[krishnaprasadgg]

Continuation from the previous post.

The next hurdle was to get to the hose that sits behind the headers. Arguably this is the hose that might have gotten the worst of the heat cycles with the front facing the headers and the rear facing the hot engine block.

It took a few minutes to wiggle it out and get the new one fitted on account of a lack of space but in the end, it was done.

The last piece of the puzzle

With that, we were done with the fitment of all the hoses and this is how it looked.

Left side


Right side

And here is a photo of all the hoses that were removed.

Almost 10 years of usage, beaten up but not broken

We were about to get moving on fitting the reservoir when we noticed there was one hose left that was not replaced. This hose comes out of the water pump and connects to a metal coolant pipe. But we reached the kit but could not find a replacement hose for it.

The one that got away!

We thought we misplaced that particular hose but then we checked the number of clamps we had and we had used up all the clamps provided. Now the hose and clamps come as separate kits so there is no chance that we lost a hose as the clamp was a completely sealed kit when we opened it as opposed to the hose kit which I had opened earlier last year.

So decide to move on and that I would place an order for the OEM hose for that one alone with the clamps and also shoot a mail to Samco if not including the hose for that location was an intentional decision from their end just to be sure it was not a mistake.

Anyways. Now all that was left to do was fit the reservoir and fill up the coolant and bleed the system by doing 3-4 coolant cycles and then in the end top it up to the required levels. Took us about another 2-3 hours to do it as each time the thermostat opened and the coolant is circulated we have to cut off the engine and let the engine cool down and then repeat the process.

But after 3 hours the job was done and the reservoir was topped up. Notice how the engine ice color remains as is even after multiple cycles of the coolant have passed through the engine.

Ice ice baby! 80's and 90's kids will know

This was because we did a proper deep clean/flush of the coolant from the engine and the radiator. And this paid its dividends right away. I'll explain in further detail in the shakedown run report.

Anyways all buttoned up

A short 5 km of initial shakedown test ride was done and found no leaks. I wanted to do a longer shakedown run but it had already become 7-8 pm.

So decided to take her home and do a 500kms shakedown run early the next day as it all turned out I had to be at home in Kerala the very next day. Was it the smartest idea? Definitely not, but then again I never claim to be a smart man, so doesn't really matter.

So now let's get to the business end of things. Initial impressions and changes felt. This is where I was properly blown away.

To date, I have put on over 750kms on the bike so far and I have ridden it in almost all climatic conditions from Heavy rain to scorching heat to very heavy foggy patches and bumper-to-bumper traffic. So basically it was baptism by fire for the poor Samco hose as it went through every possible climatic variation in just 2 rides.

I'll start with a general feel of the bike and then get into a detailed breakdown of how the bike performed coolant temperature-wise with a direct before-after list.

General Impression:

The bike just runs smoother, all across the rev range up until the higher RPMs where a slight bit of vibrations have crept in. This is in no way a direct output of the Samco hose, we must not forget that we had also done many other changes including new spark plugs, intake valves were cleaned out of carbon deposits and the TB was given a proper thorough deep clean. This all contributed to the extra smoothness the R1 now has.

The most astonishing part was that I filled up the tank with 100 octane at the end of the day post collecting the bike and only 6 ltrs went in. So the rest of the 12 liters that were in was 95 octane. And I stopped at the usual pump about 40kms post-Salem towards the Coimbatore side where I always fuel up and I was surprised that the meter cut off at less than the usual amount of fuel dispensed. I was confused and I parked the bike out of the way and took out my calculator what I saw just blew me away. I just recorded 21.5kmpl on the R1. Immediately called Karthick and in a rather anti-climatic way, he was not surprised he said it was to be expected because of all the mods including the cooling system mod we had just done.

Called Xaos636 and told the same news and he called me a liar because now the R1 just gave around the same FE the blade does, I don't think he took the news well.

Anyways, I have to add that this was with riding at a slower pace of about 80kmph for a good 160-180kms in 6th gear because of the blinding rains I had ridden through and the rest of the kms until fueling was a rather constant 120kmph cruising speeds. So the output was based on best possible external factors.

