[Ricci]

Updating thread after a long time.

Odometer reads some 7600km.
Had 3rd service done in Nov 2016, cost ~INR 6000.

One fine day in late October, after tanking up, bike refused to start. Cranking happened, but was in weak short bursts. Called RSA, dropped bike off at BUB.

Turns out to be sudden battery death. The battery would not charge, on alternator power or from external battery charger, even left to charge 2-3 days on slow charge. So battey replaced with same OEM brand and model, YTX-9BS. I did consider aftermarket battery , but wasn't convinced on switching to lithium-Fe-Po battery despite the better claims of weight saving by half and better cold cranking amperes. Main thing is lithium compound chemistry, while many in US recommend these, I wasn't so sure about the longevity and safety of lithium batteries in Indian climatic conditions - running in a very hot summer in the hot confines of a motorcycle. Battery cost was some INR 59xx but took a month to arrive.

I thought it's a premature failure, having failed in just over 2 years, but I'm told superbike batteries last 2 years. The usual lead-acid batteries in our other cars/bikes have all done 4 years minimum.

The bad part is it failed without warning, suddenly. Usually, failures should occur with warning/signs of wear/imminent failure, as often referred to as graceful degradation of performance.
Now imagine yourself on a long cross-country trip and the battery fails out of the blue.

I must admit last year wasn't great for riding. Missed IBW 2016. Summer seemed to have started early, the few rides I did before monsoons ( March to June) I was exhausted and drained by the heat. Contrast the summer of 2015, I was still in good spirits/temperatures wearing leathers as late as early April. Monsoons too haven't clocked any meaningful miles.

In between these rides, the front tyre ( Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa ) works better than the Diablo Supercorsa that was OEM fitment. It might be a one off or a tyre defect. With the new tyre - not exactly new since it was changed in May 2016, I didn't experience the front end instability/wobble and that restored some confidence back, to try trail-braking. I can now brake into turns, leaning and not experience those heart-in-mouth wobbles. Nonetheless, for the price of this bike and repair cost and timelines, I'm rather hesitant to ride hard as I dare or hard as others I ride with. In the back of my mind, I want to keep a cheaper track bike (if a track in western India does indeed happen), either an R-15 or RC200/390 , or the upcoming TVS Akula, maybe I'll buy one of these used and do my corner-craving antics on these, as crashing them won't be as mentally or financially painful. Not that I wouldn't love to keep an RSV4 as trackbike . Besides, my parking area is getting crowded so there's going to be some trouble keeping too many bikes - I'll work something out over the months.

Changed the headlamp bulbs to Osram Nightbreaker Plus, much better than OEM bulbs.

My new Nexx XR2 helmet still feels a bit tight, causing some earlobe ache but it's better today than last week. The upward vision improvement is helpful, though wind noise is higher than with the MT. The Nexx visor is much thicker so should be a useful barrier against impacts, and optically excellent. Visor removal/fitment mechanism is a bit fidgety, with a plastic clip each side, visor removal/fit doesn't take long, but other brands have easier mechanisms. It does fog up more than the MT, but comes with Pinlock in the box , which I didn't install and now with winter fading, don't need to. Yet to see how it works in rains, for fogging and sealing of the visor. It also has tear-off posts, but haven't found tear-off strips anywhere.


Couple of pics from recent ride, a motley of BHPians, RATs, and other riders.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by Ricci

...
I thought it's a premature failure, having failed in just over 2 years, but I'm told superbike batteries last 2 years. The usual lead-acid batteries in our other cars/bikes have all done 4 years minimum...

My Iron 883's battery failed without warning in about 17 months after delivery. It was replaced under warranty by HD India. I am thinking of buying extended warranty... another battery failure will recover half the cost of warranty

-BJ

[Crankpin]

Do you use a battery tender/ trickle charger? I would recommend one as my FZ1s batt is still going strong after 4+ years now....! It's a similar factory Yuasa battery.
Last year indeed was dry for me too as I did not ride much and this year seems similar as the heat is on already...! Sigh

[Ricci]

Which trickle charger are you using? I'm still not convinced it's a justified purchase for most users, except the very infrequent user or those with long periods of non-use, like sailors away for months at a time ; or the occasional emergency when the battery charge drops too low even for otherwise regular use.
I'll also have to check how DIY is battery removal and refit.

