[Snehal Sekhar]

I can always count on you to give me some sane advice barca buddy. Anyway, about the scratches, I was thinking I'd get the Baron CQ coated. The process includes removal of minor scratches as well, so that should take care of the scratches that are on the bike at present. But, my question is what do I do so as to prevent this from happening again? My next option would be to buy these 3M PPF Sheets and try a DIY at home, but knowing how bad I'm at these kind of things, I'd actually be doing more damage than good to the bike.

[Added_flavor]

Looking at the kind of scratches, it does look like a case of vandalism.

Anyway, I think rubbing compound (Or Formula 1 Scratch out) will do the trick on these.

[barcalad]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

I can always count on you to give me some sane advice barca buddy. Anyway, about the scratches, I was thinking I'd get the Baron CQ coated. The process includes removal of minor scratches as well, so that should take care of the scratches that are on the bike at present. But, my question is what do I do so as to prevent this from happening again? My next option would be to buy these 3M PPF Sheets and try a DIY at home, but knowing how bad I'm at these kind of things, I'd actually be doing more damage than good to the bike.

Anytime!

Keep the bike covered at all times, when you're home. Don't cover it up when the engine is hot, though. At the rear, tuck the cover above the exhaust outlet as it should not be covered, ideally.

At work, park it in the line of sight of a CCTV camera and pay the guard a hundred or two to keep an eye out for your ride.
It's obvious that someone would damage your bike out of sheer jealousy and sadism. Yours truly has been a victim as well. Fortunately, I caught him on CCTV and bashed the living daylights out of him.

[Sting]

I see some attempts at creativity with the bike pics.. and you seem to be munching miles, good going buddy! The 'battle wounds' on the Red Baron don't look all that bad!

Not sure what the dust conditions in Banglore are, but here in Delhi its quite terrible. But then again, we don't have rusting parts due to moisture. What works very well for me is covering the bike with a thick cotton double bed sheet(the wifey kindly took out an old one) and then with the bike cover. It does a good job of protecting from dust and the devil of the cat that decides to jump on the bike every few days.

Cheers,
Sting

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Anyway, I think rubbing compound (Or Formula 1 Scratch out) will do the trick on these.

Thanks Added_flavor! That sounds like a good idea. Just checking online and a bottle of this stuff is not very expensive. I could buy one of these and do a little test on my car just to check how effective it is. If the results are good, then will use it on the Baron.

Originally Posted by barcalad

At work, park it in the line of sight of a CCTV camera and pay the guard a hundred or two to keep an eye out for your ride.

Can completely rule out that buddy. I never ever ride my Baron to work. Just taken it once and that was a couple of months ago. I always get picked up and dropped by the office cab.

Now will someone also give me a good idea on how I can prevent these kind of scratches from happening in the future. Where do I get hold of someone to do a PPF coating on my ride, or if no one is willing to do a PPF then what are my other alternatives.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

During my last bike cleanup, I noticed that the front and rear mudguards had severe scratches on them. As of now I’m still at a loss as to what needs to be done and any suggestions on this are welcome.

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Anyway, I think rubbing compound (Or Formula 1 Scratch out) will do the trick on these.

Formula1 scratch out does not work. I have tried it and it does not even remove minor scratches. These deep scratches can only be removed by a detailer.

Snehal, do contact professional detailers for this. I have sent you a PM for this and for the 3M PPF job. Hope it helps.

[Sojogator]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Formula1 scratch out does not work. I have tried it and it does not even remove minor scratches. These deep scratches can only be removed by a detailer.

Snehal, do contact professional detailers for this. I have sent you a PM for this and for the 3M PPF job. Hope it helps.

I used the Meguair's scratchX2.0 a couple of times. They don't work on actual scratches. But does a good job of removing hairline scratches and swirl marks. Guessing the formula1 would do a similar job too.

When I had asked, they told they could ppf the fender and some other parts too, provided the part was not too edgy or curvy.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Where do I get hold of someone to do a PPF coating on my ride, or if no one is willing to do a PPF then what are my other alternatives.

Snehal I remember we discussed this, no? Didn't work out?

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by Sting

I see some attempts at creativity with the bike pics.. and you seem to be munching miles, good going buddy! The 'battle wounds' on the Red Baron don't look all that bad! Cheers,
Sting

Thanks buddy! When I think of them as "battle wounds" these scratches don't seem that bad anymore.
Anyway, I haven't seen any recent ride reports of yours. Taking a break eh?
BTW, the photo you're referring to was taken by a co-rider.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Formula1 scratch out does not work. I have tried it and it does not even remove minor scratches. These deep scratches can only be removed by a detailer.

