragod-Madikeri-Kushalnagara-Channarayapatna-Bengaluru, but I had already done this route and was not quite happy. Wanted to explore a new route but not too longer than the other routes. I checked with my uncle, who suggested me this: Kasaragod-Jalsoor-Subrahmanya-Gundya-Shiradi-Hassan-Kunigal-Bengaluru. I checked on Google Maps, it was more or less the same distance like the other routes andd even the time it takes. Big relief is that I will miss the speedbumps of the Expressway!

But, there is a small twist: the roads after Shiradi Ghat towards Hassan is not in a good shape (pictures later down below). But, I have done this stretch during the Bengaluru-Mangaluru rides, so was fine. The roads are bad only for around 10-15 km. Rest of the stretch is all superb until Nelamangala. I left Kasaragod at around 09:45 am (the worst time to leave towards Bengaluru). Reached my flat at Whitefield at 06:15 pm. I did take breaks in between but what made me tired was the traffic at Hebbal, KR Puram and near to Phoenix Mall. Oh God, never I will ride during this period here-on.

Here are some pictures from this ride (mostly to showcase the beautiful National Highway):

This is from the Jalsoor-Subrahmanya stretch!

This being said, I have a ride planned to Chennai on 30-Jan-2025 from Bengaluru. And from Chennai, towards Pondicherry on 01-Feb-2025 for a night stay to attend my friend's marriage. Would appreciate fellow BHPians in helping me find a good route for the ride: to Chennai and from there towards Pondicherry. This Chennai ride will be my second one (previous ride was done somewhere in Oct-2022). So, I have no idea which route is the best!

Originally Posted by R15M_Rider

Happy New Year buddy! Once again a very nice write-up! I must say, while you might be working from Bengaluru, whenever you are in KL, you do have wonderful sweeping roads you can access. Goa from Kasaragod, I would imagine is like Pondicherry for me in Chennai. Also love your YT videos, posted so far. Especially audio is very clear. Subscribed . Looking forward for more!

Happy New Year buddy. Thank you so much for your kind words and for subscribing to my YouTube channel! Also, I have not shared my GoPro mount setup yet, planning to do it when I have ample time, for those who are looking forward.

Additionally, my MT Helmet has started making some noise from the inside during the rides, I believe it has attained its shelf life and is only fine for city rides here on. Need an upgraded helmet for long rides. Let me do some research and see what options I have in hand.

I recently got my hands over the Rolon Brass Chain Kit for my v4. The stock chain kit was replaced during the fifth service (13551 km) after my v4 was idle for a long time and the chain had caught up lot of rust. For time being, I am not getting the second chain kit replaced with Rolon. Currently, the odometer reads at 27300 km. Planning to get it replaced after the Chennai ride maybe, if the SA at Vinayak Yamaha points out. If not, during the next periodic service.

Planning to document the Chennai-Pondicherry ride in the upcoming post as much as possible.

Until then, ride safe!
Sud.

[R15M_Rider]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

This being said, I have a ride planned to Chennai on 30-Jan-2025 from Bengaluru. And from Chennai, towards Pondicherry on 01-Feb-2025 for a night stay to attend my friend's marriage. Would appreciate fellow BHPians in helping me find a good route for the ride: to Chennai and from there towards Pondicherry. This Chennai ride will be my second one (previous ride was done somewhere in Oct-2022). So, I have no idea which route is the best!

Well, as far as I know, there are only two routes to Pondy (eventually becomes a single route at Mahabs), that is through OMR(Old Mahabalipuram Road or ECR (East Coast Road). OMR is pretty much a mess as per me, part of my commute is on it to office and its entirely covered with Metro Rail construction, until you cross the end of the IT corridor. I would suggest to stick with the ECR. But ECR too is undergoing a lot of work. So I will break it down to 3 sections:

1. Thiruvanmiyur to Akkarai (city section) - a bit congested and dusty. I am guessing you're starting early on 1st Feb (Sunday), so you should be clear of traffic anyway. Should be a breeze.

2. Akkarai till Mahabalipuram (good highway) - Good quality roads - 4 lane, but beware of speed cameras, you cross 100 kmph, you can expect a challan. Always keep it below 100 kmph.

3. Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry - Good two lane sections with many diversions. I guess work is going on to make it four lane entirely. Be cautious of near invisible bumps. It might catch you off-guard.

Overall, you will have fun for sure. But definitely, not the best type of roads as of today. I guess you will be starting early on Sunday which means, you will run into some SBK riders too.

