[neil.jericho]

Since the bike has a stressful weekend ahead of it, I decided that now was as good a time as any to get the oil changed and replaced by the same product - Motul 300V 15W50 fully synthetic engine oil. I had picked up 3 cans earlier when they were available at a discounted price on Amazon. I have done just over 6300 kms since the last engine oil change and this is what it looked like when it was drained.

There's a slight reduction in the overall vibes (aka the Royal Enfield character) but since I have hardly ridden the bike in the last few weeks, its not that noticeable as compared to the last oil change when I moved to the 300V. That said I will probably run the 300V for around 5000 kms this time around. I also got the chain tightened as well and the bike is now ready for action.


Since Amazon was running its great Indian sale, I was on the lookout for some good discounts and found the Shell Advance Ultra 15W 50 fully synthetic oil was being offered at a great price of Rs 771 per can against its MRP of Rs 1051. That's was a price that was too good to ignore and so Ive picked up 3 cans that will be safely stored away until the next oil change happens.

Shell Advance Ultra 15W 50

Mileage : I realized that it's been exactly one month since I last tanked up which just goes to show how little the Continental GT has been used. This time I filled up at the Shell pump in Whitefield. Distance covered : 188.4 kms. Petrol consumed : 6 litres. Mileage : 31.4 kmpl with most of the distance covered coming from the solo ride to Kolar. The overall mileage since day 1 stands at 27.44 kmpl.

[neil.jericho]

To quote the great Mauro Ranallo, "Mamma mia!". That was an absolutely fantastic two days of open track riding at the Kari Motor Speedway, courtesy the good folks at Indimotard who had organized their Throttle Wide Open (T.W.O) Level 2 classes coupled with open sessions, this past weekend. Now it’s been been more than a year since I had last taken the Continental GT to the track and I was in two minds over signing up for the Level 2 classes or instead, getting back to the basics and being comfortable with the bike on the track before opting for the next round of Level 2 lessons. In the end, I decided to do the open sessions and dropped my bike off at the Indimotard Greasehouse last week for it to be transported to Coimbatore.

Being a really extended holiday weekend, quite a few of the usual track day suspects were unfortunately unable to make it but I was not one to complain as this meant more track time for those who had signed up. The open session riders were split into two groups - the intermediate group and a faster advanced group, with the riders being given the option of choosing which group they could ride with based on their skill and comfort levels. OK, so maybe I didn’t really have much of an option with the Continental GT! The L2 class room sessions were planned (and timed) such that the intermediate group, the advanced group and L2 group got around 20 minutes each and the pit boss ran a tight ship, ensuring that we maximized our track time over the two days. And maximize it we did.

In no particular order, here are some random thoughts from the two eventful days of motorcycling bliss

1. So do you want to be fast?
Once you do attend a Level 1 class and get a fair understanding of how to break down a lap, corner by corner and put together the elements required for a faster lap time, all you have to do is go out and explore the limits of how much you can push yourself and your motorcycle, right? But this is easier said than done. How late do you want to start braking down the long straight as you approach C1? How soon do you get on the throttle as you aim to maximize your exit speed? Where can you shave off a second or two? How about following a more skilled rider and tracking his lines? Do you want to focus on one corner or one section per lap and give that 100% during each session while taking it easy through the rest of the lap? Or do you want to analyze, explore and experiment with each and every corner during every lap and potentially overload yourself with information? I didn’t have easy answers to these but they brought me to my next question.

2. Or do you want to be consistent?
For someone of my limited skillset, being consistent lap after lap, across a 20 - 25 minute session is about as difficult as trying to set hot laps by constantly pushing myself. Consistency isn’t just about timing. It's about hitting the same braking markers, tracking the same lines, exiting a corner at the same speed over and over again. A momentary lapse of concentration is enough to get you marginally off your lines and with a bike like the Continental GT, that's also enough to get the dreaded foot pegs scraping away to glory and induce wincing inside your helmet.

