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-   -   My Red Baron – Harley Davidson Street 750. EDIT: Sold! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superbikes-imports/160150-my-red-baron-harley-davidson-street-750-edit-sold.html)

When Harley announced the release of their most affordable motorcycle in early 2014, I for one was mighty happy that my dream of owning a Harley had come closer to reality. Back then I did think of the “Bullet” as well, but I had sold the one I had earlier (RE Thunderbird 2002 model) and my family was not too keen on me buying the same bike all over again. Not with its constant niggles and frequent service center visits.

Months went and the Harley dream sort of remained just that A Dream.

Decision Making:

Sometime in October, Kawasaki announced the release of the ER6-N and the Z250. Though not a big fan of the Kawasaki, I sort of liked the way the ER6-N looked and went to the KTM Showroom in E-city to see the bike in flesh. As luck would have it, they said that the only place I could get to see the bike was in the BTM layout showroom or the Indiranagar showroom. Since BTM was closer to where I stay, I ventured out there, but even they did not have the ER6-N on display. I enquired the details of the bike and was informed that the waiting period would be 45 days.

Went back home disappointed that I could not see the bike, but spoke to my wife informing her that I wanted to buy the ER6-N. Researched on the net about the bike and the reviews were pretty good. My main concern was the saddle height. Me being only 5.5 feet, I was worried that both my legs would not touch ground when on the saddle. That was something I was not too happy about. So, the idea of owning the ER6-N died young. The people at the KTM showroom were also trying to hard sell the KTM Duke 390 and even though I liked the power that this bike has the bike per se did not light any spark in me. If I had to buy a bike it had to be something that I really loved and wanted to own. The ER6-N did just that, but if it were not for the high saddle I guess I would have been writing a review on the ER6-N now instead of the Harley Street 750.

Come December and the Harley bug hit me again. Spoke to my folks at home and coaxed my family to part with funds to go ahead and buy the Street 750. Since they knew that I was desperate to get Harleyd my Mom agreed and said that she would lend me a certain amount and the balance I would have to take a loan from the bank.

Went to Tusker Harley on the 24th Dec to have a look at the Street 750 and liked what I saw. Apart from the hanging wires right below the handle bar (not sure what those wires were), the bike was looking pretty good. Sat on the bike and found that I could comfortably place both feet flat on the ground at any given point. The seat was comfortable. Never took a test ride that day and informed them that I would come back on the 27th for a test ride and to pay the initial booking amount.

The Test Ride:

Went on the 27th and I was offered a test ride on the Street 750. The so called ride, was a 3-4 km circle within Cubbon Park. The bike offered was fitted with a SE exhaust, but I did not notice that much of a difference between the SE and the stock exhaust.

They never offer a test ride alone and so the sales fellow accompanied me on my test ride. The bike was started and it purred to life. It didn’t sound anything like the Fat Boy parked near it (not that it mattered to me though). The first thing I noticed was the torque. I put it into first gear and the bike lunges forward pretty quick if you are not careful when releasing the clutch and raising the accelerator. It pulls like a train on any gear even with a pillion. The handle bars were comfortably laid back for my height and that with the saddle height, made the bike apt for me. I found it hard to find neutral when stopping at the traffic signals and when I enquired with the showroom, they said that it would take a bit of getting used to and there was actually nothing difficult about it. The gears fall with a light “Thud” unlike their Japanese counterparts. The rear brakes lacked bite and unless I pushed the brake pedal all the way down, the bike would not show any signs of slowing down. I asked the “showroom” pillion if this is how the brakes are or if it was only on this bike that the brakes were so bad. He replied that all cruiser bikes have the same kind of rear brakes and this is how they are meant to be (not sure what that meant and not sure if I had to believe it or not, but didn’t venture to ask any further questions on that). I now have to learn to use the front brakes more. One issue that I had was the bike does not hold steady when taking turns on wet tarmac. I almost skid when taking a turn on wet tarmac while returning from my test ride. Not sure if the tyres or my riding style was to be blamed, but that experience got me all jittered up. Good for me, I sort of regained my balance and was able to control the bike.