So I happily filled up and rode the next batch of kms shifting at much higher rpm and at a much higher ambient temperature (it was post 9am and it started to get hot) with some hard downshifts with a lot of rev matching and overrun pops and crackles just to test what average I'd get, before all teh mods this kind of riding gave around 12kmpl at best, but this time I got around 14.8kmpl which is a clear improvement, to say the least.

So up until this point it has been purely highway miles with little to no traffic problems. Next refueling was done at Palakkad town and now the torture begins, rode around 80kms at noon and parked the bike. So that's about 500kms done. Then a few days later Xaos636 and me decided to meet up and do a Palakkad - Kuthiran(Tunnel blast) - Thrissur - Palakkad loop (Add a Palakkad - Calicut stretch for Xaos636) which took us through ideal conditions in the start to some high rpm rides in between to bumper to bumper traffic towards the end of the ride and this time the fuel light came on and filled up the tank and the average was still at 14.9 kmpl. So yeah. I think it's safe to say the bike post the mods have made the bike a lot smoother and now gives a better FE too. But what about the vibes at higher rpm that creep in that I said, yes, that is there and after the last refill I started to see the rpm fluctuating slightly at idle which tells me from experience that it's time to do a TB sync. This exact thing has happened to me before and it was when the TB was out of sync. I'll be getting it done soon.

Now let's get into exclusively the changes that Samco hoses did. So let me break it down to how the temperatures show up now versus how it was before the samco and pure engine ice combo did.


Early morning rides (4 am-7 am)
Before Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 80 degree celcius
After Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 71-75 degree celcius

Normal riding conditions
Before Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 95-99 degree celcius
After Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 85-88 degree celsius

Moderate traffic condition
Before Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 105-115 degree celcius
After Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 100-105 degree celsius

Bumper to Bumper traffic
Before Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 110-115 degree celcius
After Samco mods, avg coolant temp observed: 105-109 degree celsius

Again, this is not purely from the Samco mods, this is the Samco mods with a clean non-cross contaminated Engine Ice coolant. Engine Ice in itself claims a few degrees of drop in coolant temps and that combined with Samco has given me this top result. I fully understand it might be a bit tough to believe, heck even Xaos636 didn't believe me when I said it to him, but I gave him the R1 to ride in open conditions and even the bumper-to-bumper conditions and he got to experience the difference this combination made and he can attest to the results I have penned down here.

Now, apart from the lower temps something else that I discovered was that in bumper-to-bumper traffic my boots do heat up and I can feel the heat radiating from the engine but unlike before I just cannot feel the heat on my thighs at all, it is lukewarm at best, what I realised was that as I had read/heard about the positives of the Samco hose before the hoses hold in the heat from the coolant pretty well as opposed to a lot of heat dissipation from the rubber coolant hoses which you feel near your legs and thighs. This has really made riding the bike in bumper-to-bumper traffic much easier than before.

Final Findings

But all of this comes at a price. I had paid around 20k INR to purchase this product from Revzilla and a friend carried it for me when he was visiting. If you want to order it directly to India add another 40 dollars in shipping and 42% of the 20k in customs duty. That realistically puts it around the high 40k mark to get the hose and clamp kit. So is it really it? Well, I have to say for the average rider, not really. Let me explain, a set of OEM hoses on average across all manufacturers would cost about less than 15k to get. I'm not counting Yamaha in because of the fact that you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting parts on time, but the rest of the manufacturers seem to be delivering parts in a reasonable period of time. Then comes the lifespan, yes Samco hoses are set for life but the OEM rubber hoses do last at least 5-6 years and an average superbike user doesn't even own these bikes for half as long(no offense meant) so shelling out a huge amount for the hose no matter how god they are is just not a good idea.
Then comes the usage part, from my honest feedback on pure highway runs even though I could see the coolant temp ran 5-8 degrees cooler I just could not feel any difference in how I felt the heat on the bike, at highway speeds you are never going to have the problem of heat radiating onto your body, that a slow speed/city traffic riding problem and for someone who only rides their Superbikes on the highway I would have to say that it just is extreme overkill.