3. How tough is it to be fast and consistent?
Im a long way away from being both and yes, it is really tough. I had some sessions where I really pushed the Continental GT and at the end of it, I felt I couldn’t have pushed the bike or myself, for that matter, any further. I also had several sessions where I was consistent across the Kari Motor Speedway but my butt chrono said I was slightly off my best pace. I need a lot more practice and track time to get towards being both. I probably need a lot more skill as well if I’m being honest!

4. "So were you one of those always being first in class kind of guys ....."
While my teachers would take great exception at the very suggestion of me being at the front of the line for anything in my schooling days (except maybe to ask if we could head out to the playground if a teacher was absent), I couldn’t blame a fellow rider for asking me the question. I wanted to get the best out of my track time and I was usually the first one lined up from the intermediate group and I tried to squeeze in as many laps as possible in each session. Well, except on two occasions. The first was when the zipper on my AGVSport leather suit got stuck and it took the efforts of a helpful fellow rider to extract myself from that. And the second was when I was in full throttle mode and splatted a butterfly on my helmet visor which resulted in a 50% loss of visibility. It paid off though, all in all I put in over 300 kms of track riding over two days despite skipping the last two sessions on Sunday. Not bad indeed!

5. The bikes are great. The people are better.
Its always fascinating to walk through the pits and check out all the interesting machines that are on display during each track weekend. This time, the RC390s had a strong showing and some of them even had aftermarket Ohlins at the rear and improvements to the front suspension as well. Throw in proper big bikes like the Kawasaki ZX10R, Triumph Daytona, Ducati 959, Triumph Thruxton R, Kawasaki Z800, Triumph Street Triple, Yamaha R6 etc and you have a drool worth line up of machines to ogle at and photograph. But talking to the owners of all the motorcycles (irrespective of cubic capacity) , understanding their biking experiences, learning from their track day sessions, finding out how they approach a particular corner etc is even more enjoyable. A big shout out to the rest of the riders from the intermediate group who watched out for each other and kept all our sessions’ safe and fun while being great to hang out with while the track was used by the others. Big thanks to the organizers from Indimotard, Anand, Srikanth, our pit boss Trishul (who reminded me of Alistair Overeem!) and everyone else who helped organize the event. And a huge thank you to the kind gentleman who offered me his RC390 on day 2, I was blown away by the bike’s capabilities on the few laps that I did. That was an act of kindness that I will never forget.

[neil.jericho]

This is a Continental GT ownership thread, so I have to come to the point - how did the bike perform?


First things first, the Continental GT is not a proper track bike. It's built by Royal Enfield, and I suspect for decades the company didn’t have a R&D division and when they did eventually set up one, setting the race tracks on fire was probably not written anywhere on the R&D team's manifesto. So the Continental GT is not going to be able to merrily keep up with the more track oriented machines and we aren’t going to hold that against the top of the line offering from Royal Enfield. That said, given its legacy, the Continental GT was a whole lot of fun to wrestle errr hustle through the Kari Motor Speedway and it proved that with motorcycling, the experience is often greater than the sum of its parts. Speaking of which

- The tires
All things considered, the tires did a really good job. Bear in mind, my bike is running a Pirelli Sport Demon at the front and a Ceat Vertizo Zoom at the rear and both tires have done over 10,000 kms. With all the hard riding, I’m sure I scrubbed off an additional 500 kms worth of life from them if not more, but it was worth it nonetheless. I had absolutely no complaints from the front tire, it gave great grip, never lost traction and was confidence inspiring through the corners. The rear did get overwhelmed on certain occasions and some of my fellow group riders were witness to these incidents as well, especially when I was powering out of the final turn onto the straight. Flat out, hitting the apex at 80kmph and on the wrong line, the rear tire would get a little queasy but not once did it ever feel that it was losing grip or that I was in danger of being flung dramatically into the grass. Both tires need to be replaced before the next track day if I am to make progress.