Things that I liked:
1: The most important thing was that this was the only Harley I could afford and it was worth every rupee that I would be paying IMO.
2: The saddle height if idle for my short stature. I can plant both my feet firmly on the ground.
3: The riding posture is relaxed and suits me fine. I don’t have to lean forward.
4: The torque is good in any gear.
5: The bike is nimble in traffic and handles like any regular commuter bike even though it weighs close to 220 kilos, I did not feel the weight during motion.

Things to improve/ didn’t like:
1: The exposed bit of wires around the front of the bike.
2: Rear brake lacks bite.
3: Skids during turns on wet tarmac (again…not sure if this is the tires to blame or my riding skills).
4: Engine heat in slow moving traffic. In the 4 km test ride that I had, there was a lot of heat generated from the engine and my legs felt uncomfortably hot.
5: Rear View Mirrors offer a good view of my shoulders and a bit of the road behind me.

After the test ride, went back to the showroom paid the booking amount and they gave me a waiting period of 2-3 months.

During the waiting period:

In the meantime, I made a few purchases in preparation for the bike coming home. Got myself a Riding Jacket (Aspida Helios from Spartans – Rs. 6,445.00-size XXL) and Leather Gloves (TBG-Rs. 3,790.00-size L) from “Lets Gear UP” in HSR Layout and a Bionic knee guard – outerwear (Rs. 1,950.00), waist pack (Rs. 950.00) and balaclava (Rs. 200.00) from “Cramster”. I still need to pick up riding shoes, a tank bag and a saddle bag. I plan to pick up Cramster’s Turtle for my tank bag and a Viaterra / Cramster saddle bag. The shoes I still have not decided upon, but until then a pair of “Gosgo military boots” should suffice. I enquired about a helmet at Let’s Gear Up and the owner said that he would be getting his stock soon. So until he gets his stocks, I’ll be using my existing lid that I use when riding my Activa.

Nearing D Day:

On the 22th Jan I gave a call to Tusker Harley to find out the status on my bike and if there was any chance of me getting it earlier. They said that they would check and call me back in a day or two and I promptly receive a call back in three days stating that they have 2 bikes available. A red and a denim black and asked if I was interested in picking my bike now. I was interested and I asked them to hold on to the bike for a week so that I could get in touch with the Bank for the loan process. HDFC was my loan partner and once I submitted all my papers, they approved my loan in 3 days. Went to the showroom on the 7th Feb and paid them the remaining amount.

This is the detail of the loan:

On Road: Rs. 5,28,119.00 (as of 5th Feb, 2015)
Down Payment: Rs. 2,31,719.00
Loan Amount: Rs. 3,00,000.00
EMI: Rs. 8,050.00
Tenure: 4 years.

They promised me a delivery within 3 days once they received the money from the bank.

On 12th Feb, the accessories guy from Tusker calls me asking if I was interested in picking up any accessories. I wanted the crash guard, but since I was already way above my budget now I had to postpone the idea of installing one. A tank bag would be on my bike when on long rides and I wanted the Paint Protection Film on the Tank. The cost coated was Rs. 2,500.00 and I was informed that the Tank Pad would cover almost 60-70% of the tank. He said that it would cover the tank from the fuel lid till the end of the tank near the seat. Though expensive, I needed this to be done since I had no intentions of causing scratches on the tank due to the Tank Bag. I didn’t go in for a sissy bar since I would not be riding with a pillion. The crash guard would have to wait for a couple of months I guess!

Accessories Selected:

Paint Protection Film for the Tank – Rs. 2,500.00

Accessories to be installed/bought at a later date:

Crash Guard – Appx cost Rs. 18,000.00-20,000.00
Bike Cover – (somewhere in the range of Rs.1,000.00 to Rs.1,500.00)
Portable Air Pump and tubeless puncture repair kit – (not sure which brand to buy and its cost)
Rear View Mirror extenders or a better set of RVMs (again, not sure which brand and its cost).

