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A couple of good rides, and the thread has all the reason to be bumped!!

Knowing the season is coming to an end i ve been trying to ride as much as possible now, making not so required trips to town on sundays as well
The karjat route which we've ridden to recently a couple of times seems like a great learning ground for me with the panvel bypass, reasonably empty highways, curves through the country side, it’s a good mix of everything.
Doubt the Amby Valley bit will happen this season, I have been slightly hesitant to do this as i sorta doubt if I can take the strain of a long ride just yet.

The gear shifts have gotten smoother, but have to yet learn to take a corner maintaing some speed and without unsettling the motorcycle. One serious problem I have encountered in the last ride with guzzler and veyron was false neutrals, it is scary at high rpms cos sliding into a gear then makes the rear wheel shift out crazy. Don’t blame the ace on that, I just have a lot to learn.

Back in city limits and I’m trying to slide in between the white lines (those separating lanes) to get better with going down, just feels so unsafe even for those couple of moments to break loose in the city, just so much happening compared to the ride to karjat.

The city is a cxrazy place to ride in, and luck always has to be with you, cabs turning in and out without any significant signals, people crossing roads like they were strolling in the garden, they seem to challenge you everytime they cross, its like I dodging them.

One thing I’ve noticed is, I barely use the rear brake now compared to when I used to use only the rear brake when I rode my rxg, was always paranoid using the front fearing the skiddin moment.

I did go really fast (by my standards) on our last ride hitting a little above 210 km/h, and everything felt crazy, was extremely challenging to hold on, a moment or two or terrifying myself and I was back to doing saner speeds, hafta learn to keep my eyes away from the speedo.

Helmet should hopefully arrive in a couple of weeks, its one of the only options I have, so I m not going to discuss much, just hope it fits my head fine after all the looking up.
Other riding gear I should accumulate through the monsoons mostly giving me a head start to the next season :)
Btw, have found myself a couple of sources for tires at a reasonable price locally, so its all go for the next season.

Hopefull might try and ride once atleast before the typical monsoons kick in.

manson.

My friend :) well written. Does your motorcycle have a radiator? Or is it oil-cooled with a heat-exchanger?
And don't even cry about tiring long rides u wimp ;) (kidding). I did a darn 6 hour ride from my place to Cleveland,Ohio in 8 deg.C temperature with my helmet glass all fogging up...inspite of me wearing a Balaclava (those face masks for mocycles). I had 4 t-shirts and a loose sweater under my jacket with thermals on and it didnt help. I would take some comfort from the heat that the cooling fan threw at my legs for those 6-7 seconds once every minute. I took 3 stops on the way up there and 4 on the way back and just to cut my journey short I rode really fast. Glad the cop god was on my side else heaven knows...
Need more pics and videos/audio clips of your ride! Ride safe!

The Ace is liquid cooled. Yes, it does have a radiator!

And, as you may learn when you get your bike down here, 6 hours out there would be equal to about a 2.5 hour ride here! lol

Trust me, you definitely wouldn't want the gear sliding into position mid-corner.....

Actually, the 'box is a bit notchy, but that's typical of carb'd litre class bikes of old...it's one of those characteristics....should get a lot smoother once you change the clutch..

Change the clutch? Why?

RT, how long do you think the clutches last on a litre class....? 15K at the most?

Well its all about finding a sweet spot with the clutch, i had issues earlier, but i'm used to it now. Just need to time my high rpm shifts better.

especially when you hit vashi on the way back from a sunday ride, and hafta go through sion, dharavi and all that heat!!

btw, highwayblaze when you moving back?

manson.

I'm not sure thats quite true veyron. My gixxer has 17K on it and its super smooth gear change. Its 165bhp to the crank but i doubt the clutch burns out unless you're doing clutch dump - wheelies like mad...which isnt a neccessity becoz its a litre bike and u can power wheelie it real easy!

Manson i'm moving back after a year. btw there's a story i have to tell you guys. will start it on a new thread on it..

So that's your basis for asking him to change the clutch? :confused:

Actually, no; you can feel the Ace's clutch slipping between 3-5K RPM....revs go up, and traction kicks in momentarily...or was it just me...?

I'm not saying that the clutch is completely worn out; but a new clutch would do wonders....smoother shifts, better launches, and no notchiness when the engine's hot...

Perhaps manson can do that before S.R 08'.....:)

@highwayblaze; Well, all clutches don't last the same; I knew this guy with a F4i, whose OE clutch lasted for 35K. Unbelievable? Yes. But he was an ultra smooth (read-careful) rider. Never pushed his ride beyond 170 clicks. Had he ridden the way he should have, anything above 15K would've been a bonus...

the Clutch on my ex-Katana 600 lasted perfectly till I sold it at 24,000 Miles. (about 38,000 km's). And it sure had a lot of life left in it yet. If used like it should be, there is no reason why it will last only 15K km's (thats less than 10K miles!). Obviously the people you know who have changed it have not treated it to well.

In Manson's case, the bike felt fine the few times I've ridden it. It (the clutch) needed to be bled, that's about it. Unless 'ol manson's been slipping the clutch a bit too much!

Clutch wear is not really related to how fast you ride. Its really related to how hard and how often you launch the bike from a standstill.

In F1 cars the clutch linings are so thin that some cars get into trouble if the first start is aborted and they have to re-start the race.

I totally agree with Rtech and Mpower also. Infact Rtech my first bike was a Katana too remember? It had almost same as yours ~ 33000 miles on it and the clutch never slipped it was absolutely fine. And i'm sure it was abused earlier too.

I agree with the launching idea that Mpower says. That should burn it out or maybe clutched wheelies all the time.

Veyron, you seem to have tried and tested the ace a bit too much in too little time and distance mate.
And, i have never launched the ace in drag mode, though i have hit the redline a couple of times, and the odo has crossed 10k just recently.
RT has mentioned to me about the slight work required on the present clutch, and it shall be done through the monsoon, did not want to ditch the few riding weekends i had on me.

manson.