- The weight
The bike's weight was very evident during my last two visits to the Kari Motor Speedway but this time I felt that it was able to mask it to a large extent. It’s no nimble ballet dancer by any stretch of the imagination and the Royal Enfield website claims the Continental GT weighs in at 192 kgs with 90% fuel. It sure didn’t feel like it though reduced weight would certainly have helped matters quite a lot. Then again, that applies to the rider as well!


- The engine
Except for the first few laps of each session where I was getting the tires warmed up, the engine received anywhere between no mercy and furious throttle wringing from my right hand over two days. In and out of the slower corners, the engine performed as expected but this weekend also exposed the poor top end of the Continental GT. Charging out of the last corner at 80kmph and fully tucked in behind the Givi screen (or about as much as my early 30's IT potbelly would allow me to) with the throttle wide open, it was disappointing to see the bike top out at only 120 kmph even at the end of the long straight. I also tried unsuccessfully on 4 - 5 occasions to outrun a R15 that had an aftermarket Dagrex exhaust after trailing it out of the last corner but fell flat on my face every single time! Sure, I comfortably outweighed the lady rider on the R15 by quite a few kilos and this made the power to weight ratio on the Continental GT even worse, but even today, that doesn’t help soothe my semi bruised ego.


- The brakes
Well I should say the brake really, because I only used the front brake, was very confidence inspiring especially when trying to get the locomotive like Continental GT to shed speed at the end of the long straight. One thing is for certain, my braking marker for C1 was a lot closer to the entry of the corner than it had been for my last two track sessions and on the braking front, I was never let down. I cant say I noticed any real significant brake fade by the end of each session, then again the bike wasnt really doing that high speeds in the first place so the answer probably lies in that as well.


- The handling
It's the best handling Royal Enfield. Period. Well compared to other motorcycles, the Continental GT pales in comparison but with the rider putting in the right efforts towards body positioning and steering, the handling is surprisingly good. I found that I am a lot more comfortable leaning off the bike and getting a good body position for the right hand corners but struggled on the lefties. If I can get that right, I will be able to manage those corners a lot better and improve my lines and timings.


- The mileage
I tanked up the bike at the Shell petrol pump in Whitefield before handing it over to the Indimotard team last week. I did 149 track kms on Saturday and on Sunday I found it suddenly indicating low fuel during one of the morning sessions so I had to go fill it up again. Distance covered : 194.6 kms. Petrol consumed : 9.52 litres. Mileage : 20.44 kmpl which is actually 9% better than the worst mileage I have ever recorded on the Continental GT! I was expecting something in the 15 – 16 kmpl range if I am going to be perfectly frank. I ended up doing 162 kms on day 2. This includes 45 kms from before I tanked up and another 116 kms after tanking up and the fuel gauge, not known to be the most honest of measurement units, now shows that it is half full. Not bad at all.


Objectively speaking, this looks like a mixed report card, so where does that leave me and the Continental GT when it comes to track days? A part of me says, it’s a lost cause and elephants cant dance and that I should go in for my long planned upgrade and take that to the tracks. Another part of me says, dig out the OEM handlebars, lower them after getting rid of the KTM bars, slap on new PSDs and have a great time at the track next year. Choices, choices and choices!

[MonsterPatrol]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

This is a Continental GT ownership thread, so I have to come to the point - how did the bike perform?


Objectively speaking, this looks like a mixed report card, so where does that leave me and the Continental GT when it comes to track days? A part of me says, it’s a lost cause and elephants cant dance and that I should go in for my long planned upgrade and take that to the tracks. Another part of me says, dig out the OEM handlebars, lower them after getting rid of the KTM bars, slap on new PSDs and have a great time at the track next year. Choices, choices and choices!

OEM handlebars. Soft compound tyres. Stiffen the suspension. Aftermarket exhaust for top end. Sprocketing. 97 octane and a better tune. You’ll be good to go I guess

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Continental GT - how did the bike perform?

Neil, my Man!!! You are crazy! Taking a RE on a track day! But I'm sure it would have been fun.