Thanks Aditya!

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Snehal I remember we discussed this, no? Didn't work out?

No buddy! I spoke to them over the phone and they refused to do the front mudguard. Let me go there in person and try my pleading skills. That might just work.

[Sting]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Anyway, I haven't seen any recent ride reports of yours. Taking a break eh?
BTW, the photo you're referring to was taken by a co-rider. .

THE heat in Delhi! Though I'm planning the big one in August now- intend to get Leh'd! Waiting! Waiting!

Co-rider? What co-rider? Just shamelessly take credit for the pics. How do you think I get so many of them on the Bonneville thread. Unless of course the 'co-rider' is going to visit your thread and read these posts!

Cheers,
Sting

[Snehal Sekhar]

Yesterday was the World Ride for Harley owners and at least most of the Harley owners would have taken their bikes out for a spin. Not to be left behind, I too went on a short 185 kms ride with a few co-riders from this forum. Actually I had 3 choices to choose from. One was the overnight stay at Coorg (organized by Tusker Harley), then there was a breakfast ride to Mulbagal (again organized by Tusker Harley) and this ride with my dear buddies from the Forum.

Riding to Coorg for an overnighter was my first option, but then looking at the rates that Tusker was charging for the ride I decided against it. The rates were inclusive of food and accommodation, but me being a budget rider felt it was way beyond my means. I also decided against going to Mulbagal on the other ride that Tusker organized for no particular reason, but just because I felt that I would be feel more comfortable riding with people I know.

The destination to ride took us a week to decide, and where did we ride to? Actually, no particular destination was what it was all about. Just rode. We started at KR Puram and rode all the way to Kolar and from there we turned to Devanahalli and while my fellow riders went towards Nandi for breakfast, I took the Airport road and headed back home via the city since I was on a timed ride.

The ride was uneventful except for the fact that I hit a road hump somewhere near Hoskote while I was doing good speeds. I never noticed the hump until after the bike hit it but the Baron was as calm as ever and maintained its course even after that jarring experience while I was cursing my luck for not having noticed the hump. As a matter of fact, I was surprised that the bike didn’t lose balance or waver off course. Must have something to do with the weight of the bike and the rider I guess!

The total fuel filled was 8.9 ltrs and I rode 185 kms. Mileage I got on yesterday’s ride was around 20/21 kmpl (this is with a mix of highway riding, city riding and some clutch riding as well). The mileage was as expected and nothing to complain about. One more thing is that the Baron starts with the first push of the starter even after being idle for close to 2 weeks. Unlike what the people at Tusker said, the battery doesn’t have to be charged every week if not ridden frequently. I use the bike sparingly and I have never once had an issue of the bike not starting at the first push of the button. May be as the bike grows older, there may be issues of the battery going weak but as of now in the 4 months of ownership I have not had any issues. If it’s anything like my car which I sometimes use only once a month, and in my 5 years of ownership I have never had an issue of my car not starting either, then I am sure that the Baron’s battery should last me for a really long time without me needing to charge it as frequently as advised by the dealers.

In the meanwhile, for the scratches on my bike I was pondering on various options to remove them and then protect the RB against further damages. I got to know that Ceramic Quartz treatment was good and would remove scratches as well as protect the bike from minor abrasions in the future and also give the paint a wet glossy shine. The protection lasts for a year and after coating the bike with CQ, using any kind of washing soap or polishing agent was not to be done. Just a plane water wash and wipe was all that would be needed to keep the paint and the bike looking new. I enquired about the Ceramic Quartz coating for my R Baron from a detailer and the gentle man at the place I enquired said that when a CQ treatment is done on any vehicle, at least 2 microns of paint will be reduced. The HD has 150 microns of paint + a few microns of Clear coat as per what he said, so even if I were to do a CQ treatment every year, there would still not be a problem. The rates he quoted were Rs.4,500.00 for a naked bike and Rs.5,000.00 for a bike with fairing. There are two problems with CQ coating. One is that it does not protect against any scratches that happen due to flying debris and the other thing is you can’t do a 3M PPF on your bike once you’ve gotten a CQ coating because the 3M PPF does not stick on to the CQ coating. So I can’t do a CQ coating and then get a 3M PPF on top of that as a onetime solution. Every year I would need to shell out around 4-5 thousand to get this treatment done on my Baron. This IMO is an expensive affair and I don’t think I would be able to do it every year.