So yeah if you look at all these factors, even though I would give the Samco hoses steller rating it is just not worth the price tag unless you can avoid paying shipping and the ridiculous customs duty and/or you own a Yamaha in India ofcourse.

Well, that's about the complete finding I had to report post the changes. I hope it wasn't a big boring report and was actually interesting to read. I have sprinkled in a few picks from the latest ride in this post, enjoy!

Fin!
Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Let me explain, a set of OEM hoses on average across all manufacturers would cost about less than 15k to get. .....Then comes the lifespan, yes Samco hoses are set for life but the OEM rubber hoses do last at least 5-6 years and an average superbike user doesn't even own these bikes for half as long(no offense meant) so shelling out a huge amount for the hose no matter how god they are is just not a good idea.

@Krishna - I have a different opinion on this. Any product that reduces engine temps by a solid 10 degrees (in conjunction with coolant / engine ice) is a big win and a worthwhile investment. Given the summers we have, and with climate change + more hot weather destined till the next ice age, Samco may not be a good buy for a sub 600 cc bike, (if the rider wants to upgrade) but its a huge comfort factor for any 1000cc bike.

OEM hoses may be a fraction of the cost, but they are also a fraction of the quality. The rubber material degrades in a few short years due to the heat cycle.

If I keep a 1000 cc bike for even 5 years, that's a Rs 8,000 cost annually. It is a cost that is trivial if you calculate the miles ridden, hours spent, and the comfort factor built in. Samco hoses last a lifetime, so that's one less headache to worry about.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by no_fear

@Krishna - I have a different opinion on this. Any product that reduces engine temps by a solid 10 degrees (in conjunction with coolant / engine ice) is a big win and a worthwhile investment. Given the summers we have, and with climate change + more hot weather destined till the next ice age, Samco may not be a good buy for a sub 600 cc bike, (if the rider wants to upgrade) but its a worthwhile investment for any 1000cc bike.

I fully agree. But the average user that we have in India just won't understand how good it is to shell out that extra bucks. I mean proper enthusiasts as we have here for sure will be able to look beyond the price of the item and the grand scheme of things but for the majority of the bikes/owners we see, the big picture just does not exist.

But I see what you are saying, I think the way I framed the last few sentences kind of gives the impression that Samco is not worth the price, which is not fair. So let me rephrase, upgrading coolant hoses from OEM rubber hoses to Silicone hoses is definitely reducing a failure point on big bikes that tend to heat up a lot. So it's a highly recommended mod for anyone who intends to keep the bike for a long span and who has to ride through harsh summers and city traffic.

Originally Posted by no_fear

OEM hoses may be a fraction of the cost, but they are also a fraction of the quality. The rubber material degrades in a few short years due to the heat cycle.

Oh yeah, some of the hoses that we removed were pretty roughed up, but luckily nothing had become too brittle, but I'd attribute that too timely coolant changes and proper flushing. And just holding a brand new OEM rubber hose vs the samco hoses the difference was so apparent.

Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

@Krishna,

So I had a pretty interesting conversation with my brother on Samco hoses, and in general the incremental value add as experienced by you. His point of view was the following

Bike owners are one of the following, in order of popularity

1) Those who are into riding,
2) Customizing,
3) Performance upgrading

1) and 2) are the most popular categories. 1 takes precedence over 2.

Now a bike with a lot of trinkets is good eye candy, but it won't retain it's resale value. On the other hand, a bike with good performance upgrades (better air filter, Samco hoses, engine ice, front / rear sprockets, brake pads / rotors, regular maintenance) has a higher resale value and a better buy in most cases.

I would buy a performance upgraded bike in a heart beat than a blinged out bike. The upgrades pay for the longevity and health of the bike. The less I have to pay for the maintenance of the bike, the more I can spend on customizing it with the money saved.