I have sent a private message too, please check it when you have time.

Ride Safe!

[nova.19_exe]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Planning to document the Chennai-Pondicherry ride in the upcoming post as much as possible.

I'm surprised as to how I didn't come across this thread before. Wow man, very wonderfully written! Having ridden a friend's R15 v4 for about 30-40kms now, I can say that it's a really mad machine that punches above its weight!

Subscribing to this thread right now! Wishing you many more happy miles and memories with the Blue Beast!! Definitely keeping an eye out for you now!

Cheers mate!

[V.Max]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Would appreciate fellow BHPians in helping me find a good route for the ride: to Chennai and from there towards Pondicherry. This Chennai ride will be my second one (previous ride was done somewhere in Oct-2022). So, I have no idea which route is the best!

From Bangalore to Chennai
U can try the new yet to be opened expressway. Some parts are not open. But its worthy of exploring. Suggest u ask Bluru walas for suggestions on how to use this route...

From Chennai to Pondi
Try Chennai Chengalpat Tindivanam Pondi
Roads are fairly great. The Tindivanam Pondi stretch is a blast though... New 4 way lane with fairly low traffic

[sasta_rider]

Bengaluru-Chennai-Pondicherry-Chennai-Bengaluru Trip:

Part 1: Ride to Chennai

Let me give you all a context of the purpose of this ride. I was born and brought up in a nuclear family. My relatives are all spread across different parts of (South) India. Apart from this, having studied in a residential school since 6th standard, my friend circle is quite vast (in spite of me being an introvert). This ride was pre-planned (on my R15, of course) because my cousin from the states had come on his vacations to Chennai and my bachelors' classmate got hitched who is a resident of Pondicherry!

On 30-Jan-2025 (Thursday), I left Bengaluru around 10:30 am. Since I stay near to Kadugodi, total distance to reach my cousin's place is less, which is in the outskirts of Chennai (Kundrathur). As I always do: fuelled my R15 full tank and got the tires inflated with nitrogen to 29 psi (F) and 33 psi (R). I had some doubts on the chain slack: whether to get it checked or not, but the FNG mechanic was on leave that day. So, I confidently started my ride but with caution for few kilometres. The weather was chill even at 10:30 am with less traffic.

The highway till Chennai consist of linear, broad highways except at certain intersections. I did recall the route till outskirts of Chennai because I did ride to Chennai back in Oct-2022 with my R15. I was casually cruising near Kolar, I observed few car showrooms near to the service road. Apart from being a bike enthusiast, I do admire cars (along with commercial and few defense aircrafts) equally. That's when my eyes caught attention of a Yamaha ASC: Sri R V Advent Ride. As the ride to Chennai does not take much time and I was not in a hurry, I decided why not give the ASC a visit and get my chain slack checked and lubed. I safely took a left turn towards the service road, and landed up in the entrance where I met the SA, Mr. Chetan, who was welcoming at first sight. I checked with him "I am on a long ride towards Chennai and if possible, can I get my R15's chain slack adjusted and then lube?”. He replied "yes sir, please proceed towards the service centre behind". The acknowledgement itself made me quite satisfied and made me happy that Yamaha ASC with good staff and service do exist!

Once inside the ASC, the SA approached, I advised him to adjust the chain slack, clean if possible and then lube the chain. He took out the job card, asked: "are all the PM completed sir?" to which I said "yes, all completed as per the Yamaha requirements". He requested me to offload the tail bag (a 20 L Carbonado Modpac), so that the ASC personnel can then carry out the job card. Below are the pictures I could click there:

Who does not love to watch their machine being worked on by the ASC personnel?

I was quite happy with this ASC because the lounge access was spacious, had water bottles to quench the thirst, SA was very approachable and I could openly see the work being carried out! What more can I ask for? The bill came out to be around INR 180/-, which was quite reasonable. After a good bye, I continued the remaining part of the ride towards Chennai. After crossing Mulbagal, I did take a hydration break along with the nature's call.

The route taken was: Kadugodi (Bengaluru) - Hoskote - Kolar - Chittoor - Sriperumbudur - Kundrathur (Chennai), which equates to 298 km. I reached the destination (home) at around 02:00 pm. The route had multiple diversions due to the ongoing (slow) National Highway constructions, which increased the time by a little.

