[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

My friendly service advisor informed me yesterday that the new chassis had arrived and that they will soon start work on dismantling the motorcycle and replacing the old chassis. The bike should be ready in a few days time. This certainly is exciting news!

What about the Chassis number? It's on the steering stem right! Just curious.

--surjaonwheelz

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

What about the Chassis number? It's on the steering stem right! Just curious.

--surjaonwheelz

The new chassis comes with the old chassis number engraved on it. So no worries on that front.

[neil.jericho]

My friendly service advisor called me last week recommending that the cone set be replaced as they had checked it and felt that I would anyways need to replace it at the next service. I had given them the go ahead to do so. Fortunately the bike wasnt ready last week as I had a super packed calendar with absolutely no spare time to collect the bike. I guess I should get it in the next couple of days.

In other good news, the Pirelli seems to have finally woken up to the Indian market and had an advertisement in this month's Fast Bikes magazine. They are playing up the fact that their tires are OE for Royal Enfield. This suggests that newly manufactured Pirelli tires will be available to owners of the GT 535 as well as the 650 twins. I wonder how Pirelli will price the Phantom Sportscomp as compared to the Sports Demon going forward.

However, Im not sure how owners of Triumph and Ducati motorcycles would feel on seeing their premium brands being clubbed by Pirelli with more humble ones like RE and TVS !

[neil.jericho]

I finally managed to squeeze some time out on Saturday afternoon to pick up my Continental GT 535 from the Royal Enfield company service centre in Edapally. After a very dry monsoon season, we have finally been blessed with very heavy rains in the last few days and this meant that the roads have become treacherous, to say the least. What better way to test the motorcycle than this?

Since I had come in the afternoon, there was only one other customer in the large air conditioned waiting room which has been spruced up with a section smartly displaying the accessories available for both rider and motorcycle.

The updated customer lounge area

Sanju, my friendly service advisor showed me the list of things that had been changed. The cone set that we had spoken about was replaced. They had also replaced the centre stand which had actually become a bit problematic for me recently. Due to the weak battery, I had to always put the bike on the centre stand and kick start it. However, getting the bike off the centre stand was becoming tough as the bike would slide forward. In the back of my mind, this was something to be done at the next service so Im glad that it was addressed by them now. Besides this, there were small parts they needed to replace which was understandable. I will type out and upload the details of the full bill in a day or two. Royal Enfield did not charge me for the replacement chassis, nor did they charge any labour costs for the work. So a big thumbs up to Sanju and to everyone else in Royal Enfield who helped facilitate this.

Recently, a social media post about Himalayan motorcycles having chassis related problems, was shared across different groups. I was then told by someone in Royal Enfield (he isnt related to the Cochin SVCs), that if there are any RE motorcycles with chassis issues (whether on the GT 535 or the much publicised Himalayan BS3 or others), the company replaces them for free.

Can you spot the Captain waiting to be wheeled out?

I did a quick visual check and everything seemed to be in order. With a big thank you to Sanju, I headed off into the slightly chaotic traffic and pouring rain and it took me a minute or two, to get back to that comfortable feeling of riding an old motorcycle. On my way back home through the heavy downpour, I felt the suspension bottom out once through a rough section which meant that I needed to firm up the rear suspension a bit. Other than that, everything else felt absolutely spot on and I was quite impressed by the braking of the Continental GT 535c in the slippery and occasionally dangerous conditions.

Since I didnt have my GT 535 for a few weeks, I have had some time to reflect on the past and current state of matters. A lot of people continue to give Royal Enfield flak for, well, its past reputation (well earned as it was) of selling poorly engineered motorcycles and providing an even worse service experience. Now however, things are different, as I have personally experienced. Their motorcycles are well built, the new BS4 Himalayan and 650 twins are testament to this. And the service experience is far and away the best that I have had across 18 years of motorcycle ownership between Bajaj, Yamaha, Triumph and Royal Enfield.

Back in 2014, I had three front runners for my hard earned money - the manic KTM Duke 390 (now known as the first gen D390), the Suzuki Inazuma (that was discontinued and apparently isnt known by anyone any longer) and the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 (also discontinued but lives in the long shadow cast by its bigger 650 brother). The head said that since I had progressed from the Pulsar 150 to the agile and nimble Yamaha R15, the logical choice for an upgrade had to be the KTM Duke 390. The heart though, was thoroughly smitten by the Continental GT 535. Now that I am 24,000 kms into my ownership of the Continental GT 535, I will admit that it is far from perfect and certainly isnt for everyone but I find myself enjoying the Continental GT 535, especially in the hills. As I look back at all the adventures that I have had over the past few years, on group rides with fellow TBHPians and solo rides, I can unequivocally state that I made the right choice with the GT 535.

