[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by parrys

These AEW 102 exhausts are so neatly finished, they almost look like OEM. Also, at idle, and idling speeds, the exhaust sounds just like the stock one. Get on the gas, and you get a nice rumble. I don't plan to get the baffle out for daily use. May be on a long highway ride someday, I might pop it out for some distance.

Lovely thread, Parrys. The bike looks fabulous with the AEW exhuasts.

Reminds me of my Ex RD350 with the LC silencers.

Cheers!

[parrys]

23 days with the RE INT 650. Still in love.
I don't know how many times I would just go on the RE MIY site, and customise this motorcycle, the way I have it. Sometimes I wonder, what if I picked the chrome one. But then, one can always buy a tank in a year or two.


Had removed the baffles from the AEW 102 megaphone. But it was too loud, and grabbed too much attention. With the baffle, it is pleasantly loud, and only when hungry on the gas. So put these back in. Took less than 5 minutes.


Going to stick to V Power, as long as it is available wherever I am, throughout the ownership.


Everything looks and feels romantic when you are on a new motorcycle. I would never stop at this location before. But today, I thought why not. And noticed that the place has received a major makeover. (Gaimukh, Thane)


Pointless. But why not. Looks good.


Ask a child to draw a motorcycle, and he will draw a similar silhouette. I am happy to own a motorcycling canvas. Too much praise, for a motorcycle which is not perfect, but they say love is blind.


Cleaned, fuel tank full, parked in the right direction on a Saturday night; so we blast past early on a Sunday morning.

[parrys]

So, went for a 350+ km ride on Sunday with the Interceptor 650. Here are some observations.

Ride Details: Thane - Panvel - Lonavala - Pawana - Tamhini Ghat - Kolad - Mandwa - M2M Ferry - Thane.

Total distance covered, 363.2 kms.

1. Started to get a hang of the weight. Now I am able to lean into a corner more confidently. Did overshoot a couple of corners, but nothing scary. As the mind always keeps telling me you are on an INT 650 & not 390 ADV anymore.
2. The touring seat kept me happy. Did not have a sore bottom after coming back home.
3. Do miss the gear position indicator. The INT 650 is so smooth higher up in the revvs as well, that some times I was riding in 5th, and then noticed that I still have another upshift left. So I hope, RE offers this with their updated meters on the newer models.
4. Love looking at the needles. Hard on the throttle, nothing more satisfying than watching the speed & RPM needle climb. And the dials look good to me.
5. Riding posture for me, my height of 5'8''; no problem at all. At times I feel that the tank is LONG, when I look down. It makes me wonder does this make me sit too far? But the posture, I find nothing wrong with it.
6. It does heat up at slow speeds. No denying that fact.
7. End up kicking the left bend pipe often while trying to get the side stand down.
8. Not even once have I used the USB charging yet. I must at least try to see if it is functional.
9. Ceat Tyres - HORRIBLE. Not enough grip for fast cornering. Forget corners, while riding at 80-90 kmph, I once encountered a very very small wet patch. The tyre went sliding for a split second. Experience helped me maintain the line, but scary moment for sure. Especially when you have no traction control. RE must surely reconsider the rubber. These Ceat's, I will plan to change soon.
10. Headlight looks good, when you look at it. The illumination at night, very poor.
11. Mileage, around 27 kmpl. Not bad at all. Including slow crawls, high revving speeds and cruising too. Satisfied.
12. Brakes surprised me. Even with the weight, I now have enough confidence to put the anchors down. Decent bite for my riding style.

On Sundays, we bikers, we spend thousands of rupees. Why? To ride our motorcycle for hours. Food cost is almost 10-20% of fuel cost. But worth it. Every single time.


Most of you here on this post, might have seen the Tanners Pride custom leather tank protector. It went flying off at triple digit speeds. Thank god it did not hit someone else riding behind. Never going the magnetic route ever again. This was my first and last time. And this, while flying off, or when I picked it back and placed it on the tank; HAS SCRATCHED THE TANK. So it has defeated the whole purpose.


Tamhini Ghat route is so beautiful. It was raining last weekend around Pune. So we got lovely weather throughout this section.


Even after having seen that scratched tank, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The bike kept flowing smoothly, and the AEW 102s kept playing some sweet music.


I can never get tired of this. My dad owned a Yezdi Roadking when I was a kid. I guess I have a thing for twin pipes since then. Looks iconic. Or may be, twin pipes looks right (symmetry). Also noticed, the number plate mounting is crooked. Need to fix it soon.


Mesh gear always. Summer or winter. This is my Rynox set. My other RevIt is also maximum mesh.


So, here's the heartbreaking bit from Sunday. Scratches on the tank. 2-3 spots like these. I think I had tears in my helmet when I saw this.


The cut was deep. So no amount of detailing could resolve this.


So had to go the PPF way. Not my thing. But no choice.


Got a black ppf. Surprisingly, it matches the colour 100%.


But, one will always notice the PPF cut / edge line. Which again, troubles my OCD.


Before I placed the magnetic tank cover, I had also ordered this unit from Sahara Seats. So this is a placeholder, to ensure that I don't spot those PPF cuts easily. The PPF is cut wider than this cover, so the cover does not damage the paint. My friends say I have gone crazy.


More to follow, about how I maintain my tank.

[gharika]

Congratulations, perfect choice.

The reason I say so, I bought the Duke 390 in 2014, had good time with it on shorthand long rides, avoided commutes as itcantgo slow (or you can say I don't like it when it's slow), way cheap to maintain, no niggles, no issues.
Then in 2000, I got a sweet deal on a pre-owned INT 650, I lapped it up as I was already a fan of the bike and had considered to switch.
I kept both bikes for about a year, but found that I had a preference for INT and D390 was spending more time standing still. So I let it go so someone else can enjoy it.