A quick tea break few kilometers before the destination

Much pictures were not clicked because my OCD mind could not find a perfect location! The next day (31-Jan-2025), I had to attend the 'sangeet' of my ex-colleague's marriage ceremony which was in a resort near ECR, Chennai. Nothing to document much here. Hence, to the next part. By the way, I loved the ECR stretch, but due to VIP movement (Mr. Amit Shah's departure/arrival, there were police positioning across the roads), I could not max out the engine on empty stretch!

Part 2: Ride to Pondicherry (01-Feb-2025)

This ride was for the marriage of my bachelors' batch mate. The ride was not solo, another bacth mate joined from Chennai, but on his Royal Enfield Hunter 350. Early morning, at around 8 am, we met near Porur, from where he asked me to follow all the way till Pondicherry. Route taken was: Porur - Guduvancheri - Tindivanam - Kiliyanur (outskirts) - Pondicherry, where a villa was already booked by the groom for us. By 12:00 pm, we were near the entrance of Pondicherry:

'Vanakkam' (Hello) Pondicherry!

By noon, another batch mate arrived to Pondicherry with the groom's Royal Enfield Classic 350, all the way from Bengaluru. We three then headed to French Colony, had a good (English) brunch at Street French Café (here) and then headed back to our villa to get freshened up for the marriage, which was planned at The Sacred Heart Basilica Church. After the marriage, the reception was planned at Santho Lawns, which was quite far from our hotel room. Worst thing was I had worn the smoked visor, during the night.

French Colony

Brunch at Street French Café

Felt the background matching, hence this picture!

The next day early morning, two of us: my friend on his RE Hunter and myself were supposed to head towards Chennai while another friend towards Bengaluru by bus. But, we all had some extra time at Pondicherry. Hence, decided to explore a little and then leave the Union Territory by noon. We covered Auroville Beach and the Auroville Matramandir. We did not get into the sea at the beach, but clicked a good picture here:

Just loved this picture among others, and those buttons of Michelin Tyres!

Then, we headed towards Matrimandir. The route was not that good, there was a confusion at one intersection and we ended up going in the wrong direction. We had to ask a local resident to know the right direction towards Matrimandir later. There was a parking fee for each vehicle inside their premises. Now comes the horrible part: I learnt that we need to walk around 1.5 km to reach the Matrimandir and me being a lazy person to walk. Wish they allowed personal vehicles! Below are the pictures clicked during the walk and then the Matrimandir itself:

Thankfully, there was a free shuttle bus for returning back, which dropped us near the entrance. Later, we left towards our villa, checked out and then headed back to Chennai while one among us headed towards bus depot for his journey towards Bengaluru.

Pondicherry was my first time in life. Though I could not explore much, whatever I got to witness, was a memorable one and mainly, my batch mate’s wedding! Peace.

Part 3: Got to ride @R15M_Rider's Yamaha R3 (02-Feb-2025)

While returning from Pondicherry, we took the ECR route and I bid goodbye to my batch mate near to A2B, Mahabalipuram (link) where I met @R15M_Rider, our own TeamBHP’ian with his Yamaha R3! A gentleman, who was very kind to offer his R3 for me to hop on. Before the ride exchange, we spoke about our machines, we had a quick tea at A2B. Once we returned to the parking, we then decided to head towards the city.

The R15 and the R3!

From A2B, I hopped on to his R3 while he got his hands on my R15, recalling his memories of his R15M! This was my first time riding a 300+ cc faired bike. First attempt to start the 'exchanged' ride, the torque kicked in and the bike jerked off. Oops! I had to restart the engine to life, and then we were good to depart towards Chennai. Location was a Shell petrol bunk on the ECR. I got a good stretch to ride his possession. Just before the peak traffic began, I stopped aside and we got back to our own machines. I did not want to take any chance or mishaps to happen, as the R3 was quite new for me and I do respect fellow owner's vehicle! Thank you @R15M_Rider for the trust you had in me! Below are a few pictures I could click at the Shell outlet:

Shell petrol bunks must be declared as the official photograph place for riders, isn't it?

To those who are interested, below is the video of me experiencing the Yamaha R3: pure bliss and smooth as butter!

https://youtu.be/l1ZvjGfaI1k?si=mhydkWwY7QS-Wr8D

Initial impressions:
- Riding posture is not as aggressive as the R15. I expected it to be more aggressive, but now it is clear to me.
- The pick-up at lower gears is just powerful. Again, I have never experienced any other bikes in this segment, so I will stick to the comparison with the R15, as we both own(ed) this machine for a common duration.
- Touring can be done with even more ease, as compared to the R15 with a little more aggressive sitting posture. I am 5'9 ft. tall and hence, this feedback. This might be different for riders with different height or opinion. Both are tourable for long distance in my opinion, if the rider has a will!
- Headlamp throw is more or less the same. Maybe I could not differentiate much due to the street lights across the ECR.
- To all the Yamaha (or Japanese OEM) owners/enthusiasts out there, if you are looking for an upgrade from a non-Yamaha / lower segment Yamaha ride, R3 is the best choice to go for. Unless you have the budget to acquire a new (read as: used) R1 or an R6 (very rare to find)!