The D Day:

I got a call from Tusker Harley stating that the bike was ready for delivery on Friday (13th Feb), but my folks at home advised that Wednesday would be a good day to buy something new and so 18th was finalised as the day that I would pick up the bike. I reached the showroom at 12:30 noon and after a round of congratulations from all of them at the showroom we got down to the paperwork. They had me sign a declaration form stating that I had a protective helmet to ride the bike and that I didn’t want the sari guard removed. They also informed me about how to clean my bike and what products would give me best results (as you would have it, these are available only in Harley showrooms or on their online store).

Harley is also starting a two year extended warranty on their bikes and the cost of this for the Street 750 works up to Rs.13,500.00. This is apart from the initial two year warranty that they regularly provide. They said that if I purchased my extended warranty now, I would have the privileged to be the first customer to get this in their showroom. Anyway, I didn’t opt for this and decided to wait for a couple of months before I made up my mind.

Next, after a round of photos with the team (which they said would be emailed to me) they got down to explaining the running of the bike and the service schedules. The three most important points that they said are listed below:

1: Never clutch ride the bike. You either pull the clutch lever all the way or don’t pull it at all. By riding with the clutch lever half pressed, the clutch plates would get damaged.
2: Never place my right foot or my right fingers on the rear brake pedal or the front brake lever during normal riding except during braking. I was informed that even the slightest of pressure on the brake pedal/lever would cause the brake pads to activate and the wear and tear on the pads would increase. which in turn would lead to frequent replacements.
3: Run the bike at 60 kmph for the first 80 kms and thereafter till 800 kms I could take the bike upto 120 kms. After 800 kms, I could take the bike to its max speeds.

The first service is at 1,800 kms or a month from the delivery date and there after it is every 8,000 kms or 6 months.

After the run down on the bike, I realised that they hadn’t put the 3M paint protection film on the tank and when asked I was informed that the person who does that job is on leave (I have a feeling that they forgot about it).

A neat looking shoulder bag, two leather folders to keep my bike documents and a key chain were what was given complimentary.

Harley no longer fills up the tank before delivery. All they put in the tank was 5 litres of fuel and I guess there was another 3 litres in the tank earlier, because when I went to tank up at the Shell bunk on Lavelle Road I could fill another 5 litres.

Regarding the membership with the HOG, I was asked to come over one of the weekends to fill up a form to become a member since I was in a hurry to rush back home. The HOG membership would entitle me to weekend rides, zonal rides as well as national rides. I would also be eligible for a discount on their merchandise. The first year is free and from the second year on, the price for their annual HOG membership would be around 7K.

The Ride Home:

All the pre delivery formalities got over by 1:45 PM which worked in my favour. The traffic being minimal during this time in Bangalore, the ride back home was that much more relaxed. Some points I'd like to add about the ride back home:

1: Finding neutral was a bit difficult during the first few attempts, but then after a little patience and practice I got the hang of it (the trick I learnt was to shift to the first gear, then shift up to the second gear and then give a light tap down and voila, the bike falls into neutral).
2: In slow moving traffic I had an issue with the bike lugging, I even tried downshifting but I still was not able to ride the bike well in slow moving traffic (at least not with their advice of no half clutch riding).
3: The heat from the engine in slow moving traffic was noticeable, but once on the elevated road towards E-city I didn’t feel the engine heat at all.
4: The suspension on the bike is pretty good and bad patches of roads were not felt at all. I still haven’t tried riding on our city’s famous speed breakers, but I feel that the bike would take it in its stride.
5: Surprisingly for me the rear brakes were not at all bad and so unlike the bike I got for the test ride. The rear brakes gave a positive feedback and didn’t feel wooden.
6: The stock horn does a pretty good job and is loud enough for our traffic.

