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-   -   My journey from a Ninja 300 to a Yamaha YZF-R3 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/208841-my-journey-ninja-300-yamaha-yzf-r3-3.html)

Nothing beats the feeling of riding your loved machine after a long-long gap! My Ninja 300 is just sitting idle too :(

Anyways, as bikers let’s hope things get back to normal soon enough to ride to quench this longing thirst :)

Stay safe buddy!

True that. To add to that, I am finding it very difficult to use mask inside the helmet, so usually I ride without a mask inside the helmet and will try the balaclava option now as I forgot the thing in Bangalore. I need to get a new one as I am planning on a short trip soon. Doesn't look like the pandemic is going to end anytime soon.

5 years update : Vacuum Sync/Radiator replacement/Coolant replacement/Brake fluid replacement

So as explained in the previous post, the R3 had some planned maintenance works which was decided to be done as the motorcycle will now complete 5 years in the coming December. It was more like a preventive measure than waiting for parts to fail and then replace. We planned to do this as a DIY from a friends home in Cochin and Bhpian @krishnaprasadgg joined me on my way from Calicut to Cochin, yesterday. His YZF R1 also had some planned works and this was also carried out yesterday and documented here : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...ml#post4900872.
We reached Cochin before 8 and started the work as soon as the bikes cooled down.

Starting pic


On the paddock and ready to be stripped




Stripped


Fairings on the floor.


So here are the planned works to be done :
1. Radiator replacement and coolant flush+replacement.
2. Spark plug swap and throttle body vacuum sync.
3. Brake fluid replacement.

The engine oil and oil filter had run just around 1500kms and it was deemed not necessary to replace and will only do it at the planned 5000kms. One major replacement missed is the air filter replacement. Apparently, Yamaha isn't sending R3 air filters to Kerala for the past 6 months. So I need to plan something else for this or look at some Bangalore showrooms if anyone has it. Mine is due for replacement but this part scarcity for such an important part is poor from Yamaha India's side. Hope things would be sorted out soon.

1. Radiator replacement along with coolant.
This was primarily done because of a dent on the radiator. This apparently happened with Bangalore wheels service center, Rajajinagar because that is the only place the bike went to service before shifting works to Highlander, HSR Layout. Why I am sure of this is, there was no scratches on the fairing, so once they removed the fairing for some work, the bike might have accidentally toppled(Maybe it jumped out of the paddock) and hit the left side of the radiator, causing damage to it. This could be the reason why the fairing doesn't have any scratches. This was noted when we removed the fairing from Highlander and they showed me the damage. It wasn't significant and I rode with it for almost 2 years now, but somewhere in my mind it was clear that the coolant flow would be interrupted thanks to the dent and hence decided to replace it. Along with this, the coolant reservoir and two small tubes of which one takes coolant to the radiator and the other being the overflow tube, was also replaced. Coolant reservoir has a history of cracking for most owners around the 4 year mark and that is one thing I didn't want to take a chance on!
Costs involved: Radiator : Rs.3750. Hoses: Under Rs.100. Coolant Reservoir: Rs.140

The car backseat full of parts. Most are rubber bushes and clips, which had separate packings.


The old coolant reservoir with a lot of muck inside it. Cleaning could be done, but since this part is relatively cheaper and has a history of cracking, I replaced it with a new one.


The new radiator


The dent on the left side of the old radiator, thanks to Yamaha service center and they never informed me(of course they wont!)


The new one along with the old one. Marked are the mounting points and see how it got bend on the impact. I really don't know what they did with the bike. But the bike never stayed at this service center for more than 8 hours.


Old coolant drained out and flushed with distilled water.


The new radiator with fan fitted. Both are made in Indonesia by TRAD.


The new coolant reservoir.


