[green_ninja]

Thank you. I have a initial ownership thread in the Assembly Line. Hope it will soon be public.

Originally Posted by vishy76

BTW, the alignment of the amp meter seems to be off on your motorcycle? Is it just the camera angle or something else?

Yes. The amp meter is misaligned. I'm going to leave it as it is since it is not too bad. Sort of a lucky charm to ward off the evil eye

[knightrider_7]

Completed 5100 kms yesterday, in seven months. Due to some unforeseen events, the running has been low compared to the initial months. Nevertheless, the bullet is now very smooth and riding it has been a joy, especially after the running in period. It is now able to cruise at 60 kmph effortlessly. I have changed the suspension setting back to 3 since I usually ride at speeds between 50-60 kmph. There has been no issues to speak of (touchwood) and in two months time, the last free service will be up.

[knightrider_7]

Reached 6000 km today morning. Vehicle will be going to the last free service in the next week. Getting mileage around 39 kmpl on a regular basis. Due to daily petrol price revision, I always do tankful nowadays.

[knightrider_7]

Got the fourth service done today morning. In at 8:45 am and out at 10:45 am. Charged for consumables and chain cleaner/lubricant. Total bill amount was just ₹290.

Next service, which is due on March 2018, will be a paid service. Although there is not much to complain about the free services, I am thinking of changing to a FNG from next service onwards.

[knightrider_7]

Due to the always on lamps, the speedometer lamp and one of the parking lamps went kaput last week. Today, I replaced them by LED lamps. Bought two for the parking lamps and one for the speedometer lamp for ₹140.

Did a DIY to install them. To remove the parking lamp from the holder you need to press it and turn it counterclockwise (just like a normal household lamp). I am not going into the details as there are lot of YouTube videos available.

Attaching a few pictures with the new eyes

[knightrider_7]

Did a round-trip of 560 km over the weekend. Started the journey from Kattangal and went to Perambra (near Chalakudy) via Palakkad- Pollachi- Valparai- Athirappilly route.

On the return journey, took Thrissur- Valanchery- Pantheeramkavu route.

The bullet performed flawlessly throughout the trip. Did a full tank before the start of the ride at 6902 km and it went to reserve when I reached Thrissur on the way back, at odo reading 7333 km. The odo now stands at 7473 km.

The one year service is due this weekend and I will post the updates after the service.

[knightrider_7]

One year ownership report

Today, the first paid service was done and I am glad that it has been a trouble free year.

Some facts/observations:

1. The ride quality is very good at speeds above 50 kmph. Between 20-50kmph, it feels stiff, more so when riding alone.

2. Found that at certain speeds in each gear, there are no vibrations. This is visible by looking at the mirrors.

The above mentioned speeds in each gears are:
1st: 10-20kmph
2nd: 25-30 kmph
3rd: 35-45 kmph
4th: 45-55 kmph
5th- 60-75 kmph

3. The longest trip in one day was just 360 km. Needed to take short rests after 45- 90 minutes to achieve this (depending on road conditions). Hope to do more kms per day in the future.

4. Service cost per year was more than what I spend for the WagonR. Labour charges are almost equal to the parts charges!

5. Mileage is decent between 36-40 kmpl. With a full tank, I have done 500 km (including reserve) so far.

Providing some plots in the fuelio app below.







Odo after service.


A click after the service

[ashwinprakas]

Congratulations on the milestone!

Something that caught my eye was your mentioning of labor costs being high for the motorcycle in which case I'd suggest that you get hold of the service manual for the motorcycle and start with regular maintenance and learn by practice, which I believe is the right way to own a Royal Enfield considering that they are rudimentary lifestyle motorcycles built to facilitate easy maintenance.

During my Golden Quadrilateral run my co-rider was on a Bullet 500 Carburetor variant and to my shock he was not aware of the exact oil quantity to be put in during a periodic oil change as well as how exactly to drain the oil on a Royal Enfield, and not being accustomed to working on Royal Enfields you could imagine my confusion when I tried locating the drain bolt

So what I'm simply trying to put is that working on your own motorcycle not only saves you undue labor costs and time but also prepares you for the best and the worst alike. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't make sense to actually pay someone else to work on a lifestyle motorcycle for which you paid an exorbitant amount for, so get your hands dirty and start living the lifestyle!

[knightrider_7]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Congratulations on the milestone!

Something that caught my eye was your mentioning of labor costs being high for the motorcycle in which case I'd suggest that you get hold of the service manual for the motorcycle and start with regular maintenance and learn by practice, which I believe is the right way to own a Royal Enfield considering that they are rudimentary lifestyle motorcycles built to facilitate easy maintenance.

During my Golden Quadrilateral run my co-rider was on a Bullet 500 Carburetor variant and to my shock he was not aware of the exact oil quantity to be put in during a periodic oil change as well as how exactly to drain the oil on a Royal Enfield, and not being accustomed to working on Royal Enfields you could imagine my confusion when I tried locating the drain bolt

So what I'm simply trying to put is that working on your own motorcycle not only saves you undue labor costs and time but also prepares you for the best and the worst alike. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't make sense to actually pay someone else to work on a lifestyle motorcycle for which you paid an exorbitant amount for, so get your hands dirty and start living the lifestyle!

Yes. I agree with your suggestions. I have done the regular maintenance of my previous bike (Yamaha Gladiator) myself. It was a pretty reliable bike and I never had to run to service centre after the warranty period.

I have the service manual with me. I just wanted to know how the paid service fairs in reality. Although the service was good, the associated cost doesn't make sense as you pointed out. I am sticking with the service centre just because of the warranty concerns. Once out of the warranty period, I think I will do these bits myself.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by knightrider_7

Yes. I agree with your suggestions. I have done the regular maintenance of my previous bike (Yamaha Gladiator) myself. It was a pretty reliable bike and I never had to run to service centre after the warranty period.