From your report, what surprised me the most was the top speed you mentioned. Maxed out at 120? Wow! I thought a CGT could deliver more than that. May be I was wrong. While I'm no speed freak, I have been able to climb to 105-110 easily a couple of times and always thought it could go a little more.

Anyway, great to see you experiment with the beast. Like you said, clip-on handlebars and PSDs would have given you a little more edge on the track.

There is always a next time. Until then, ride safe mate!

R-Six

[neil.jericho]

With GT not seeing any action after the track weekend, the last two days have been relatively busy so there a few thread updates lined up for the coming week.

Mileage : I was keen to track the mileage over the combined track weekend and so I topped up the bike yesterday at the Essar pump in Koramangala. I noticed that the tank showed that some fuel had spilled over during the transportation back from Coimbatore so that might have had a marginal impact on the numbers, if not more. Distance covered : 138.3 kms. This includes around 15 kms of city riding (from Indimotard back to my home) if I have to be precise. Petrol consumed : 7.17 litres. Mileage : 19.28 kmpl. That brings the mileage over two days of track riding to a joint figure of 19.86 kmpl which is very wallet friendly indeed.

Originally Posted by R-Six

Neil, my Man!!! You are crazy! Taking a RE on a track day! But I'm sure it would have been fun.

From your report, what surprised me the most was the top speed you mentioned. Maxed out at 120? Wow! I thought a CGT could deliver more than that. May be I was wrong. While I'm no speed freak, I have been able to climb to 105-110 easily a couple of times and always thought it could go a little more.

Anyway, great to see you experiment with the beast. Like you said, clip-on handlebars and PSDs would have given you a little more edge on the track.

There is always a next time. Until then, ride safe mate!

R-Six

Thanks R-Six, dont let the speed thing fool you. Ive seen much higher than 120 kmph on wide empty highways but Ive realized that the bike needs a stretch of road much longer than the straight at Kari to get there. OK, so maybe it doesnt have to be as long as the airport runway in the final scene of Fast and Furious 6 but yeah the bike will eventually do at least 20 kmph more than what I saw at the track.


Here are a few more pictures from the track weekend.

[R-Six]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Thanks R-Six, dont let the speed thing fool you. Ive seen much higher than 120 kmph on wide empty highways

Yea, that is exactly what I thought. I have noticed that the GT has enough juice left even when you are at 110 or so. It climbs to the triple-digit quite effortlessly compared to the others in the RE stable but I agree that climbing post those numbers would need a longer straight stretch that we might not come across during the track days.

Ride safe,
R-Six

[neil.jericho]

While picking up my bike from Indimotard after the track weekend, I had found that the rear tire was flat but after filling it up with air, I was able to ride it home without any problems. Since I didnt use it for the next few days, the rear tire slowly started losing air again and I went to the nearby Continental tire store in Koramangala to get it checked. They didnt have a tube available so I had to ride around the neighbourhood but being Diwali weekend (what is it with the bike having issues and me getting time to get them checked only during public holidays when half the shops are closed?!), there werent many options available. Finally I stopped at a small store near Ejipura signal and the owner said he could procure a Bridgestone tube in the same size in 10 minutes. I was a little suspicious as I didnt know Bridgestone did tubes for two wheelers but I didnt really have a choice so I gave him the thumbs up.

After he removed the recently fitted tube in the rear tire, he found that there were two places from which the tube was leaking air. I also then realized that the tube was not the same size as the rear tire and was instead a size smaller which the guy from the Puncture Man shop never bothered to mention. No wonder he wanted me to leave the bike and come back after a couple of hours! The tube was also an unbranded locally manufactured unit and I was glad to get rid of it.

Fellow TBHP members confirmed that it is ok to ride with a tube that is a size smaller and I just as I thought that fortunately now I would be replacing it with a correctly sized one, I found that the "Brigestone" tube was also the same 100/90 18 size! The owner suddenly had no answer as to why he promised the the right sized tube but could only procure the smaller size. Oh and Bridgestone lawyers might have something to say about this fake tube! Anyways, I will follow BHPian Julyone_modi's suggestion and get a genuine tube from MRF or Ceat and keep it with me till this one gives up the ghost.