Yes Crankpin, the heat has been turned on a bit early this year too. Although mornings have a slight chill before 7:00 or so, it quickly burns off past sunrise. Time to think of a mesh jacket and/or a cooling vest.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Which trickle charger are you using? I'm still not convinced it's a justified purchase for most users, except the very infrequent user or those with long periods of non-use, like sailors away for months at a time ; or the occasional emergency when the battery charge drops too low even for otherwise regular use.
I'll also have to check how DIY is battery removal and refit.

Ricci

I have used the following in the past and its quiet good. I am sure something similar should be available in India as well



Amazon has a lot of choices as well - the search results for trickle chargers

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=lp_1570...nid=3599823011

New ones costs around USD 25.00

The DIY bit of this can be cumbersome specially if you live in an apartment complex etc. Otherwise its fairly straightforward, you can get a sort of fixed charger leads (read as wires) to your battery and connect the trickle charger to that and you are done.

Trust this makes some sense

Best Regards & Ride Safe

Ram

[Ricci]

Time has been slipping by, almost a year went unnoticed without updating this thread.

Ravensoul got new footwear. The Pirelli Diablo SuperCorsa SP that was OEM, still had the minimum depth so in theory would have lasted a bit more, but I did feel the tyre starting to slip when pushed even moderately hard, so the useful life was over.
Now I have Pirelli Diablo Rosso II in the same 180/55 size. I looked hard for a Rosso Corsa, which I have on the front so would complement it well, but it wasn't available. There was a SuperCorsa SC available, but that's almost a pure track tyre and at a steep 26k price. So far I've only run some 300-odd km on the new rubber, and breaking them in took much of that running.

The odo reads around 98xx km, telling how little it has run in the since last year. I was confident (in hindsight, overconfident) of getting used to the racebike ergonomics and to an extent, did get used to it too. I don't know if it's age or some underlying health deterioration, but I'm suffering from exhaustion during/after rides a lot more now. It is definitely better in winters, I can complete rides without notable tiredness, but this winter has been short, and so has been the riding weather. One part of the equation is the extreme racebike ergonomics , the other part is heat. Not wanting to quit riding big bikes just yet, I have this plan to side-grade to a standard/naked bike for the friendlier ergonomics.


I rode the Street Triple 765S this Sunday, longer than the usual test ride route. This time, I rode it to Lonavala, and it puts a big fat spanner in my side-grade plans. No, nothing wrong with the bike as such. The engine is pretty good - decent until 4000, awakens from 4000 to 6000 and then really gets charged up 6000 upward. It does feel a good lot like the Daytona, a little weaker or stronger at one point or another depending on RPM and throttle opening.



Small and low that the Daytona's fairing/windscreen is, it does provide a modest amount of wind protection and wind redirection. Riding the Street Triple, the amount of windblast I experienced, I wasn't expecting. Worse than the windblast itself, was the helmet noise. On the Daytona, it's fairly noisy and I wear earplugs anytime I'm going out of the city. On the Street Triple, that wind noise was amplified, it was unbearable.

I rarely do more than 120 on the Dominar, but on a 600cc+ bike, that won't be the case. Should I go ahead with this side-grade, I'll have to find a suitable aftermarket windscreen pronto. This also suggests any bigger naked bike would be grossly overkill, and very nosily tiring for me. Otherwise, I have to widen my search, and look at the CBR650F, Tiger 800 and perhaps the Ducati Supersport with a lot more serious intent.

And yet, for all the discomfort and exhaustion, the heart insists deep within - I'm not done with Ravensoul just yet.

[shan_ned]

Ricci, Like to share what I learnt on my own about riding fitness in general. One is the general physical fitness which I am not going to mention anything in specific. The most important point is about getting used to riding more often and long distance touring. The more kms you clock, the body will get used to it and inherently increases your riding stamina. Just give a try doing long rides more often and you will see a significant improvement in your stamina.