2. Throttle body Sync and spark plug replacement
Once the radiator works were done, settled and tested, we now moved to plugs and vacuum sync. Vacuum sync is something which most ignores or doesn't care of, or even knows of. Balancing the throttle body ensures that each cylinder has the same vacuum. This usually makes both of the cylinders to respond and act equally and also makes the bike run smoother as one or more cylinders wont surge or stumble. Service centers usually does this when bikes have snatchy pickup or irregular idle, but Yamaha recommends to check the vacuum at every 6000kms which itself is an overkill. I guess my time of 5 years/33,000kms was too late as well. Ideal time would be every 15k kms, at least.

Make shift arrangement for cables from throttle body to come out, so tank had to be lifted a bit.


Its good to adjust the vacuum sync with new plugs and new air filter. Air filter was not available anywhere, so kept the old one now. The plugs were replaced with new stock ones, purchased from Yamaha.


Used a torque wrench for almost all the bolts and used the service manual to know the recommended torque. Plugs tightened at 13nm of torque.


Team-BHPian @krishnaprasadgg referring the R3 service manual on the lap to make sure we aren't missing on anything.


What the service manual says.


Before the sync. Notice the slight difference in the vacuum of the cylinders. We had the perfect tool for the perfect job.


After the adjustment. Almost similar now.


3. Brake fluid replacement and anti seize compound application.
Nothing much here, I keep an interval of 2 years for coolant and brake fluid replacement and it was time to do it. Used dot 4 fluid from Liqui Moly and flushed out the old oil, bled the lines and the brakes are superb as before with a good assist from Spiegler brake lines.

The Dot 4 brake fluid from Liqui Moly.


We applied Anti Seize compound to almost all the nuts and bolts we removed.




The brake pads still have life left. The pads and the pistons were cleaned and the pins were greased.


So finally everything was done and test rode the bike without fairings installed. This was to see if the bike took in more coolant so that we can add it in the radiator. All the checks were done and this is how the bike looked.


Everything mounted back.


The view of the new radiator.


Pitstop on the return run, late evening. That's me :)




Trip meter after the ride.

During the last DIY of radiator change, we had noticed that the radiator cap rubber line was almost cut off and barely staying on it. As this was unanticipated, we did not have a replacement cap then and we decided to put back the same and order a new radiator cap. The radiator cap arrived and it was a straight forward swap.

Top view of the radiator cap. The top part of the interior fairing needs to be removed to get a proper access to remove the cap.


The front view.


With the top fiber part removed providing a direct access to the cap.


The cost of R3 radiator cap alone is 2.3k which is on the higher side because the radiator itself costs 3.5k. Now though, Yamaha are not importing the R3 specific cap anymore and they will send the R15 V3 radiator cap which costs just Rs.122 and its a direct swap.


The old cap and the new one. You can see the cut off rubber lining. This part was floating over the coolant. Lucky the radiator did not suck it in.


The top side. Everything remains same, just that the new one is now made in India.


Some pics after I made a quick run today morning to the Waynad hills.

Don't you plan to install a radiator guard?

Kudos to both of you for pulling off such an extensive service job on your bike :thumbs up
@krishnaprasadgg is a pro with his R1, R3 must be a baby for him!

Thank you for the words. And about the radiator guard, I don't plan to install one, yet!. I had one for the Ninja 300 because the front fender was so short that even the front tire throws up considerable amount of mud and pebbles onto the radiator. For the R3 though, the fender is long enough that it doesn't throw up anything on to the radiator. So the only chance of something hitting the radiator is from the vehicle in front, which the chances are less(not zero though). And most importantly, almost all guards are costlier than the radiator itself lol: So I though let the radiator breathe without any kind of obstruction from the front, for now.

One thing I forgot in the last post is about the windshield. I got a Hotbodies Racing windshield from a close friend of mine. Its slightly taller and scooped out design compared to stock. Not much of a difference is noticed as I did some small rides. Highway wind deflection should be slightly better I hope.

With a super heavy heart, I bid adieu to my long serving partner, who has been all but splendid and niggle-free all these years.

