[pramodkumar]

After the RD restoration I was free.

A lot more free!

I wanted to do another bike, I was very restless, so was Tinu. I wanted to do something different, after doing up the RD I was very confident, I wanted to do a restoration that would match the RDs restoration in terms of passion.

I decided to go for a used RXZ, started looking online, the prices were outrageous. Bikes going above 100k and any bike below 20 or 25 were sold even before the posted party gets a like on facebook.

My local visits to the Yamaha A S S, confirmed my suspicion that the demand has gone up, all parts including the cassis were available, this would mean that, those funny prices online would crash in some days.

I started doing the maths, if I get the papers alone for less than 5K I can build the whole bike under 40k with all new factory fresh parts. This was something that made me even restless. I wanted to do it even more now, this was something that can match my previous restorations, or even surpass it in terms of size, passion and pride.

While I was contemplating all this I decided to do something very crazy, started building my house. That started depleting my reserves , the house would have a crazy garage for sure.

My mind said no more bikes as, washing three vehicles started taking a toll on me. All was well, then one fine day I get a call from a whatsapp RD group member, he wanted me to check out a KB 100, the bike was an honest bike, 91 model











which we later ended up buying, (the pics are taken at my home) on the ride home, it felt different, the wheel base is longer and the seating position is very comfy. The engine has a poor low end, but the high end is terrific.

The first thing I did after I reached home was to wash the bike, it had ages of dust on it. After wash took it to a spin and I was in love with the bike, the less stressed engine and the riding comfort was awesome, low end improved once the vehicle warmed up. The millage was killer, we (me and Tinu) did some long rides on this and it was a mile cruncher. Decided to give my group friend a free make over, so detailed the tank and side coves and replaced the tail lamp glass, meters needs to be fixed on this one.

Came to work the next day in car, it was raining horribly. It was a Friday and the office was less busy, started reading stuff online and felt something that I have not felt in almost 2 decades, the dilemma of a 2 stroke 2 wheeler buyer in India in the 90s, The benchmark for performance was set by the RD 350, it was a mad bike, instant power, instant freedom but was also a known widow maker(I too had a nasty fall, that story for a different day). Then there was the pocket rocket the RX 100, this was for the college boy who was famous among his friends, girls wanted a ride in his bike, whose parents thought he was going to college on a missile and hated the bike, They were confiscated, I know some people who had to continue their hunger strikes even after buying their bikes. Then there was the geek bike, The KB 100, it was for the college kid who was talking about long wheelbase, better stability, better top end, better instrument cluster and finally better millage. None of this really made sense to the college kid who was high on adrenaline.

In the 90s Yamaha- Rajdoot tie up was minting money, cleverly designed and well placed product line, weak contenders and a pride to own a Japanese motorcycle which were CBUs first and CKDs now was something the college lunchtime and tea time discussions were made up of. Frustrated parents waiting outside Yamaha showrooms with their chequebooks was a common sight. My very own friend and co restorer had to wait 55 days to get his tiger in 1999, he called the showroom everyday twice to find out in case it arrived. But early 90s the waiting period was longer, it was more that 7 months, and for tier 3 cities like Trivandrum it was even longer.

My other friend re collects a very amazing incident. Where in he rode his Mildly ported Rx 100 from Kollam to Trivandrum, those days the stretch could be done in 55 minutes in a bus, so someone doing it in 25 minutes in a bike is insane.

About 35 KMs from Trivandrum kallambalam there used to be a make shift signal there, a traffic cop etc, my friend was waiting at the signal and suddenly he hears an unfamiliar buzz like a bee from distance, he looks in his rear view mirror and he sees an approaching black bike, this was the time street hawk used to rule our television. The bike in the rear view got his attention as it grew bigger and louder, it comes and stops near him. He sees a challenge immediately and as soon as they get a go signal from the traffic cop the take off. The shogun was ahead and my friend got really insulted, next day he sold his RX and bought a shogun. Not many would believe this story as most don't know what the bike is capable off. This is the bike that let the entire Escorts Yamaha go crazy and deliver a premature baby the RXG.

