[krishnaprasadgg]

I have a small update kindof, but a bit heavy on the wallet.

Let me start with 3 issues that were noted during the last 2 weeks.

First, unfortunately, the front right indicator on the bike has broken off from its mount. Although I am pretty sure that it has been broken by someone while trying to get access to the bike when it was parked, either in my apartment car parking or in one of the rides. Highly unlikely it happened from outside as I almost never let the bike out of my sight, also the parking in my apartment is a bit tight with a car and 2 bikes(R1 and the Tiger) to fit in a 1 bike 1 car space.
The damage was noted during my last ride and when I went back through photos I found the indicator was just fine when I took delivery of the bike and during the first few rides. Anyways, No use of crying over slipt milk, luckily for me the R1, R15, and R3 all use the same indicator so replacing it is simple enough. I quickly called my mech and asked him to order the R15 indicator for me.





The top is the Stock OEM indicator, Bottom is the R15 OEM indicator, you can see that the only difference is the male connectors that connect onto the factory loom


Second, After getting my bike its first proper foam wash and some TLC, I went to fill up the bike, on opening the fuel cap I had the scare of my life when the fuel overflow area is filled with water, the drain ports have been clogged. Luckily the bike was still upright when I opened the fuel cap. I quickly and carefully closed the fuel cap making sure I did not spill any more water into the tank than what might have already fallen in and took the bike home and carefully removed the water from the area using a few kitchen paper towels.

Third, the pass switch was not working. The high beam works just fine.

Quick Trivia:
While the R1, R15, R3 indicators are the same, they are priced very differently.
The R15 being Rs.160/-, R3 being Rs.600/- and I did not even want to know the R1 part price.
But it is to note that while they look the same they are not plug and play onto the factory loom. Some cutting and splicing are required.

So once the part was confirmed to be in stock I had booked an appointment with my mech to get some work done on the bike.

The agenda was

1. Get indicator replaced
2. Get the fuel overflow drain unclogged
3. Fix pass switch issue
4. Get the Leo Vince slip-on exhaust installed
5. Get the coolant flushed and put in engine ice instead
6. Change the swingarm spools
7. Clean the Air filter while at it

And that is what was done.

So the first order of business was the indicator change. As mentioned the R15 and R3 indicators are the exact same unit with the only difference being that the male connectors on them that are plugged into the factory loom are different. So we had to cut the connector off of the OEM indicator and splice it onto the R15 indicators. It is a pretty simple and straightforward job and no splicing of the factory loom is required.

R15 front indicator





Next, we decided to tackle the fuel overflow drain. The tank was removed for this and the drain hose was cleaned and unclogged with pressurized air, the amount of dirt that came out of it was just staggering and pretty disgusting, the same was done at the tank end and the results were the same.





While we were at it and had full access to the air box we decided to clean the Air Filter as well. And sure enough, the Air filter was pretty dirty. Since this is not the stock air filter but a K&N stock replacement filter it could be used for the entire lifetime of the vehicle but I would have to buy the K&N filter cleaner pack.

Dirty Filter




Interestingly the top part of the filter seems to have been shaved a bit and that too not done as a neat job. No idea why it was done both me and my mech was pretty confused as to why it might have been done. The filter did look like a direct plug and play filter and no marks was found on the top of the filter box too.


Since this is much better than to have to order a new filter from time to time and wait for the part to arrive I just bought the K&N filter cleaner and that is what was used. It costed me about Rs.1490/- It comes with a filter cleaner liquid and a filter oil than needs to be applied on the filter post-cleaning.

K&N Filter Cleaner


Filter Cleaner Kit Cost


Filter Cleaner


Filter Oil


Cleaned Filter(Filter Oil not applied)


Air Box


Next, we went ahead with the coolant swap. Firstly the current coolant was fully drained out of the system. The drain bolt for the coolant system is near to the crankcase side , unscrewing it will drain out the complete coolant from within the system.



Post draiing the coolant out the coolant reserviour tank was removed and drained and fully cleaned out.



Post this the complete coolant system was cleaned using distilled water. The process was to fill the radiator with distilled water and then to run the bike upto temprature at which the thermostat opens the distilled water is passed through the coolant channels and any residue of the existing system will be cleaned out, once the distileld water would have made a few rounds the bike is switched off and the coolant is drained again. This step can be done a number of times to make sure that existing coolant is fully drained out.
Duriong this process the radiator cap is left open while the system is running ot make sure that any air within the system is removed so as not to cause any problem in the coolant pressure.



Then once the system was cleaned we filled the radiator with Engine Ice and let it run for a few minutes and then topped up the coolant to the required level.



I had 2 bottles of Engine Ice with me, each bottle has approx 2L in them. Each bottle of engine Ice cost about Rs.1790/-

I full bottle and about 200-300 ml of the second bottle was used.