[neil.jericho]

Despite having been a part of many a weekend ride over the last 8 years, I had never heard of Panchapalli dam as a ride destination though it was just 80 odd kms away from Bangalore. Plans were made during the week and we had 4 riders in total with the owner of a shiny white Ninja 300 being the latest addition to our group rides. The plan was to head to the dam early on Saturday morning and have breakfast on our return journey. After meeting up at one of our usual meeting spots just ahead of the Electronics City flyover, we quickly moved on and followed the route of Bangalore - Hosur - Denkanikottai and Panchpalli dam. Since the ride was a fairly short one, we stopped for a quick break on the way at a rather scenic spot.

The approach road to the dam had a good mix of tarmac and once we reached the dam, we were taken aback by the beauty and serenity of the place though the water was rather noticeably more brown that I was accustomed to.

After a refreshing break, we decided that we would stop at one particular spot that we noticed in the morning that was extremely picturesque. By the time we got there though, the sun was a little too bright for our liking though the views made up for it in no small measure.

From then on, we rode back at a good pace and kept our eyes open for a decent place to stop for breakfast as we were starting to feel quite hungry. We just could not find any options on the route and finally ended up stopping in Hosur for a rather filling breakfast. The return to Bangalore didnt see too much traffic and overall, it was yet another nice weekend ride with a great bunch of like minded riders.

[neil.jericho]

One big happy biking family. Last Sunday morning's meet up proved that the term wasnt just an overused cliche but one that truly captured the spirit of our big group. Not only did we have two BHPian who came with their better halves, we also had another BHPian who came with his son. In a refreshing change of steeds, we had a Ford Fiesta, a Swift Dzire, a Polo TDI and my Continental GT for our breakfast meet up at Maiyas on the Kolar highway. Heading out of the city, we encountered the usual traffic but once past the toll both, the roads were largely empty and with the absolutely fantastic weather (this sure is going to be a cold winter this year!), we were all in for a treat.

Breakfast with such a wonderful like minded group of people was just plain fun and conversation ranged from everything related to bikes, travelling across Europe, the state of the current IT industry, the Koenigsegg One and everything else in between. Oh and we even got to see a glorious Lamborghini Huracán that was just driving out as we rolled in. The best however was reserved for the end as we were blessed to witness a magnificent spectacle caused by a group of boisterous superbike riders who deserve a dedicated post all to themselves.

Now that Ive done 500+ kms since I replaced the 6300+ km run Motul 300V engine oil with another round of Motul's finest, I can confidently say that the bike is a lot smoother than before. This was very evident during the last weekend ride to Panchpalli dam as well but I forgot to update the thread on it. This time around, I am only going to stretch the 300V to 5000 kms and will then switch over to the Shell fully synthetic oil that I have already purchased. Sure the 300V can hold on for much longer than 5000 kms but I would rather live with the smoothness of new fully synthetic engine oil than try and stretch my investment on the 300V to the limit.

[neil.jericho]

With the 660 km round trip on the 1st of November, I sure picked quite some way to cross the 19,000 km mark. KK_HakunaMatata has done a good job with the travelogue over on the Sunday morning rides thread, so I'll focus on the elements outside of that which helped make this dawn to dusk ride a rather memorable one.


1. This is going to be one really cold winter!
In my last post, I had mentioned that the way things were going, we were in for one cold winter in Bangalore this year. Come to think of it, we have had a rather hot summer (ended up buying a room cooler since the heat was getting rather unbearable!), very heavy un-seasonal rains that had virtually brought the city to its knees and now after many a year, we are all set for a very cold winter. So one would think that being wrapped up in a big blanket would be the best way to spend an early morning during a mid week holiday.

