[Rachit.K.Dogra]

@Mod: Please change the title to:
A dream come true - My Honda CBR650F. 1st Service Update on Pg 4.

So the first service was done on last friday. I clocked 1023 Kms in the first month which is what I had targeted. But in the process I realized how difficult it is to ride a 1000 Kms a month just for riding especially if you are not touring. I mean, right now the family is supportive because its a new thing, pretty soon they are going to get fed up.

One another Positive surprise, Honda is offering 3 free services on the bike which neither I knew nor did I expect. Overall a very positive service experience. The service engineer Dilip is a very nice guy and handle the bike with utmost care. They answered all my questions and doubts patiently and were not bothered in my roaming around the bike while it was serviced. There expertise to handle big bikes is clearly visible. The service area is very neat and arranged and the whole setup looks very professional and well managed.

Things they did:
1) Oil change. I checked, they put 10W30 fully synth of a brand called Throttle. I think it is probably a Honda brand only or has a tie up or something.
2) Oil Filter Change
3) Clutch tight
4) Their washing system was due for an upgrade so to compensate Dilip cleaned the bike with damp cloth and applied a healthy dose of wax to make up for it.
5) Chain clean and Lube. They use Motul lube and clean.
6) Various bolts tension check and tightening

Overall I think it took around 2 hours for the whole process.
Total Damages: 3130. Bill attached for reference.
I checked and they said if it would not have been a free service they would have charged around 1800 for labour. Also, the air filter is not recommended to be changed in the first service. Dilip said it is of viscous types.

Differences after the service:
Because my clutch was loose, tightening the gear shifts have definitely become better. Gladly the vibrations are reducing with time and the bike does feel smoother. You can now say that it feels like a smooth Honda Inline 4 for the most part.

Now that I don't have any RPM restrictions (not that I was following any), the bike feels much nicer to ride. Overall very happy with the bike and no complaints as of now.

Also on the side note my R&G radiator guard and R&G frame sliders have arrived. Will be putting them on in a couple of days.





Rachit

[TheCelestial]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

@Mod: Please change the title to:
A dream come true - My Honda CBR650F. 1st Service Update on Pg 4.

So the first service was done on last friday.....

Good to know Honda is offering free services and that too 3 of them. The overall service cost also seems very reasonable. This should attract a lot of prospective buyers as SVC costs is one of the major factors in SBK ownership experience.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by TheCelestial

Good to know Honda is offering free services and that too 3 of them. The overall service cost also seems very reasonable. This should attract a lot of prospective buyers as SVC costs is one of the major factors in SBK ownership experience.

Yeah, I agree. Initially they had told me that average service cost would be in the range of 4-6K. But the free service thing was a pleasant surprise. I dont think any other manufacturer extends free services on anything above 600CC.

Rachit

[Nithesh_M]

Throttle is Honda's own branded oil. Isn't it too early to switch to FS? Normally everyone switches to FS after atleast 5000kms because the metal shavings can still be seen at second oil change interval and mineral oil works well till then.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

Throttle is Honda's own branded oil. Isn't it too early to switch to FS? Normally everyone switches to FS after atleast 5000kms because the metal shavings can still be seen at second oil change interval and mineral oil works well till then.

I did check with them brother. They said it is what is recomended. I didnt argue with them because I feel these guys are more hands on these things than me, so I trust their judgement.

On a side note, just came back from a 650 Km trip to Chandigarh and some hills. The bike has done 2000 Kms now. Will be posting the impressions soon.

Rachit

[narula123]

Congrats Rachit and welcome to the 600 club

Good to see that your riding gear was already in place before you moved onto a big bike.

Ride safe and respect the power.

One question - Is the Honda dealer stocking spare tyres for the bike? The biggest pain of owning a big bike in India is sourcing decent tyres at a decent price.

[hifisharu]

Originally Posted by narula123

One question - Is the Honda dealer stocking spare tyres for the bike? The biggest pain of owning a big bike in India is sourcing decent tyres at a decent price.

Sorry for going OT here, but just to answer your question, albeit with not a very straight answer: Yes, I too face the same issue, getting decent tires at an affordable price. In case of my Street, the stock Pirellis wore out pretty early, as is expected of these soft compound tires and the only affordable alternative is the Michelin Pilot Road 2, mostly being old stock, around 2 years old.

Now, at 20k a set, these are expensive, but still a lot cheaper than if one were to get them replaced at the dealer. I was given a quote of around 40k to replace the Pirelli set, exclusive of fitting charges
Upon asking them if they had plans to source tires from elsewhere at a more affordable price ( outside dealers quoted 28-30k for a set of the same Pirellis), they replied saying they stock tires only because they have to maintain an inventory that is mandatory for spares. It's not a volume market for them to sell tires.

So, all I'm saying, beating around the bush is that even if the Honda/Kawasaki/Triumph dealer were to stock the tires, they would be selling them at a premium. We're better off sourcing them from tire dealers. Good news is that the Michelin Pilot Road 4, which is a much more advanced tire than the Road 2 has been homologated and will be launched in Nov

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by narula123

Congrats Rachit and welcome to the 600 club

Good to see that your riding gear was already in place before you moved onto a big bike.

