[krishnaprasadgg]

I just realized I forgot to add a video of the start-up post the TB clean and Sync.

Here is the before

https://youtu.be/_g-pTEBz4-c

Here is after

https://youtu.be/OFuVEvZZQV0

On another update, but this time about the Tiger. It was time for the 1st annual service for the Tiger and took it to Triumph Cochin. I was quite a bit worried about the service experience after what Neil had to endure but luckily for me, things went smooth. There was no serious work to get done, it was just the usual oil and oil filter change and air filter cleaning(I ended up replacing it as the air filter was too dirty to cleanout).
My only complaint was that I had called ahead 2 weeks in advance and followed up multiple times and reached the showroom much earlier than they opened so that the bike would be cool enough for them to work on once they open as I had to be back at my place by earl;y afternoon. I reached there by 7.45 AM, They took the bike in at 9 AM and I got it back only at 1 PM.

This would be one of my guilty pleasure bikes to own. Such a gorgeous design

Luckily for me, I had the company of a few friends who were there so I did not get bored out of my mind, and luckily the folks at the showroom had the RS back ready for TD so I went and indulged myself in a short TD as I had not experienced the RS version yet. I had only ridden the S variant before.

The RS was everything I had imagined it to be. Such a naughty little bike and so nimble and light weight that it was a welcome change from the Tiger and R1 for me.

Power delivery was crazy enough but I did not feel it out of my control at any point but the maximum I went was in Sport mode and did not do any pulls because I was still within busy city limits. Was impressed me the most was the braking, those Brembo MCS and Stilema Calipers are just pure excellence.

Now when it comes to the Console graphics it is similar to the designs as seen on the Tiger 900 but in a smaller form factor. And man was it such a hopeless design. Very tough to read information out off, very distracting and most of the time obvious information we need is not to be seen and required button/joystick inputs to see, and the new layout on the smaller screen doesn't help much either. The previous-gen RS graphics are miles ahead of this in readability.

Broken clutch lever on the TD bike. Wasn't a good experience but looks like they didn't have a fresh one in stock.

Also, one peculiar thing I found in the TD bike was that the bike did not rev up as freely as I would have expected, it was revving up and dropping revs almost on the same line as on the Tiger, the throttle response just did not fit, I tried changing the mode from Normal -> Sport -> Track and there was only a marginal change and felt the same in Track mode as well. This bothered me to the point that I checked on this on the previous-gen RS(my friend who owns it was there for some work. on his bike) and the bike revved up much freely than the TD bike. Maybe air filter /TB isn't clean enough.

I also noticed a brand new RS for sale/display on the showroom floor has some sort of wear/degradation of the rubber hose that connects the front brake fluid reservoir to the MC. I wonder if this will cause any problems in the braking department.

Anyways, overall the service experience was smooth, hope they are heading in the right direction after a string of bad experiences being reported.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

No new update on the R1 since it has been of- duty for about 3 weeks now. Been traveling around a lot last 3 weekends but on the Tiger instead, managed to cover over 2k km.

2 weeks back to cochin for the yearly service.
Last week to Bangalore collect Xasos636's new ride
and this week again Bangalore.

The Tiger hit 9000 km en route yesterday.

Attaching a few pics.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Since the last post update it had been 4 continuous weekends with long-haul trips on the Tiger(mostly) and the R1 and I was pretty fatigued and decided to take the next 2 weekends as chillout days.

So for the next 2 weekends, no riding was done, took the time to give both bikes a proper wash and a good coat of chain wax on both the bike chains.

The R1 getting a well-deserved TLC session.

I have been experimenting with the Chain Wax that Maxima is selling here in India and must say that I am plenty impressed with it and how it saves a lot of mess on the rear tires as compared to the chain lube(was using Maxima's chain lube prior to this).
While washing down the R1 I noticed a few things with regards to the tank area, the paint seems to be cracking up at certain places.

Paint cracking on the plastic panel covering the top part of the tank.

I am guessing it's because of the old age of the paint, a proper wax or polish should fill up those cracks and make it disappear for a short while as a temporary fix, might have to look into new panels for the long run as I am honestly not much interested in getting a respray.

