2nd March 2010, 08:39
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| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore
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| Long Term Review - Kinetic Honda - 53,000 KMS in 14 Years! Looks like we made it Look how far we've come my baby We mighta took the long way We knew we'd get there someday They said, "I bet they'll never make it" But just look at us holding on We're still together still going strong It was 1995. I was obsessed with THE BOSS - The Suzuki Shogun. I was hardly 5 feet tall, and as bony as you can imagine. Yet I wanted it. Obsession led to craze. Craze led to fights (with parents). Fights led to Blackmail - Get me the bike, else I am not writing a word in my 10th Class finals! I finally got the bike of my dreams, January 1996. And I crashed it, January 1996!!! Yes, I was stupid, reckless, obsessed. I came out of the crash with a scratched palm and a torn shirt. But the bike was totalled - the frame was bent. The gear oil is all over the road. The bike was a gory sight. I never forgave myself for that - not even now. And that is how I got my Kinetic Honda ZX, March 1996. She was gleaming in white. She had two rear-view mirrors, a front windshield, a spare-wheel covered with "Easwari Motors" covers. My dad, who ran her in, said she gave him ~60 KMPL - he keeps her at 40 mostly, and rarely crosses that mark. She is going to be my mode of transport - tutions, school, et all. But she saw little of tuitions / school, more of roads and "long trips" - I was in a town that was ~6 KM in radius, anything out of that boundary is considered "long"! The stepney and frame came off. Both the rear-view mirrors came off. I was becoming the notorious "boy flyin' in a White Kinetic"! In the first year, I had way too many falls to even count. But the beloved scooter survived all those - the damage on the pocket was steep though. Even a minor fall would mean changing the front windshield and the white cover around the headlight / indicators! I soon learnt that driving carefully helps in saving some bucks in the pocket and keeps me off those nasty scratches I develop after each episode! The side-stand she came with was crap - the scooter falls down on a level ground if the wind blows in its direction!! And I removed the side stand. I always put the main stand, sitting on her - never learnt to get off and do it, not even now! The group of fella with TVS Champs, Super XL, RX100, RTZ, and ofcourse the KH - we went around the whole of Kanyakumkari District several times over. Kanyakumari Muttom Rajakamangalam Thurai Thiruparappu Kali Kesam Perunjani Pechiparai Olakkai Aruvi Thotti Palam Vatta Parai Sanguthurai Marthandam Mukkadal Vattakotai Aralvaimozhi A badly clicked photo from a crappy film camera from one such "long trip" - Kanyakumari...  Shows how ignored she was- she was always there silently in the background. I was disgusted with myself that I do not have a proper photo of the scooter! I am going to dig through the old negatives to find if there are any... I don't know how many other places I have missed mentioning. One of the memorable drives was that of me, Dhanan and Vineeth (classmate / schoolmate) driving the ~18 KM from Kottar to Kanyakumari in less than 14 minutes - triples (all of us put together would not have come to 100 KG, though!) She used to effortlessly touch 80 and maybe a bit more after a bit. I used to get 35 - 45 KMPL, thanks to my weird driving style - I hardly brake. Accelerator control, that's it - let go the throttle a few yeard before I want to stop and brake when the speedo shows 25 KMPH. The worst mileage I got was 17 - 20 KMPL, when I had adjusted the carburettor for power. Believe me, I used to give RX100s, Shoguns and RTZs a formiddable chase - can't catch me throw winding lanes and traffic. Give them a straight and they will eat me for breakfast, lunch and dinner, ofcourse! I have done wheelies, burnt the tires putting O marks all over the roads, done all that. She is a very capable, yet undermined scooter! (my first pair of tires lasted me about 10000 KM! Lesson learnt, again - the second pair is still going strong, after 43,000 KM clocked!). I had a engine seizure sometime under 20k on the clock - thanks to not filling the engine oil tank when that damn red light came on! Between 1996 and 1998, the ph03n!x (yes, she is one!) did 28,000 KM - that is when I left her with my mom and headed for higher studies. Ofcourse there would have been a 1000 or more KMs clocked with the speedo not working - Call it shortage of pocket money!! She was back to her stock shape - rear-view mirros, spare wheel, et all. My mom did the same mistake I did, and didn't fill the engine oil - another seizure, another re-boring of the engine. She clocked less than 5000 KM with my mom in those 3 years. Mom has an accident when a van grazed her from the back and she had a cracked shoulder bone - she never drove the KH much after that (2000). I sorely missed the freedom, the wind hitting my face, the watery eyes, the haphazard hair "style" in those years I was away for college. It was not until 2001 that I got to touch her again (ofcourse, I was relishing