[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by shabih

Aah see this is what I wanted, some validation Thanks so much Neil! I'll report to you shortly. Any recommendation for which oil brand to look for - Liqui Moli?

I dont know if any one is particularly better than the other. New fork oil is better than old and worn out fork oil, so any change is a really good change.

I havent heard of clear feedback from any Indian rider who has compared fork oils, side by side on similarly run bikes and has been able to form a clear opinion. I would suggest that you get any good fork oil of 5W rating and proceed. surjaonwheelz has listed some good options, I would add Motul as well. Let us know how it goes.

surjaonwheelz, you brought up some good points on suspension upgrades. Ill list down my thoughts in a day or two. Its a bit of black art for us.

[abhi7013]

Interesting discussions on front suspension upgrades. Coming from a Karizma, the moment i rode the Interceptor, the front suspension was immediately a point of concern for me but went ahead with the booking nonetheless (canyon red).
Since am located in Bangalore, it would help if there's a mechanic here who is well versed with YSS or Way2Speed and most importantly, the issue with stock suspensions..!
Appreciate if any member shares any leads so that i can check with them before the bike arrives in May!

[BikeDevil44]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

20k on second set? What’s your odometer # currently? Would be interested to hear the feedback/ running status of a bike that’s done more than 30k kms (if that’s your bike status)

I stand corrected, 20k on the ODO and on its 2nd set of Pirelli’s . The stocks one’s lasted for 13k kilometers and these set have more than half their life left in them. I hope to keep them in shape until I touch at least 30k. With Pirelli’s not being available in the market, I’m not inclined in moving towards the Ceat’s or the Ralco’s with most of them prefer these days.

[deepfreak15]

Posting out here in case any of you are in a similar situation. I booked a Dr Mayhem on the Make it Yours app on the 6th of Feb. The estimated delivery was 7th of April and at the time of my booking MiY configured bikes were being delivered within 15 days. Then the rumours started spreading about a new variant launch. I was ok with getting the older variant so patiently waited. Then the new colours were launched and Dr Mayhem was no longer listed. Acclaim Motors was the dealer I had selected for my delivery and they did confirm I would only get Dr Mayhem even though it was discontinued with no estimated date of delivery. Also I was told I could not change the colour since it was customized. This made no sense to me considering the customization I had selected apart from the touring seat would be done at the dealer and not at the factory as I had assumed. Whatever accessory you choose would be shipped along with the bike and fit at the dealer yard, this was confirmed by both the company helpdesk and the dealer.
On the initial committed date (7th April) I get a text stating RE was thrilled about launching new colours and I had to now wait till July for my bike. This ticked me off and since this was a non refundable booking it took me a lot of back and forth emails with RE before the dealer intervened and agreed to cancel the booking with a full refund. I just had to go to the showroom and fill a form.
That was my undoing, there was a Rocker Red GT on display ,on screen the colour doesn't look like much but in the flesh/metal I was floored and I had to have it. Mr Tamilselvam (manager at Acclaim) was more than happy to swap my booking around and instead of walking out with my refund I rode out a day later with my bike. Credit to Mr Tamilselvam for handling the situation very professionally and ensuring I had the bike the next day.






Life is a box of chocolates

[corvus corax]

Congratulations, deep. Thats one gorgeous looking machine. Looks stunning in red! I am absolutely drooling over it. Wishing you many happy miles on it.

[shaikhmimran]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

That was my undoing, there was a Rocker Red GT on display ,on screen the colour doesn't look like much but in the flesh/metal I was floored and I had to have it. Mr Tamilselvam (manager at Acclaim) was more than happy to swap my booking around and instead of walking out with my refund I rode out a day later with my bike.

Congratulations on your new machine. Looks fabulous and I am sure you will enjoy it thoroughly. You now have a beautiful garage complete. And no ! life is not a box of chocolates but that's a discussion for another time !

[AtheK]

Congratulations sir, there is nothing like red color, like nothing, well you would Know

Wish you thousands of safe riding with the GT.

PS: Is that shobha city basement?

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

Thats one gorgeous looking machine. Looks stunning in red! I am absolutely drooling over it.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by shaikhmimran

You now have a beautiful garage complete.

Thank you for your kind words. I've said it once and I'll say it again, Every Indian household should have at least one Maruti and one RE. Waiting for your RE now .

Originally Posted by AtheK

Congratulations sir, there is nothing like red color, like nothing, well you would...