Ricci, Like to share what I learnt on my own about riding fitness in general. One is the general physical fitness which I am not going to mention anything in specific. The most important point is about getting used to riding more often and long distance touring. The more kms you clock, the body will get used to it and inherently increases your riding stamina. Just give a try doing long rides more often and you will see a significant improvement in your stamina.

Wind noise aggravates the setting of fatigue. Ear plugs is the best thing to use when you do long distance riding.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Ricci

I have to widen my search, and look at the CBR650F, Tiger 800 and perhaps the Ducati Supersport with a lot more serious intent.

If I may suggest - You should also take a look at the Kawasaki Ninja 1000, instead of CBR650F.

Honda CBR650F will be a downgrade from the Daytona with just 87ps on tap. The Ninja 1000 on the other hand has around 142ps - whereas the riding ergonomics on both these bikes are fairly similar and much more relaxed than your Daytona. N1000 comes loaded with features as well - IMU, power modes, traction control, assist and slipper clutch etc all at a price difference of only 2.6L above the CBR650F.

Tiger 800 is a totally different breed. Would be drastically different from your Daytona - and not sure if that would be something you would like in the long run.

As for the Ducati Supersport -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XMC81xlMME

[dreamseller]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Not wanting to quit riding big bikes just yet, I have this plan to side-grade to a standard/naked bike for the friendlier ergonomics.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

If I may suggest -

I have a similar thought lingering these days, due to my own fitness (or the lack of it). The sportbike ergonomics take a toll on longer rides. However, I still feel I have a handful of years of sportbiking left in me and want to make use of that, before moving on to an adventure bike.

On a sidenote, @Sujai, a Daytona has been adorning my garage since about a month now.

[Red Liner]

Get a BMW S1000XR and put yourself out of this misery.

Power? Problem solved.
Touring? Solved.
Track? Solved.
Brand image? Solved.
Technology? Solved.
Pillion comfort? Solved.
Luggage? Solved.
Wind protection? Solved.

The only thing it doesnt solve, is the north korean conflict. Yet.

Well, and offroad.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Get a BMW S1000XR and put yourself out of this misery.

BMW is even including the XR for track programs along with the R and the RR. Now that's something indeed!

But then ofcourse - there is the price tag. It is still way above something like a Ninja 1000, even though the XR was the biggest beneficiary of the recent price cuts.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Get a BMW S1000XR and put yourself out of this misery.

The only thing it doesnt solve, is the north korean conflict. Yet.

Well, and offroad.

at North Korea !

I climbed aboard the S1000XR once - and it felt big, heavy and it is north of 20 lakhs. Spec-wise, its weight isn't far off the Tiger 800, but I felt the Tiger's height a tad easier to get a footing and manage the weight.
I'm somehow managing to curb my cravings for litreclass madness, and you're fuelling it more! I did for a weeks, seriously consider buying the S1000RR or GSX-R1000 or ZX-10R or RSV4 ; considering they all felt a tad more comfortable (or rather less unconfortable?) sitting on them - but alas, I'd be paying big EMIs for a long time again and not using all those horses.

Originally Posted by dreamseller

On a sidenote, @Sujai, a Daytona has been adorning my garage since about a month now.

Congrats Dreamseller! Has it been doing more than adorning the garage?
Is there an ownership thread in the pipeline?

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

If I may suggest - You should also take a look at the Kawasaki Ninja 1000, instead of CBR650F.

Honda CBR650F will be a downgrade from the Daytona with just 87ps on tap. The Ninja 1000 on the other hand has around 142ps - comes loaded with features as well - IMU, power modes, traction control, assist and slipper clutch etc all at a price difference of only 2.6L above the CBR650F.

Tiger 800 is a totally different breed. Would be drastically different from your Daytona - and not sure if that would be something you would like in the long run.

I've kept the Ninja 1000 (and the GSX-S1000F) at the back of my mind, yes. I'm trying to keep away from 240kg bikes though, something lighter and lower (seat height) being helpful in maintaining control. I've sat on a CBR650F and it's seat height, weight and ergos seem about right (in fact, had the last gen CBR650F been launched before the Daytona, I'd very likely have bought it). It is a downgrade in spec, yes, which is why the Street Triple occupies the 1st place. Oh, and the Ninja 1000 costs over 4 lakh more than CBR650.