After a long conversation about bikes, this forum and the work, we then bid goodbye and left to our respective home. Gratitude and happy to have ridden this yet another Yamaha (Japanese) engineered piece of machine!

Part 4: Ride back to Bengaluru (09-Feb-2025)

Something inside me was not right the previous day and also on the day of this return ride. But, I had to travel back because I had to be at office from 11-Feb-2025. Got up early, packed up and left Chennai at around 08:30 am after a quick cornflakes with milk for the breakfast. Bike was already fuelled up the previous day from a nearby Shell petrol bunk. I know tire pressure was normal because I did not experience any misalignment, bumpy ride or vague feeling after returning from Pondicherry. The ride was superb. I expected to get cooked in the early morning sun but I was proven wrong. I maintained triple digit speeds until Chittoor, where I took an hour break to attend an urgent phone call along with hydration break. All good till here.

After crossing 30-50 km from Chittoor, over one of the speedbump, when I was crossing it in 1st gear, I could hear and feel some kind of 'grr-grr-grr' noise, which remained persistent until I crossed 2nd gear and 40 kmph speed. I assumed it to be an illusion (MT Helmet does cancel certain noises). But, in the next speedbump as well, the same sound yet reached my ears. I was scared, confused and perplexed for a moment. I could not find a relevant place to stop and look at the origin of this sound. After some distance, took over near to a restaurant, stopped and inspected the chain region, front mudguard and the underbody. No signs of any obstacle struck or leakage. The instrument cluster too was clear from any signs. This ruled out any issue related to the engine, which had scared me initially. Checked chain slack, it was not too lose for this kind of sound to occur.

Now, the real fear kicked in. If you had read my previous posts, I had mentioned about the clutch assembly, which the SA had advised to replace in another few kilometres from 8th periodic service. Another instance was when a FNG mechanic at Kasaragod had informed me in Jan-2025: to check if the cylinder head is in good shape! My mind started to overthink, I directly rang @R15M_Rider first, to check if he had encountered similar sounds? He assured me to continue the ride, because it is a Japanes machine. They ensure you reach your destination safely in spite of any issues!

Me, who took this pitstop to check on that wierd sound!

After taking the left turn near the Orion Uptown Mall towards my place, there are a lot of speedbumps and this 'grr-grr-grr' sound still existed in 1st and 2nd gears, below 40 kmph. The last 35 km, I cruised under 95 kmph, which is not the speed meant for an R15 on wide/empty highway! Finally, I reached safely, without any issues, at around 01:35 pm.

Mandatory trip meter reading!

I did Google and find few possibilities why this could have happened. More on this in the upcoming posts. As of now, my R15 has clocked 28500 km and I expect nothing major turns out. I would not be surprised if this issue is pertaining to the gearbox/clutch mechanism or even the engine mount in worst case.

If any of you had experienced this peculiar sound on your (R15) two wheeler, feel free to DM me or post in this thread, so that my mind does not overthink during the coming days and decide what can be done! Also, I am planning to take my R15 to Vinayak Yamaha (Domlur) on 11-Feb-2025 afternoon, to get this issue checked and sorted. Fingers crossed, no major expense comes up ahead!

Overall, the ride was memorable: I got to explore a new destination (Pondicherry), the wedding and the Yamaha R3!

Ride Safe!
Sud.

[R15M_Rider]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Part 3: Got to ride @R15M_Rider's Yamaha R3 (02-Feb-2025)

While returning from Pondicherry, we took the ECR route and I bid goodbye to my batch mate near to A2B, Mahabalipuram where I met @R15M_Rider, our own TeamBHP’ian with his Yamaha R3! A gentleman, who was very kind to offer his R3 for me to hop on. Before the ride exchange, we spoke about our machines, we had a quick tea at A2B. Once we returned to the parking, we then decided to head towards the city.