[neil.jericho]

I had to give the Continental GT 535 a bit of a wash and wipe since it had gotten quite dirty with the heavy rains and flooded roads that had welcomed it back. As I had mentioned in my last post, the rains have been continuous since thursday and finally there was some respite on sunday after which I could clean the bike. I checked the chassis details and except for the last couple of numbers that I couldnt see (since it was obstructed by some wiring), the chassis details matched.

Suspension needs to be stiffened up


All the wiring is neatly tucked away


New rubber sleeve for the kick start


22nd June 2019 date on the chassis


A new dimple on the side panel gifted by the SVC. I have some plans for the Continental GT so this isnt be a problem really.


The best angle on the Continental GT 535?

I also used a bit of the STP Moto Booster before filling up later. I am not sure how useful these additives are but I checked with a very experienced TBHPian who confirmed that these are beneficial. Besides a little preventive maintenance never hurt.

Soon after I finished cleaning and left on my bike, it started raining heavier than it had ever done in the preceding few days and visibility was down to a very short distance. The GT 535 did a good job in these tough conditions and it got me back safe and sound as I kept speeds low. All this meant that my cleaning efforts were in vain though!

24,053.4 kms on the odometer

Mileage : Thanks to the terribly hot summer and the chassis problem, I havent had to fill the motorcycle up in a long time. Meanwhile I have found that the IOCL petrol bunk on Durbar Hall ground road (near the old BTH) is quite good and filling petrol there has improved my car's mileage. So with the fuel indicator showing that less than half a tank of fuel was available, I filled up from this pump. It will be interesting to see if there is any increase in the city mileage on the bike with regular filling from this pump. Distance covered : 120.4 kms of city riding. Petrol consumed : 5.99 litres. Mileage: 20.03 kmpl. Mileage since day 1 stands at 27.58 kmpl.

[neil.jericho]

Here are the details of the bill that I paid while collecting the bike after the chassis replacement.

As I had detailed in my earlier posts, the main costs were from the cone set and centre stand which were actually unrelated to the chassis work and would have come up at the next service. I dropped into the service centre mid week since there were a couple of small issues that I noticed
- a screw on one side of the lock set was loose. This was causing the lock set to rattle as the revs were rising.
- the suspension needed to be firmed up a little. I asked them to set it to my old positioning of 4 grooves being visible on both sides.

One thing that I have noticed is that the bike seems to have gained a bit more character errr vibes in the mid range after the work was done. The Shell 15W50 fully synthetic oil hasnt been the greatest in keeping the bike super smooth compared to the Motul 300V and is only 1350 kms old now. For the price of around Rs 650 per litre though, I shouldnt really complain. Now that the monsoon rains have sadly disappeared again, I am able to ride a little faster when the roads open up. On my last ride I felt the front brake was missing some of its sharpness which conversely also makes it easier to manage at slower speeds in the heavy rains. Maybe the front brakes needs to be bled. I think Ill have to make a mid week visit to the SVC once again.

Anyways, I cant really update this thread without a picture of the Continental GT, can I?

[neil.jericho]

Ever since I moved out of Bangalore in the summer of last year, the one thing that I have sorely missed is weekend group rides with like minded motorcycling enthusiasts. Sure, solo rides are fun and you get a lot of freedom to explore in any direction you want as you dont have to worry about a group's collective decision making process but that doesnt mean that group rides arent any less enjoyable. Quite often, just sitting and discussing motorcycling, rides and life in general over a yummy dosa and piping hot coffee does more wonders for soothing your soul than any other regular conversation could.

Buying a second motorcycle meant that I got to meet some friendly Triumph owners here in Cochin but for one reason or the other, I wasnt able to make it to the quick night rides that they occasionally planned. Finally the stars aligned as there was a group ride today morning and we eventually narrowed down on the destination of Cherai beach which isnt too far from Cochin. The lineup for the group ride was quite interesting - one 2019 Kawasaki ZX10R KRT edition, one Kawasaki Z900 with an Akrapovic exhaust, two Triumph Street Triple 675s with Arrow exhausts that were missing their baffles and my stock Royal Enfield Continental GT 535.