Ride safe and respect the power.

One question - Is the Honda dealer stocking spare tyres for the bike? The biggest pain of owning a big bike in India is sourcing decent tyres at a decent price.

Thank you very much.
I have seen large stocks of tyres at the Wings Dealer. Did not check on the pricing. Will check the next time I visit them.

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Sorry for going OT here, but just to answer your question, albeit with not a very straight answer: Yes, I too face the same issue, getting decent tires at an affordable price. In case of my Street, the stock Pirellis wore out pretty early, as is expected of these soft compound tires and the only affordable alternative is the Michelin Pilot Road 2, mostly being old stock, around 2 years old.

Now, at 20k a set, these are expensive, but still a lot cheaper than if one were to get them replaced at the dealer. I was given a quote of around 40k to replace the Pirelli set, exclusive of fitting charges
Upon asking them if they had plans to source tires from elsewhere at a more affordable price ( outside dealers quoted 28-30k for a set of the same Pirellis), they replied saying they stock tires only because they have to maintain an inventory that is mandatory for spares. It's not a volume market for them to sell tires.

So, all I'm saying, beating around the bush is that even if the Honda/Kawasaki/Triumph dealer were to stock the tires, they would be selling them at a premium. We're better off sourcing them from tire dealers. Good news is that the Michelin Pilot Road 4, which is a much more advanced tire than the Road 2 has been homologated and will be launched in Nov

I agree. Even I wouldn't be surprised if the Honda dealer is also selling them with a premium. Will check with them on the pricing and update here.

Rachit

[Nithesh_M]

I doubt Honda will stock the tyres in bulk. For my 250, the first tyre replacement was via the service centre itself and i was quoted almost the same price as the tyre dealership. Difference being the tyre dealership was quoting another 200 bucks for fitment and Honda had everything included in their price so it turned out cheaper. Rode the bike in, change tyre and rode out. Its also a headache that most tyre shops don't have the paddock stands to lift the bike up around here. Very odd that they stock up 140/150mm tyres in large quantity but cannot fit them on the bike because no stand.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

I doubt Honda will stock the tyres in bulk. For my 250, the first tyre replacement was via the service centre itself and i was quoted almost the same price as the tyre dealership. Difference being the tyre dealership was quoting another 200 bucks for fitment and Honda had everything included in their price so it turned out cheaper. Rode the bike in, change tyre and rode out. Its also a headache that most tyre shops don't have the paddock stands to lift the bike up around here. Very odd that they stock up 140/150mm tyres in large quantity but cannot fit them on the bike because no stand.

Well, in the wings dealer they had atleast 50-60 new tyres packed and kept in a heap. If they charge reasonable premium, I wouldn't mind paying it considering these guys know how to handle big bikes and have the right equipment for the job. I wouldn't like somebody scratching the rims when we spend so much effort in keeping them like new.

Rachit

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

First Highway run for the CBR:
So I was supposed to travel for a couple of weeks on business. I had already dropped my wife and daughter at in laws place in Chandigarh. I was conspiring to go on the bike to meet them before leaving the country. Also my best friends are in chandigarh and they had not seen the bike. Another biggest reason was that I wanted to take her to the hills.

So I started speaking to my dad and surprisingly he didn't ridicule the idea completely. But as luck would have it, the day I was about to start, it started raining the previous night and literally rained the whole night. Plus I had not received the registration documents and that made me a bit apprehensive, hence postponed the idea. The following week I got the Tax slip plus the weather forecast was clear and I started planning again. I was to leave for US on Saturday night so the plan was to leave for chandigarh Thursday morning and start back Saturday morning to reach in time for the night flight. Friday I planned to take it to Solan or so for the hill run.

On Thursday morning, I started around 6 AM from my home. Met a friend at Mahipalpur and borrowed his Cross Bungee as I had only one bungee cord. He is quite an established tourer and he helped me tie the luggage securely on the bike so that it stays put even on speeds. I think I started around 6.20 from Mahipalpur and made decent progress and was out of Delhi and on the highway in about 35 mins. There was not a lot of traffic still and I wanted to cover some ground while I was still fresh. I was rusted as had not gone for a long ride in 2-3 years plus I was not sure how comfortable I would feel on this bike after a couple of hours, so I upped my pace. This is a very good highway bike as I found out. Wind blast is not an issue till 120-130 Kph and you can comfortably maintain these speeds with the bike hovering around 6K RPM. I was crouching time to time to avoid the wind and then the cruising speeds would become higher. I got comfortable with the bike very soon. Took the first break after Karnal. I was getting tired around 10 KMs before Karnal. From Karnal I straightaway went to Chandigarh and didn't stop anywhere in between. Here also, just before chandigarh I started feeling a bit tired. If it would have been somebody who is more used to long distances than me, I would say he would feel much more comfortable and can easily ride 150-200 Kms in a stretch on this bike. I reached Chd in about 4 hours 15 mins with a 20-25 mins break in it.

