[tharian]

Gave the bike a good wash and polish over the weekend. With this bike, unlike my Bullets, I avoid washing the bike unless absolutely necessary because of one or the other cylinder not firing after water gets in some place. I avoid pressure washing due to the same reason.
This time I gave it a wash myself and gave it a good wax polish from a unknown brand which was lying around. The shine could have been better if it was a good brand.
Bike hasn't seen any rides recently and is used only within the city and should be seeing some long trips during the end of the year time off.

Changed the setting of the rear shocks as well by a notch which has aided the stability a bit on bad stretches.

Bike has run 10300 kms.

[Turbosailor]

Hi Tharian,
How was the riding comfort after installing Deluxe touring seat on your recent trip.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by Turbosailor

Hi Tharian,
How was the riding comfort after installing Deluxe touring seat on your recent trip.

Compared to the stock seat and the other touring seat before this, this is good. I haven't done a complete one day ride with it since the last ride, although long, I was with swapping between my bike and a Classic 350, so I couldn't actually gauge the difference.

However, in city, with a pillion especially, it is way better than the other two seats. Pillion is comfortable and so am I. I think over the long run, I will get used to this seat. With the other touring seat, I wasn't able to.

I am planning on doing a long ride soon and I will update regarding the new seat then.

[tharian]

I rode around 200 kms this morning out on the highway and back. I wanted to ride more, but with the cyclone effects on the East Coast in and around Bangalore, I headed back home.

The weather actually was good for riding, it wasn't raining nor drizzling, but powder rain, the downside being the road gets slick. The bike in the cool weather rode absolutely perfect. Heading out on the Hyderabad highway, I turned around just before the border since it looked extremely dark and gloomy ahead and I was in no mood to get drenched on a Sunday morning. On the return, I cut off onto the SRR and returned via Old Madras highway. Bike odo stands at 10700 kms.

On the new seat, I rode close to 3 hours with no breaks, except for a short one to click some pictures. This is definitely better than the previous touring seat. I was comfortable for the first couple of hours after which the back side pain slowly started creeping in. But the positive was, there was some support for my back side unlike the narrow stock and touring seat and no sliding back and forth. Nothing still comes close to the old Bullet seats on which I can ride for hours together. Never the less, this seat is a step ahead from the others I have used.

[tharian]

An end of the year break is not complete without a long bike ride. This time I had some routes in mind and although almost all the routes are repeats of what I had done years ago on my Bullet, it felt different because of the many changes over the years to the roads and riding a faster bike.

Unfortunately, I ended up doing the ride on the first day of a long weekend or week for most of the people in Bangalore. I knew it will be bad, but was in for a surprise. The ride plan was to head to Sakleshpur and cover the Shirdi ghats and head back, depending on the road conditions post Sakleshpur. I left home by around 530am and actually ended up leaving at 545am after realising I left my phone after riding for couple of kms. The traffic jams started nearing Tumkur road via the Hebbal ring road and from there the traffic density was high all the way to Tumkur, but was even bad on the Hassan highway. I escaped most of it since I was on a two wheeler and I cut off to the service road at one point before Nelamangala. The main carriageway was clogged for most part and this was around 615am. After noticing the number of vehicles cutting off towards Hassan, I changed the plan and headed towards Tumkur which was a bit better.
The ride after Tumkur was much better and enjoyable with the cool weather and heavy fog in some parts. The traffic was almost nil on the newly made 6 lane highway which for most part is complete except for the bypasses. The sceney on this route has changed drastically from what it was earlier, but now the travel time is much shorter when heading towards Shimoga.
The K1000 rally was in progress outside Gubbi which I got to know after chatting with a driver at a roadside breakfast joint. I had half a mind to stop and have a look, but remembering a Special stage I attended near Nelamangala years ago and how much I had to wait for some action, I continued on my ride which was to be a long one.

