[Amarendranath]

Hello Everyone,

First of all i would like to thank the moderators for accepting me onto the community. I am excited to be a part of team-bhp

I am from Hyderabad. My passion for automobile's started the at age of 5yrs, Better Late than never here in 2012 i am finally a part of a matured platform for everything on wheels. Apart from Automobiles animals are my other interests. It would be great getting to know all y other fellow BHPians.


This is my first post and please excuse me for any mistakes along the thread.




It all started back in 2009 when i first bought my lady love the YAMAHA R15. The moment i saw her in red decision was made before i could believe it i had my hands on her.

Six months( Dismantling was performed right after six months of ownership), a couple of rides with the X-bhp members, a road trip to bangalore, i would love to say i had sheer satisfaction be it handling, traffic, high speed showdown, drags whatever it may be the bike was nimble, sharp , crazy, encouraging. There was a certain subtlety to her character.




Owing a bike, your first bike that looks killer, handles magnificent and does everything it is designed to do with a haw dropping poise, takes the desire of riding to a next level.


LOSING ONE'S WITS

After a Sunday morning jog, me and a very close friend of mine where at his place. The boredom was killing us, so we decided to open up my friends phone which was giving squeaks due to maintenance issues. We decide to do what we were best at, to kill time. We open up his E51 clean every single module and look at the clock and still had loads of time to kill!

Meanwhile we decide to get something to eat, While approaching the bike the moment i look at her , then bulbs out this crazy idea from my mind.

Me: " Dude why don't we open up the bike!, like the phone?"
Friend: " you crazy!? , but the bike is brand new?"
Me: " Lets do it carefully. if anything goes wrong the manual will fix it?"
Friend: Fine lets do it then.

We then push her into the bedroom and...

Let the pictures do the talking.
(My apologies for the poor size and image quality)








Let me tell you it took about Fours to to dismantle each and every component. I have limited the number of images to a minimum number possible. Boy! though it was hectic and required lot of concentration we had amazing fun doing this.

Now, After Three years of ownership, Though there are few unavoidable mandatory costs, it would be fair to comment that this is an hassle free, pocket friendly , easy to maintain, considering that the bike costs over a lakh.

In three years time, i had to change the clutch plates( we did it again ourselves with the help of a local mechanic), both the tyres, and few other body panels( minor accident). Also i must admit in the first year of owning the bike there was a minor irritant of engine piston droning sound( which can be adjusted at the service station). All in all i am a proud owner of the YAMAHA R15 and had a total peace of mind - be it the bike, or the service personnel.




Riding Gear - Original YAMAHA accessories
Helmet- vega


Also the YAMAHA legacy continues in the family, But No plans of dismantling the next generation, Version 2.0 as of now

[MK3]

Welcome Amar! Wishing you a similar amazing experience with the forum and your four wheeler(whenever you get one)

[Amarendranath]

Originally Posted by MK3

Welcome Amar! Wishing you a similar amazing experience with the forum and your four wheeler(whenever you get one)

Hello MK3,

Thank you, i drive a santro as of now, we planning to buy the VW Jetta soon as the next family car. though we haven't decided yet. Shall update accordingly.

[Motormania]

Now thats the way to do it!!! Good to see another R15 fan. BTW, you bought the V2 as well?
We can catch up on a weekend ride someday.

[Amarendranath]

Originally Posted by Motormania

Now thats the way to do it!!! Good to see another R15 fan. BTW, you bought the V2 as well?
We can catch up on a weekend ride someday.

Hey...

The V2.0 was bought for my brother but i use it most of the times. Sure! I would love to go on a ride. Ill ping you once i am back in the city. Need to report to the company on 17th shall hopefully make it work before that

[Passiautonate]

Originally Posted by Amarendranath

Also the YAMAHA legacy continues in the family, But No plans of dismantling the next generation, Version 2.0 as of now

Great engineering Amar! But not nice to see the ugly bits of such a beautiful bike. Its like watching Angelina Jollie in an airport body scanner, bare bones .

As you are a proud owner of V1 and in close company of V2, which of these you prefer. I mean do you feel any substantial difference between two, except the looks.

Regards,
Maddy

[Amarendranath]

Originally Posted by Passiautonate

Great engineering Amar! But not nice to see the ugly bits of such a beautiful bike. Its like watching Angelina Jollie in an airport body scanner, bare bones .

As you are a proud owner of V1 and in close company of V2, which of these you prefer. I mean do you feel any substantial difference between two, except the looks.

Regards,
Maddy

Hi Maddy,

I agree with you. Sometimes ladies in bare bones ( keira knightely) look good but we go gaga over the voluptuous one's( Penelope cruze). Be it bare bones or flesh the ladies do attract

Well i would i prefer having both, I mean both have their equal share of pros and cons. Substantial you ask nothing really. But ill explain it to you clearly


Version 1

1. The first version is 5kg lesser than the V2.0, this makes it a breeze in terms of handling. The bike is so light that heavy winds do drift the bike a little, beleive me never does this feel awkward and is noticeable when closely observed.

2. The seats do cent percent justification to the phrase " Pain in the ***". Be it long journey or city commutes for a long time. I personally would like them on the firmer side.

3. 1st gear is a dummy. useless.( In the city, without utlizing the rev range)

4. Amazing, jaw dropping grip, handling. In fact while cornering one would start to wonder if the bike weighs 130kilos.

5. Braking is one of the strongest points. Braking doesn't require any skill. Whatever the situation may be, whatever speed we doing. The discs do get her to a halt.