From A2B, I hopped on to his R3 while he got his hands on my R15, recalling his memories of his R15M! This was my first time riding a 300+ cc faired bike. First attempt to start the 'exchanged' ride, the torque kicked in and the bike jerked off. Oops! I had to restart the engine to life, and then we were good to depart towards Chennai. Location was a Shell petrol bunk on the ECR. I got a good stretch to ride his possession. Just before the peak traffic began, I stopped aside and we got back to our own machines. I did not want to take any chance or mishaps to happen, as the R3 was quite new for me and I do respect fellow owner's vehicle! Thank you @R15M_Rider for the trust you had in me!

After a long conversation about bikes, this forum and the work, we then bid goodbye and left to our respective home. Gratitude and happy to have ridden this yet another Yamaha (Japanese) engineered piece of machine!

It was really lovely meeting you buddy. You are also the reason I became a BHPian in late 2022 after seeing your R15 review. And just by following you since then, I always knew you were a sedate and careful rider. Really relatable too as we chatted then, introvert to introvert! I absolutely had no hesitation giving you the keys for a spin and I am really happy that you liked the experience too. I hope we can go on more trips together for sure!

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Now, the real fear kicked in. If you had read my previous posts, I had mentioned about the clutch assembly, which the SA had advised to replace in another few kilometres from 8th periodic service. Another instance was when a FNG mechanic at Kasaragod had informed me in Jan-2025: to check if the cylinder head is in good shape! My mind started to overthink, I directly rang @R15M_Rider first, to check if he had encountered similar sounds? He assured me to continue the ride, because it is a Japanes machine. They ensure you reach your destination safely in spite of any issues!

I know how well you maintain your beloved machine. That's why I seriously doubt it will be a serious issue. Hoping for the best. Keep us posted

[sasta_rider]

Ninth Periodic Service (@ 28571 km) at Vinayak Yamaha, Domlur:

After my Chennai-Pondicherry ride and back to Bengaluru, I wanted to give my R15 for service at the earliest due to multiple reasons:

• The 'grr-grr-grr' sound that was persistent in the 1st and 2nd gears at low speeds during the end of the ride. This sound had given me a lot of mental disturbance!
• Get the accelerator cable checked, if replacement required. What made me feel so? More on this later below this post.
• I wanted to get the Rolon Brass Chain Sprocket kit installed, if at all the stock ones needed to be replaced.
• Get the entire bike inspected, because I am nearing the 30000 km odometer reading as well as three years of ownership on 12-Apr-2025!

The ride had ended on 09-Feb-2025 (Sunday), and I dropped her at Vinayak Yamaha, Domlur on 11-Feb-2025 (Tuesday). I just have a different level of gratuity and respect to whoever has worked and kept my R15 in proper condition till date. Not even single complaint against them, so far.

I reached ASC late evening, after my office hours. As the SA (Mr. Chandar Singh) arrived, I briefed him about the 'grr-grr-grr' sound, which at that point of time, had almost faded. How on earth do vehicles know that they are at the ASC!? This is similar to how a small kid, who acts sick to avoid going to the school, gets all well when taken to a doctor!

SA penned down the routine periodic service checks: engine oil, engine oil filter, etc on to the job card. Checked for the brake lights, brake pad wear and external parts which does not require a ride to figure out. Trust me, other ASCs hardly perform these checks with attention to detail. This was one thing that I always admired about this ASC. The proprietor, Mr. Deepak Sir, if you are reading this post by any chance, hats off to you and your team here. Keep up the good work and team. So far, this is how the job card looked like:

After this, the SA hopped on to the rider's seat and went for a spin (which is done to all types of two wheelers that comes to this ASC). He came back and said these:

• Clutch assembly requires a replacement, pickup has dropped a lot. It will cost around INR 4500/- plus labor charges. Shall we proceed? I replied "yes", gulped down my throat.
• Chain sprocket needs to be replaced. This was causing that 'grr-grr-grr' sound. I handed him the Rolon Chain Sprocket kit.
• You want to renew the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC)? I denied, reason being R15 will turn 3 years old and cross 30000 km by next service. So, felt this is no longer needed.
• Clutch assembly part is not in ready stock (he verified this with the spares, right there). The transparency I liked! He informed it would take few days to acquire the part, you want to drop the bike today itself? I agreed.

After all this, I hopped on to a Rapido, and then by Namma Metro, I reached my place (Whitefield).

A week passed, there were no signs of any communication on the progress (disappointed me a little but I trust them). I checked with them on 18-Feb-2025, to which they said part is yet to arrive. No problem, this is a slow moving part. Might take time in logistics etc. All these days, I managed to commute to office with bus + metro, which is the hardest thing for me: public transport in India!