I was cruising at around 90kmh which is what I have settled at on most rides. It is comfortable for me, good on the fuel efficiency side, wind blast is contained and safe for our highways as well. I planned on going to Chikkamagalur on a road I had done on my car few years ago but forgotten which town the cut off was at. I checked the map I noticed the cut off from Kadur which I thought was the same one, but infact it was the next cut off at the town of Tarikere. The route via Kadur, I had done on my 500 earlier around 2014.
I reached Chikkamagalur quite fast from Kadur and was deciding on the next route and decided to head to Sakleshpur via Mudigere. What I didn't realize was the holiday makers whom I saw in droves leaving Bangalore had reached the Western ghats after fighting it out on the Hassan highway and I was in the opposite direction of their travel on the narrow hilly roads. Thankfully after cutting off from Mudigere to Sakleshpur, it wasn't that bad and it nice curvy well paved roads. I reached Sakleshpur and the highway across the town was jammed solid in both directions for kms. Lucky for me that I was on a bike with no pannier boxes sticking and the well behaved traffic that I was did the full stretch of the jam for around 5 kms in the gap between lines of traffic. The locals were nice enough to even give me way without having to honk. Compare that to Bangalore traffic where I have experienced drivers blocking my way at a signal when I have enough space to pass.

Post Sakleshpur it was an uneventful ride since the roads were clear ahead and behind me because of the jam. The Sakleshpur to Hassan highway is done on one side with concrete topping, but it was one of worst surfaces I have ridden on. The traffic on the opposite side was still high all the way and I was thanking my stars that I decided in the morning not to take the Hassan highway.
I took the Hassan bypass and continued towards Nelamangala and the road from the looks of it has been relaid recently. Less traffic, afternoon time and probably having woken up early, led me to be extremely drowsy. I couldn't find a spot to stop either since there were no shade or trees for most part. I reduced the speeds to what I do on my Bullet which was around 70 kmh for around an hour which made me feel even more drowsy. Finally, with around 100 kms left, I found a nice clean bus stop with a shade and dozed off for few minutes which helped. The ride from there was quick mainly because half of Bangalore had left town and the roads were not congested.

The bike performed perfectly as always. The engine keeps getting smoother and more responsive after every long ride. The fuel efficiency was the highest till date which was 33.33 kmpl. I have gotten used to the new seat as well which is not as painful as the previous ones and I can manage more than hour before a break. The only issues was the wind blast in my helmet and that is because of the windshield which I am planning to remove and put back the fly screen. Having wind hit the full upper torso should be better than just the helmet.

Covered 565 kms and the odo stands at 11300 kms.

Topping up at a fuel station at Kadur.


Between Chikkamagalur and Sakleshpur.




A small note of the tyres. Although the CEAT tyres has not had much good opinions, I feel they do the job. Maybe not for racetrack kind of riding, but for normal riding and some high speeds, it does fine. The only drawback is when hard braking where the rear becomes lifeless and not knowing if the ABS actually worked or not.


Finally found a place for some shut eye.

[aston_martyr]

Originally Posted by tharian

Unfortunately, I ended up doing the ride on the first day of a long weekend or week for most of the people in Bangalore. I knew it will be bad, but was in for a surprise. The traffic jams started nearing Tumkur road via the Hebbal ring road and from there the traffic density was high all the way to Tumkur, but was even bad on the Hassan highway. I escaped most of it since I was on a two wheeler and I cut off to the service road at one point before Nelamangala. The main carriageway was clogged for most part and this was around 615am. After noticing the number of vehicles cutting off towards Hassan, I changed the plan and headed towards Tumkur which was a bit better.

Nice write up and a good way to end the year i suppose.
I was doing SRR circuit starting from Hoskote on the 24th morning, i saw the jam on the opposite lane at the nelamangala/tumkur tolls it went on for a few kms. This was at 9AM, i was kinda glad that i started from Hoskote side and not the other way around.
When are the alloys swap planned?

[tharian]

Originally Posted by aston_martyr

When are the alloys swap planned?

Once the tyres are worn enough or when I get a puncture. Which ever comes first and hopefully it is not a puncture.

