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Originally Posted by R-Six It has been almost a month since I installed the new handlebar riser set up on my GT. Thanks to the festive season, I haven’t had a chance to take it out for any longer trip (other than one 200km roundtrip I did around December). But my commute to office allows me to hit the highway for approximately 7kms one way and I have lately I have found a sweet spot where I can just touch the triple-digit on the speedo and still ride without any noticeable vibes. So, it looks like my GT touches 100KMPH @ 3500 RPM and in that range, the vibe from the handlebar is next to none. The vibe gradually increases as soon as the RPM crosses the 3500 mark though. But given that our highways are filled with idiots, I think this is the sweet spot I’m going to follow going forward. |
That certainly is good to hear, R-Six! With the after market scene in India being as nascent as it is, quite often these non OEM installs end up with giving some inadvertent additional, ahem, character to the bike but in your case it looks as though you are getting a much more comfortable seating position and no vibes at safe highway speeds! The best of both worlds indeed.
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Originally Posted by R-Six Neil, we need more updates on this thread! I had to dig this thread out from the 4th page of the Motorcycles section. |
Tell me about it! I too had to dig it out from the fourth page and I had started typing a post but left it pending, since I wanted to provide a more complete update.
First a little bit of context before I provide an update on the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535. Last year a driver and a security guard at my building tried to unnecessarily move my other motorcycle and ended up dropping it in the process. The end result was that I had to pay a total of Rs 9,000 for replacing the bent handlebar and labour charges at Triumph. Since that incident, the building caretaker recommended that all bikes be parked in a much safer spot where nobody would have to move the motorcycles around. Fast forward a few months and the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535's battery was on it's very last legs and I hunted for a replacement battery in early December, the details of which I posted on this thread. Since I wasnt going to be doing any riding towards the year end holidays, I postponed my battery purchase to this month. And so the bike remained parked in it's corner while it waited for a new battery.
A couple of weeks ago, I was just giving the GT a quick once over when I realized that something was very wrong.
The front brake lever looked as though it had been in a crash and was bent at a terrible angle.
The right side handle bar was bent.
The right footpeg was broken.
The right side RVM had some slight scratches as did a few surrounding parts.
Later I came to notice that the rear grab rail also had some scratch marks on them as well. Initially I thought that the bike was dropped and put back up by the miscreants without informing anyone about the accident / incident. However, the scratches on the rear grab rail make me wonder if someone rode / drove into the back of the motorcycle and knocked it down. Or maybe Ive been watching too many detective shows.
The security guards in the building were of no use and claim to have not heard the sound of the motorcycle falling. Unfortunately there is no CCTV coverage in that area of the parking lot. It turns out that another tenant had complained recently about petrol that was stolen from his motorcycle! All in all, it has been a most frustrating experience.
Since my last service experience at the Royal Enfield company service center at Edapally wasnt too great (
they took 4 days to start work on my bike which had a small electrical failure), I planned to give my bike to St Mary's service center on Chittoor road as it was a lot closer to my place. They didnt have the required parts and suggested that I explore a couple of other shops nearby. Ordering for new parts from Royal Enfield at the service centre will result in a 2 - 3 week waiting period for it to be sent from Madras. Let's not forget that I ordered for a kick start lever in October of 2019 at the company SVC in Edapally and either Royal Enfield hasnt sent it or the service advisor has completely forgotten about it.
Speaking of forgetfulness, I somehow forgot to ask about the brake lever and the kick starter but the other parts are on track to be in stock in a day or two at an authorized Royal Enfield spares distributor. Once I get all the parts, I will replace the battery and then take the bike to the St Marys SVC.
On the topic of the battery, I had posted this last month.
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Originally Posted by neil.jericho Meanwhile I checked the Exide website and saw that they dont have a 14 Ah option but strangely enough, a few days later, a fellow rider from the Continental GT owners group posted about a new dry cell zero maintenance battery from Exide, under the Xplore - Motorcycle VRLA range, that incidentally was available at a shop that was walking distance from my place. The price quoted was Rs 2,900 and it comes with a monster 48 month warranty! Thats a third more what Exide themselves offer on their own SF Sonic Mobiker battery. So the Exide Xplore battery has become the sure shot choice for the battery replacement, I have postponed getting it installed on my bike until after the holidays. |
There was a fellow Continental GT rider in Cochin who updated me about this Exide Xplore - Motorcycle VRLA dry cell battery with a 48 month warranty. A few days ago the rider updated me that this Exide battery is apparently sold out and is no longer available! Why, Exide, why? So it looks as though I am left with only Amco and SF Sonic (
this is a sister company of Exide) as my options for replacement batteries.
Anyways, back to the bike, I hope to get the bike up and running as soon as possible and then the next step is the seat upgrades. Meanwhile, the mind wanders off towards the long pending thought of a proper paint job on the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 now that it has completed 5 years. There is nothing wrong with the current paint job (
except for that little dimple on the tank) but a little customization without being too overtly done, can only help to make the bike a little more special.