On 21-Feb-2025, I again called them, to which the SA informed "Sir, we inspected the clutch assembly. It still has good life, so we will not change this for the time being. While the accelerator cable will be replaced and you can collect your R15 tomorrow. Thank you sir". I was the happiest person that day!

Turned out the bill was compratively less to what I had expected when I had dropped her at ASC!

On 22-Feb-2025, I headed directly to the ASC, paid the bill amount of INR 4463.60, collected the old parts and returned with a (new) R15! Oh god, you would not believe me: every part that was changed (chain sprocket kit, the rear wheel damper, accelerator cable), gave me a all new feeling. While, Vinayak Yamaha won my trust, yet again. Below are the pictures of the old parts which I collected:

Was quite surprised how come the NGK spark plugs only lasted around ~3500 km!

The muck and dirt accumulated: all thanks to the dusty, never ending construction works, almost everhwyere!

Now, this is how the new chain sprocket kit looks like on the R15:

R15 with the golden braces?


A quick picture before I departed the ASC with a feel of getting delivered a brand new R15!

Now, coming to what made me feel to get the accelerator cable replaced:

• First one being, the throttle play was something that I could feel is not normal since a month. At lower gears and slow speeds, I could 'feel' the throttle getting stuck at certain angle and I had to manually rotate it back to bring the RPM down while riding.
• Second one being the Coimbatore-Kochi ride back during my bachelor's in Dec-2018, where 6 of my friends and myself had rented 4 two wheelers. I had got a very old FZ v1 which had clocked ~60000 km. I did not have avid craze for bikes back then, but I feel grateful to be alive today after that one day ride. We had covered Athirapally falls and then headed to Fort Kochi, late evening. After a tiring ride from Coimbatore where we had started early morning. While my friends were behind me, and I was nearing Fort Kochi, my FZ's accelerator cable snapped, and I could freely play with the throttle. Soon, I myself parked safely and rang up my friends who had already reached the destination and started clicking selfies, while I was all alone: crying for help. By next day noon, we had to return the rented bikes back in Coimbatore. After a long wait, my friends somehow came with an accelerator cable from some shop, we towed the FZ manually to a nearby FNG, where the mechanic helped us during the last minute of his working hours. After all this, we then went to Lulu Mall, only to get some fresh air conditioned air and the same day late night, we started our ride back to Coimbatore. This one incident has always been in my mind since I brought R15: what if my R15's accelerator cable snaps someday? So, precaution is better than cure. This is the reason, I myself asked them to check and the ASC heard my request!

So far, I am totally happy and tension free with the ownership of this beautiful, reliable machine! What lies ahead of me now?

• I need to make sure that the Rolon Chain Sprocket is taken care off like a new baby: timely chain maintenance, with more care and intervals.
• Be gentle on the throttle and the clutch, to make sure the clutch assembly wise I do not get any surprises.
• I am planning to get the dented right side fairing to be replaced along with the right side fuel tank which has a small crack (not problem causing though).

That's it for this post, folks.

Ride safe!
Sud.

[sasta_rider]

Escaped Narrowly from a Major Accident involving 2 BMTCs and an Activa

Never ever in my dreams I had thought that I would one day face this: hence 'accident' is termed as 'accident'!

It was 04-Mar-2025 (Tuesday) 03:25 pm and I was returning from office after finishing my morning shift. I was not tired in any way, my mind was calm until few minutes before this fell in place! Where? How? Whom?

Below is the schematic diagram of the accident site, to those who are not aware about Bengaluru!

This happened exactly in front of Whitefield Police Station (WFPS). While returning from office, I avoid the Hopefarm junction due to traffic but instead, take the pathetic Dinnur Main road towards Hoskote (marked in red in the above image). This road joins the Whitefield-Hoskote road. At this junction, there are two options (A and B) to enter this road:
A: through the narrow service road (which is almost as wide as a BMTC bus, so overtaking is not possible till WFPS).
B: The road that comes from the Hopefarm side which is quite wide.

I usually join main road (option B), slide through traffic and arrive at a bottle neck: this is the starting of Kadugodi bridge. Oh wait, Bengaluru is full of bottle necks and the government is least bothered, trust me. This is the same story in every metro city I believe!

This unfortunate day, I happened to take the service road (option A) and a blue BMTC was ahead of me. Going at crawling speed, I was behind this bus and no way for I can overtake from either sides. Left side I have drainage and on the right side, metro pillar of the purple line. A rider in his Activa was behind me. He was not wearing a helmet, if I recall correctly. Behind him was this monster green BMTC which was the epicenter of this accident.