Next what I noticed was that the Techspec tank grips have started leaving an adhesive residue which is attracting a lot of dirt onto it and it's starting to look a bit bad but I am not too much worried about it though.

You can see the glue residue which has attracted all the dirt and gunk onto itself.

From the look of it, I think the pads seem to have slid down a bit on both sides exactly where I grip the tanks with my thighs. I don't know if I am putting too much pressure on the pads or it's just the adhesives not being good enough to hold themselves in place.

One thing I forgot to mention in one of my previous posts was that I have purchased the RAM mount fork stem nut kit for fixing it on the R1, I went only for the stem mount kit and not the X-Grip and the tube because I already have those which I have been using for a few years now on the CBR and the Tiger.

Bought this about 3-4 weeks back from Highlander at HSR, Bangalore but have been super lazy to get it installed yet!

So now that we are caught up with the previous week's updates, let me start with this week's update, after 2 weeks of a self-imposed ban on riding this week decided to ride down to Cochin, this time my brother was riding the Tiger and me on the R1.

Enroute to Cochin

During my last visit to Triumph Cochin for the Tigers yearly service(a few weeks back) I had also placed an order for the Color-matched front beak, the Top Box, and the Center stand for the Tiger and had paid an advance of 10k for the same. The parts were promised to be sourced within 20 days and it actually arrived within 2 weeks itself, but since we did not have free time we decided to wait till this weekend to ride down and get it fixed.
Arrived at the dealership by 9.15 AM they promptly got to work and we were out of there with everything fixed by about 12PM or so.

Doesn't she look much more meaner and angrier now?

If you ask me now the bike looks complete, if it were up to me no Tiger would roll out of the Triumph factory without the beak fixed as standard equipment. We decided to go for the Top box because it felt much more subtle and easy to use than the panniers and looked cleaner too. But if required now the luggage carrying capacity of the bike has increased by another 5kgs(That's the maximum weight rating for the top box)

While there finally met up with T-bhpian Neil(neil.jericho) and a mutual petrol head friend of ours and had a really good discussion before we parted ways.

Neil decided to get his Conti-GT to come to meet up at the Triumph showroom instead of his Striple, absolute madlad


Jokes apart the bike looks stunning in yellow

During this trip, I noticed that my Alpinestars SMX-6 boots have started to give way and are splitting at places that are not so confidence-inspiring, looks like it's time for a gear refresh. It has saved me well for about 5 years or so without any complaints at all.

Crease marks and leather separation around certain areas can be seen here

.

Also, the R1 hit 27,000kms on the ODO today. Stopping at 2 PM under the scorching Kerala heat to get the pic was not something I was looking forward to but just had to do it.

27 big ones

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

What sort of difference did you notice between 100 octane and normal fuel, your before journey was without the cleaning work, so reply me when you fill the normal fuel next time and ride.

Hey, yesyeswe, so since the TB cleaning till today morning the bike was running on 100Octane fuel, and apart from the fact that the bike ran much smoother and cooler, it gave me a Mileage of about 16kmpl, which is insane if you see that historically I mostly got only 9-11kmpl usually. The average km per liter liters on the dash always showed 9.99.
Today I filled up the tank to the brim(the fuel light was on) with normal fuel from my usual pump and rode till Cochin in a mix of city + highway traffic and did around 210 km before I topped up again with Normal petrol and the tank took about 13.68L to fill to the brim and that comes to about *drumroll please* 15kmpl.

So yeah, looks like the 100 Octane did not do anything else apart from making the bike smoother and runs a tad bit cooler, all of that for about 70ish extra rupees per liter.
So yeah I am not doing that again, cleaning the TB at regular intervals might just be cheaper for me to do.

So the difference in Mileage I felt was primarily after the TB Clean maybe? I am not sure if that makes sense, maybe someone who knows more on this topic can comment on it. But this much I can say moving back to normal petrol and after riding a bit the bike definitely got rougher than when it was running on 100 Octane and was a bit hotter too(this is based on riding in the morning).