I'm not sure how true it is when they said that this was meant for urban riding. Urban riding abroad yes, but not out here. This bike doesn't suit our bumper to bumper traffic and riding in slow moving traffic is bad on the clutch and engine IMO. Like all other Harleys this is meant for open roads and best feeels at home on the highways. Since I never bought the Street 750 to ride in the city, I guess it suits me just fine.

The bike up to now has ticked all the right boxes for me and I am expecting him to be a keeper. Now a few more long rides in the coming weeks is what I need to get to know my Red Baron better.



I've attached a few pictures of the riding gear I purchased and also of the RB at the showroom and the ride back home. I have also included a picture of the handle bar area with the mass of cables and this I felt was the only sore point on the bikes looks.

Please accept my heartiest congratulations for buying one of the most practical Harleys made. Excellent choice of colour, that! Do keep us posted about your rides and all the updates you make on the ride. Will be following this thread closely.

Wishing you and the red baron a lot of happy & safe kilometres. Would be a pleasure to have you and the Street on one of my weekend rides.

Ride safe! :)

Let me be the second to congratulate you on buying the Red Baron. Please do keep this thread updated. Nice choice of colour sir I must say!clap:

The Streeet 750 is actually a great bike gifted with numerous talents and typical qualities of a HD.

Just one thing though. I am sure that you are missing the musical beat of your TBird, my Dad being and RE biker. How would you compare the two bikes? Do you miss your Thumper?

Thanks,
petrolhead_neel :)

Snehal,

Congratulations! The bike looks great in red. I like this better than the black, its the first time I'm seeing this colour.

For the tire inflator I would recommend Slime Power Sport. It is extremely compact and easy to carry in your tank bag, comes with various attachments to power it but does not have a gauge. Pick up any decent puncture repair kit and it will have a gauge with it.

I personally use Dirtsack Frogman as a saddle bag and Rynox optimus as a tankbag and would recommend both.

Ride safe and keep us updated on you experiences.

Cheers,
Sting

Congrats brother and welcome to the family. Happy miles munching ahead :)

Congratulations on your shiny red Harley, Snehal. Of all the colors on the Street 750, the red is the best in my opinion.

Did you read our official review of this bike? I was bowled over by the power and handling of the bike and can imagine the smile on your face every time you take it for a spin.

As you rightly mentioned, the tires are not up to the mark. Upgrading to michelin's will improve traction and grip levels so please do that as early as you can.

Wishing you a veryhappy and safe ownership with this one. :thumbs up

Congratulations on, which surely was a childhood dream, getting a 'Harley'

Happy Mile Munching on the Harley. Absolute treat on the street and our highways too.

Do get your shoe/boot asap ! And always keep it in your mind with great power comes great responsibility. :)

Congratulations!!! Your Red Baron looks beautiful. The only thing that doesn't looks beautiful is that Steelbird SB-1 helmet lol:.

How is the pillion seat? With that downward slope and no grab rails, will that be uncomfortable for the pillion?

Congratulations!!!

Your ride looks awesome! Being an owner myself I agree with you on many counts of this writeup but more on that later. Thought I could use this opportunity to open up some talk on how to better our experience with this machine.

Let me attempt to list down my thoughts:

1. I have been able to take off the tank and study the wiring in some detail and found that this isn't very difficult. My plan is to get some good quality black wrapping tape and have a go at it myself.
2. This fades pretty fast. I've done just under 5,000km and there has been considerable brake fade. I've ordered EBC's HH Sintered brake pads while I try to find the time to order steel braided brake lines. These are custom made and need precise measurements.
3. I'm going to blame this on the tyres. I brought home my machine in pouring Mumbai rain and the rear was all over the place. Even now, I am super careful when going over a wet patch specially on concrete roads. Cornering has been very good in the dry.
4. Buddy, you're complaining about this in Bangalore? You should take the bike out in Mumbai's October heat. At signals, people around me have complained that they were feeling hot just by standing near it.
5. I managed to sort out the rear view mirror issue! Replaced the mirrors with longer stemmed ones of the same design. Cost the same as those nasty looking extenders. Just get your service guy to sell you long stem mirrors.

