[aviorp]

Paradise on wheels

It's around 4pm & time to rejuvenate from work, with a cup of tea, after a long day's work. This pretty much was the case for the whole of last year, until this day, as I was descending an altitude of 13,700 feet on my new set of 2 wheels & trying to maneuver her on a patchy, gravel, uneven, slushy stretch of (non-existent) road, with a cloud of thick fog, hampering the visibility, accompanied by cold air entering the pores of my TBG and Sidi's, which left me wandering if this was all worth the effort or was I better off warming up the office chair, when a sudden downpour washed my thoughts away and made me feel instead, this couldn't get any better, as mother nature toyed us to glory.

Few clips that depicts the highlights of the Ride -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOh4nxBYIuQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFHXhvl4q5k

Crazy slush

https://youtu.be/xboP4cdb-tw

A couple of close shaves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rbG...ature=youtu.be

https://youtu.be/o6riE9oCqWw

Finally, the one that we all love

https://youtu.be/eVtrTJ-3Ha4

[aviorp]

Farewell to Ninja

Had it not been for the horrendous service experiences and expensive spares, I would have never let go off this beauty. Ninja, was pretty much the kind of bike anyone can rely on, to wake up one fine morning and decide to do a 1000kms run (any Jap for that matter). It was hard to let go off her as I could not afford to maintain with other commitments at home.

The Quality and the Engine of this bike was a standout. She was a eye grabber, wherever she left her mark. Most of my rides have been over 800 to 1000 in a day and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Had Kawasaki had their own service centers or if they had priced their spares reasonably, I may have retained her. I hope she is in safe hands now. Will always remember those 1day-1k run's.

Ownership Thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ust-white.html

Later, at the end of 2015, picked up the Duke 390. After riding the Ninja, which was more of a subtle character, the Duke was like a mad dog. Though I initially liked its power, within a couple of months, I had lost the patience trying to learn to keep this thing calm. It just never allowed one to ride in peace. With the heating issue's and those shudders every now n then to keep it in the right rpm, after having ridden a bike in 6th gear at 40kmph, made me feel go back to a twin. In less than a year, sold the 390 and was looking for other options. Though I had some discussions about picking up the 650 or the versys, Kawa's maintenance kept me away. *Yup, Once bitten twice shy*

[aviorp]

Yam for life

Sales, Test Ride, Booking, PDI and Delivery Experience

An RX135 was a dream machine to most of us during the college days. Though I never did any long rides on mine, the raw power of the bike would bring a wide grin every time I rode it. During the initial short rides on my P200 to the Maddur CCD (back in 2007/8), an R1 used to steal the show and our heart's. Over a period of time, watching the Yam win the Moto GP's, I became an advent fan of the 3 tuning fork logo. However, I was still dicey about its spares and dint want to end up in the same situation as with the Ninja, to maintain it. So, had the CBR as the other option.

Sometime in September, my friend and also a t-bhp member (rk_sans) called up and shared his plans of riding to the North East in December, with 4 others. Without a second thought, I denied, as I was packed with work and other important things at home. Not in the wildest of my thoughts, I imagined this would turn out otherwise.

After doing some homework and reading reviews of the R3, decided on the twin & approached 'Perfect Riders' on Lalbagh Road, sometime in October to enquire about the price and waiting period. Shivu, a young lad, handed over the spec sheet..

..and I in turn handed over this to him:

The guy was totally bemused but he accompanied me to the Service center. After confirming that these were the actual costs, with the manager, got a test ride of the beauty. Though, I could not test it much in the traffic, was satisfied with the seating posture, which was quite upright & 'not' as aggressive as the RC or even the CBR. It was quite identical to the Ninja, but it was a lot linear than the bulk feel of the Kawa. The sound of the parallel twin and the grunt from the exhaust note, pulled my cheeks wide enough to match my feeling during the college days, with the RX.

Around this time, things seemed to be falling in place at work and at home. I was now shifting focus on the ride plan and by end of October, even before I got the bike home, confirmed my presence for the ride.

Parallely, booked the Blue & Silver R3 and informed a senior lad, Bharath, to get the bike ready for delivery by end of the month. On 28th of October, went to get the PDI done and saw my new found love:

Her first bath:

https://youtu.be/CUUC4C0l2qA

Up the ramp

Seen in the background is Ilangovan, a senior tech who was extremely friendly. After briefing him about my plans about the ride, he was kind enough to give me a hands on experience to remove and put the fairing back, which was crucial, in case of any issues.

Just when I thought, things were going right, noticed a good 4 inch scratch on the exhaust.

Got it to the attention of the senior sales lad, Bharath. He without wasting too much time, waived off the complete cost for all the spares I had ordered - 2 litres of Engine Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Clutch cable, Chain Lube & also the number plates. Was more than pleased and the rest of the PDI went just fine.