Hats off to Yamaha for building such a versatile and complete motorcycle in its class, and not much of thanks to Yamaha-motor-India simply because of not updating the motorcycle in India and there is not much options from Yamahas stable to upgrade from the R3. Heck, the R1 is 20L more. The huge pricing gap between FZ25/R15v3 and MT-09(which is above 10L INR) is a wonderful area for Yamaha to explore, yet they don't seem to be interested in that. I don't think they will exploit this space in the future too, maybe some India specific models would come in, like Honda did with the CB350 series.

Long story short, I was in search of a decently used CBR 650 series or the Street Triple 765 since quire a long time now, and when I did find one, I planned to keep the R3.

Alas when I found a good example last week, I got an equally interesting offer for the R3 and after discussing with close buds and family and thanks to the financial crunches offered as an aftermath of the Covid-19 series, I decided to part ways with my R3 and use the funds for my next bike.

So guys, the R3 is no more with me, and I say this with a really heavy heart because I loved this motorcycle more than any other I ever had.

The last pic of the R3.


Good news is that the R3 has been replaced by the most humble inline-4 out there, the CBR650F!

The use of the 650F will be the same as the R3 with daily office runs combined with occasional long distance touring. Since we already have multiple CBR650F threads running here, I am not planning to make a new thread for the bike, at-least not in the immediate future

Special mention to @krishnaprasadgg for supporting me endlessly to get the machine and came down with me to Bangalore last Saturday on his brothers Triumph Tiger and we rode back to Kerala with the 650F after completing RTO formalities for name transfer. We got the full service history of the 650F from the BigWing Bangalore and special thanks to them for providing the same without much hassles. The fairing stickers are missing(ex-owner wasn't a fan of it!) and I plan to keep her like that as it looks good in person. Anyway the thing with Honda is that the parts are available at a very reasonable price, with most parts costing less than R3's!

On the way back from Bangalore to Kerala, somewhere near Salem.




Happy riding everyone. Stay safe :)

Let me be the first one to congratulate you, my friend!

Your bike was maintained in pristine condition and the new owner won’t feel an inch in his mind to even consider it as a pre-owned for sure.

Well, coming to the new steed in your stable, it looks neat and less busy without the decals :)

Happy and safe riding. Most importantly stay safe with reappearing covid cases in Kerala.

The R3 will definitely be missed but I have to say I don't think you will miss the back pain while riding the R3

Congrats again :p
Jokes aside, humble inline-4 is kind of an oversimplification, to say the least. The bike is such a different breed post the mid-range RPMs.

Don't be lazy man!

You know my bank account number right. :D


I'm finally happy you agree with me on the stickers part! Leave it as is. Looks clean!


Just Honda things! Wishing you endless miles with this beautiful machine. I thoroughly enjoyed riding the bike during the return leg to no extend.

Also, you forgot to mention the full system Akra exhaust that she is adorning. Let me compensate for the lack of pics too. ;)

Enroute Bangalore. Warming our hands with the heat of the engine

Cheers
Krishna

Thank you my friend. Yes, Covid cases are on the loose now in Kerala, and worrying signs of a second wave in India too. Hopefully things eases up in the near future.
Haha yeah, for some reason the R3 gave me back pain in the last 6 months, getting old doesn't help as well :D

Agree to that. Still it doesn't scare even the new riders. Well behaved ;)

Lets see to it. Already a couple of people asked me if I have changed the sound of the CBR250R.

Thank you for that. As much as I miss the R3, I am in so much love with the new machine that I am taking her out on every given opportunity, which means that the car gets some good rest, and I get some sunburns as its way too hot this side of Kerala.

And yeah, the Akra deserves a special mention. I purposefully left mentioning about it for no apparent reason though. Its a screamer past 5k rpm and sounds almost like stock at idle(probably a bit more loud, with the DB killer). The good thing is that the cops aren't noticing the sound at all, perhaps once they do, they will pluck it out and ask me to take a loan to pay the fine. Hopefully that never happens and removing the Akrapovic stickers on the end can does make it look a lot like stock fitting.