Most of the people cancelled their bookings and they picked up shoguns from the showroom. True a die hard fan of Yamaha like me all this was un believable. Though I was born in 81, I was still a child when all this happened, I never heard great reports about the shogun, everyone said its bad, it has very high maintenance and spare parts are impossible to get. Coupled with that I have ridden the bike only once and I cannot even remember who the bike was. This was the third choice, this was not for the smart and popular kid or the geek, this was for the bad boy among the gang. The kid who was unpredictable, the kid who would make your parents frown every time you utter his name.

I wanted to try this bike !

One fine day I pickup my phone and our RD group on watsaap has gone crazy over a discussion. There were 500+ unread messages and there were two groups, one supporting the shoguns and one throwing muck at it.

My love for Yamaha (fanboy alert) and ignorance about the shogun made me take sides with the shogun haters, I seconded all the negative things I heard about shogun and to me the whole history and legacy the shogun went blurred. This was probably due to the lemon shaolin my close friend had in college. After bashing Shogun so much some people started a Shogun lovers group and someone added me too, My rant continued on the new group on why I was added, but somehow I never left the group.

Fast forward, our forum member jayakrishnan had put one of his bikes on sale in May 2015, I posted it in the whatsapp group and no one responded, it stayed unsold, though was very reasonably priced. I pinged him last friday and asked him if the bike is still there, and also asked him if I get a discount on this one if I buy, Long story short, I stole the bike from him. Some pics of the bike at his place.








The bike was not running. More updates and pics to follow. Sorry for the long post.

Pramod

[lazy]

pramodkumar

Let me be the first to wish you the best.

I see that you are a RX fan and seem to have sided with the RX in the usual discussion people our age have had innumerable times in our college canteens etc. (am older than you by a bit)

And in this post you talk about 2 of my favorite Indian 2 stoke bikes - KB100 & Shogun.
Two years ago I restored my 18 yr old KB100 complete, one picture below. I am so glad I did all the work myself. Picked up a whole new hobby and learnt so much.
After that was done, I was wondering what next. And guess what, I picked up a 15 yr old Shogun. Haven't started work on it yet, still wondering how to get it transferred to Bangalore RTO and my name etc.

Would keenly follow your thread.

cheers
lazy

[ku69rd]

Nice Pramod, KB 100 was indeed a dark horse among the 3. (Rx 100, KB 100 & Shogun).

It was a fantastic handling machine but suffered due to its clutch. The machine with its rotary valve setup required a better heavy duty clutch but nevertheless it was a fantastic city bike with all the whistles and bells in terms of gadgetry.

Nice to see your thoughts on the Shogun.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by lazy

pramodkumar

Let me be the first to wish you the best.

I see that you are a RX fan and seem to have sided with the RX in the usual discussion people our age have had innumerable times in our college canteens etc. (am older than you by a bit)

And in this post you talk about 2 of my favorite Indian 2 stoke bikes - KB100 & Shogun.
Two years ago I restored my 18 yr old KB100 complete, one picture below. I am so glad I did all the work myself. Picked up a whole new hobby and learnt so much.
After that was done, I was wondering what next. And guess what, I picked up a 15 yr old Shogun. Haven't started work on it yet, still wondering how to get it transferred to Bangalore RTO and my name etc.

Would keenly follow your thread.

cheers
lazy

Thanks for the encouragement! it was great to know you also have the same hobby as mine, KB 100 is a touch and go type restoration, where in my priority is to get the meters working and change the indicators at max. As I mentioned this belongs to a friend and the restoration depends on what he wants in terms of restoration.

Continuing my story from the previous post, I went and saw the bike around 9 pm and it was not running. I came home and started talking to Jayakrishnan, who is in UK. After a lot of persuasion he gave in and we agreed on a price. After that I could hardly sleep.