Thank you very much. Absolutely, I was a bit disappointed I couldn't get the other bike in red but this makes up for it and how! If you replace the RE on the tank with another brand known for its red bikes it would not look out of place at all. In my opinion RE has nailed the aesthetics of this bike. Now eagerly waiting for your red supersport review.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

That was my undoing, there was a Rocker Red GT on display ,on screen the colour doesn't look like much but in the flesh/metal I was floored and I had to have it. Mr Tamilselvam (manager at Acclaim) was more than happy to swap my booking around and instead of walking out with my refund I rode out a day later with my bike. Credit to Mr Tamilselvam for handling the situation very professionally and ensuring I had the bike the next day.

Congratulations on your new motorcycle! The GT 650 looks fabulous in red and Im sure that you will have a ton of fun on it in the coming years. I hope you will put up an ownership thread for this new motorcycle. Your decision making process and the inevitable mods to make this an even better bike for your usage, will be a great help to all of us, just as your Ducati thread has been.

And yes, more pictures please!

Originally Posted by shaikhmimran

You now have a beautiful garage complete.

What sort of blasphemy is this? How can a motorcycle garage ever be complete???!!??!!

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I hope you will put up an ownership thread for this new motorcycle. Your decision making process and the inevitable mods to make this an even better bike for your usage, will be a great help to all of us, just as your Ducati thread has been.

And yes, more pictures please!

I should actually thank you for helping me consider red and some how I think your persistent "spam" of everything Continental related over the last couple of years wore me out eventually. Funny, if I remember correctly this whole saga started with me trying to make you book one of the 650 twins. You are trouble and I am going to keep my distance.
There are many lovely and detailed reviews on the forum already and in fact this thread Dr CD has created is like an encyclopedia already with a lot of helpful and knowledgeable posts by respective owners with real life experiences. Speaking of pictures I'm waiting for Dr CD to return, he has upped his photography game so much that I would be privileged if he pointed his lens at my bike.
That said, I might create a separate thread if the mods go according to plan.

Did a short 500km round trip on a road I can almost ride/drive blindfolded. Agreed the bike hasn't broken in and there is only so much you can gather in a short ride but here goes
- The bike has sufficient power, though riding the torque wave is a whole new experience and for someone who loves to work the gear box to stay in the powerband it feels like you are robbed of some of the joy of motorcycling
- Seating position is by no means extreme and "almost" commuterish. On the highway it's easy to grip the tank with your knees however tank grips are a must. The moment you touch the brakes you slide forward and end up gripping the guard on the cylinder head. So I can see why people might find it a pain in city traffic
- I'm planning on dropping the handle bar by a few cms but something tells me that would only lead me to wanting adjustable rear sets.
- The bike is like a locomotive you can lean over and it holds its line but not flickable like some of the other bikes I've ridden.
- Which brings me to the next point, Tyres. At triple digit speed I felt a slight weave which was down right scary and then it happened again, the third time it happened I realized what was going on. Don't ride over the white paint on the road, if you happen to ride over 4 to 5 of these in a straight line the whole bike starts weaving . Maybe it's the cheap tyres (Ceat) or its the steering geometry because pirellis had this too but the hunt for 17" conversion and a compatible steering damper has started.
-Ive lost count of the number of times I was happily cruising in 5th without realizing I had one more gear available, not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
- The engine cut out on me a few times in the city though for now I'm chalking it down to user input error (not in tune with clutch bite point) but let's see, also found false neutral between 5th and 6th a few times. Will ride it a bit more and see how that goes.
- Won't talk about braking or suspension as it's only been a little above 500kms but so far didn't feel any cause for concern and they did their job perfectly.
I'm super happy with the bike and was thinking, had RE said first service at 1000kms I would have done the same trip again tomorrow without a moments hesitation.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

What sort of blasphemy is this? How can a motorcycle garage ever be complete???!!??!!

Amen! I did think there was room for a naked hooligan and KarthikK is doing his best to try to make me fill that slot but thankfully my bank balance or lack thereof and my family keep me in check.