Meeting up at Neelamangala at the start of the day long ride


The sun was still yet to fully emerge by the time we stopped for breakfast

Instead, under the cover of a pitch black sky, the 4 of us were cutting through the icy cold air at good speeds with the LED lights on three of our bikes helping light up the roads. I had my one close shave of the day when two herons decided to swoop down and came precipitously close to having a head on collision with my helmet. When we finally stopped for breakfast at A2B, my fingers were cold and miserable, with my decision to buy a perforated pair of A* gloves being the biggest culprit.


2. I say potholes. You say pits in the roads. To-mato. Tom-ah-to.
The roads between Hassan and Sakleshpur were of the most dangerous kind. With quite a few rumble strips, including one that was poorly marked which 2 of us saw at the last second and massive holes in the road (fortunately for us most of them were on the right side of the road), our attention levels had to be high. God bless those who use that stretch on a frequent basis.

Taking a break just after Sakleshpur

3. Sometimes you have to stop off the road. Sometimes you have to venture away from it.
After Sakleshpur we stopped a couple of times to take a break and let Nature's beauty sink in. The first time we did so was on the way to Hanbal and we pulled over to the side of the road and enjoyed a refreshing break with the sound of birds providing us with a background score.

Sometime later, mashblue who was leading the way, spotted a small road to the left and we followed him to find an absolutely picture perfect setting with the burble of a stream of fresh mountain water providing the background score this time.

4. Pictures do not do justice to the Charmadi Peak
Everyone says the same thing - this place was so beautiful that no photos can do justice to it. To this, the listener usually nods sagely while trying to avoid rolling their eyes. But this is exactly what we all felt when we stopped at Charmadi Peak and were blown away by its magnificence. To make things even better, the wind was making the long grass on the impossibly steep peak, sway in a rhythmic pattern that was mesmerizing. If you are in the vicinity, do make the effort to see the peak.

5. Corners? I HATE corners!
From Charmadi to Chikamagalur, all we encountered were corners. Corners, corners, corners and more corners. There were fast corners, slow corners, deceptive corners, corners that should be have placed on a race track, never ending corners that made me wonder if I was just circling the same axis and defying physics and eventually corners that made me hate corners. Who needs the Tail of the Dragon when the Dragon himself is hiding between Charmadi and Chikamagalur?

After a long stretch of riding (mashblue said we covered only 31 kms but they felt like 311 instead), we just had to stop for a break and an early lunch at the Badra Coffee Shop, as we were sick of corners and for some reason quite exhausted as well. In fact, conversation revolved around how welcoming the straight roads back to Bangalore would be. Sacrilege on a petrolhead forum?

6. Chikamagalur loves black bikes
After a rather nice Biriyani lunch topped with 2 bottles of refreshing lime soda made by a local manufacturer, I noticed that almost all the bikes in Chikamagalur were black in colour. Here is the Continental GT doing its very best to blend in. Or not.

7. The crazies apparently were leaving Chikamagalur in unison
Our first encounter with bad drivers and riders began after lunch as we encountered a few dangerous and careless motorists after lunch. In particular, there was a gold colour Renault Fluence that belched smoke like a train from the 1800s and tailed each of us so closely that our respective shadows got a complex. There was also a political procession on bikes with fortunately only two nut jobs trying to keep pace and outrun us. We were glad to reach Hassan and tank up while letting all the crazies hurry back to Bangalore ahead of us.


8. Frequent breaks are the key to long rides
Compared to the ride in May this year when we went to Mullayanagiri and returned via the same route, this time our day long ride was a lot less tiring. Yes, the weather played a massive role as well but yesterday we also took sufficient brakes to refresh ourselves and let our bodies rest. A fresh body and equally importantly, a fresh mind can do wonders for long distance riding.

9. The D390 is positively bonkers
Man of Steel and I exchanged our bikes for a bit in the morning and this was the longest that I had ridden a D390. For experienced riders, the D390 is a bike that you can accustomed to very quickly but I am not sure that holds true for the Continental GT. The engine on the KTM packs a positively huge punch and compared to the Continental GT, the vibrations that the D390 owners complain about are actually minimal. Its a very quick bike in a straight line and its lack of weight means that it is easy to ride through corners with minimal exertion. The Continental GT requires a lot more work to maintain the same pace with more effort required for turn ins but for straight line stability, I think the Continental GT has the upper hand. On long highway rides, the D390 will leave the Continental GT in its dust.