As Sting quoted in an earlier post, “let the battle scars remain” and most likely that is what I will do. I’ll let the battle scars remain until I find a more cost effective and permanent solution.

About the bike cover I purchased earlier, I am happy with it but not entirely. The bike cover does an ok job. It does not keep all the dust out surprisingly. When I removed the cover before my ride on Sunday (that’s after 2 weeks of being covered up), there was a fine layer of dust enveloping the tank and fenders. Not sure how dust manages to pass through the cover. So now, I am first covering the bike with an old bed spread and on top of that I am putting my bike cover. Only time will tell if this process will be of any benefit or not.

One milestone I completed on my Baron and that is I crossed the 4K mark on my odo in 4 months. I have managed to clock in a thousand kilometers every month since I purchased the Baron.

So now, until my next ride the Baron rests again.

A parting shot:

[Sojogator]

I think you should look at the rear brake mod here:

http://www.topgear.com/india/first-d...-uno/itemid-50

" the rear brake oil reservoir has been moved under the seat rather than behind the right footpeg, and a steel-braided pipe has replaced the original rubber pipe – both changes effectively improving the functioning of the rear brake. "

This motomiu has a FB page. Maybe you could ask about what was done and how ?

[Snehal Sekhar]

Over the past couple of months, my rides have come down drastically. I get to ride once a month mostly. Since most of my rides have been with groups, I’ve got to become too dependent on others for directions and routs to various places. Keeping that in mind, I decided to get a dedicated GPS device for my bike.

MapmyIndia used to manufacture GPS devices for bikes (Trailblazer 2) and since I didn’t find that listed on their website, I called them up to find out if they were still selling them. As per their rep, they stopped manufacturing the Trailblazer 2 and they were launching a new device for bikes sometime soon.

My next option was to buy a new mobile and install either HereMaps or Google maps and use that as a dedicated GPS on my rides. Before I spent that kind of money and made my purchase, I wanted to try it first on my existing Window’s phone. I installed the offline version of the HereMaps on my phone and used it yesterday on my ride to Horsley Hills. The major drawback about the HereMaps is that you can not get a ‘via route’. There are pre set routes and if I want to try a different route, I have no options to search for the same. For example, on the onward journey I went via Hoskote-Chintamani-Madanapalli and while returning I wanted to come back via Kolar. I wasn’t able to search for a route to come back via Kolar to Bangalore. So, I have to breakdown my journey on HereMaps. I will have to first set the location to Kolar and once I reach there, I will have to set the location to Bangalore. If you know the names of places it does not matter, but if you are in unfamiliar territory it makes a whole lot of difference.

That apart, I now need to get a Ram mount to affix my mobile to the handle bar on my bike. The ones that are available locally didn’t have very promising reviews and there were cases of the mobiles slipping and falling off from the mount during rides. The search is still on and any assistance on this is most welcome.

I also purchased a 1000 mAh Powerbank to charge my mobile since using the GPSn on my phone drains the phone within hour. The powerbank cost me Rs.999.00 and as per what the dealer said, once the powerbank is completely charged, it will be able to fully charge my mobile at least 2-3 times. I used it on my ride yesterday and in an hour I was able to get a half charge on my mobile.

My second service is due next month and just in time I got to know from another TBHP member that Harley were doing a recall of Street 750 bikes due to an issue with the fuel pump. I called Tusker Harley and confirmed this news with them and they said that the news is true but they still haven’t started doing an official recall and once they start it, they would keep me informed.

I have attached the news related to this for you all to check on.

[barcalad]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

The search is still on and any assistance on this is most welcome.

Chief, I have used this for a long ride on a Triumph Street Triple and it worked extremely well. No vibrations or dislocations even on potholes and speed breakers. It's my first recommendation.

Remember : Before buying yourself a mount, make sure it's compatible for your handlebar. Some are specifically made for clip-ons, and they hold the majority out there.

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by barcalad

Chief, I have used this for a long ride on a Triumph Street Triple and it worked extremely well. No vibrations or dislocations even on potholes and speed breakers. It's my first recommendation.

Thanks buddy! This is something I was looking for as well and found the same thing on the SBK store. The SBK store has a minimum purchase policy of 5K. So, I had to abandon the idea from purchasing it from them since I had nothing else to buy.

I know the Ram mounts have been extensively tested and are worth the money spent. But, my concern is how much will the shipping work up to since this is going to be shipped from the US of A? Any clue?