I've briefly ridden the Tiger too and I know it's chalk and cheese, but that's also the bike I can think of touring on, as capable as it is on Indian roads. But then, it doesn't handle as well as the other tarmac oriented triples in the range.

Originally Posted by shan_ned

The more kms you clock, the body will get used to it and inherently increases your riding stamina. Just give a try doing long rides more often and you will see a significant improvement in your stamina.

Wind noise aggravates the setting of fatigue. Ear plugs is the best thing to use when you do long distance riding.

I'd try to ride more, but I no longer ride alone much, and on this expensive a bike, I'd rather have company that can help out should the need arise, so long rides simply won't happen every time I get the day off.

Moreover, it's tied to the supersport ergos, I manage a lot better on the Dominar with a mild lean, having done Goa in Dec and another 350km one way trip in Jan, with way less fatigue. And yes, I do ride with earplugs everytime I'm going on a trip and not a commute.

[Ricci]

Updating my thread after a long interval. TLDR: some pictures from some of the rides in the past year. Nothing noteworthy about them, I hardly click any photos, and most of my rides are to common locations anyway. Pic4 is Lonavala, Bhushi dam. Pics 5 and 6 are somewhere before Poladpur, on a trip to Dapoli.

Riding Ravensoul has taught me something : I now know what a love-hate relationship truly means . I both love and hate the Daytona. And it has led me to do a fair amount of introspection and analysis of my riding.


Ravensoul is doing fine, just clocked over 15000km, having completed 5.5 years. That makes my average annual running just 2760km , a fair bit lower than my estimate of 4000-5000km annually. Of this the first and second years saw 4500km and 3700km. Over time, exploding traffic and hotter climate have made a huge difference. There is a minor technical issue , with the secondary exhaust valve (the EXUP equivalent), which is causing a CEL on the dashboard, happened unexpectedly in December 2019. The servo motor and cable replacement have been ordered, and I've been riding it with the CEL on for a while, have not noticed any difference in engine response or sound, so whatever effect this valve has, is minimal. Some owners abroad remove that altogether, when they install full exhaust system including the headers and collectors, unlike slip-on end cans. The Daytona is loud enough for me with stock exhaust itself, so I'm definitely not about to spend lakhs more on a full system exhaust.


What I have realized, is that I am quite comfortable with the Daytona in the winters, especially if the ride is short and I am back home by 10 or 11 AM, and during my rides in these past 2-3 months I ask myself why even contemplate replacing the Daytona with anything else (except an upgrade to a liter class supersport - which I have seriously contemplated) ; but those winter days are short lived, and soon the heat is back. And in those hot days, I would curse myself and Ravensoul while sweating buckets in the slow, dense traffic. This is what triggered my analysis.

Since I did contemplate upgrading to a liter class or bigger bike, I decided to also compare the ergonomics of those bikes. The Daytona has the most aggressive ergonomics of any sportbike I know of , or so browsing through the database of cycle-ergo.com indicates. The site does not have all the models and some of the more recent models are not yet there, but the rider triangle would not change too much between models only a few minor update years apart. Having adjusted the rider profile for my height, the rider's torso forward lean angle is a 50º. That's even higher than Ducati's supersports, and over the years of reading reviews, every publication has mentioned how aggressive Ducati's ergonomics are, some calling them "torture racks". I haven't sat on a Ducati supersport, but I did sit on the Aprilia RSV4 and it didn't feel as aggressive as the Daytona, and the RSV4 at 45º lean, is regarded as one of the more race-bred bikes out there. How about the sport-tourer types, like the CBR650F ? That is a more relaxed 25º forward lean, pretty close to the naked 675 Street Triple.