The India bike segment is in its infancy. People are mostly in the 1) and 2) categories. Not everyone is knowledgeable or wants to work on bikes. But there is a growing subset of people in 3) and I think in the long run as the market matures, people will appreciate bikes with good performance upgrades. Just my 2 cents and my roundabout way of saying - keep spending on your R1 and post more pics. Your thread is always a delight to read.

[Cyborg]

Krishna, man, you are really, really crazy! I say it in a most loving and respectful way. Hope you get where I am coming from, no offence please

I cannot even think, forget thinking, I cannot even dream of taking the trouble and pain you take with your R1. Hell, I wouldn’t even have the patience to document the journey of all the love you pour into your bike here.

Keep it up brother and always let us share in your R1 ownership or I should say obsessive love

Ride safe.

Cheers

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by no_fear

@Krishna,
The India bike segment is in its infancy. People are mostly in the 1) and 2) categories. Not everyone is knowledgeable or wants to work on bikes. But there is a growing subset of people in 3) and I think in the long run as the market matures, people will appreciate bikes with good performance upgrades.

So true! I have high hopes for the near future as more of these bikes are becoming affordable for more people. I just hope that we get to keep the registrations and fitness of these vehicles and can use them on the road long enough, it'd be a shame otherwise.

Originally Posted by no_fear

Just my 2 cents and my roundabout way of saying - keep spending on your R1 and post more pics. Your thread is always a delight to read.

Oh yeah, I keep saying this is it each time eI get something new to improve on the R1 but then we all know that it is never the case. And especially with a project bike/car. They are never finished there is always that one more thing you can add and be content with it. Never-ending loop!

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Krishna, man, you are really, really crazy! I say it in a most loving and respectful way. Hope you get where I am coming from, no offence please

I cannot even think, forget thinking, I cannot even dream of taking the trouble and pain you take with your R1. Hell, I wouldn’t even have the patience to document the journey of all the love you pour into your bike here.

Keep it up brother and always let us share in your R1 ownership or I should say obsessive love

Ride safe.
Cheers

Haha...Thanks a lot Cyborg.
Ofcourse, no offense taken, in fact its the exact word that needs to be used. Crazy is the only way to explain the drive to keep improving the bike.

I do agree, documenting in this detail is a time-consuming task. Even with this post, I had to take a few hours to sit and collate and arrange the pics and make sure the narrative is also meaningful to the pics. But I did a lot of research about the coolant hose job online and found none for the 09-14 R1 other than a few before/after shots so hopefully this will help someone else in the future and it'll be all worth it.

Also at the end of the day, it's a perfect chronological order for any events I face on the bike to look back onto.

Obsessive love! I love that usage. I think I'm going to steal those words for using them in the future.

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Today marks 3 years of owning the R1 and yet each and every time I ride the R1 I still feel it's too good to be true that I get to own and experience this machine and at the same time even after 3 years and almost 16-17k kms of riding the bike still manages to scare me and keep me honest.

Can never get enough of this beauty

I think that feeling is rare; hopefully, I will cherish it for many more years.

Well, now at the same time it's a bit sad that since my last post in October, I haven't been able to ride the R1 or any of the bikes in the garage for that matter. The last few months have been terribly busy, it's been a mixed bag, but one major highlight automotive-wise was that with a heavy heart had to sell off the Ecosport S but replaced it with a pre-owned 2015 Fortuner.

Juggernaut of a machine

It's another project in the making, the process of making a vehicle your own is half the fun of owning a vehicle, after all, it's been 3 years with the R1 and I am still not done making it "my" R1, although I am almost there, still plans are being made and put into execution even though it's in glacier pace.

Anyways, today I got around to fit something on the R1 that I have been wanting to for a really long time. It's been a few months since I procured the Quad lock fork stem phone mount for the R1. Finally got around to fitting it today. I haven't used it so can't really give any feedback, but having used their car mount for the fast few months I can safely say I won't be disappointed. I'll leave you with a few pictures taken while installing the mount.