[rajeevsulu]

That is a nice ride in a day. The mileage you got is very impressive. My bike is at 13,500 kms now and i see the power delivery is much better and the engine much smoother now.
I had half a mind to come to Bengaluru during the weekend but my hospital put me on duty and saved me the traffic hassles.
Cheers

[tharian]

Originally Posted by rajeevsulu

That is a nice ride in a day. The mileage you got is very impressive. My bike is at 13,500 kms now and i see the power delivery is much better and the engine much smoother now.
I had half a mind to come to Bengaluru during the weekend but my hospital put me on duty and saved me the traffic hassles.
Cheers

The usual fuel efficiency on rides is around 31-32 kmpl. This time I think because of my sleep mode with the speeds of around 70kmh for couple of hours got me a higher fuel efficiency.
The gear shifts have become even better now along with the engine smoothness.

What' was the condition of your tyre before you replaced it? Do you have picture so I know how far I can use mine before changing them.

[rajeevsulu]

I did not take a picture. The tyre had visible tread but was very visibly losing grip. Over ton-up speeds on the highway, especially if I had to go on the white line, it was very squiggly and i lost confidence.
I should have taken a picture. My average mileage has never gone above 27.I guess my riding style contributes to that.
Cheers

[tharian]

Managed to squeeze in the first ride for the year over the weekend.
I decided to take off for a ride the same morning and ended up leaving around 10am. Thankfully the roads were quite free when leaving as well as returning being a long weekend.

The plan was to finish a ride I started but had to turn back due bad weather back in December. This time I decided to continue to Penukonda fort which had become a famous spot for bikers and visitors from Bangalore probably because of a Insta reel. Penukonda and some surrounding areas were places I used to explore back in the day for trainspotting and it had been a while since I rode there.
The ride on the highway was uneventful mostly except for a guy on a Duke 250 who wanted to race me, but I stuck to my usual speed of 100kmh and opened up couple of times to loose him after which he overtook me and I slowed down.
The bike was perfect although the rear was sliding when hard braking since the tires have worn now although the thread doesn't make it look like. This road always felt lonely to ride on even in the middle of the day and it continued to this time too at some stretches. Now because of the Kia factory after Penukonda, things have changed a bit in the surroundings.
Penukonda was just a wayside town when I first rode here and back then, I only noticed the many number of rocky hills around and the heat because of that. Now the highway bypasses the town since many years and unless you want to go towards Hindupur and return to Bangalore, there is no need to enter the town. The entrance to the fort is soon after the cut off from the highway to the town and is easy to miss unless you have navigation on.

The initial part of the road to the hill looks like it was never asphalted after the first time, but somewhere down the road, a fresh layer of asphalted road with maker poles on either side and lane markings greet you. It feels weird mainly because you see a lot of biker groups here and there and lots on top and many more in the Korean restaurant below like it is the airport road, but Penukonda from what I remember is more or less the same except it is crowded now.
I took the climb easy as I realized this is not a well designed road at all and it is very easy to fly off the hill if one is speeding. The asphalt surface is great though and confidence inspiring as well. The view from the top is is good and once you are on top, you will realize the climb was quite steep. On the way down, I spotted the railway line in the distance and waited a while for a train to show up which would have been a good sight, but it wasn't my day.
Headed down slow because I knew there would be some rally drivers going up and I could enjoy the view as well. Then continued towards Dharmavaram which is around 45 kms from Penukonda. The cut off for Dharmavaram is around 10 kms from Penukonda and then return via Puttharpathi and join the Bangalore - Hyd highway and then cut across to start the Hindupur road which continues to Sira. The last one was a stretch I hadn't done before and it turned out to be the best part of the whole trip. Beautiful stretch of road connecting Sira on the Blore - Pune highway to Kodikonda on the Blore - Hyderabad highway. I did just 22 kms of it and cut off to Hindupur to return via Makali and Dodballapur.

To be continued..

The small ghats to Penukonda fort.




View of the railway line.


Lunch break at an empty dhaba.

