The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. Every weekend has seen me riding out to places that I've never been to before. It's funny that all these years of my existance has never seen me interested in going out. I used to pride my self on being a home boy. But after getting my Red Baron, I long for the weekend to arrive. Now my wife and kid keep complaining that I don't spend the weekends with them and are trying to limit my rides to once a month.
The sorties that I went over the past few weekends:
Lepakshi (291 kms from E-city and back). Petrol filled: 7.91 litres. Lepakshi is on the Bangalore - Hyderabad highway. The roads are pretty flat with sparse traffic. Since this was a solo ride, I wasn't to confident in pushing the bike beyond 90-100 kmph, but even at those speeds the bike performed well and the engine did not feel strained at all. On the way back at Devanahalli I got caught by the cops for overspeeding though. They said that the speed limit was only 55kmph and I was doing 75 on that stretch. A fine of Rs.300 and a challan later I was back on the road. Snaps from my Lepakshi ride.
The following weekend was with the Harley Group (LLB). This time the ride was to Sangama (Kanakapura Road). The total distance covered was 211 kms and I filled in 9.54 ltrs of petrol. It's a diffrent feeling alltogether when riding with the Harley group. When we ride as a group all other vehicles make way and it feels that you are the king of the road. Love that feeling. The roads to Sangama have a lot of sweeping turns and the Red Baron loved each moment of it. I had to constantly upshift and downshift on these sweeping turns though.
The last week, a couple of BHPIAN's and I rode out to Anchetty. Anchetty is a Resserve forest area and is past Denkanikottai (TN). The roads are well laid and there are beautiful sweeps all the way till Anchetty. The bike was comfortably cruising at 100-110 kmph and was comfortable at those speeds. On the return journey the team decided to do a little off roading. I decided to opt out since I felt the ground clearence would be a hindarance. The distance fro E-city to Anchetty and back is 150 kms. Road to Anchetty.
Other snaps at Anchetty.
Pros and Cons about the bike till date:
The bike is confidence inspiring and loves cornering. It cruises effortlessly at 110 -120 kmhp. I haven't tried pushing further than those speeds but I suspect that the bike should be able to handle that well. I never felt any vibrations even at 110 - 120 speeds. It handles well and is nimble for its weight unlike its bigger siblings. On an average I have been getting 22-24 kmpl on highways and that seems reasonable enough for a powerful bike as this. I am not sure if the current 2015 crop of bikes come with better lights and horns, but the Red Baron's horn and lights have never seemed an issue for me. I have travelled late nights and the high beam was sufficient to light up the road pretty bright till a very good distance. The brakes on the bike have been doing a very good job and again I suspect that there have been slight upgrades on that from the 2014 models. I enquired with the service adviser at Harley on the rear brake issue that was being reported on earlier bikes. As per what he said, the 2014 models had an issue with the rear brake cylinder and they changed quite a few brake cylinders in the past couple of months. He said the 2015 models have all been sorted out and should not be facing this issue.
There are a few cons as well and something needs to be done about it. For one the ground clearance. Even though the street has higher GC compared to its siblings, it still seems pretty unfit for our unscientific speed humps. Unless I completely slow down and then get over the humb, I can be sure that the bottom would scrape against the hump. Also, in slow moving traffic the engine heat is very high and the chances of roasting your leg is for real. The bike hates slow moving traffic and the constant gear changing really takes a toll on the bike. The bike jerks a lot on lower gears at low speeds (10-20 kmphs) and I am still to get the hang of riding the bike in these conditions. The gears are pretty rough, especially shifting from neutral to first and the from first to the second gear. It is not a light click but more like a hard thud.
Apart from these issues the bike has been doing a beautiful job of putting a smile on my face.
Completed my first service this week and the service cost me Rs.10,284.00. I didn't report any issues and so apart from oil change and coolent change nothing else was done. This is the break up of the service cost:
Oil change : Rs.1,935.00
Oil Filter : Rs.355.26
Coolant : Rs.96.54
Battery Tender : Rs.3,532.95
First service charge : Rs.2,160.00
Supplies: Rs.960.00
Vat : Rs.858.44
Labour Service Tax: Rs.385.63
They advised me to charge the battery at least twice a week no matter if the bike is being ridden frequently or not. Not sure if the charge goes down that soon, but I am not taking a chance and feel it's better to follow their advise as they know better.
The Red Baron is going to rest for the next week and will not be able to test ride him to see if there is any change after the first service. Until then take care all!