Cheers.

You should know what the chain pitch, make and the number of links is on the R3? Could you tell me?

Also what kind of life did you get on it?

Thanks again man.

Here you go!

Make : DID.
Pitch : 520.
Links : 112.
Part Number : 94568-H3112
Pat Name : CHAIN (DID520VF 112LE)
Cost : Rs. 3500.

I got 24k kms on mine, but since it was a daily driver, the chain cleanliness was ignored most of the time. A few have run approximately 40k kms on the stock set. I would assume the normal chain life to be atleast 30k kms. Hope it helps :)

Thank you. I could kiss you right now. That's how happy i am.rl::Cheering:

You are welcome lol:

I hope @xaos636 doesn't mind me invading his thread.
Finally my yamaha R3 crossed the 50000 kms last week and absolutely loving the experience. Bike has been reliable as a rock and never missed a beat, a lovely little bike to take to places. Recently had a minor crash and had to change a few parts, parts availability has never been a concern and the service experience has been excellent. Hope it continues the same way ahead.

I did a round trip of 1500 kms in 3 days, covering valparai and munnar. Did a solo night ride of 450 kms and it was absolutely comfortable. Cruising at 100-130 feels relaxed with more power left for fast overtakes. Handling is brilliant, making it fun at ghat sections. Bike is running on apollo alpha H1 which was changed recently. This has made the bike more nimble and has enhanced the looks. Got them for 10k and tires are much better in all aspects than the michellin PSRs i had before. Wet grip and dry grip is excellent.

Living with the bike for 5 years, listing out the likes and dislikes from my experience.

Likes
1.Overall quality of the bike is good and excellent at few places.
2.Bike looks gorgeous. Timeless design.
3.Reliability has been excellent.
4.Braking is good and ABS is an added advantage. Stock pads lasted me 43k kms.
5.Headlight throw is pretty good for a bike, makes night travel easier.
6.Handling is excellent after changing to alpha h1 tires. Tires make a huge difference, will never go back to michellins.
7.Engine is an absolute gem, can cruise comfortably as well as do some serious speeds when needed.
8.Seating position feels relaxed, making touring on the bike a lot easier.
9. Spare parts price are pretty nominal, making the ownership costs cheaper than the competition.
10.Suspension is soft and bad roads isn't a major cause of concern.
11. It is not a attention magnet, so parking in public places is easier. No need to worry about people fiddling or causing damage to the bike.

Dislikes
1. Being a sports tourer, not many hooks to tie the luggage. Currently using guardian angels tank bag for long distance duties.
2. Tank capacity is lesser than ninja, so more refilling stops are needed.
3.Rear pillion seat is high. Getting on and off the bike is a task.
4. Headlamp throw is set a bit high from the factory. I haven't fiddled with the setting as im okay with the throw.
5.Riding the bike in summer inside city premises is tiresome. Heat from the engine drains you out. Standing in the signal, one can feel the hot air at the calf area.
6. Occasional stalling in lower rpms very rarely. Does not bother me much.
7. Speedometer glass has small cracks from the inside. It does not affect the visibility though. Bike has always been parked in covered area and im still not sure how it happened. Enquired for any old speedometer in svc, so that the glass can be removed and fixed in mine.

Parts changed till now
1. Chain set(2 sets).
2. Brake pads(1 set).
3. Rear caliper mount.
4. Starter motor.

Mods
1.zero gravity windshield.
2. Motofusion tail tidy.
3. Frame sliders.
4. BOBO phone charger.
5. Dual horn from R15.

This is the first bike on which i have crossed 50k kms and still don't feel like letting it go. Have owned many KTMs, all were troublesome with frequent issues, but R3 has been trouble free till date.

Bike still looks fabulous, a few detailing sessions would make it look brand new. Personally 300 cc twins are more than what is needed for touring and regular commutes. They are smooth, fast and reliable. Hoping to do many more tours on this lovely machine.Ending the post with few pictures.