Hope this gives the perspective you were looking for.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

It's been quite a while since any update. Got stuck up with some work over the last few weeks and barely got to ride once in almost a full month also fellow Tbhpian Xaos636 was in a similar boat as me as he hadn't had the time to ride his 650F since he bought it home.

For quite a few weeks I have been debating on moving back to the Leo Vince end cans from the stock setup because I was getting a bit bored of the stock sound, and Xaos636 had a ton of new parts he had ordered for his 650F that had reached Cochin bigwing, so we decided to ride down to Cochin so that we can get him bike's parts changed and the exhaust change for me at a friends house in Cochin.

Here are some of the pics from the weekend ride.

The first time the 650F get's to meet the R1. It was at this point that we realized both the bikes have the same color scheme of red and white

First pit stop at Paliyekara Toll, Thrissur

Pit Stop at Aluva, the colors on the bikes just pop at daylight!




That's the R1's Leo Vince end cans and mounting hardware inside that Rynox tail bag, surprisingly it fits in the bag without any issue.


Finally the right key chain for the devil that this bike is. People who grew up in the 90's could relate


Onboard the 650F


Quenching the R1's never-ending thirst with some 100 Octane fuel, this is the second time ever filling her up with 100 Octane, like I said in my second post it's definitely not worth the Rs.160/- price but once in a while it's okay.


Touch-down


Another 650F of a friend joined in for a meet.


Full house


This is just half of the parts Xaos636 had ordered. With his OCD levels, the bike will soon look as fresh as a bike off the factory production line.

During the exhaust install, we did run into a hiccup, the mounting hardware on the left side used for mounting the end can to the undertail of the bike snapped. On closer inspection, we found that over time over-torquing these bolts is what caused it to shear off.

This is of the right side which is not broken, if you look closely you can see the crack on this getting ready to snap off.

Snapped


The damage. Luckily we had the mounting hardware of the stock exhaust which was a direct swap so we just used those on both sides and moved on.

This time I could not take any pics of the work being done on either of the bikes as we had a few friends joins us too and were too focused on working and having a good time hanging chatting away.

Work on the bikes and hanging out went late so we decided to return home early Sunday morning.

Fueling up for the Ride home






Coincidently met up with another friend who was out riding on his 10R

I got to ride his semi-souped up 10R for a good 40plus kms and what a piece of engineering marvel it is. The suspension on it is just pure bliss and I somehow found the seating position to be much more comfortable for me than the R1. And not to forget the sound it makes with that heavenly Akra exhaust, he is running an Endcan + link pipe configuration without the baffle, the pops and bangs are just loud borderline obnoxious, wouldn't recommend it for frequent riding.

Got to meet a few more bikers on the way who were friends of my friend whose 10r I was riding.

The newer gen R1. No matter how many times you see the photo of this bike, it just looks 10 times better in person, and that factory Monster Yamaha livery just looks even more insane.


BTW. Both the 10R and the R1 that you see here are fully souped-up and are just insanely well-built project bikes.

To end the weekend trip, my brother joined us on the last 50-60kms leg of the journey on the Tiger. All in all was a pretty awesome weekend.

Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

@krishnaprasadgg

for your R1, are you using the factory coolant or have you used engine ice anytime. Asking as summer is in full force here in NCR and with 41 degrees, anytime I ride my bikes, I feel like I am being cooked alive.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by no_fear

@krishnaprasadgg

for your R1, are you using the factory coolant or have you used engine ice anytime. Asking as summer is in full force here in NCR and with 41 degrees, anytime I ride my bikes, I feel like I am being cooked alive.

Hi, no_fear.
When I got the bike it was running Motul coolant, swapped it out for engine ice as soon as I got her. And making that move made the bike really tolerable to ride in the heat.
To be honest, we did not do a great/patient job with flushing the old coolant, there is a bit of contamination of the engine ice with motul coolant. So I will be doing a proper coolant flush soon, not sure how much of a difference it's going to make though. Just waiting to do it once I order fresh coolant hoses(Samco/Stock not decided yet) as the stock ones are kind of hardened now.

Looks like NCR and Kerala are having the same heatwave levels.