Comes with a bigger size lock too for fork stem with bigger diameters, the refitted one usually works for most of the bikes.


I also purchased the Vibration Dampner addon just to avoid any issues with the phone's AIM mechanism. Here are a few detailed pics of the dampener.








Getting it secured into the fork stem

One downside of phone mount solutions like the Quadlock is that you have to get their specific phone cases too. Now I do not change my phone often, I usually stick with it for 5-6 years at a time so for me getting the case is a one-time expense. But for people who tend to change phones often this might be a nagging expense to get the case each time for the stem mount to be of any use.

Have been using the case for about 2 months and I can say its pretty good at its job, I have dropped the phone many a time in these 2 months and nothing on the phone has broken.




And now how the phone looks attached

Some before and after pics to end the post

Cockpit view Before


Cockpit view after

I'll use this for a few months and then give a proper review of how it fares. That's it for now.

Cheers
Krishna

[TurboLag200]

That's a nice phone background you have there! Quick question do you feel any vibes at high RPM's like at 10-13k ? i know i4s are known to be butter smooth but im curious with this one. Cheers

[doga]

I'd be curious to know if hitting 13k is possible here in India

[bigron]

Originally Posted by doga

I'd be curious to know if hitting 13k is possible here in India

It actually only takes a few seconds to redline with not alot of road required. The only issue is if a dog decides to cross when you are trying to redline.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by TurboLag200

That's a nice phone background you have there! Quick question do you feel any vibes at high RPM's like at 10-13k ? i know i4s are known to be butter smooth but im curious with this one. Cheers

Thanks man!
Well, to be honest, I haven't been that high up the rev range more than a handful of times and as Bigron said..it hardly takes any time to reach there and you already have to roll off immediately, but the few handfull of time that I have I have not felt any unsettling vibes at all.

Originally Posted by doga

I'd be curious to know if hitting 13k is possible here in India

Very true, while there are some daredevils that do that, I guess self-preservation and wanting to live makes me not want to try that, I am more than happy to shift at 6k every time, it's exciting enough just with that.

Originally Posted by bigron

It actually only takes a few seconds to redline with not alot of road required. The only issue is if a dog decides to cross when you are trying to redline.

Bingo!

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Finally, after almost 2 months finally rode the R1, and en route the ODO clicks over to 35k.

I really wanted to start 2023 with 40k on the ODO but oh well, sometimes things don't go to plan.

Tried out the Quadlock fork stem mount today. Rode about 500kms with it attached and so far works as expected. My only gripe is putting the phone onto the mount on portrait orientation is a bit of a pain in the current position, will need to adjust the position a bit to sort that out.

Anyways, adding a few more pics taken during the ride today.

Cheers
Krishna

[TurboLag200]

Its really nice to see litre class sportbikes being used properly like how they should. Also is that a hazard button next to the key ? First time seeing that!

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by TurboLag200

Its really nice to see litre class sportbikes being used properly like how they should. Also is that a hazard button next to the key ? First time seeing that!

Thanks a lot for the kind words TurboLag200. Now I need to also just take it to the track. Groundwork has been laid. Recently attended L1 L2 training from RACR and got a taste of what to expect from the track. Hopefully once I get my own suit will do a few open sessions on the R1. For sure the bike has not been a garage queen by any means but it does need to get a taste of the tracks too.

As for the hazard lights. All Japanese bikes made for Euro/Asian markets get the hazard light from the factory. As for the R1 pre-cross plane and cross-plane models up to 2011 got the hazard light on the left side switch panel. It was from 2012-14 models that got it pretty neatly integrated next to the key tumbler and a really well-sized switch which you can easily operate with proper full-sized leather gloves too. Love the ergonomics of it.
Interestingly US homologation has no regulation for a hazard light so US spec bike do not have hazard lights at all on them.

Cheers
Krishna

[TurboLag200]

Super neat feature. Im just surprised to see it next to the key. Because normally it’s in the switch gear. Nonetheless Hope you enjoy track riding with the red beauty!