If I had endless corners (or a nice challenging track) in my back yard, I would probably pick the Continental GT over the D390. It might be a lot more effort intensive but at the end of a good ride through the twisties and hair pin bends, to me, the Continental GT is a lot more rewarding whereas the clinical abilities of the D390 take some of the fun out of it. Different strokes for different folks.

10. The destinations were great. The people were equally great.
I said something similar to this when I had updated the thread after my weekend track sessions. Losing sleep, riding for hundreds of kilometres through all combinations of roads, putting up with the sometimes insane Indian traffic and most importantly, spending time away from your loved ones, is really worth it only when you have a great bunch of like minded riders for company. When you find a great group of riders that are sensible and safe, the cost of the bikes dont matter, the power output is the last thing on your mind and sure the planned destination can change. But the memories are actually what you will treasure.

[neil.jericho]

Mileage : There was quite some tanking up that was done on Wednesday so this is going to be slightly longer than usual. Man of Steel and I first tanked up at the HP pump on Sankey Tank Road near the Hyundai showroom at 5 AM since we werent really confident of finding any other pumps that early in the morning. Distance covered : 186.3 kms of which 150 kms came from last Sunday's Kolar ride. Petrol consumed : 7.13 litres. Mileage : 26.13 kmpl which was on the lower side for a highway ride.

We next tanked up at a HP bunk in Hassan. Distance covered : 186.4 kms of high speed highway riding. Petrol consumed : 5.68 litres. Mileage : 32.82 kmpl. We crossed the 400 km mark for the day by the time we reached Chikmagalur for lunch. We then stopped at a Reliance petrol pump in Hassan on our way back. Distance covered : 266.4 kms including all the twists and turns of the Sakleshpur to Chikamagalur stretch where the bike's mid range was put to use rather than top gear cruising. Petrol consumed : 7.84 litres. Mileage : 33.98 kmpl.

Finally, I topped up again at the Shell pump in Yeshwantpur as I wanted to track the overall mileage for the day as well. Distance covered : 176.6 kms with the last 90 or so kms being covered in the night so our speeds were down. Petrol consumed : 5.56 litres. Mileage : 31.76 kmpl. That brings the average for the day to 31.17 kmpl with the bike taking in a total of 26.21 litres during the day. The overall mileage since day 1 stands at 27.40 kmpl.

[Chevy]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Since the bike has a stressful weekend ahead of it, I decided that now was as good a time as any to get the oil changed and replaced by the same product - Motul 300V 15W50 fully synthetic engine oil. I had picked up 3 cans earlier when they were available at a discounted price on Amazon. I have done just over 6300 kms since the last engine oil change and this is what it looked like when it was drained.
[center]

Hi Neil, I'am planning to move to Motul 300 V from Liquid Gun , can you please suggest if one has to do any engine flush before moving to Motul 300 V.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Chevy

Hi Neil, I'am planning to move to Motul 300 V from Liquid Gun , can you please suggest if one has to do any engine flush before moving to Motul 300 V.

Chevy, I did not use any engine flush products while switching to the 300V. I had done some basic research and didnt find that it was really required given that my bike hasnt really done tens of thousands of kilometres. Do share your feedback on the smoothness of the engine once you have done some running with the 300V.

[ArizonaJim]

Chevy:

In the UCE powered Royal Enfields, I strongly recommend NOT using a "engine flush" of any kind when changing oil or oil company brand names.

It is nearly impossible to totally drain all of the oil from a UCE engine and the last thing I would want is to have some sort of "engine flush" that remained in the engine contaminating the new oil I will use.

Just drain out the old oil and replace it with the new brand of oil.

All of the oils on the market are close enough in their makeup so no harm will come from changing oil to another type.
This includes changing from one of the regular oils that might be in the engine to a synthetic type of oil.