[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Nick_Wanderlust

I hope the service centre staff should not count these 10 days since the bike has been kept in their workshop for its first service. Hope the first service appointment should be after 24th Nov.

Thanks for the wish mate. The first service is scheduled on 24th Nov 2014 as per my discussion with the service manager and the bike being stationary at the service centre for 10 days has already been clarified and accepted by them. I wish to complete the remaining 150 odd kms. in the coming week and make the bike ready for its first free service.

[navin_v8]

Fellow TeamBhpian's, I am planning to get the 3M PPF (Paint Protection Film) treatment done on my Thunderbird 500. I have booked an appointment with the 3M Car Care store in Andheri SEEPZ tomorrow. I know you guys must be wondering I was going to go to Vasai to break that jinx but I will go there next week.

I saw one guy on this forum getting the treatment done on his Hero Passion, it looks well worth it. I will update you all once I get this done.

[Silverflash]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Fellow TeamBhpian's, I am planning to get the 3M PPF (Paint Protection Film) treatment done on my Thunderbird 500.

Could you find out if they do PPF for the matte black TB500, and if they have an outlet in Chennai? Thanks!

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Silverflash

Could you find out if they do PPF for the matte black TB500, and if they have an outlet in Chennai? Thanks!

Mate Silverflash don't you think the whole matt black color effect will be lost if you do a PPF treatment on it. As far as I know the PPF film is that shiny glossy kind of sheet that will spoil the look of your matt black Thunderbird in my honest opinion. Incase you decide to go ahead with it remember that you will have to get the whole bike done as just applying PPF to the fuel tank would make it stick out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless I will check with my local dealer if it can be done on matt black Thunderbird.

I just googled and found that 3M car care do have their outlets in Chennai. You can call and check with them.

[rajneeesh]

Navin, I frankly did not know that there were so many different RE Bullet variants. Thanks for sharing. The TBTS 500 is an amazing bike and I am sure that you will surely enjoy the long rides you have planned on it.

Welcome to the TBTS 500 Club on Team Bhp from the owner of the first reported TBTS 500 on the forum.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Navin, I frankly did not know that there were so many different RE Bullet variants. Thanks for sharing. The TBTS 500 is an amazing bike and I am sure that you will surely enjoy the long rides you have planned on it.

Welcome to the TBTS 500 Club on Team Bhp from the owner of the first reported TBTS 500 on the forum.

My pleasure Rajneeesh, I always like to share about my RE collection, glad you liked it. You are right about the Tbird500 it is one amazing motorcycle and I am looking forward to some really long rides on this one. Thanks again.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Silverflash

Could you find out if they do PPF for the matte black TB500, and if they have an outlet in Chennai? Thanks!

Hey Silverflash, I got the 3M PPF done on my Tbird500 last saturday. I also asked the 3M guys if they do it for Matt black Tbird's and they said they have an option of matt wraps (the ones you see on some cars), you can opt for the black color matt wrap but check with them if it will show any hairline joints while applying those wraps especially on the fuel tank.

[basilmabraham]

Congrats on the new TBS.. I have the same TBTS500 in Marine colour, got it few months ago. Wishing you miles of enjoyment.

Happy that you got 3M PPF on the bike. I took mine to the 3M guys in Cochin and they denied PPF for the bike. Infact they said they dont do the PPF or any other services for bikes, they do it only for cars it seems. I will have to go back and check with them again.

[Silverflash]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Hey Silverflash, I got the 3M PPF done on my Tbird500 last saturday. I also asked the 3M guys if they do it for Matt black Tbird's and they said they have an option of matt wraps (the ones you see on some cars), you can opt for the black color matt wrap but check with them if it will show any hairline joints while applying those wraps especially on the fuel tank.

Thanks a bunch for checking with them, Navin, but I thought about it, and decided that I don't want to spoil the look of the matte black paint job with film on it.

If I remember right, there is some kind of paint protection spray that can be used on the matte paint jobs. Maybe not from 3M car care, but from somewhere else. I think I read about it and saw photos on one of the ownership threads on here for the TB500. I'll check back to see if I can find it.

[navin_v8]

Folks! I visited the 3M car care shop located at SEEPZ in Andheri East for getting the PPF done on my Tbird 500 last Saturday. As promised I will give a detailed review of the same. Here it goes, I booked an appointment one day prior with the 3M car care shop for Saturday at 9.45.am (you need to book an appointment if you wish to get the work done on a weekend). I reached the shop at 9.50.am. and quickly the bike was handed over for getting the PPF done on the fuel tank and the tool boxes (not the chrome covers but the battery box cover and air filter cover). Before this I was told an estimate of 10 square feet of PPF film will be required at the cost of Rs. 490 per sq.ft inclusive of labour and taxes. The total bill would sum upto Rs. 4990 approximately. I agreed given a fact that I am a sucker for factory paint and try to keep my cars as well as the bikes in their original factory paint.