ODO Reading

Manufacturing dates of the Tyres - August 2016

Underbelly

Battery Check



First Crank

https://youtu.be/m8omLbc7nXM

Spare clutch cable

Probably the only R3 in the world to be delivered with the extra clutch cable

She was all set

[aviorp]

Delivery and Initial Impressions

Completed all the paper work and paid the full amount, after the PDI. It was as usual a sleepless and restless night. My wife and our little one accompanied me to the showroom, were my wife got the chance to see the bike for the first time:

The Registration was to be done after a couple of days, due to the holidays and after all the formalities & customary pooja, rode her home at snail's pace.

After 4 days, got the registration number and alongside got the tank paint protection film installed. Now, the most painful period of all began - The run-in and I had approx. 3 weeks to complete it before the big ride. Also, had to pick up a new bag, as my viaterra saddle bag used to sag and touch the tyres.

Apart from taking her to work & back, squeezed in a few additional kms by taking longer routes and few 100 km sprints to K'giri, KGF, Maddur & Chikkaballapur, in sedate & varied speeds. Just had to enjoy the sound of the twin & the grunt from the exhaust for now as there was nothing much to mention for the initial 1600 kms besides the mileage, which was around 25kmpl.

Design and Quality

+ If there is one direct competition to the Ninja, it has to be the R3, in terms of Quality and its stunning design. I would personally rate the Yam over the Ninja in its design (a little biased)
+ The USP has to be the blue & silver shade colour. Its attractive and addictive.
+ The headlights do a decent job. Not very effective in foggy conditions but sufficient enough to do sedate speeds in the night.
+ Additional light right below the windscreen (more of aesthetic than any purpose)
- Weak horn. Will upgrade soon to dual horns.


Engine, Gearbox & Clutch

+ The Engine characteristics is what I love the most about the Yam. The refinement levels, the sound of the twin coming to life, the power delivery & the smooth climb.
+ I have enjoyed it best around the 7k-8k (mid range). Returns a decent mileage of anywhere between 28-32.
+ The urge to upshift creeps up when the grunt of the exhaust increases. Combined that with the smooth gearbox its a perfect bike to both tour and for tracks.

Ride & Handling

+ The seating position is quite comfortable for my height (5' 11) & quite similar to the Ninja.
+ Most importantly its not as heavy as the Ninja and maneuvering her in the traffic or riding for long is a bliss.
+ Done various terrains (Arunachal, Goa, Chikmaglur, Kodachadri so far) and it can handle any terrain with ease (thanks to its 160mm ground clearance)

Tyres and Brakes

+ Shodded with MRF nylogrip - 110/70/17 (Front) & 140/17/17 (Rear). The grip on both the dry and wet has been good so far. Its not as great as the Metz or Michelin (in terms of cornering and high speed runs on wet surface) but its not that bad either. Done close to 15k kms now and they will easily last another 5k.
+ Alloys are definitely a standout and looks exceptionally beautiful in blue shade.
- I missed the ABS in quite a few occasions (close calls on the videos in first post). Would have loved to have the slipper clutch & the ABS.

Instrument Console

+ The console is neatly designed with various information: Gear Shift Indicator & Real Time mileage are a boon on long rides.
+ The Fuel indicator and engine temperature is integrated with the Tacho with a clock in the middle.
+ Service Interval is set at 5000kms (can be reset with a long press of the reset button)

Some pros & con's compared to the Ninja:

+ 42ps over Ninja's 39. Though it is a mere 3bhp, the initial torque and mid range differ quite a bit.

+ 160mm Ground clearance over 140. The Ninja used to scrape big humps, if its not maneuvered around cautiously.

+ 3kgs lighter than its competitor.

+ Came with 3 free services. The first service costed a mere 85 bucks, as I had got the Engine oil and oil filter during the delivery and the labour was free. The Ninja had zero free services.

+ MRF tyres. Though I had read some bad reviews about the tyres, I never really encountered any major issues, even in slush and rain. Most importantly its priced reasonably unlike the IRC.

+ The seat has more cushion and a plush feel than the Ninja's waffer thin seat.

- 14 liter fuel tank. This was the only fly in the ointment. Though it was just 3 liters, it made a whole lot of difference. More on this, when I get to the ride part.

- No slipper clutch. I did come across a couple of emergency situation's, where I had to downshift quickly and felt the need for the slipper clutch. This was a glaring omission from Yam.

Planning phase for the big ride:

My friends had decided to ship their bikes using VRL logistics to Guwahati as they had already rode from B'lore to Bhutan a couple of years ago and did not find it worthy to ride from here. As this was my first time, I decided to ride from home.

Over a period of two weeks, picked up two 5*liter jerry cans, Sena bluetooth headset, Viaterra claw, radiator guard and most importantly carried enough cash, for which I had to stand in the bank queue for nearly 3 hours on the first week and about a couple of hours the following week.