I'm subscribing to this thread and would love to see how your machine works out for you. My Bangalore ride is imminent. Will try and catch you.

Ride on!

Thanks barcalad! Both the blacks that they had on display looked too sober and didn't even consider them. I wish they had the Street in a yellow, I definitely would have picked that instead.
Looking forward to riding with all of you over the coming weekends.

Thanks petrolhead_neel! I totally agree that the Street 750 is a great bike and I can't wait to take it on a long ride to find out more about all its capabilities.
About the TBird, there is nothing really that I could think of when comparing between the two. Both are in their own class. I definitely would have missed my Bird if the bike was a bit more reliable. I have always had issues on the bike and never felt it to be trustworthy. It let me down quite a few times on my regular city commutes and I lost all trust on my Bird. The only plus point that I had during the time she was there was that I had a mechanic who used to pick up and drop my bike back home after service and that saved me the trouble of having to travel all the way to the service centre.

Thanks Sting! The tire inflator and the puncture repair kit are the next in line among my purchases for my ride. Regarding the Saddle Bags, I was looking at something that would offer some kind of support for my back as well and was more inclined towards the Viaterra Claw, but not sure if it would be a good fit on my RB though.

Thanks abhimanyu_singh!

Thanks n_aditya! Just so that you all know, I was glued to the Team BHP official review thread on the Street 750 and the thread is what cemented my decision on this purchase.
As of now any upgrades will have to wait. I will ride the bike as stock as possible and once I get to know him better, will think of upgrades that would enhance my riding experience.

Thanks Sojogator! True, with great power comes great responsibility and your advise is much appreciated.

Thanks Mr.O! The helmet you see is what I use on my Activa and suits me fine for the in city slow moving and bumper to bumper riding that I do. I was to pick up my lid from Let's Gear Up sometime this week but never got to doing it. Thanks for reminding me though, I will pick it up before my next ride on the RB.

Thanks adrena! I was thinking on the same lines regarding the bundle of wires around the front of the tank. A black tape should do just fine I guess.
Now you've got me really worried about the brakes. 5000 Kms is all that the pads last for? Do you advise I change them to Steel braided brake lines before I cross 5K. I am really not much of a mechanical person, so unless I get some advise on what brand to buy and where to get them from I would be at a loss, especially what with all these fake brands that are being sold at most places.
Regarding the tires, so true! They lack traction on wet surface and I will have to ride super slow during the rains or on wet tarmac. Will have to change the tires to Michelin as advised in an earlier post, but have decided to do that at a later stage.

About the heat from the engine, I only noticed it in slow moving traffic. Once on the open road, I never felt the heat at all. But again, I really haven't ridden him that much. A few rides in Bangalore's summer may just get people to ask me if I am sitting on top of an oven. :)

Thanks for the advise on the long stemmed mirrors. I too didn't fancy the extenders much as they look absolutely gross. I never thought of the long stemmed mirror option until you said it. I definitely will have to get this done when I go in for my first service.


In the meanwhile my RB is lying at home waiting to be ridden. Haven't got to do any riding since I got him home. Wanted to go out for a spin towards either Krishnagiri or Tumkur this weekend, but the family had other plans made up for me. So, the ride will have to wait till the next weekend.

Went for a sortie today afternoon on the Red Baron. Route taken: Electronic City-NICE Road up to Tumkur Road-Dasanapura and returned back on the same route (except for a slight deviation towards Bannerghatta Road to fill in fuel at the Shell Petrolbunk and returned back on the NICE Road to E-city). Total distance covered: 105 kms. Petrol filled: 5.2 ltrs. Average kmpl: 20.

Since I got the RB, I never went out on a ride and was looking towards testing the bike’s performance as well as the riding gear I purchased. A few Bhpian’s were riding towards Shoolagiri and back on Sat, but since I had to maintain my run in speeds for the first 50 odd kms I didn’t want to trouble them.