6. Tyres having an amazing grip. But on wet sand and slither they have zero friction. The bike starts to shake even at speeds of 10kmph.

7. Version 1 is very practical to live with. Pillions are more comfortable here, the storage under the seat, or the bikes weight in traffic

8. The suspension is firm. The sport factor of the bike demands a firmer suspension set up. We would fall in love with the suspension while revving hard. the raw power can be felt, but then every pebble, pothole etc gets transferred to the person mounting it. But i guess sports bikes are such. No complaints though.


Version 2.

1. First and foremost, the pick up- The first time buyers of v2 may not notice it much but the 1st gear of v2 pulls easily till 40kmph compared to v1 which hardly gets to 20kmph. The ECU mapping of the gear ratios is brilliant. the bike seems so to have more power than it does because of the same reason

2. I love the seat on the v2. amazing for long rides, even traffic. but the pillion seat loses out completely on comfort, practicality.

3. The bike weighs 5kg more than v1, we start to feel it in traffic and while braking. In fact all the weight is pushed to the back, thanks to the new swing arm( of course functionality is great) and the rider's weight adds to the weight of the bike in the front.

4. The braking is on equal standards with v1. However due to the increased sophistication the braking requires skill, concentration else the bikes tends to drift a lot, skid( increased width of the tyre, weight at the back). Hence novice riders tend to crash( bikes at service stations with T/R of 2days old).

5. version 1 feels underpowered on hilly ghat areas, v2 fills in that gap. However v2 also feels heavy while cornering. And in traffic the bikes weight gets transferred to our arms, they start to pain even more compared to version 1( @hours or more in traffic)

6. The v2 tyres fair a tad better on wet roads. But the grip is excellent.


End of the day i would love to brag about both the bikes. But you put a knife of my throat and ask me to decide one. I personally would love to liv with version 1, but man the version 2 looks are to die for!

There you go, Its hard to decide which one to own. Answer simple- Own both of them!

[Amarendranath]

Guys,

Need your help. My tires are almost wearing out. about 9 punctures in two months time. The stock tires being soft compound do take a lot of beating. I plan to change my tires, this time don't feel like getting the stock ones though they being excellent. Mileage being my main concern. These are wearing off even before 15k km. Want something that can withstand our Indian roads. No plans of changing the size.

It would be helpful if anyone from Hyderabad gives a dealer number or help me with the purchase. I am willing to ship them from other states provided the dealers are quoting the appropriate price( the rear costs less than 2k)

I am particularly looking for


continental conti-go 100/90 -17(55p) rear and
continental conti-go 80/90 - 17 front.

In India they do not cost more than 2k each.


Michelin pilots according to the threads give a very bumpy ride , so ruled it out. If all else fails ill end up buying the stock one's.

The IRC tyres tend to skid a lot, as they are out of scaling. Dunlop Rubber i have no clue. The last thing or may be do not like preferring is the Zapper C.

The thread pattern on the tyres seems to be fine. The punctures make me wonder if the life is over. Adding pics


Front.




Rear




please help anyone.

[Amarendranath]

Met with a small accident yesterday, I have also become the prey of the reckless auto wala driving. I was riding at the speed of 40kmph and got hit by an auto. The impact was on the silencer( got hit at an angle) for which i tripped. The bike did take a hit and i could get away with 3 stitches ( my little finger got crushed). No wonder what speed we ride, the city traffic sense is a serious let down in this city.

[Amarendranath]

Small Update Guys.

I have sold my version1 and have been using version2 ever since. Off late being noticing a very strange issue. The engine overheating lamp comes up often.

Got the bike serviced and filled up coolant to the desired level. Today the notice the same issues, light comes up again. There seems to be no coolant or oil leakage. Also the radiator fans seems to be running with a strange loud noise. ( not sure, if the fan sure was loud since the beginning)

Googled this before posting here, looks like the seems to be affecting quite a lot of R15 owners. Can anyone share any information/solution on this ?

[Ricci]

I can think of 2 probable causes.

1. The coolant is not circulating , either a pump failure or or blockage in the lines. If there is any debris in the coolant, it could get stuck in the thinnest passages. Flush the radiator completely and fill new coolant.

2. There is dirt accumulation in the radiator fins. Clean the radiator carefully, so as not to get them damaged and see if that makes a difference.

If you notice no change in physical heat given off, it could be the sensor malfunctioning.

[Amarendranath]

Originally Posted by Ricci

1. The coolant is not circulating , either a pump failure or or blockage in the lines. If there is any debris in the coolant, it could get stuck in the thinnest passages. Flush the radiator completely and fill new coolant.

2. There is dirt accumulation in the radiator fins. Clean the radiator carefully, so as not to get them damaged and see if that makes a difference.

Will need to get these both checked, the bike is out of warranty. I hope the it's not a major issue like radiator malfunction etc

Originally Posted by Ricci

If you notice no change in physical heat given off, it could be the sensor malfunctioning.

The heat seems to be normal. But the fan speed is suspicious.

[Amarendranath]

The Beautiful Journey has finally come to an end. It was a joy to own and ride the version 2.0 A pure Motoring bliss. I would be relocating and had to give her away with a heavy heart.

Parting Shot after my one last ride.

Mods: You can close the thread. Bike is now sold.