As WFPS arrived, I got clearance on either side of the blue BMTC ahead. I was about to take left and overtake, but heard a loud "BANG" from behind and when I saw the right side rear view mirror, I could see the Activa rider being thrown up in the air, and by the time I could act, I was hit from the rear. I gained a little momentum (I was below 10 kmph) and lost control. Hit the barricade that was placed on the left and fell. Good thing was, that momentum pushed us (R15 and myself) out of its path, while the green BMTC had not come to a halt yet. A second "BANG" followed and this was when he hit the blue BMTC ahead. And mind you, the windshield of green BMTC is cracked on the driver side, because I assume he also hit the metro pillar before ramming the Activa rider. Below are the pictures what followed after this:

Calmly lying 'BMTC' as if nothing has happened!

Observe the itched paint on the bumper near to number plate? That hit me from behind and pushed us to the side of the road due to momentum gain!

My adrenalin rushed, I forgot about my fallen R15 for few seconds, woke up, went and banged the door of the green BMTC asking the driver to open the door. I knew beating him would not change whatever had happened already but I was very short tempered. I have been hating these BMTCs since a long time. Mannerless, careless and third class driving on the road with no road discipline!

Now comes the horrifying part: I could see the Activa stuck under the rear bumper of the blue BMTC. While the rider was not visible anywhere nearby! That's when one of the traffic cop asked this green BMTC to reverse and there the rider was, under the bus: bleeding, beating his hands/legs to the road and struggling for breathe! A sight that made me more traumatic. After locals assembled, I did not want to help and I could not even look at whatever was happening around as I myself was trying to digest what just happened!

Then, I lifted my poor R15, fired up the engines after verifying there were no fluid leaks and parked near the WFPS. What shocked me is, even after a fall and being dragged for a meter, no warnings on the instrument cluster (I expected it to be there but it was not). Japanese survival skill or just luck, you decide! I was able to start, put the gear (not normally though) and park aside with no struggle.

Damages the R15 and myself had:

• Clutch lever along with the clutch mount to the handlebar was bent facing the ground at 45 degree from its normal position.
• Front left indicator had snapped from the inside and was hanging loose.
• Left fairing had some scratches along with the front visor. Scratches on the visor was from the badass road barricade.
• Gear shift level was bent towards the inner side. This is what I noticed and did not dive in to much detail.
• My right side thumb got a small slit like wound, which has healed right now. No fractures, no ligament injury, no dislocation: thank goodness!

And below are the pictures of my R15: from the accident site and later that day when I reached Vinayak Yamaha, Domlur:

By the time I reached Domlur, the handing indicator had fallen off somewhere on the road.

Left rear view mirror took some scratch along with the left edge of the visor.

This was taken at accident site. Look at handing indicator and the frame slider bent upwards. My respect to OEM frame sliders just increased even more!

Silencer with the green mark, from the green BMTC's bumper.

I did not have the state of mind to capture my bike's lying-on-tarmac picture at the time I fell. Hence, no picture of that!

The Activa rider was taken to Axxis hospital immediately. The green BMTC driver, fearing the locals, ran inside the police station and was in full shock: crying over what he (unknowingly) did. After an hour of staying there and talking to the police, who had clicked my bike's pictures, I asked "sir, shall I leave? My bike is in running condition, will need few part replacements which I can bear I believe". He replied "no, you visit Mahadevapura Police Station (MPS) and speak to the higher rank police there and then proceed. Since four parties are involved, what they advise must be considered". I exchanged my number, briefed him how exactly this incident fell in place and then left towards MPS.

At MPS, I was given two options by the senior officer:

• If I can manage the expenses of my bike myself, step out of this accident without an FIR. He did not force me, but was trying to make me understand. Do not misinterpret me here please. I did not bribe anyone here as I was not at fault.
  
  OR
  
• If I want to get the money in the form of insurance and compensation for the trauma, I am free to file an FIR immediately. But at my current situation, I too do not wish myself to run after these government officials: either by myself or via an agent. Additionally, I was informed that the expense I need to invest in this option might be more than what I might get. Neither I wanted to run after all these drama. The Activa rider needed this more than me because of the kind of injury he had and his vehicle's condition.

I opted for the first one, left MPS and headed all the way to Vinayak Yamaha for the repair.