Early morning called up my friend and went to pickup the bike in my RX. Rode almost 35-40 KM one way. The bike was looking sad the throttle cable was broken. I had a spare cable, the screws had no head, they were rusted and my screw driver was useless. I took in to the nearest mech and he was unavailable, the next door mech was also unavailable (Kerala has to go a long way in terms of attitude and work punctuality). Finally pushed half a km in the scorching sun. The mech was there. The mech looked at the cable and said its the wrong type

He gave the address of a nearby shop which might have the cable, I went to the shop and way surprised to find many shogun parts. Got the accelerator cable, complete sticker set (OE quality) and rear panel set, all for 1K.

I finally went back to the mech and he connected the cable and one kick and the bike came to life with a roar, I was surprised since there was no fuel in the tank, we pored the fuel and I took the first in many years ride for the bike and my first shogun ride in a decade and half. It performed flawlessly and was giving the RX a run for its money, the brakes were hopeless so didn't go fast, all the gauges were dead, there was no battery.

I reached home little less tired than my friend Tinu.







Since I was alone in my teardown(Tinu had some work) I could not take many pics. This is how the bike stands after a diesel wash and pressure wash.



The tank and side panels need to be sent to be painted. The tank has a lot of pin holes, need to fix them first and then paint them, I will keep the thread updated.

Pramod

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

The shogun was ahead and my friend got really insulted, next day he sold his RX and bought a shogun. Not many would believe this story as most don't know what the bike is capable off.
Most of the people cancelled their bookings and they picked up shoguns from the showroom. True a die hard fan of Yamaha like me all this was un believable. Though I was born in 81, I was still a child when all this happened,

aah good old memories..... I am one of the Shogun owner from 1994 till now, though i have not used it for few years but kept it safely in a garage.
Coincidently, i am of same year born as yours
Rode my bike more than half of India for around 1,65,000 kms (numerous engine builds, but last engine rebuilt in 2004 in Bangalore has hold well till 2008 after that bike was not used).
I still remember how many days i had to fast to get this bike.
I still remember faces of my friends who used to own RX-100, RXG, RXZ, Pulsar 150 etc....
I still remember number of broken lights, fairings, different handles, iRC track tyres to MRF motocross tyres i used on it
I still remember modifications i did on it, double silencer, proton silencer, porting, dual headlamp, round headlamp etc.......

One request to you, if you can please help me find out few spares for my shogun, i will be obliged. I need key set, front light and fairing, sticker set, and indicators.

Regards,
Shubhendra Singh

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

One request to you, if you can please help me find out few spares for my shogun, i will be obliged. I need key set, front light and fairing, sticker set, and indicators.

Regards,
Shubhendra Singh

Great to see a fellow enthusiast, I would look for spares here, The Faring is available in black with a guy here with stickers on it, its fiberglass, let me know if you need that. Indicators and stickers are also available here.

The stickers come in 2 quality OEM and locally made. OEM costs above 500 and the locally made one is 250 I believe, its visually of lower quality and since its your own bike I would suggest you get the better one.

Headlight and Key set I have to check.

What colour is your Bike?

Pramod

[Viju]

All the best for the restoration, Pramod. Small world indeed. Had bought this Shogun and all the spares required for restoration last year. But as I had to move out of India, never got around to restoring it, and sold it to my good friend Jay along with my RD. Cheers. Will be looking forward to the end result.

[adg_andy]

Hi PK,

You make me nostalgic I was born the same year you were , and I also owned a Shogun (albeit 3rd hand, but who cares) in my college days. Mean machine, would give the King of the roads in those days- the mighty CBZ a run for its money in the city.

I was forced to sell it by my dad after my college was over, and I never bought another bike out of respect for my "Dragon Express" ( but that is how I named my Sho )

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

What colour is your Bike?

Pramod

Silver :(
i know silver panels are hard to come buy, but if you come across headlight fairing in silver, please do PM me.
Rear brakes of Shogun are not so good even by old standards......

Shubhendra

[msrsooraj]

Dear Promod,
You keep amazing me (and everyone in this forum). And just when I thought you went over to the dark side, arrived the mighty Shogun. The BOSS. Now I have two reasons to visit you. Being a Suzuki fan fan, this Shogun becomes the prior reason for the visit. Keep updating and kindly do add the sources from where you ship in parts.