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by tharian

The usual fuel efficiency on rides is around 31-32 kmpl. This time I think because of my sleep mode with the speeds of around 70kmh for couple of hours got me a higher fuel efficiency.
The gear shifts have become even better now along with the engine smoothness.

What' was the condition of your tyre before you replaced it? Do you have picture so I know how far I can use mine before changing them.

How much fuel efficiency do you usually get in your normal commuting. Do you think that the road side assistance is worth getting at Rs. 4k. Has your bike experienced any rusting. How would you advice someone to wash/clean the Interceptor as you have mentioned about misfiring of the cylinders. Is there something you can avoid doing while washing the bike.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by V0rtex

How much fuel efficiency do you usually get in your normal commuting. Do you think that the road side assistance is worth getting at Rs. 4k. Has your bike experienced any rusting. How would you advice someone to wash/clean the Interceptor as you have mentioned about misfiring of the cylinders. Is there something you can avoid doing while washing the bike.

- City fuel efficiency is around 21-23 kmpl and highway is 30-32 kmpl. The city figure may go up if I ride more sedately.
- RSA is good to have always.
- No rusting.
- I wash the bike once in 2-3 months. I dust it otherwise. No pressure washing or splashing water. I soak a micro fibre cloth and use that and avoid water in the engine area.

[V0rtex]

Originally Posted by tharian

- City fuel efficiency is around 21-23 kmpl and highway is 30-32 kmpl. The city figure may go up if I ride more sedately.
- RSA is good to have always.
- No rusting.
- I wash the bike once in 2-3 months. I dust it otherwise. No pressure washing or splashing water. I soak a micro fibre cloth and use that and avoid water in the engine area.

How did you avoid the rusting. Almost all the interceptors I’ve seen has rusting near the bend pipes and the engine casing gets really oxidised and dull.

[tharian]

Continued..

So the Dharmavaram to a place called Kodur on the Blore to Hyderabad highway was a stretch I had last done years ago on my Electra. I had no idea how the roads were. I vaguely remember a not so congested road with barren land around and crossing Puttharpathi where Sri Sathya Sai Ashram was located and that was the only crowded place along the way.
Now, the roads seemed wider with road widening activities happening at a lot of places. It was after a long time I encountered bad roads on a trip. After my last ride, the front cone set was making a noise when I hit a pothole or speedbreaker at a reasonable speed. After jumping a speedbreaker at high speed, that fixed itself.
I wanted to get over this stretch and get back to the main highway to ride on some smooth surface and was thinking I should return via the main highway itself instead of cutting across to Hindupur. Thankfully, I followed my instinct and took the road to Leepakshi which continues to Sira. This road is definitely on my future rides list, from Sira to Kodikonda. It was the first time I took this road and it was a well paved single lane, well marked road with not much traffic. I could reach Hindupur in no time compared to the other roads that I used to take from Penukonda. It reminded me of some of the single lane roads in TN.
After crossing Hindupur, the roads were widened few years ago all the way to Dodballapur. This too was covered quickly and I had a good ride because of the good roads and less traffic.

The bike performed well as always. Had enough power on hand when required, otherwise both the bike and me happy cruising at 100. The rear tyre seems on its way out and I'll probably go to 15k with it and move to alloys for peace of mind. The fact that I can pick up from low revs without any clutch sliiping in second and third and listen to that nice twin thump from the exhaust, makes it more enjoyable. This, thanks to the FuelX.

Bike has crossed 12k kms and is due for the second year service although the oil was changed less than 6 months ago because of the service centre goof up in not entering the service date for the 6 month check up.

This time, I got rid of the Pro-spec windshield extender because in the last few rides the wind noise it was creating inside my helmet was quite bad. It reduced after removing it, but the old issue of my neck getting pushed back at certain speeds, is back. But it is a matter of getting used to which I cannot say the same about going deaf slowly because of the extreme wind blast noise.

The sprawling Kia factory after Penukonda has surely changed the landscape around here.


A stretch between Puttharpathi and Kodur.



Soon after Hindupur, heading back.