After reaching Cherai, we explored some narrow roads and stumbled upon some very picturesque locations in the process. The overcast skies fortunately only blessed us with a very light drizzle and we didnt get drenched at any point. Since we werent in a big rush, we stopped to take a few photos at different places. On our way back, the Sunday morning traffic did make it's presence felt and so, some parts of the return leg werent as enjoyable as the rest of the morning ride. All in all though, it was a fabulous group ride that was greatly helped by the cool weather and great company.

Since this was the first time that I got to stretch the Continental GT's legs after the chassis replacement, I realized that the enhanced character errr vibrations that used to creep in at the upper end have now greatly reduced. Of course, Kerala's highways dont provide too many opportunities to enjoy this smoother top end. So net net, the earlier smoother mid range and gruffy top end has been interchanged post the chassis switch and now the mid range has a gruff feel and the top end has become smoother. Just Royal Enfield things I guess!

Mileage : I tanked up at the same IOCL petrol bunk on Durbar Hall ground road that I mentioned in my last mileage update. Distance covered : 133.5 kms of which half of it was city riding and the other half was today's high revving group ride. Petrol consumed : 5.78 litres. Mileage: 23.1 kmpl. Mileage since day 1 drops marginally to 27.55 kmpl.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

After reaching Cherai, we explored some narrow roads and stumbled upon some very picturesque locations in the process. The overcast skies fortunately only blessed us with a very light drizzle and we didnt get drenched at any point. Since we werent in a big rush, we stopped to take a few photos at different places.

The Cherai beach still looks lovely. Havent been there since 1992. Still identifiable.

Great that you are slowly making effort for getting to know the groups there and ride with them, Neil

Best Regards and Ride Safe

Ram

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

The Cherai beach still looks lovely. Havent been there since 1992. Still identifiable.

Great that you are slowly making effort for getting to know the groups there and ride with them, Neil

Best Regards and Ride Safe

Ram

Ram,

Cherai beach does have a charm of its own for sure. I usually head there in the evenings when its a little more crowded but going there early on Sunday morning meant there were much fewer people. And the lovely weather made it even better!

A fellow rider soaking in the tranquility


What more can you ask for on a Sunday morning?

[neil.jericho]

Well, Ive been complaining about the lack of rains this monsoon season and in the last week or so, the south western parts of our country have been battered with very heavy rainfall. It has been pouring cats and dogs here for the last couple of days and the rains have been so heavy that I have noticed that even cars were staying off the roads for some time. Fortunately there was some respite today and I headed out on the Continental GT in the evening.

Miles? How did this happen?

The first thing that struck me was that there was something wrong with the odometer as the number displayed was in the fifteen thousand range. It took me a few seconds to realize that the odometer had magically shifted to miles and wasnt the usual kilometers. I tried toggling between the Trip A and Trip B and the odometer showed 99.3 miles on both which was very strange as I had fuelled up only a few days ago and reset the clocks at that time. So there was no way that the bike had done 99.3 kilometers since then, much less miles!

Temporarily back to normal?

Once I reached my destination, I pressed down the button on the clocks to successfully switch from the miles to kilometers. Then with some difficulty I was able to switch to Trip A which showed 28.4 kms and then suddenly went to 0.0 kms. I was unable to move into Trip B or back to the total kilometers reading. I realized that there was some condensation on the inside of the glass on the clocks as well. This is the first time that I have encountered any such problem with the bike in nearly 5 years, I hope it sorts itself out and I dont need to replace the clocks on the next service. Just Royal Enfield things!

Just lovely!

[neil.jericho]

Its been a while since Ive had the opportunity to enjoy a good ride in the rain or as it is more popularly known - a proper wet chaddi ride. I wasnt always a big fan of these rain rides but over the years, Ive come to realize that once you find your monsoon riding rhythm, there is an intangible sense of motorcyclist happiness associated with it, that is very difficult to explain. Logically, it doesnt make sense. You risk getting your wallet and mobile phone soaked if they arent safely tucked away. Visibility is low. Roads are slippery and sometimes downright treacherous. You cant ride too fast. Braking distances increase by a large extent. More importantly, you are often less visible to others. And yet somehow, it is an amazing experience. If you get it, you fully get it and you know exactly what I mean and I dont need to explain it. If you dont, I guess that nothing that I type can do a credible job of explaining it.