P.S: You have such an awesome lineup of bikes, Would love it if you could share a pic of all the beauties here if possible .

Cheers
Krishna

[bigron]

Originally Posted by no_fear

@krishnaprasadgg

for your R1, are you using the factory coolant or have you used engine ice anytime. Asking as summer is in full force here in NCR and with 41 degrees, anytime I ride my bikes, I feel like I am being cooked alive.

Engine ice will help but nothing will save your legs from getting fried in Delhi heat riding a faired 1000cc bike. I flashed my ECU, so now my fans come on much sooner and I run a full Exhaust so the Cat is out but mine will still fry the legs at traffic stops.

If you going to go for engine ice, make sure you get the old green stuff out completely.

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by bigron

Engine ice will help but nothing will save your legs from getting fried in Delhi heat riding a faired 1000cc bike..

Bigron - For me its usually the slow moving traffic + sitting at the signals. I kill the ignition switch. I didn't fiddle with the ECU settings. May I ask what bike are you riding nowadays?

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

When I got the bike it was running Motul coolant, swapped it out for engine ice as soon as I got her. And making that move made the bike really tolerable to ride in the heat.

P.S: You have such an awesome lineup of bikes, Would love it if you could share a pic of all the beauties here if possible .

I am thinking of getting engine ice for the 1198SP. It burns my backside. Out of curiosity - have you considered any heat wraps for the R1 exhausts? My mechanic told me heatwraps will be useless, better to use engine ice. But its always valuable to get 2nd opinion.

Regarding my bikes - I am more than happy to post pics and share info. Just don't know what's the best way - a review of each one, or just some pics with description. If the site mods have any suggestions, happy to use that as template.

Btw - luv luv luvv ur R1. One of my favorites since I got into biking in the early 2000s

[bigron]

Originally Posted by no_fear

I didn't fiddle with the ECU settings. May I ask what bike are you riding nowadays?

My mechanic told me heatwraps will be useless, better to use engine ice. But its always valuable to get 2nd opinion.

I shuffle between a Gen 1, Gen 2 Hayabusa, tiger 800 and recently restored my RD 350.

I have wraps on my exhausts. They do help and wraps and engine ice are two completely different methods that are mutually exclusive. One is internal the other is external. Also, you cant wrap the end cans, has to be the mid pipes. But truth be told your SP will fry you in Delhi heat no matter what you do. Its the nature of the engine and the way its built.

In-fact the Brutale and the Hypermotard are better suited for everyday Delhi traffic rides.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by bigron

If you going to go for engine ice, make sure you get the old green stuff out completely.

Dang it!! So I have my work cut out for me.

Originally Posted by no_fear

I am thinking of getting engine ice for the 1198SP. It burns my backside. Out of curiosity - have you considered any heat wraps for the R1 exhausts? My mechanic told me heatwraps will be useless, better to use engine ice. But its always valuable to get 2nd opinion.

IMO, Engine ICE is a step forward in the right direction.
I can imagine, with the R1 the under-seat exhaust pipe does throw quite a bit of heat to the seating area, and with the L twin config you are literally sitting on top of one half of the engine

About the exhaust wrap, no, never considered it. Somehow apart from it looking cool on the marked bikes/scrambler type builds I never liked them, I guess I feel maintaining it properly will be a chore, especially with dirt flinging on it and the thought of cleaning it up, and getting the wrap wet and all, somehow I am biased against it.
Also for it to work it is also imperative it's wrapped properly and that it doesn't come undone.

Originally Posted by no_fear

Regarding my bikes - I am more than happy to post pics and share info. Just don't know what's the best way - a review of each one, or just some pics with description. If the site mods have any suggestions, happy to use that as template.

The more the merrier. In the meantime do feel free to post here in this thread too. I am sure no one will mind, I most definitely don't!!

Originally Posted by no_fear

Btw - luv luv luvv ur R1. One of my favorites since I got into biking in the early 2000s

Thanks a lot, mate. I just feel lucky that somehow I got the opportunity to own this beast of a bike and I hope I can do it justice in maintaining it well and riding it too.

Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

The more the merrier. In the meantime do feel free to post here in this thread too. I am sure no one will mind, I most definitely don't!!

Mate, as you requested, I have hijacked your thread and posted some pics of my bikes.

I am not a good picture taker. Photography is not my forte, and I seldom ride in groups so it's a bit hard for me to take pictures. Apologies in advance.


The 1199r is going through an extensive engine overhaul after I bought it earlier this year. The only one I found was it's rather sorry ride on the back of a tow truck.

For the Hyper, I recently went to Sariska Tiger reserve and found the monkeys doing an objective analysis of the bike. Probably the best critics I have met so far.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by no_fear

Mate, as you requested, I have hijacked your thread and posted some pics of my bikes.

I am not a good picture taker. Photography is not my forte, and I seldom ride in groups so it's a bit hard for me to take pictures. Apologies in advance.

Drooling over these pics!!
There are very few bikes that make me weak at the knees as the Ducati 1198 and 848 do. Just something about that design that just I can't get over no matter how many years has passed.

Originally Posted by no_fear

The 1199r is going through an extensive engine overhaul after I bought it earlier this year. The only one I found was it's rather sorry ride on the back of a tow truck.

All the more reason for a thread. It would be so awesome to follow the build.

Originally Posted by no_fear

For the Hyper, I recently went to Sariska Tiger reserve and found the monkeys doing an objective analysis of the bike. Probably the best critics I have met so far.

I hope the Hyper gets sorted soon. I read the post you made in the accidents thread. Felt so bad reading it.

Cheers
Krishna

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Got to meet a few more bikers on the way who were friends of my friend whose 10r I was riding.

Nice to see more updates on this thread, do you have any plans to remap the bike now that it is on the after market exhaust? Also, it was good to spot some of the familiar superbikes from Cochin, Im sure the sight of you guys riding must have been a treat for everyone else on the road!

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

This is just half of the parts Xaos636 had ordered. With his OCD levels, the bike will soon look as fresh as a bike off the factory production line.

Xaos636's ownership thread is going to be quite interesting!

Originally Posted by no_fear

@krishnaprasadgg

for your R1, are you using the factory coolant or have you used engine ice anytime. Asking as summer is in full force here in NCR and with 41 degrees, anytime I ride my bikes, I feel like I am being cooked alive.

I just switched from Motul's Motocool to Engine Ice on my Triumph Street Triple 675 after properly flushing the old (technically 1000 odd kms old) stuff out. If I can summarize my experience - Engine Ice keeps the motorcycle cooler for longer, before the fan starts kicking in. That is a big advantage in my books. I also feel like it helps the bike manage the heat better once the fan starts kicking in and you ride around town.

Seeing the bikes in your garage (Mama Mia, they deserve a thread all to themselves!!!), I would suggest that you do a group buy of Engine Ice for yourself and immediately get it on your bikes so that they can manage the NCR heat.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Nice to see more updates on this thread, do you have any plans to remap the bike now that it is on the after market exhaust?

No, This is just the slip-on. No changes done to the cat-con and the O2 sensors are untouched so no remapping required. Moreover, they are street use valid as per Euro regulations so I think I am safe there.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Also, it was good to spot some of the familiar superbikes from Cochin, Im sure the sight of you guys riding must have been a treat for everyone else on the road!

We met the rest of the group(The newer R1, 10r, and Duke) at Paliyekara, did not actually ride together with them.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Xaos636's ownership thread is going to be quite interesting!

I hope he gets around to making one!

Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

All the more reason for a thread. It would be so awesome to follow the build.

I will try to do a proper build and restoration thread for the 1199R. It will take me some time as I have to put gargantuan effort for this, so no promises for now. Need to source a lot of hard to find parts and the associated headaches when most are not available easily.

For the engine, there is only 1 qualified mechanic in India who is certified to work on the 1199 - 1299 series. He is working on the engine heads and changing the gaskets currently.

The 1199 - current V4 series are frameless. Essentially, the whole bike is built around the engine. Its really something else seeing the actual engine without the rest of the bike parts.

Enjoy the grainy pic for now..