Since Sunday for pretty free and there was nothing much to do, decided late that I would go for a spin. I wasn’t too keen on riding in traffic so decided to take the NICE Road which is almost 40-42 kms one way with no traffic signals and stray animals or people crossing the road. All the way till Dasanapura I maintained speeds of up to 50-60 kmph. The bike performed as expected. The only thing I feel that is missing on the bike is a pass switch. It’s so surprising that HD decided not to put in one on this bike. To indicate that I am overtaking, I have to use the high beam-low beam switch and this is so inconveniently located. Since I have short fingers, it makes it all the more difficult to reach out to this switch unless I release my left hand from the handle grip and extend my fingers all the way to the front to reach out to this switch. On the way back I ventured to push the bike harder and was comfortably cruising at 80-90 kmph. I tried going harder, but the head wind was a bit too much and I was not too confident of my riding abilities in going above those speeds. The bike never felt strained at those speeds at all and could have easily crossed 3 digit figures with a more experienced rider. There were no vibrations felt at the speeds I rode and there was no engine heat felt when riding at all. The engine does heat up, but is not at something that is noticeable at cruising speeds. The seats are comfortable and I didn’t have any pain in my bottom. The bike didn’t sway a bit with the wind gust from passing lorries and maintained its steady pace (could be because both us are heavyweights). The ride was more than satisfactory and reached home a happy man.

By the way on the way back home on NICE Road, I saw a HD Fat Boy and a Duke 390 close on it’s heels. I guess they were riding back from IBW Goa. I liked their rides and the Duke 390 got my respect for the riders skills and confidence and the way he kept up with the Fat Boys speeds.

Until next week my rides going to rest. Can’t wait till next Sunday for my next sortie.

Mods, sorry I didn't uplad these snaps in my previous post.

Note from Support - Posts merged. You can use the "EDIT" button within 30 mins of submitting your first post to add more content to your original post. This avoid back to back posts.

Hey Bud, I had a question on the tire inflator. I was checking the Slime's webisite and found another product called Slime Moto Spair. I think it is the same thing as a Power Sport except that this comes with a puncture sealant. This may seem a stupid question but, since I am a technical misfit, I wanted to know how easy is it to connect the Power Sport to the bikes battery when filling up air? stupid:

The longing to go on another ride started as soon as I completed my first one last week. I started searching for nearby places that I could go and return by noon. Three routes were decided upon.

1: Madhugiri (after Tumkur)
2: Krishnagiri Dam
3: Thally (Little England)

Madhugiri was the first to be out of my plan since a TBHP member said that the roads leading to Madhugiri were under repair and Thally seemed a little too close. The last option remaining was to ride upto Krishnagiri Dam.

Since I work in the night shift, my plan was to reach home from work and leave for my ride immediately. As planned, I reached home by 4 AM and after freshening up left home by 5:20 AM. Surprisingly at that time of the day Hosur Road was packed with vehicles heading up to Hosur. I was so hoping to see sparse traffic at this time and was a bit disappointed. Anyway, the ride up to Hosur was not something I enjoyed at all. What with some vehicles coming on the wrong direction on the highway and to top it, they have the audacity to turn on the high beam. The lights were blinding and I had a hard time until a bit after the Hosur checkpost. Day light dawned and I got my nerves back. Post the Hosur checkpost, the traffic thinned out and it was such a pleasure to ride on the Highway. It reminded me of this song ‘Life is a highway I will ride it all night long’. From there on I rode until the CCD outlet at Shoolagiri and the ride was pleasant. The more I rode the bike the more I got to fall in love with it. After 2 coffees and a couple of smokes, got back on the saddle and headed off to Krishnagiri. After the Krishnagiri toll, I was asked to go over the first two elevated roads and before I reached the third one, I was asked to keep to the service road and take a right turn at the small narrow road right under the elevated road. All the way from Krishnagiri checkpost the land is being cultivated and lush green hues of crops on either side of the road was a sight for sore eyes (what with living in a concrete jungle and all that!).

