[G_AmbyMad]

Originally Posted by mobike008

We had a few recently. Do drop me a PM with your name and contact info, will call you when the next one happens which is normally on a saturday or sunday

At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, I can't figure out how to PM you so sending you an email on your Yahoo ID.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by G_AmbyMad

At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, I can't figure out how to PM you so sending you an email on your Yahoo ID.

Oops! I didnt realize that your still a newbie. Newbies cannot send PM's

Please send me an email to mobike008 at gmail dot com

Btw, please check the meet thread and confirm if you can join the mega lunch meet planned for June 13th.

Cheers!

[mobike008]

Last sunday, Wanderers got together for a breakfast ride to " Pragati Resorts" which is roughly about 50km away from Hyderabad.

There everyone enjoyed a sumptious breakfast after an hour's dip in the pool

Weather was cloudy and full of breeze and it was really a pleasant ride.

There was a total of 15 bikes and a Jeep that always ride along for pictures/videos and emergencies.

Enjoy the pictures from that ride meet !!!

[mobike008]

Update

I havent got the time to either update this thread nor ride MM as been busy at work and also lot of travelling.

Handed over MM for its 3rd free service this morning with 3,150kms on its odometer. Things have been absolutely smooth with the bike and there are almost zero issues.

I have opted for a teflon coating which will cost me Rs.500 wherein they apply the first coat after the service and wash is over and then second coat will be applied after 6 months. The person at A.S.S assured me that I will see substantial difference after the teflon is applied ( especially for the chrome bike)

Will update with a slightly detailed feedback once my Maroon Marauder is back from its service tomorrow.

[mobike008]

3500kms Update

I have been using the bike sparingly and not too many rides in the recent past except for a short city ride with the "Wanderers" wherein we provided our support and camaderie during the Independence Day where school kids were carrying a 365 meters long (365 days in a year = 365 meters was the concept) and post that our 40+ BULL riders group marauded ( not in the real sense...) the Hyderabad Vintage Rally that happens every year at Lumbini Park where our BULL group was the cynosure of all eyes. It was a satisfying feeling. We spent over an hour checking out vintage bikes and cars

Coming back to the latest feedback on the bike

Build Quality
I would not say excellent but, i am lucky to report that there is no rust as of now. Except that key hole for the ignition and side lock gets rather sticky and sometimes it takes an effort to insert and extract the key from the keyholes. Otherwise, there is no rust anywhere whatsoever

Ride
Smooth and still rides over nasty bumps with no issues at all. I enjoy the solid feeling ride

Handling
Have become a master of the bike by now and i can swerve in and out like i do on my 150cc toy (Bajaj Pulsar) and turns are taken with aplomb and feels great to ride this bike now. Whenever iam choosing the key to my bike, invariably my hand goes towards the BULL's key

Fuel Average
It has been giving me a consistent 27kmpl as i measure almost every tankful and typically top up 9 litres after every ~ 250kms. I immediately top-up as soon as the fuel warning lamp comes on more than often. I know the tank is 15L and fuel warning comes up rather too early. But, i dont want to take any risk of pushing the bike in event of petrol getting over so top up as early as possible.

Upgrades

During the Independence day long weekend, installed a new exhaust which was custom made and sounds so impressive that almost every single day people on the road either stare at me as if i am from MARS or ask me where i got the exhuast done or does the bike come with this exhaust note etc. Iam totally pleased with the thump it produces and dont exepct to change it anytime soon.

Feedback after the exhaust was fitted

Pick-up
The pick up seems to have reduced a wee bit. Its not the same super quick take-off that i used to experience when in stock. Or is it just a feeling?

THUMP
It has a deep, bassy, throaty, growly sound overall. And, when your throttle is not opened it sounds like a small wimp, with thumps so faint you need to strain your ears to hear them. But, the moment you rev the throttle even a wee bit, its like the sound flood gates have opened up and as you keep revving the thump increases and at 90kmph it become unbearable ( i havent gone further than this speed after the new exhuast has been installed)

Where this THUMP is going to scare others is in closed spaces like basements where the thump is super-pronounced and is sweet music to ears.

Handlebar
The bike definetly feels slightly heavier from the front unlike the light feeling when i was on stock exhuast. I spoke to 2 wanderers who have same exhuasts and after riding their bikes i decided to go for this custom job. Both mentioned, it's just my feeling. But, according to me its not. I can definetly feel a difference when i hold the handlebar. Anyways, its not a major issue but, something you get used to over a period of time.

FE
Driven about 200kms only so waiting for the first tankful to see if there is any difference in FE

Top-Speed
Either due to the sound or something else. I dont think i can go beyond 100kmph as the sound is deafening and according to me looks risky to ride it beyond this speed.

Overall
After waiting for almost 8 months and looking at so many bikes with different exhuast notes, I waited for the one which will blow me away. And, it indeed did. It is one of the best Rs.2600 spent in my life. Never knew such a small amount can deliver such a throaty happiness.

Inspired by this friend's bike



Maroon Marauder with the new exhaust





Yours truly at the Independence Ride





A lovely restored Plymouth by a friend at the Vintage Rally on Aug 15th




Finally, here is a short video of the new exhaust of Maroon Marauder.

Growllllll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvxhHnX6B_Y

[sudipta]

Congrats on the new soundbox. How much did it cost you?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by sudipta

Congrats on the new soundbox. How much did it cost you?

Thanks Sudipta. I mentioned the cost in my review post.