[catkins]

PowerTRONIC ICU

This post reports fitting a PowerTRONIC ICU (ignition control unit) to an Oct 2019 Interceptor

Summary

• Difficult to fit
• Performance gain not quantified. Max RPM not changed
• Decided against using it

I fitted the PowerTRONIC ICU because

• Engine was knocking/pinking/pre-detonating with the existing EMS (engine management system)
• More performance. Review: https://www.drivespark.com/two-wheel...es-028802.html
• Three different stock ICUs on a Unicorn 150 had shown significantly different engine characteristics
• Curiosity

The ICU was ordered from https://powertronicecu.com for a delivered price of ₹22,000 incl tax

The ICU parts fitted to the bike add 1.2 kg

Nothing is removed from the bike when fitting the ICU except two relays are replaced. The ICU cables intercept the original cables. This allows the ICU's "brain" to be replaced by the "stock coupler" so the bike works as it did from the factory. Can be used for legal compliance and in case the PowerTRONIC fails

After downloading the many and comprehensive manuals in preparation for fitting I found the ICU had an O2 sensor cable which was not mentioned in the manuals. PowerTRONIC technical support responded quickly and clearly. The cable was present on early model ICUs. The manual was for later model ICUs. The cable should not be used

Fitting went well until it came to fitting the "coil modulators". The manual had detailed every step but did not say the toolbox bracket must be removed to fit a modulator from the right. No biggy. The biggy was the modulators would rest on the battery with nothing to hold them in place. They would move. Moving, they would rattle and rub against the wiring harness support bracket and the top of the battery. PowerTRONIC technical support responded quickly saying the modulators had lugs with holes that should be used with cable ties for support.

After enlarging the holes to accept the cable ties supplied in the ICU kit I was able to tie the RHS modulator to the frame but there was no way to fit the LHS

Seven cables ties are supplied with the kit. I needed longer ties and more of them, say 20

PowerTRONIC technical support suggested wrapping the modulator(s) in bubble wrap and putting them on top of the battery. I was reluctant to do that because of concerns about battery ventilation and bubble wrap durability.

Finally I ended up tying the LHS modulator to the wiring harness.



Not great, using the wiring harness to fix anything but this part of the harness is heavy and most of the modulator weight is supported by cable tie to the frame so I expect it will be OK

When re-fittting the petrol tank, I had to re-route all the ICU cables to clear the petrol pump. From the factory there are a lot of cables under the tank. Adding the ICU cables leaves very little space. Ingenuity and patience required.



The manual says "You can keep the tool box under the seat". The only place the tool roll almost fits is on top of the original ECU (electronic control unit) but the seat would not stay down. The workshop manual says "DO NOT keep any heavy or sharp objects on ECU as it will damage internals and render the ECU defective". The tools are next to useless to fix breakdowns anyway so I left them off the bike and stored the stock coupler there (the manual suggests storing it in the glove box!)

When checking the throttle calibration, the manual says starting the engine is optional but the accompanying screenshot says it is required. PowerTRONIC technical support confirmed it is optional

The R-tune software showed that a "map" sets the air/fuel ratio and the spark timing

Phew! Fitting completed. How did it perform? Subjectively it felt faster and there was a noticeable difference between "Race mode" and "Race+ mode". Sorry -- I can't say more than that because I do not have stretches of road which I regularly use for performance testing

After trying the ICU for say 30 km, the exhaust outlets were much blacker than they were.

After fitting the "stock coupler" to revert to the factory system to better know how different the ICU was, the engine ran more sweetly and smoothly. In combination with the black exhaust outlets and knowing that the ICU simply changes air/fuel ratio and spark timing, I reflected that the ICU gives better performance than the factory because it is not constrained by emissions considerations. My marginal enjoyment of a slightly faster bike would come at the cost of more pollution.

So I decided to continue with the "stock coupler", to stay with the factory system. At least I got two upgraded relays for ₹22,000 and 1.2kg!

[corvus corax]

The advantage of having a powertronic ecu other than the go-faster bit is that it gives you an option to add a quick shifter. In that way it would be more useful to you perhaps.

[catkins]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

The advantage of having a powertronic ecu other than the go-faster bit is that it gives you an option to add a quick shifter. In that way it would be more useful to you perhaps.

Thanks, that's an interesting idea but would it would work with the stock coupler?

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by catkins

, I reflected that the ICU gives better performance than the factory

You win some you lose some. Does this negate that dead spot when trying to Rev match? I found that sometimes when you blip the throttle nothing happens. Also does the booster plug serve the same purpose as your ICU? Not trying to rub it in but I'm on the fence,want something to free up the engine a bit, not hunting for extra horses or higher rpms.

[catkins]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Does this negate that dead spot when trying to Rev match? I found that sometimes when you blip the throttle nothing happens. Also does the booster plug serve the same purpose as your ICU?

My bike always responds to an adequately blipped throttle so no dead spot to be cured.

What is the booster plug?