those few months I come home for vacation). During the transit from Nagercoil to Madras we lost a bunch of stuff, including her original papers - never obtained a duplicate till now :( In Madras, when I joined my first job, my mom got me a black LML Energy (the 100cc) - my choice, and the White beauty was put to very little use. She was standing in a corner, mostly dusty, and rotting inside. Once or twice a month, I would feel bad of myself and take her out of her hibernation. She would still start at the first kick (the battery would have died, obviously!). Over the years, I had learnt to do almost everything to fix her up (never opened the engine though), and had all the required tools. I would do the routine and take her out for a spin. Whenever I have friends visiting me, we would take her out if needed (I will always give up the bike and ride her!). We have gone as far as Mahabalipuram on her. Fast-forward to 2005. I got my Indica DLX in March. And crashed it in July!!! To cut a long story short, the day I was allowed to walk with a walker, I took started the KH using my UPS' battery (can't kick start anymore, you see!), drove her (with the walker in the front, depending on my left leg alone) to my mechanic, replaced her battery. She became my primary ride again until 2009! In 2006, I had her stripped down to her bones and painted her frame onwards. I changed all the metallic exteriors (and the plastic cladding that covers the headlamp / indicators) to black coloured covers - Kinetic had an offer to change all of that for Rs. 1750 or so. The White Beauty turned to metallic Black Beauty now, with a completely de-badged look  Atlast, she is of the colour I had wanted her in the first place (my dad is all-white, and me votes for black always!)She chugged on and on, and never let me down except for once when her alternator blew up (after about 7 years of use) and the carburettor's needle broke (10th year). The starting motor's coil got burnt - and was rewound. She makes a funny "Krank" sound now after starting up when motor'ed. Her belt cut off sometime, thankfully when I was taking her out of my house. She had one more heart attack at 11 - thanks to a blocked oil line (this time the damn warning lamp never came on - the tank was full!). The guy who fixed it for me did told me that the engine can take one more re-boring, but did a shoddy job. I could feel the loss of power. But she was still going on and on... ...until her 4th heart attack at the age of 13. I asked a friend whose parents have two well-maintained KHs, and she referred me to Sundar, a mechanic who has a humble shed near Ellaiyamman Kovil, Besant Nagar. I had a favourite Mechanic in Nagercoil, who used to fix her up to my satisfaction, who will patiently check her when I tell him I am hearing a tiny additional noise from somewhere, et all. After more than 10 years, I found another good mechanic in Sundar. The first job he did for me was get her heart to work. I told him to change the engine block if needed. No, he said. She is still fine, we can re-bore her. I was very skeptical, until I got her back. And I texted my friend a heart-felt note of thanks for the reference. The scooter felt alive again after so many years! I carefully ran her in again, and she is now healthy and strong. Though she stopped touching even 70 KMPH after the 3rd re-bore, she is still a pleasure to drive in city traffic. How do you drive such a small-wheeled scooter so fast? How can you corner so low on it? How come you do not skid and fall when you brake? The usual string of questions a lot across age groups have asked me. Well, here are my observations - these are purely my opinion of my dear scooter: The stepney actually tried to act as a centering weight. If you try slant too low, the "centering" effect of the stepney will throw you off balance (yes, I have fallen down like that!). I removed the stepney, and yes am back in control! I have gone so low that my main-stand's step (which helps in putting the stand) actually broke off after grazing the road over the years (1st two years). The brakes are adequate enough - IF you apply both the brakes with appropriate pressure she WILL stop without skidding at all. But thanks to a generation that grew up on Bajaj Chetaks where the fron brakes are rarely used, jamming the back brake alone WILL skid and make you eat dust! Present Day: She stands in my closed garage, beside the Getz CRDi. She is again being ignored a bit until the Getz goes in for a service. But I do not let her rot. I take her out now and then. I give her to service every 4 - 6 months. I use her for a day or two every month. And also when the car goes in for a service. She still gives me 45 KMPL with ease - and 50 KMPL if I am careful. She has had her headlamps, indicators, body claddings, silencers, rims, belt, clutch, front shocks, spark plug, and battery changed over the years. But her heart is still the same, still going strong after 4 attacks over 14 years. And today, she touched 53,000 on my way back from work. I do not have a track of how much I have spent on her over these 14 years. The first year or two were night-more, especially coz I was living off