With such a forward leaning posture, slow speed riding is more strenous, at high speeds, the pressure from the wind takes some of the weight off the wrists, arms and shoulders. Also, leaning forward seems to require the use of some muscles, causing more energy to be used, and thus more sweating. On top of that, since most rides end between 11AM to noon, the hot sun bearing down on the larger exposed area (one's back , when leaning forward over at 50º ), causing more heat to be incident on my already hot sweaty self. With traffic getting denser, and slower, I was spending even more time in slow moving traffic exposed to the hot sun. No wonder I was getting exhausted and cursing myself.

So while I do feel somewhat vindicated in the "hate" part of this love-hate story, I still feel hesitant to sell my Daytona , especially in these winter days, I feel like a fool even thinking of selling it for something else - I don't really need more power, not that I won't welcome a 200hp liter class monster, but I rarely find safe opportunity to even use 120hp, let alone 200hp. Had I been rich, with a suitably large bungalow, I'd probably never sell any bike I owned even if I no longer intended to ride them, just retire them to a sealed chamber as mementos of great times.

Pics 1-2-3 depicting ergonomics comparison with contemporary motorcycles. Pic 1 being most relevant as those are the supersports I was contemplating on getting , except for the GSX-R750 which was never introduced in India.

I do have a serious problem with heat - I begin sweating upon physical exertion much earlier than others, such as when playing table tennis, I am drenched in sweat by the time 2-3 matches are done. I am not sure myself that a more comfortable bike would enable me to ride in the hotter months with less discomfort and exhaustion, but then I feel far less exhausted riding the Dominar, which is my default tourer. The winter is almost over, I'm alternating between sell:don't sell .


Collage based on rider triangles obtained from cycle-ergo.com:

[Ricci]

The secondary exhaust valve (EXUP as is popularly known, but is Yamaha's term) unit [comprises a motor and cable, both sold individually] arrived and I have replaced the faulty one, so with that the matter is fixed and ECU error has been resolved, the Check Engine Light is now off. Total cost including labour and GST added up to just under INR 13000. I was speaking to the SA about how aftermarket full exhaust systems remove this altogether so they must have an electronic cheat OK signal to trick ECU or to disable the check, exploring this option to bypass the device check by the ECU, but it transpired that the actuator motor and cable had already arrived ( I had ordered them about couple of months ago), so decided to have that fixed. While discussing the device functioning and effects with the SA, I learnt that the Street Triple doesn't have this secondary valve. That is curious because the device is purportedly to improve the torque in the lower to mid-range RPM, so the Street Triple being more "street" focused than the Daytona, should be more apt bikes to have this device, and yet they don't. Neither does the Tiger, but that engine is far more relaxed with longer stroke, so probably torquey enough.


Another thing I forgot to mention, I've been using Speed 97 and more recently Power 99 and while any change in smoothness is minimal at best, more likely due to LiquiMoly engine oil , I have noticed a marked improvement in fuel efficiency. Earlier I would get best DTE of 220km or so at the beginning of the ride , traversing the city in lower gears when using regular 91 octane petrol. Of course once on the highway, the DTE improves to 240+ by which time I've already covered ~30km just to get out of the city/crowded parts. With the 97/99 octane fuel, I am seeing a DTE figure 240-250km , and on the highway, even on the shorter rides to Lonavla , I see the DTE crawl up to 290-300km. The only time I saw 300+ using regular 91 octane fuel was on the longer Goa ride where greater part of the ride was on highway, thus , in higher gears. So with 91 octane, I would get a mixed city+highway fuel efficiency figure of 16-17kmpl, with 97/99 octane fuel , that has increased to 19-20kmpl.


The bike had also gotten pretty muddy from a ride a few weeks ago, so finally got around to washing it myself. Without a pressure washer, I admit I did a poor job as hard to reach places aren't easy to clean by hand. Maybe I'll take it for a proper professional detailing session in a week or two.

Some pictures after the wax session. Can you see me in the reflection? Who needs a Kawasaki H2 for a black mirror experience ?
The lower two after today's short ride Dusty but the gloss and reflectivity remain.

[shan_ned]

Your observation about higher FE with Speed97/Power99 is same as my observation on my STriple. While I am unable to notice any difference in the engine smoothness, I am able to get more FE with higher RON fuel.