Regards
Sooraj Rajagopalan

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by Viju

All the best for the restoration, Pramod. Small world indeed. Had bought this Shogun and all the spares required for restoration last year. But as I had to move out of India, never got around to restoring it, and sold it to my good friend Jay along with my RD. Cheers. Will be looking forward to the end result.

Nice to know you had this briefly, I saw your RD at his place, its chained to a pole you could tell me the size of the cylinder perhaps, I am not planning to lift the barrels, JK is a great guy, very passionate indeed, There are 2 RX and a shogun sharing space with the blue RD, its sad he lost his dad recently and had to take his mom to UK with him. The bike was kept inside the house. I will try my level best to do a decent build.

Originally Posted by adg_andy

Hi PK,

You make me nostalgic I was born the same year you were , and I also owned a Shogun (albeit 3rd hand, but who cares) in my college days. Mean machine, would give the King of the roads in those days- the mighty CBZ a run for its money in the city.

I was forced to sell it by my dad after my college was over, and I never bought another bike out of respect for my "Dragon Express" ( but that is how I named my Sho )

Bangalore had a lot more attachment towards a shogun that rest of India, the CBZ was a bike I had from my 5th semester till college end, it had an R1 paint scheme with Ducati written on the tank on it a lot of people used to ask what bike it was. I never owned a shogun and I am enjoying the feeling

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Silver :(
i know silver panels are hard to come buy, but if you come across headlight fairing in silver, please do PM me.
Rear brakes of Shogun are not so good even by old standards......

Shubhendra

Why don't you get them painted? there is an outfit in Bangalore called classic fibre which makes fibre parts for the shogun, the have unpainted ones and are around 750 each, the ones I am talking about is painted black for 700 each with stickers. Silver shoguns are rare. if the brakes are hopeless I would convert it to disk.

Originally Posted by msrsooraj

Dear Promod,
You keep amazing me (and everyone in this forum). And just when I thought you went over to the dark side, arrived the mighty Shogun. The BOSS. Now I have two reasons to visit you. Being a Suzuki fan fan, this Shogun becomes the prior reason for the visit. Keep updating and kindly do add the sources from where you ship in parts.

Regards
Sooraj Rajagopalan

Lol, Since it was well maintained I might not need parts, but all the parts required are already procured, this is gonna be a quick one. Mostly by next month. I need to finalize someone for the paint, that's the only delay.

Pramod

[condor]

Lazy & Pramodkumar - you bring back old memories. I had a platinum grey RTZ and later the maroon 125. How I wish I could have one of these with me again !

btw, anyone with the Shaolin here ? I dont see much of that one, though I have seen an ad or two selling these twins. (Asking out of curiosity. My heart will always be with the KB's ! )

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by condor

Lazy & Pramodkumar - you bring back old memories. I had a platinum grey RTZ and later the maroon 125. How I wish I could have one of these with me again !

btw, anyone with the Shaolin here ? I dont see much of that one, though I have seen an ad or two selling these twins. (Asking out of curiosity. My heart will always be with the KB's ! )

Listen to the heart and get yourself one

The KB belongs to a friend, he has the exact same bike collection like mine, only difference is I don't own a KB. His KB is a survivor, the engine is great and the bike runs awesome, in fact I took the KB to work today. Its a nice bike, though they are available for peanuts now their market would pickup. Apart from passion I am planning to invest in bikes, they have better ROI than most of the financial products, hope my wife understands the logic as well

Pramod

[Viju]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

you could tell me the size of the cylinder perhaps, I am not planning to lift the barrels

No clue about the piston / cylinder size as I had just bought it and it was awaiting restoration. I had every single OE part in the catalogue brand new ready for the restoration including cylinder kits, carb, crank, crank case, tank, meters and side panels etc. Was hoping to do a resto similar to my Z. Anyways. Good luck.

[adrian]

Wow, it needs a considerable amount of passion to go from one restoration to another within a short span of time. All the very best for your ventures
regards adrian