[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by ansu

Hi Bhagath, How is your IND NO plate is fixed without any screws.Looks good.

Hi Ansu, If you look up post #19, I have explained this in detail.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

@bhagath-Offlate am seeing Dessert storms plagued with rusting issue.Have you faced any such issues?I am in a bit of dilemma whether to change the booking to black cl 500 though i still love the DS as it one of a kind

Hi Rakesh, I have had one major rusting issue. Both my mirror stems did rust up pretty bad. Had the guys replace it FOC and it has never come back in about 6 months now. Rest of the bike has been holding up pretty good for the last one year.

PS: Apologies for the delayed reply.

Regards
Bugs

[bhagathmp]

OK back on my thread after a loong gap. An update on the "kritch kritch" noise I had reported earlier.

One weekend, while washing her down, I realized that the frame on the right hand side, just ahead of the rear shocks, was sort of touching the body/fender. There were no scuff marks or anything but i could not pass even a thin blade thru the gap. While on the left side, there was adequate space / gap between the fender and the frame. ( I shall post pics soon. Dont have then on my now).

I took the bike to the workshop the following Monday and told them to have a look. They said it would take about two days to sort out the issue with the frame. As i was not in a hurry, left the bike there. After two days, i do not get a convincing reply from the manager about the issue. I walk in to the workshop only to find that they have done a regular servicing on the bike but the actual work on the frame/issue has not started. The manager was complaining about the delay from RE Technical team to begin work on the frame. Luckily that day they had the RE Tech guy stationed. He agreed to take a look at the issue and let me know the following morning.

Next day i receive a call and they say they have fixed the issue for good. They added spacers at one joint to pull the frame out a bit. Now there is enough gap, but still not equal to that on the Left side. This however seem to have fixed the kritch kritch noise. I rode the bike for over 3 weeks now and not experiencing the same noise. The spacers seem to have worked.

I did check on other bikes at the workshop, though none had the frame touch the body, I did notice that the gap on the RHS is noticeably lesser than the LHS. Why is this so? Is it by design or QA issue ?

I shall post some pics later in the week. With the summer heat setting in, the bike is seeing less and less of Tarmac ...

Regards
Bugs.

[narchennai]

I was just searching for a review like this. Big thanks and I was going around every RE dealer in chennai last 3 days, as I was quizzed in booking a DS or TB500, though my Color preference is for a DS (as I am against any form of black). And more than the dealer SA, I was going thro team-bhp for one review of DS and I found this. This review has thrown light and I am sure to book a DS tomorrow with an advance of Rs.5000/- in Chennai.
The delivery period quoted for DS, CL500 and TB500 is max 5 months. Happy cruising and thanks again.

[bhagathmp]

Originally Posted by narchennai

I was just searching for a review like this. Big thanks and I was going around every RE dealer in chennai last 3 days, as I was quizzed in booking a DS or TB500, though my Color preference is for a DS (as I am against any form of black). And more than the dealer SA, I was going thro team-bhp for one review of DS and I found this. This review has thrown light and I am sure to book a DS tomorrow with an advance of Rs.5000/- in Chennai.
The delivery period quoted for DS, CL500 and TB500 is max 5 months. Happy cruising and thanks again.

Hi narchennai, I'm glad my review helped you . Keep in constant contact with your SA, you may end up getting your DS earlier than 5 months (by virtue of cancellations if any).

Thanks
Bugs

[bhagathmp]

Dusting up an old thread of mine. Been two years since I last posted here. Though I have put up some quires on other RE threads, thought I'll put in my thoughts / ideas for mods / questions etc. in here. So here goes!

Over the last 6-8 months, there has been a steady increase in the ride time I have been having with my bike. I'm guessing I have covered more KMs during this time than the entire 3 years I have been having the bike with me. I have listed down what I wanted to do woth the bike on the thread here (direct link to my questions)(Stage 1 would mostly be only cosmetic and to improve ergonomics).

My No 1 priority was to change the stock handle bars to that of RDs. After a weeks searching, I found a shop here in Trivandrum that had the RD 350 replica handle bar (the one with cross bars). It was the black powder coated one and had a good finish. It was a bit heavy, indicating the quality wasn't poor either. Took it to my mechanic this past Saturday to get it fitted. He did a quick measurement before fitting and advised it needed a extension of 1 inch on either sides. Had to take the handle bar to a welder, got the extending welded on and also add provision to screw in the bar end-weights. The RD handle bars do not come with this provision. The welder did a pretty decent job with fitting the extension and the nut for the bar end-weights.

Things I learnd:

1) This was not to be a DIY -atleast for me. One of the nuts for the bar end-weights refused to budge. It had to be taken to a lathe to get un done. But even then, the bolt broke off and had to buy a replacement.

2) The mech asked to extend either side by one inch. The welder happened to have a piece that was 2.5 inches long. So he asked if I was OK to have it at 1.25 inches on either side. Thought what harm can quarter on an inch do. It turns out, I should have just stuck to 1 inch. There is now a visible gap between the grip and the bar end-weights. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images...rustration.gif

3) The switch housings come with some sort of tiny pin that fits into a hole on the handle bar. This I believe is to prevent the housing from sliding around after screwing everything in place. We had to drill couple of holes into the handle bar to get this fitted in. Again, if you have proper tools at home, its a DIY job.

Though we used all stock cables, I have a feeling the clutch cable gets slightly pulled while turning to the extreme right and left. Guess I would need a longer one here. Should I go with TBs cable? Any other suggestions?
The cables do need some re routing. Once every cable is free, this is something you would be able to play around with and figure out. Just ensure you have enough ply on all the cables.

I could feel immediately the diff in ride this bar brings. The bike feels much more nimble and the over all ergonomics have improved like 10 folds for me. Much more relaxed posture. I would recommend this as a must have change to your classic if you find the stock handle bar too low or such.

Welding in the extension and the resulting sanding, had taken the paint off at the ends. I have to get it repainted so as to prevent rust. This again is a weekend DIY I plan to do. To fill in the gap between the grip and the bar end-weights, I plan to use a thick rubber tube or O ring . Don't think I would want to cut and re-weld for the sake of quarter of an inch! Any other suggestions/ideas to take care of this is more than welcome.

Next up would be the seats. Planning to mount the TB's single seat. But before I do that i'll test the handle and if this takes care of my back, then i'll not go for the replacement. Then again, I might go for it, for the change in looks plus the ergonomics it could offer.

The handle bar, welding, fitting charges came to about Rs 800. So far very happy with the work that is done. Uploading the picture of my ride with the new handle bar. Will take more pics during an upcoming ride and post them here.

Thanks for reading
Bugs.