The time estimated for the work was about 3 hours, I agreed and left the shop for some personal work but forgot to handover the keys to the shop guys. I got a call from them when I was at Andheri railway station saying that, "I didn't gave them the key" (they required the key to take off the fuel tank and the tool boxes). The 3M guys were kind enough to send one of their staff at Andheri station to collect the key from me. I came back to the 3M shop by around 2.30.pm and the work on the fuel tank was in its final stages. The work was completed by around 3.30.pm. I went to inspect the bike and saw that the PPF was done flawlessly on the tool boxes but was not upto the mark on the fuel tank (maybe because of larger and curvy surface area). The hairline joints were visible and were looking shabby at the curved areas especially at the front and downward curve surface area of the tank. I brought this to the notice of the showroom manager and he said they will redo it but it will take about 45 minutes to which I agreed.

After about an hour or so the bike was ready, all this while the showroom manager was really patient and walked me in while the PPF was being done. I saw the bike and although the hairline seems were visible but the shabby bubbled at the edges had gone. I asked the showroom manager about a couple of bubbles and creases appearing on the PPF on the fuel tank and he assured me that those will disappear once the PPF sets in about a weeks time. Now let the pictures do the talking.

Before








After










Update
I noticed on Sunday morning that the seems at the hairline joing have bubbled up and look shabby, I am waiting for a weeks time as told by the 3M showroom manager to see if this subsides. If it doesn't then I will take it back to the 3M shop on coming Saturday to rectify it.

[navin_v8]

Hello everyone, I had a query about the idling rpm on the Tbird 500. The bike usually idles around 800-1000 rpm. I noticed this on last saturday while starting as well as while riding my bike that the rpm has gone upto 1500 and I thought maybe because the engine is cold in the morning this is happening, but it continued for the whole day and on sunday as well. I read on this forum that one of the reasons for this might be a cracked air breather pipe, but I am not sure as the bike is just about one and a half months old. I am going to give the bike for its first free service on next monday. Any pointers??

[Silverflash]

I observed a similar RPM increase at idling on my bike. No idea why, but I took it to the SC and got them to bring it back down to 100 RPM. It has stayed pretty stable after, so I haven't thought too much more about it.

I agree that a cracked air breather pipe sounds unlikely after just about a month, but remember that this RE we are talking about. Build quality, while better than before, still isn't bulletproof, so if the issue crops up again, it might be worth checking out.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Silverflash

I observed a similar RPM increase at idling on my bike. No idea why, but I took it to the SC and got them to bring it back down to 100 RPM. It has stayed pretty stable after, so I haven't thought too much more about it.

I agree that a cracked air breather pipe sounds unlikely after just about a month, but remember that this RE we are talking about. Build quality, while better than before, still isn't bulletproof, so if the issue crops up again, it might be worth checking out.

Thanks for clarifying this Silverflash, but did you have a chance to check with RE service centre technicians as to why this might be happening, I mean what triggers this behaviour? Else I will check with them as I am going to give it for the first free service coming monday.

Your take on the build quality takes me to my second observation although it has nothing to do with the build quality per se, it is about those fancy add ons. Like I mentioned before that digital clock on the instrument panel is a Liar! I saw that it always runs 4-5 minutes late inspite of setting it numerous times. I will instead rely on my Seiko Flightmaster watch from now on . I am happy that the infamous fuel gauge hsn't bothered me so far, keeping my fingers crossed for it to work flawlessly.

[Silverflash]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Thanks for clarifying this Silverflash, but did you have a chance to check with RE service centre technicians as to why this might be happening, I mean what triggers this behaviour? Else I will check with them as I am going to give it for the first free service coming monday.

Well, in my case, the rise in the idling RPM coincided with the loosening of a number of bolts and screws on the bike (mirrors, side panels, etc.). When I took the bike to them, I just assumed that the idling level screw might have been moved from its set position due to the vibes as well. I know it sounds unlikely, but the level stabilized after resetting it, so I didn't think about it too much after, nor did I ask them.

Your take on the build quality takes me to my second observation although it has nothing to do with the build quality per se, it is about those fancy add ons. Like I mentioned before that digital clock on the instrument panel is a Liar! I saw that it always runs 4-5 minutes late inspite of setting it numerous times. I will instead rely on my Seiko Flightmaster watch from now on . I am happy that the infamous fuel gauge hsn't bothered me so far, keeping my fingers crossed for it to work flawlessly.

The clock is useless, I haven't even bothered to set it. The fuel gauge, on the other hand, works just fine. You just need to understand what it is showing you. One remaining bar, if it is BLINKING, means you have around 5-6 liters left in the tank. So you need to calibrate (in your head) the bars from full to one remaining to show you the usage of around 14 liters of fuel. If you keep that in mind, the fuel gauge indication shouldn't catch you out too badly.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Silverflash

One remaining bar, if it is BLINKING, means you have around 5-6 liters left in the tank. So you need to calibrate (in your head) the bars from full to one remaining to show you the usage of around 14 liters of fuel. If you keep that in mind, the fuel gauge indication shouldn't catch you out too badly.

Mate I've been riding them RE CI's for ages without fuel gauge, I am aware of the reserve fuel and the bar indicators. I brought out this point as many RE Tbird owners' fuel gauge shows faulty readings on this forum as well as else where. Infact one of my friend changed the fuel gauge assembly during warranty period due to faulty readings. The technique I use while riding is to make a note of no. of litres of petrol filled in my bike and multiply it by mileage I will get on those litres while mapping figures in my brain with the bike's odometer. KISS (Keep it Straight and Simple).