Some pics from the different rides and some test rides with the bag & jerry can mounted.

[aviorp]

The 'D' day was fast approaching and she completed the initial (painful) 1500kms in a couple of weeks. With pretty much all the other shopping done, there was one crucial part, that I so badly wanted, did not arrive on time - The Radiator Guard. Missed installing it on the Ninja & had caused a lot of bent fins. Constantly followed up with Evotech and kept a track of the shipment on Indiapost, without any luck. Finally, on the day I was all set to leave, the shipment arrived at the local postoffice. Had to rush to collect the part and then to the service center.

Ilangovan, the chief mechanic was as usual busy and this time fixing up a crashed R3. Not the kind of sight to see, especially on a day, that will embark a journey of a lifetime. As he knew my plans, he obliged to fix the guard and got it done in a jiffy. One of the kindest mechanics I have ever met and a gem of a person.

Rushed back home and got the claw and fuel cans mounted. She was all set for her very first long ride, which would last for 20 odd days and about 8500kms

Odo Reading

:

Day 1&2

Route: Bangalore - Tirupathi - Naidupeta - Nellore - Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar - Kolkata
Distance: 1958Kms
Time Taken: 33 hours
Cost: 6200/- (Fuel)
Best Mileage: 31

During the initial long rides with the Ninja, one of the main constraint was 'Time' & sometimes even on weekends I was packed with some work or the other. So, I used to settle with sub 200kms rides on one of the two off's. After a Ooty ride in a day and back, it gave a sense of satisfaction and pleasure, which overshadowed the pain and soreness of long saddling. The pleasure doubled after I pushed it further to do Kanyakumari in a day & back, around 1400 odd kms in about 24 hours & then Kodachadri. Over a period of time and multiple such one day long rides, the crave to ride 'farther', began to creep.

So, when the ride was planned, I had made up my mind to reach Kolkata without any halt (for the night/stay). Had plans to leave by 12PM, however by the time I came back home after fixing the radiator guard, it was close to 1. Got the luggage mounted swiftly and after galloping some yummy food, left home at 2PM. First stop in Tirupathi for refuel and a cup of tea. Reached Naidupeta around 8 & after a short meal, was on my way on the NH I had never entered before. The idea of riding this stretch during the night was to avoid the night ride after Bhubaneswar. The 4 lane was a bliss and nothing much worth mentioning, other than the Fog/cold weather after Nellore and near Vijayawada, which slowed me down quite a bit. Apart from some deviations near Ongole, the 6 lane was a breeze after Nellore towards Viajaywada and the all the way to Vizag. This was the first pic, the following day: (about 150kms before vizag I guess)

Dont have too many pics and its more of videos. Again nothing worthy, as it was through the night. After maneuvering through the early morning traffic, crossed Vizag and stopped for breakfast, 50 kms before Srikakulam. The two beautiful things of the entire journey:

This..

..and this (Chilka)

Somewhere before Bhubaneswar


Orissa border

The trucks were parked haphazardly and blocking most of the traffic. Luckily, found enough place to squeeze through and crossed the border. Stopped in Bhubaneswar for lunch and took a me a good one hour to cross the city due to some political rally. The sun was fading away and I still had a good 300 odd kms to reach Kolkata. With the cold wind settling and mosquitoes all over, crossed Khargpur around 7. By now, Dada (one of our riding group buddies) who lives in Kolkata, had arranged dinner and some cold beverage. After, negotiating the traffic through 'Andul' Road (trucks both ways on a single lane road) and criss-crossing some of the most confusing fly overs, reached his house at 11PM.

PS: Please ignore the dates from the screen grabs. The date was not set.

[aviorp]

Day 3

During the planning phase for this ride, I had called up a couple of service centers in Guwahati to check if they service the R3 but both did not and I had to service it in Kolkata, though the ODO was a little over 3.5k.

Aquad Yamaha confirmed the spares were available and that saved me from carrying them from B'lore. The chief mechanic, Debasish, who was quite excited after hearing my plans and shared some his stories while working on the blue streak.

Dada posing with the Yam Siblings


A well deserved wash after a Looonnngggg run


Engine oil change


Some yummy Kolkata Delicacy

Had lots of pending work to be completed and it was post 12 by the time I hit the bed. Dada returned pretty late too and we decided to role out next day by 10.

Day 4

Kolkata to Raiganj: 400Kms

Dada, spends a lot of time in designing his bike and most importantly the luggage that he plans to carry on such long rides. The best I liked was the one's he designed to mount on the crash guards.

Here he is getting his bike ready. Have a look at the amount of luggage he has mounted

One of Dada's close friend joined us for a couple of hundred kms and returned.