It's Rs.2600/-

[hiren959]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thanks Sudipta. I mentioned the cost in my review post.

It's Rs.2600/-

Can you give us the more knowledge about this?? You said you have waited for 8 months for this? so is it imported or available locally?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by hiren959

Can you give us the more knowledge about this?? You said you have waited for 8 months for this? so is it imported or available locally?

I waited for 8 months purely due to not liking the THUMP of the various exhausts that I checked out or happened to experience in due course of finding the perfect one for me. Wait was not because of non-availability

When I rode that green 500C bike of my friend. I fell for it instantly and you wont beileve gave the order for it within the next one hour after taking the details of where it is custom made from my friend.

It is a simple custome made exhaust and has wool filled in for extra bass and looks like its almost company fitted ( thats the workmanship of this garage which itself is a small place that not many people know about)

[G_AmbyMad]

I LOVE the growl!

Heck, I'll go buy one as soon as you tell me where it's available even though I don't have the bike yet.

[mobike008]

My bike's bend pipe came in contact with some plastic cover and I tell you its really bad for any BULL to come in contact with this material. The moment it comes in contact, there is a whoosh sound and their is an overwhelming burning smell which becomes unbearable after some time.

The bend pipe was scarred so badly within seconds i was bewildered. Didnt know what to do, I asked some other BULL owners for a solution and everyone came up with their own version. It is BULL's way of saying "NO" to Plastic

Finally, I decided to pay my friendly A.S.S a visit. The Service Manager is such an awesome guy, he attends immediately and when i told him about this problem, he said " Its such a small issue, you neednt have come and just given me a call"

He took that " soft metal scrub" we use to wash utensils and rubbed the hot bend pipe and within 5 seconds all the remains came off in the same way like the remains of a good ice cream is licked off :P

I am very happy with KJ Engineers and Purshottam ( Service Manager) who give great service to RE owners.

Before



After

[Tgo]

I discovered that Scotch Brite really helps in removing the rust from the rims. All this happened when I was looking for something to clean the muck off the rims and had nothing else to use other than a torn piece of Scotch Brite lying in the wash bucket.

Removed the rust by applying light pressure in circular motion along the circumference of the rim and it all came off in about 5 minutes. Sprayed some anti-rust on it and the rims looked as good as new for the next two weeks, and this was peak monsoon time. There are finer versions of Scotch Brite made available by 3M.

On a different note, Scotch Brite is sold as a buffing/finishing/rubbing/abbrasive pad all over the world. Its only in India where we do not have dish washers that we have made it synonymous to a utensil cleaning pad. I have seen people who manufacture SS Handrails use it for polishing the Steel. They also use some white powder in which they dab the pads before starting polishing.

[ArizonaJim]

If I may make a comment about Scotch-Brite?

These are coated with a abrasive that can easily cut its way thru chrome (and we all know how thin RE applies its chrome).

Depending on which Scotch-Brite pad your using, the abrasive is either Aluminum Oxide (often used for sandpaper and grinding wheels) or Silicone Carbide (one of the hardest materials known, often used for high speed cutting tools and metal cutting sandpaper).

If the chrome plating is ground or sanded off of the motorcycle part only bare steel will remain so if one chooses to use Scotch-Brite pads they should do so as gently as possible.

I personally wouldn't use them for removing discoleration or rust.
If I could find it, I would use steel or bronze wool.
Either of these materials are softer than chrome so they are much less likely to remove the chrome that is in the area of the rust.

[mobike008]

After a long time went for a ride with WANDERERS yesterday (Nov 4, 2012) to Bidar which is about 150kms from Hyderabad.

Bidar is popular for its famous Gurdwara and Bidar Fort

Initially the moderator of WANDERERS ( Lalit Jain) had proposed a joint
Team-BHP + WANDERERS meet. Details here :-

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...-_nov-4th.html

However, the drive meet was cancelled due to many drop-outs at last minute. Hence, i decided to join the WANDERERS on my Maroon Marauder. Due to this joint ride another bulleteer group from Bidar called "Punjab Puttars" were also supposed to join the meet.

We started from outskirts of Hyderabad on the dot of 6:45AM and we were initially 16 bullets and 2 follow-up cars ( one BHPian, even though drive meet got cancelled, he still wanted to join the bullet ride in his car)
At 930am, we stopped at a punjabi dhaba near Zaheerabad which is 100kms from Hyderabad for a wholesome parantha breakfast where we were joined by the other bullet group.

That group were dominated by Sikhs and they had lovely access to the gurdwara and we had a great time praying there and some of them even tasted the langar. Post this activity, we headed to the ruins of the Bidar Fort and enjoyed the scenic views of the landscape

Btw, this is where the song on Emrahaan Hashmi picturised in a song from "The Dirty Picture"

Let a few pictures do some talking. Overall, a great sunday spent with home-to-home distance of 310kms

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by mobike008

My bike's bend pipe came in contact with some plastic cover and I tell you its really bad for any BULL to come in contact with this material.

Just a speculation, but wouldn't a lighter/matchstick be able to melt off the plastic if not held long enough to discolour the chrome? I personally haven't tried it though, I'm just speculating.

Originally Posted by Tgo

I discovered that Scotch Brite really helps in removing the rust from the rims.

ScotchBrite on chrome, no no!!! Use steel wool, it won't cut through the chrome. Might leave minute score marks on the chrome, but its better than no chrome at all!