Next morning woke up early and headed towards Parwanoo. One of my best friends live in Parwanoo and I met him outside the Timber Trail. Had a small discussion and then headed upwards. The bike behaved really well. I was trying to experiment with body positions, hanging out and what not and that was kind of making me slightly ragged. Please note that these roads are not very wide plus since its Shimla highway its quite crowded and the road surface although good but is not completely smooth. Nevertheless I kept trying various things to see where I can be faster, safer and smoother. Discovered a few things like foot position on the pegs and stuff but honestly didn't find one setup that I really felt in tune with. I think I would need more Kms on the hills to find the right way. By the way I belong to Himachal and started riding on the hills only. So I am very comfortable on the hills but this is a different kind of bike. If I were to ride at a pace of normal bike it felt right at home and I was very comfortable and confident. My expectation of going faster made me experiment a few things. The bike went like a gem on the other hand. I was not very fast but the bike felt very manageable, eager to turn and very stable holding the lines through the corners. I didn't go till Solan as I had to reach back on time. I went till about 10 Kms ahead of Dharampur and then started back. I took a couple of photo breaks and was really liking the attention I was getting on the road.

Generally I am somebody who loves going uphill rather going downhill but I just completely loved coming downhill on this bike. This time I was not experimenting and just maintained a relaxed pace and boy the bike literally took my breath away. The engine braking which I generally find to be higher worked wonders downhill. The smooth engine and stable chassis really helped in just gliding through the corners. It was special so much so that I really wanted to turn back and do it all over again. This is when I really felt in tune with bike and loved every second of it.

Next day started for Gurgaon again started around 6 in the morning and this time I think my average speed was slightly higher and I got tired also less. A couple of cars trying to keep up also helped the matters in the sense as you stop thinking about the time and start focussing on riding. I was in Gurgaon in about 3.5 hours with a 15 min break.

Then started the long process of washing the bike and washing the riding gear. My red riding jacket was quite literally black. Even after soaking in warm soapy water for an hour, it didn't regain its colour. I literally spent an hour is washing it only.

Overall very happy with the bike. The bike has done 1990 something Kms till now. Average fuel consumption on the highway came out to be around 23-25 Kpl. On the hills it was around 21Kpl.

Now some pics:
Mahipalpur waiting for the friend.


Baggage and all set, asked him to click a few




Break at Karnal




Outside Timber Trail while going uphill




Somewhere between Parwanoo and Dharampur




After Dharampur this is the point from where I turned back.






Some while coming downhill















Rachit

[Nithesh_M]

I have a red mesh jacket, you know the one with large pores that if scrubbed too hard will put a big hole in the jacket and if scrubbed too soft won't remove the dirt. Regretting going the mesh jacket way, that too a bright red one for my red CBR. Never again. Dark colored textile it will be forever next time i buy a jacket.

Nice pics man. I heard there are 5 owners in Bangalore already, one of them being loki.

Also very sharp resolution pics. What camera/lens were you using?

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

I have a red mesh jacket, you know the one with large pores that if scrubbed too hard will put a big hole in the jacket and if scrubbed too soft won't remove the dirt. Regretting going the mesh jacket way, that too a bright red one for my red CBR. Never again. Dark colored textile it will be forever next time i buy a jacket.

Nice pics man. I heard there are 5 owners in Bangalore already, one of them being loki.

Also very sharp resolution pics. What camera/lens were you using?

Textile one's might not breath as much though. Although I agree they might be slightly better to maintain.

Sorry to disappoint man, I was not carrying my DSLR.
Photos clicked from iPhone 6.

Rachit

[Shivanshu]

Wow wonderful, I was waiting for these set of pic, the Bike has come out beautiful I love the red and white and blue strikes beautiful in sun.

About your riding position while riding in hills, I think you would need more kms and more rides in hill to understand her and the bike to understand your inputs. So come back and then lets sit someday. But it was a good run for you and I am sure your confidence and understanding with the bike would have gone better.

This is what I think that you have to sync with the machine to make it enoyable, the better the sync - the better is enjoyment, refinement, durability and the bonding. So come back soon and lets catch up. Also I think now you have the time to think about the name for this Beauty.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by Shivanshu

Wow wonderful, I was waiting for these set of pic, the Bike has come out beautiful I love the red and white and blue strikes beautiful in sun.

About your riding position while riding in hills, I think you would need more kms and more rides in hill to understand her and the bike to understand your inputs. So come back and then lets sit someday. But it was a good run for you and I am sure your confidence and understanding with the bike would have gone better.

This is what I think that you have to sync with the machine to make it enoyable, the better the sync - the better is enjoyment, refinement, durability and the bonding. So come back soon and lets catch up. Also I think now you have the time to think about the name for this Beauty.

Thank you very much brother. Yup, I think more Kms on hills would definitely help. I completely agree on the bonding piece.

We should plan a ride to Tarkeshwar Mahadev soon.

I initially thought of Raspberry to go with Blueberry and probably Karizma would become strawberry.

Rachit