Chotta Hathi getting all the attention


Hauutteeee

Lunch stop somewhere enroute to Raiganj

Due to the sheer amount of luggage and the weight, Dada was riding sedately around 70-75. After negotiating some crazy truck traffic and pot-holed filled stretches, we reached Raiganj around 8. He had already spoke to a friend of his and had arranged for a room.

Day 5

Raiganj to Alipurduar (Around 300)

Our Stay



A short visit to the Bird Sanctuary in Raiganj


Storks



Simple & Delicious breakfast


Somewhere after Siliguri




Our Lunch

We reached Alipurduar around 8 and Dada had arranged for the stay (as usual). Next day, started around 7 in the morning and reached Guwahati around 2. The following day, was suppose to be a rest day for us, however, we had to get our partner's steeds from VRL, which pretty much kept us busy. The next morning, whole gang rolled out by around 11am sighting 'Bomdila' as the destination.

First sight of the big fella

Our stay in Guwahati

First Selfie of the Ride

We couldn't get a hotel to stay in Bomdila

Makeshift Tent

This is where we halted for the night

First sight of the snow (lots of firsts )

Action on the following day

[aviorp]

A perfect background

Tea shop at Sela Pass

Enroute Bum La pass

Shungetser Lake

Return leg to Sela

One for the Album

The gang at Sela

What a sight

Will share more pics from the ride to Kaziranga, Meghalaya & the return journey, along with the numerous other rides in the coming days.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle Section. Thanks for sharing!

[//M]

Originally Posted by aviorp

Yam for life

Wow !

First of all, congratulations for the R3.

I am in the market to replace my Enfield and R3 has been a strong contender, only the lack of ABS is holding me back. Everything else is top notch about the Yamaha !

Many congratulations for completing your mega roadtrip to Tawang. Beautiful pictures and great log. Are motorcycles allowed till Bumla? Any specific permits required?

How did the R3 fare? Any issues/niggles to report? Has the Error 19 issue resolved completely after the recall that happened last year? Did you face any Error 19 issue so far?

Please share the service costs, I am sure your R3 would have undergone 4 services so far (15000 kms of ownership). How much did the 4th (paid) service cost you? A cost breakup would really help prospective buyers.

Sorry for bombarding you with so many questions.

Lastly, please post more pics from your weekend rides. I am specially interested in seeing pics from your Kodachadri ride.

Ride Safe !

[SoumenD]

Congratulations on the R3 and great trip there

A couple of queries :

1. I see you had to let go of the N300 because of expensive maintenance. How cheaper is the R3 to maintain comparatively? And is the scenario at Kawasaki still same post their divorce with bajaj?

2. How's the pillion comfort on the R3? Tried any rides(100-200ish kms) with your better half?

3. How would you rate the quality of parts on the KTM 390 compared to the R3?

[Crankpin]

I managed to ride an R3 sometime back and was really impressed with the overall package. It's an effortless machine and understands rider inputs perfectly. Very neutral handling and a rev-happy engine characteristic.

Wasn't too happy with no ABS and the suspension but maybe thicker fork-oil for better rebound and some extra pre-load washers could help the setup.

The Ninja too is a great bike with top quality parts hence probably the extra cost. I found the R3 better to live with and probably has more character within.

Sorry but couldn't resist...the KTM is a bajaj at heart so I would't compare it's part quality with these bikes. Other than that it's good fun within confined limits of a track or a city. Some folks have modified their Dukes for touring like increasing the handlebar clamp height for an upright stance.

[AtheK]

Congrats on the bike and some brilliant photos of the bike, yamaha can put them on their website

I was just on Yamaha site, and they have removed the R3 from the list of motorcycles being sold, can it be an indication, that maybe just maybe the ABS model will be incoming soon.

http://www.yamaha-motor-india.com/

[BigBrad]

Congrats on the R3! Lovely thread too!

I was a follower of your Ninja thread and was pleasantly surprised to see you starting an R3 ownership thread.

I had a chance to test drive it for a short distance and I fell in love with that engine. My only concern is the lack of ABS. Hope they have resolved all the initial niggles. From the user experiences in the forum, Yamaha seems to have better sales/service support compared to Kawasaki. The parts cost which you have put up will be immensely useful for R3 owners. Kudos to that.

Do keep us updated and happy riding.

[NiInJa]

Excellent review and travelogue, I kind of envy you as my wife never allows me to ride the bike on long distances
After owning an R15 for 7 long years, I am seriously thinking about upgrading to R3 as I dont find any other bike which can be as reliable as this and having easy access to service/spares.

Only one question, the R15 does not take bad roads very well and the cone set and bearing has to be either tightened/adjusted at regular intervals or replaced in some cases. Does that happen with R3 as well ?

[rk_sans]

Good review Avi. Was actually skeptical about R3's behavior on those treacherous terrain. But was happy to see the bike gliding through all of them without any issues. Congrats again. You should also share all the service cost information which would be helpful for others.