Since the rains showed some signs of abating over the weekend, I was able to take the bike out to enjoy some of the better roads we have under highly overcast conditions. Soon enough though, the drizzles returned and in time, they were replaced by heavy showers. These pictures dont fully do justice to the intensity of the downpour, to be honest. Unfortunately, visibility eventually became a problem as did large puddles of water on the roads which caused a lot of heartache to big burly SUVs and trucks which kept swerving to avoid the water.

Fortunately the traffic density was low


But the intensity of the rain was high!

Not wanting to take any risks with wildly careening bigger vehicles, I had to call it a day though I was thoroughly enjoying the ride. The sticky Pirelli tires did a fabulous job of keeping things safe, despite the less than perfect conditions. Soaked riding gear - check. Previously clean bike, now dirtied - check. Mile wide smile - check.

Rains. Motorcycles. Perfect.

Before I forget, the issues with the odometer had magically disappeared before the start of the ride. I was easily able to toggle between the odometer and the Trip A and Trip B views. So it looks as though all systems are back to normal.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

So it looks as though all systems are back to normal.

Simbly Ignore!



Everytime I ride through heavy rains my 'Low Oil Sensor' comes up, rather than bend down and replace the sensor which is cheap to begin with I now call it the 'Monsoon Sensor'.

These electricals tend to go iffy when things get wet, I'd say it's be best we count our blessings and keep riding lest something more critical goes got a toss!

Recalling the words of wisdom shared by Dan Pada, motorcycles are not meant to be washed!

[neil.jericho]

One our whatsapp group, a fellow Royal Enfield GT535 owner was complaining about how just last month, he had installed a new speedo cluster from Royal Enfield and he was told by the dealership that this had better seals in them than the original lot. However the new unit also suffers from some condensation like I had posted about earlier. Other owners have also had to replace their clocks for similar issues.

It turns out that all these speedos are manufactured by Pricol and they have the problem of condensation. Apparently these Pricol units have some chambers at the bottom for the neutral bulb replacement with a rubber cap. The moisture gets trapped within that part. This issue sometimes happens with the Himalayan bikes as well since they also have Pricol units.

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

These electricals tend to go iffy when things get wet, I'd say it's be best we count our blessings and keep riding lest something more critical goes got a toss!

Recalling the words of wisdom shared by Dan Pada, motorcycles are not meant to be washed!

Yes, I agree. If it isnt broken, dont go experimenting with it while trying to fix it. As it is, rain or no rain, the battery warning indicator is linked to a random number generator on the GT 535s.

P.S - there are some forum members here who subscribe to the brown is beautiful ideology when it comes to their motorcycles! At the same time, I also know of one forum member whose bike undoubtedly looks better today than the day it rolled out of the Kawasaki showroom.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Simbly Ignore!
...

Everytime I ride through heavy rains my 'Low Oil Sensor' comes up, rather than bend down and replace the sensor which is cheap to begin with I now call it the 'Monsoon Sensor'.

These electricals tend to go iffy when things get wet, I'd say it's be best we count our blessings and keep riding lest something more critical goes got a toss!

...

Are you sure it's only a level sensor and not a pressure sensor?

The problem with malfunctioning sensors is the story of the boy who cried "wolf". If ignoring the warning lamp becomes a habit then you risk serious damage.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Are you sure it's only a level sensor and not a pressure sensor?

It's a pressure switch.

The problem with malfunctioning sensors is the story of the boy who cried "wolf". If ignoring the warning lamp becomes a habit then you risk serious damage.

True that I literally know a fellow Bhpian who did just than while returning from Leh causing his P220 to seize at Karnataka before he could get back to Kerala.

Since the oil pressure switch is exposed(on the oil cooler) after some wear and tear it starts to short when the motorcycle gets really wet, my friend ignored the oil sensor light just as he would usually do, then came the temperature warning light(P220 has 2 Temperature sensors) my smart friend decided to ignore that as well citing the same reason and wa'la!

Though in my case I ignore with due caution, oil is changed at 1500km's intervals, oil level is checked every day before riding, and I do keep an eye out for the Temperature sensor as well, even though I've spent quite some time with this motorcycle and am certain that I'd catch something amiss way before the sensors do.

I know it sounds a tad overconfident but me other ride has no sensors at all and the Butt! Sensor has served me well during several interstate rides, so I guess I'll stay hopeful.

Then you never really know.