Coming to INT, I have not faced any issues or got stranded on the way in last 4 yrs. I have done long distance as well as weekly rides without issues. When I got it the bike has done 10k, I have ridden it for another 15k. The bigger expenses has been replacing front forks as there were nicks on it leading to seals leakage, and now the chain set due to wear and tear. This is more of a usage issue and installing gators resolve it permanently.

The bike was with extended warranty, I had to replace lock set due to fuel cap seals and the main speedometer console, under warranty and without hassle.

Compared to D390, the maintenance is on higher side. But it's small change compared to any other bike in the market that is 4L+.

Between the two bikes, there is not much change in peak power, but the way they ride is totally different.

[Abeer]

Originally Posted by parrys

Had removed the baffles from the AEW 102 megaphone. But it was too loud, and grabbed too much attention. With the baffle, it is pleasantly loud, and only when hungry on the gas. So put these back in. Took less than 5 minutes.
Attachment 2596559

Did you also check the red rooster exhaust?

[parrys]

Originally Posted by Abeer

Did you also check the red rooster exhaust?

I didn’t like the shape of it at all. So didn’t even consider it.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by parrys

Attachment 2598117

The cut was deep. So no amount of detailing could resolve this.

That longish scratch is painful to watch!

And that too caused by a thing you paid hard earned money for to protect the very thing caused by it. Oh the Irony.!

[parrys]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

That longish scratch is painful to watch!

And that too caused by a thing you paid hard earned money for to protect the very thing caused by it. Oh the Irony.!

Going to try sanding & polishing in the coming weeks, to give it one last shot.
Or else, I might have to paint the damaged areas.

Hoping I can find a permanent solution to this soon...

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by Abeer

Did you also check the red rooster exhaust?

Those are possibly the worst - courtesy of being the cheapest - exhausts run by your average 650 chapps on the street.

PoweRage dyno tune their exhausts and honestly sound the most balanced, with or without the baffles.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by parrys

Hoping I can find a permanent solution to this soon...

There is only one solution. One golden rule. Where tanks are concerned.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, should touch or come in contact with it.

No helmets

No bags or satchels or shopping

No parcels

No jacket buttons or rivets or zippers

No tank bags

And yes, absolutely no covers or flaps

However you repair your damaged tank, please keep the above in mind.

My suggestion is to simply not mess around the factory finish anymore and keep what is remaining in fine nick with regular shampoo and polish and a no-touch policy strictly adhered to.

More than any other bike, the tank is a Bullet's shaan.

Cheers, Doc

[parrys]

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Those are possibly the worst - courtesy of being the cheapest - exhausts run by your average 650 chapps on the street.

PoweRage dyno tune their exhausts and honestly sound the most balanced, with or without the baffles.

I am quite happy with these AEW 102s, so not going to change them anytime soon.

Originally Posted by ebonho

There us only one solution. One golden rule. Where tanks are concerned.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, should touch or come in contact with it.

Unfortunately, the jacket zipper does.
Solution 1: I can fix the tank, and then wear a different jacket on this bike.
Solution 2: I can fix the tank, and protect it with xyz.

One thing for sure, I am not going to leave the scratch be as is. Cannot take it.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by parrys

I am quite happy with these AEW 102s, so not going to change them anytime soon.



Unfortunately, the jacket zipper does.
Solution 1: I can fix the tank, and then wear a different jacket on this bike.
Solution 2: I can fix the tank, and protect it with xyz.

One thing for sure, I am not going to leave the scratch be as is. Cannot take it.

Why dont you just use a stick-on tank pad.

When I read your original post weeks ago, that's what I wondered.

Sorry for being brutal, but those flaps were really ugly bro.

Cheers, Doc

[parrys]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Why dont you just use a stick-on tank pad.

When I read your original post weeks ago, that's what I wondered.

Sorry for being brutal, but those flaps were really ugly bro.

Cheers, Doc

I agree.
Not at all a beautiful product, which I got.

But the usual tank pads, and not wide enough to prevent these scratches. And also, none of them look right on the Interceptor.

Any retro styled wide tank pad recommendations?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by parrys

I agree.
Not at all a beautiful product, which I got.

But the usual tank pads, and not wide enough to prevent these scratches. And also, none of them look right on the Interceptor.

Any retro styled wide tank pad recommendations?

You've already done some coating on your tank. Touch up the deep scratch neatly (please no sanding and further spoiling of factory paint). And then just wash and polish. In no time that scratch will become part of the scenery. All you need is for a black carbon finish tank pad to be where your zip touches. It does not need to cover the whole tank width. Better still if the pad covers the bad scratch and majority of other scratches as well. Or otherwise just get black tank grips and cut them in shape and apply on top.

Cheers, Doc

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by ebonho

You've already done some coating on your tank. Touch up the deep scratch neatly (please no sanding and further spoiling of factory paint). And then just wash and polish. In no time that scratch will become part of the scenery. All you need is for a black carbon finish tank pad to be where your zip touches. It does not need to cover the whole tank width. Better still if the pad covers the bad scratch and majority of other scratches as well. Or otherwise just get black tank grips and cut them in shape and apply on top.

Cheers, Doc

You are right, Doc. After doing ceramic coating, and taking extra care to maintain the fuel tank, some random guy had dropped his scooter on my parked bike and caused a paint chip and a deep scar. I was devastated and was exploring different ways to fix that. Now 3 years since that incident, I have accepted that to be a battle scar and it doesn't bother me too much, it has become part of the scenery now.

@parrys - The PPF you have installed is all the protection you would need to protect the top of the tank surface, just go out and enjoy riding without thinking too much