Trust me, R15 was still ready to clock miles. But what was not normal was the clutch lever and gear shift lever. Ride till MPS itself gave ache to my left wrist and left thighs due to the abnormal positioning of the gear shift and clutch lever.

As I reached Domlur, job card was initiated and was attended by Mr. Mahesh (SA). He advised me not to change any parts except for the front left indicator unit and the clutch lever. He is the SA and I agreed to whatever he said. For the gear shifter, he informed that they will remove the bend manually and bring back to normal shape. I agreed to this as well. Scheduled delivery was supposed to be on 06-Mar-2025 (Thursday).

On 06-Mar, I went to Domlur, paid the amount and went for a acceptance ride. The ride still felt like I am riding the R15 which had met with the fateful accident: for gear shifts above 2nd, my feet had to travel all the way up for the gear to engage: painful and not at all normal. I asked the SA to get this fixed and replace if needed. Below is the first job card bill I paid which did not fix the bike as I expected:

SA called the mechanic, who informed that the maximum bend has been corrected manually. Next option is replacement, as manual 'jugaad' will break the part if hit anymore. This is when SA informed me that even the quick-shifter was bent and not the gear shift lever alone. I went, checked the quick-shifter and oh boy: the bigger expense was just lying in front of me!

The same day, another job card was opened for the quick-shifter replacement along with the gear shift lever. Thankfully, the part was in stock but I still don't know what made them take 3.5 working days to get this only job done!

On 10-Mar-2025 (Monday), I went at around 04:00 pm, and my R15 was not even touched for this job. Before going, I had called SA: "sir, I am coming from Whitefield and I need my bike today no matter what!". He immediately asked one of the mechanic to work and get my ride back to running as usual. In 2 hours time, I got the bike fixed. Paid the 'HEFTY' bill, went for a ride and took the delivery! This is how the second job card turned out:

INR 7411/- is what a small hit from a careless BMTC costed me (and other damage done to other parties), but I do not regret at all. After all, I am spending this on something which has always been there during my needs!


Look at the circled part with the thread and the bent guidance line for you to understand the kind of damage it took. This cannot be repaired with 'jugaad' and I too wanted to get this replaced with brand new one to avoid future troubles in any way!

Post Accident Thoughts:

R15 is no longer giving me the brand new feel anymore. Maybe this small accident has left a dent on my mind or am I just overthinking: I do not know!

All these years, I ensured no damage occurs to R15 due to my mistake/negligence on road and last three years were awesome with this machine, no regrets. But moving forward after this accident, is becoming concerning for my parents when I informed them about this 2 days after the accident. I have a family who always wish I reach my destination safely and at the same time, I do love touring on R15: it has become difficult for me to decide now. Upgrading to a higher capacity bike is very hard as you all know the typical Indian family mentality "isma toh ek second hand Wagon-R aa jata" (translate to: you can buy a second hand Wagon-R with the price of a higher capacity bike)! In fact, convincing to get the R15 itself was a challenge for me three years ago but now, I am wondering what lies ahead!

Thankfully, I am all safe and what damage I should have got, was taken by my machine is what I can say!

Last but not the least: To all those who are reading this, especially to those who commute at Bengaluru, stay as away as possible from a BMTC ahead/behind you, for your good and let your dear ones be aware as well. They are just getting more pathetic on the roads!

Ride safe!
Sud.

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Escaped Narrowly from a Major Accident involving 2 BMTCs and an Activa

Never ever in my dreams I had thought that I would one day face this: hence 'accident' is termed as 'accident'!

Glad you escaped unscathed, buddy. The bike is just a thing at the end of the day.

I understand the apprehension your family might have now that you’ve gone through an accident. And honestly, the passion of motorcycling is something we actively choose being fully aware of the dangers it entails. If you’re still set on touring, it makes sense to upgrade in a slightly higher capacity motorcycle that’s more suited for the purpose while also retaining your R15.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by sasta_rider

Escaped Narrowly from a Major Accident involving 2 BMTCs and an Activa

Very sorry to read about your accident and very thankful for sharing. Each and every detail in the narration is a nugget of learning. As far as I can see, getting sandwiched between two such monsters in a narrow lane is the highest level of hazard. The traffic fatigued BMTC drivers (not an excuse!) take a lot of liberties and risks to squeeze through and I was counting on their experience, but not any more.

Add to that, these new EV buses are driven by contracted drivers who care two hoots for safe driving practices (not to mention the rapid acceleration of these buses).

I hope you get your beloved machine back to the state you love.