pocket money, and every fall blew a hole in my pocket. After the reckless, adolescent me turned into a sober lad, that stopped. But no matter how much ever I have spent, she was worth every penny. Now a days I spend for a half litre 2T oil every 300 - 350 KM (~one full tank), and a service every 3 - 4 months for less than 500 bucks. That's all. I never will give her up as long as I am alive. No matter what, I will keep her up and running. She has been there with me right from When I was about 15 years old. Looks like we made it Look how far we've come my baby We mighta took the long way We knew we'd get there someday They said, "I bet they'll never make it" But just look at us holding on We're still together still going strong A quick photo I took of her now this morning. Was feeling too guilty about not being able to find old photos, so...  And the grand number - 53000 KMS!  Hope you enjoyed reading this review, as much as I enjoy riding her! Ask me any questions you may have, will try to answer them as much as I can. Last edited by bblost : 2nd March 2010 at 15:00. Reason: back 2 back post. Please use edit post if posting within 20 mins. Thanks. |
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2nd March 2010, 10:17
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai
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2nd March 2010, 12:43
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mumbai
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2nd March 2010, 14:54
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| I too had a 95 model black Kinetic Honda. I have a lot of memories associated with it. It was my first 2 wheeler. It served us really well. Its mileage was a bit low though. When I moved to Bangalore, it started gathering dust in my home town and my parents decided to sell it off. I tried hard to convince them against selling it, but they never understood my sentiments. I almost cried when my parents told me that they sold it for a meager Rs 5000.  Even though I currently have a Yamaha RXZ and Hyundai i10, the Kinetic Honda will always be my first love.  Rohan |
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2nd March 2010, 14:56
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlanta, GA
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2nd March 2010, 15:02
| #6 |
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2nd March 2010, 15:14
| #7 | |
| BHPian  | Quote:
I've had major troubles with the vehicle. It had got seized twice due to the oil pipe getting blocked. Got it converted to 110 cc and since then it was extreme fun to ride it. (Although the mileage was low) I sold the same for 3K in 2007 or so. It was a wonderful vehicle. | |
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2nd March 2010, 15:44
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| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Chennai
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2nd March 2010, 16:00
| #9 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: World
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2nd March 2010, 18:12
| #10 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlanta, GA
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 But did you study in Nagercoil in Scott or CSI? Cause I remember my friends doing the same - ripping to Kanyakumari from Nagercoil and seeing who would do it the fastest. The road is good and the lovely long left-hander (next to the canal) just before Kottaram was awesome and you could safely scrape your footpegs on that stretch. | |
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2nd March 2010, 19:15
| #11 | ||||||||
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore
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Man, I miss the NGL-Cape drive now!!! Looks like I have go to the home town one of these days!!! | ||||||||
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2nd March 2010, 19:32
| #12 | ||
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 . He he he. | ||
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2nd March 2010, 19:55
| #13 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore
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A similar incident- The Kinetic (me and a Friend), a RTZ, a Super Champ - all are headed to Kalikesam. The dude in the RTZ is pissed coz I am overtaking him the moment he has to slow down somewhere! The road bends towards the left on the banks of Putheri kulam, and he tries to overtake me from my left in that turning, skids and both roll into the lake!! And a few min later the bike follows them, flies over their head and lands behind them in the water!! We did not go to Kalikesam that day, but the laugh riot was hurting our stomachs!! The RTZ was in the mechanic shed for a while, and the dude never got to ride it again (his brother threatened to kill him literally)!!! | |
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2nd March 2010, 23:04
| #14 |
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3rd March 2010, 01:29
| #15 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore
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