I have the service manual with me. I just wanted to know how the paid service fairs in reality. Although the service was good, the associated cost doesn't make sense as you pointed out. I am sticking with the service centre just because of the warranty concerns. Once out of the warranty period, I think I will do these bits myself.

Hey there,

Great ownership review! I liked the detailed points and learnt a thing or two myself. I have practically the same bike since the past 3 months.

About the warranty concerns, what do you think of the following - will it null the warranty if I get these done?

* Disabling the AHO feature by installing new headlight switches
* Adding a horn to make it a dual horn

Also, have you had to get the chain's slackness adjusted after every 500 Km or so? I hear, and have experienced it myself, that the chain becomes too loose after riding it a bit. This hit the performance of the bike and would damage the sprocket as well. I got it rectified during my 2nd free service; but the RE service advisor said to get the chain tightened every 500 - 700 km rather than wait for a full service appointment.

[knightrider_7]

Originally Posted by locusjag

About the warranty concerns, what do you think of the following - will it null the warranty if I get these done?

* Disabling the AHO feature by installing new headlight switches
* Adding a horn to make it a dual horn

Also, have you had to get the chain's slackness adjusted after every 500 Km or so?

Glad to hear that my reports were helpful.

Regarding the warranty, disabling AHO will surely void it. I think it involves wire cutting. I am waiting for the warranty period to be over to do the same in my bullet.

Since the provision for dual horn is there, I think it won't be a problem. It is just plug and play.

I lubricate the chain every 500 kms and clean it every 1500 kms. So far there hasn't been any issues with the slackness. Adjustment was done as a part of the general service only.

[ArizonaJim]

If I had a Royal Enfield with no headlight switch (AHO) and I wanted to have the ability of switching it off, here's what I would do. I should mention this doesn't require cutting any of the motorcycles wires.

Loosen the headlight rim screw and take the headlight partially out.

Looking at the back of the headlight where the wires connect I would see three wires.
One blue, one green and one orange/amber or black.

The blue wire is the power for the high beam. The green wire is the power for the low beam. The orange or amber or black wire is the ground wire.

If the ground wire is disconnected, neither the high beam or the low beam will light.

Knowing this I would disconnect the ground wire.

Next, I would buy a simple single pole toggle switch. This is a "off/on" type switch with a lever sticking out of it much like the "light switch" found in homes but it is smaller with a threaded area just below the toggle and some threaded rings to hold the switch in a hole.

https://www.grainger.com/product/2X4...180409181605:s

To mount this switch if my RE had the "tiger eyes" type of casquette I would drill a 12mm hole thru the wall of it, probably just below the right tiger eye.
With this hole sized to fit the threaded feature on the switch, I could install the switch with the toggle lever sticking out of the casquette.

I would need some insulated wire and a couple of spade connectors like the ones that connect the wires to the back of the headlight. One male and one female connector would be required. The wire should be 10 or 12 guage size in order to carry the electrical load. (Don't use some thin speaker wire or it could cause a fire.)

http://www.repairconnector.com/categ...de-Connectors/

Cutting a short piece of wiring and installing a female spade connector I would install it on the headlight's ground terminal.
The other end of this wire would be attached to either of the poles on the toggle switch.

Another short piece of wire would have the male spade connector.
The bare end of this wire would be attached to the other toggle switch terminal and the male spade connector would plug into the orange/amber or black harness ground wire.

After the switch and the headlight were installed on the motorcycle I should now be able to have the headlight on at all times if the toggle switch was turned "on", or with the flick of the switch, the headlight would be turned off.

I should mention that when you are riding on the public roads, you should always have the headlight on (unless your trying to recharge the battery rapidly).

I should mention that if you can't find spade connectors, you could cut the orange/amber or black ground wire and connect the ends to the switch but this would usually require splicing in some wiring to reach the new toggle switch connectors.
If this is done, the splices should be wrapped with electrical tape to prevent unintentional grounding.

I also should mention that this change will also nullify the motorcycles warranty so don't do it to your motorcycle while the warranty is in effect.

[knightrider_7]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

If I had a Royal Enfield with no headlight switch (AHO) and I wanted to have the ability of switching it off, here's what I would do. I should mention this doesn't require cutting any of the motorcycles wires.

Many thanks for the idea. Do you have a video of the complete procedure? I had installed the headlamp shade with the help of your YouTube video.

I am going to wait till warranty period is over to try this. Thanks again.

[desideep]

It would be good idea to turn off the always on headlight, but that may be considered not legal at some point in future.

And if you have to go to the switch as Jim suggested, you might want to look at a little water proof one a push style, even they are good.

[ashwinprakas]

Why would you like to disable the feature, seems to me like a ZMA belly cowl scenario, the ones who had it got rid of it(ME!) whereas the ones who didn't went to extraordinary measures to get it installed.

Personally both my bikes have switches to turn off the headlight even the recent CT100B being BS3 variant, but I keep the lights ON on purpose, better be seen and alive than the worse, and to change the bulb on the P220 I have to remove the fuel tank. Compared to that the Bullet and CT100B are a walk in the park, take advantage of it, plus think of it like a switch less that could potentially fail.

As for lubing the chain, give gear oil a shot, I don't even clean my chain, just lube at 2k intervals or as required and my P220's ran for 21k before I took it off to under-gear it, had good life left as the chain adjuster wasn't even at the half-life mark.



The engine sprocket might look worn because I cleaned it up for the photo, it was a messy job so left the rear sprocket alone, call it my photography skills but in reality they don't look much different from the brand new set that was put in.

The average life of a regular P220's sprockets are between 15~17k km's, I guess no more explanations are needed.

Just saying.