Took right turn under the elevated road and once I got past the narrow tunnel, I had to ride through a village for 3 kilometers until I reached the dam. They charge a nominal fee of Rs. 05.00 as an entrance fee per person. The dam is not something that you could write home about. I guess my expectations were unreasonable. When I heard people say garden and deer park, I had imagined it to be on line with Brindavan Gardens. My bad. Anyway the sluice valves were not open and there was no water flowing, so I felt sort off let down. I guess if I had come in a different season, I would have got to see some water. Since it was only 9 AM on my watch and I still had time until 12.00 to reach home in Bangalore, I was seriously thinking of riding a bit further. The closest places were either Dharmapuri or Ambur. I have passed by Ambur several times on my way to Chennai and wanted to take a different road. So Dharmapuri it was. Again, the roads are just awesome and the traffic was sparse. My Red Baron was where he belonged. On the Highways and both of us were loving it. Covered the 40 odd kms pretty fast. All this time I still hadn’t eaten any breakfast and much to my surprise there is not a single good hotel all the way from Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri. There are plenty of road side eateries, but no place that I could stop by for a pi##le. Once I reached Dharmapuri I decided not to get carried away any further and turned back home. The first petrol bunk after I exited Dharmapuri (HP Petrol Bunk) happened to be my saviour in distress. They had a “Loo” and they gave me the keys to the same. Relived my tank and filled up the bike’s tank with fuel and both of us were good to go.
The return journey was non stop and all the until Hosur the ride was good. Since there is a stretch of road that is being repaired at Hosur, got held up in very, very slow moving traffic for close to 10-15 minutes just before the checkpost. Returned home by 11:30 AM just in time for brunch.

Things about the bike that I learnt and appreciated during this ride:

1. The engine never felt strained or didn’t show any signs of backing down no matter how hard I pushed it.
2. The stock headlights are good. When I left home in the morning I was a bit apprehensive on some reviews that I read stating that the headlights would need bulb replacements as they were inadequate. But todays morning ride put my fears to rest. The stock lights did a good job of lighting up the road.
3. Even in slow moving traffic or bumper to bumper traffic, the bike didn’t feel heavy or difficult to control. Controlling the bike in these kinds of scenarios is as easy as doing it astride any bike half the Street’s weight.
4. The bike is able to go through sudden bad patches of roads (uneven surface, small ditches) at the same ease as it does on good roads and doesn’t throw a tantrum or loose its stability.
5. It's an attention graber man! people were slowing down and taking snaps from their cars, at a signal a gentleman riding a bike asks if he can take a picture of me sitting on the bike.

Apart from this, there were things that I missed to observe when I purchased the bike. A grab rail would have been a good addition to the bike. This should have come as stock on the bike. When pulling the bike out of tight spots it becomes a little difficult to control the bike as there is nowhere to grab on to, except for the handle bars.

The ODO reading is as follows:

Starting Odo reading at home (E-city) – 152 kms
At Shoolagiri – 197 kms (distance covered 45 kms)
Shoolagiri – Krishnagiri-Krishnagiri Dam-Dharmapuri – 283 kms (distance covered 86 kms)
Dharmapuri – E-city – 402 kms (distance covered 119 kms)
Total distance covered - 250 kms

Filled fuel at Dharmapuri – 4.98 ltrs. Average fuel consumption would be 25-26 kmpl I guess.

Left home at 5:20 AM and came back by 11:30 AM, so total time taken is 6 hour 10 minutes (including appx 1.5 hours brake).

Now the Red Baron rests until next week.

Pictures;
1: At Shoolagiri
2: Smoke brake at CCD
3 and 4: Enroute to Krishnagiri
5: Guardian of the dam
6:RB paying his respects to the Guardian
7: On the way to Krishnagiri dam
8: A random snap
9 and 10: No Grabrail.