[krishnaprasadgg]

While the Coolant system was being drained we went ahead and started fixing the Leo Vince Slip-On Exhaust in place of the stock cans. I did not purchase this set myself, this was already on the bike fitted by the previous owner, he had later swapped back to stock and I had collected the LV system along with the bike.

Pretty much fully stripped down






What came in the Leo Vince box


LV Carbon Fiber end Cans




Surprisingly enough the stock cans even though they look huge actually do not weigh as much, maybe just a tiny bit heavier than the Leo Vince exhaust.

Mounting braces and the CF heat shields. Slight discoloration can be observed, most probably due to usage over time and being exposed to lot of high heat cycles and external elements.


DB Killer




The Leo Vince exhaust set came with the following hardware, I was a bit confused as they were mostly unused bolts and one set of bolts had only 3 bolts in them while the rest of them were a set of 4. Now I was a bit worried if one of the bolts was misplaced or not. A quick visit to the Leo Vince website and found the schematic for the install and on cross-verification, we found that we had all the parts required for the install.

Fitment Schematic available in the LV website


LV System with DB killer


The replacement process is pretty simple, just need to get the rear panel out of the way and almost all the mounting points are easily accessible. The right side stock can come off pretty easily while the right side gave a fit of a fight before it came out, the Leo Vince cans slipped easily and they were all adjusted to finger tight spec and alignments checked. Once we were satisfied with the work we torqued everything down and continued with the coolant swap.

Stock Exhaust


LV System


Now the most important question, how do they sound. Well, the sound with the DB killer is much throatier and is an improvement over stock for sure. But where the bike sounds the best is without the DB killer.

Now w/o the DB killer the bike sounds like a completely different beast. While the Idle sound is pretty noisy, but something that also needs to be considered is that we were in a relatively closed space and once outside the bike did not sound obnoxiously loud which is an absolute win.

The sound the bike makes while moving is just completely different now, the bike grumbles and rumbles much more and some tasty crackles can be very easily enjoyed on a warm engine. Looking forward to riding her this weekend to experience what it sounds like while on the move at a decent pace and I will get back and comment on it more. But safe to say I do not regret making the decision of riding with the stock can for the first month or so and then moving onto this system.

For now, I will leave you with sound clips of the bike with the LV slip ons. I totally screwed up and deleted the video I recorded with the DB killer attached. The video is from when the engine was warm. Will post cold-startup videos with both on a later date.

W/O DB Killer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg8NM3742rA

Post this the existing spools were also replaced as the right side spool had been fully deformed during the time the bike has a slow speed slide a few years back. Replaced them with Motofusion M6 spools I bought off amazon. Cost me around Rs.887/-, let's see how they hold up over time.

LV System W/O DB killer


Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Now along with this, I had also received a few parts(consumables) I had ordered for the bike as preparation of ownership. Out of the parts ordered some of them which arrived are as follows.

OEM Chain @ Rs12,257/-


OEM Front Sprocket @ Rs.2272/-


OEM Rear Sprocket @ Rs.3191/-


OEM Oil Filter @ Rs.871/-


OEM Cush Drive (Set of 4) @Rs.205 a pop


None of these parts were fitted onto the bike and was ordered as a precaution so that when these parts will need replacement I would not have to sit and wait and make the bike unusable at that point.

The oil filler cap, set of 4 spark plugs(current ones were changed at 16k so around 4k more to go on these before replacement) and clutch and throttle cables are on order.

One funny thing I noticed was that the OEM filter is considerably more expensive than the Hi-Flo OEM replacement filter that is made for the R1 which costs only Rs.600 from MotoUsher. And I already have 2 Oil filters I had ordered from Motousher a month back. So I guess I do not need to worry about oil filters for the next 15k kms or so.

So the total cost of all the work done and the cost of spare parts for todays job came to a hefty Rs.23,483.66/-

Bill of Work Done


Majority of which is the Chain sprocket set.

Expense So far:



Some beauty Shots after all the work is done





Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

Short update.
Took the bike for a small ride today up the Salem highway. I wanted to get a feel of how good the exhaust sounds and the possibility of running it without the DB killer and also we had just got the Tiger back from the SVC after a 2-week time delay in getting a warranty claim approved.
So it has been almost a month since my brother also had ridden his bike.

Now the update about the exhaust, let me break the suspense, the DB killer is going in.
The bike is way too loud, the cold starts are very angry and loud which is all okay when you are not in an underground basement parking against a wall.
And even on the more, the bike is super loud, now don't get me wrong, it sounds sweet, but you have to be moving up and down the RPM range to keep it sounding interesting, when on the highway and you want to be cruising around 110-120 the drone the exhaust creates is just too much and starts becoming a bother very fast. It might be much more bearable with an earplug but I do not like wearing them so that is not a route I am willing to go down.

Next is the crackles it makes when you roll off the throttle, that is just heavenly, but once you fall in between some traffic and the temperature goes a bit up the crackles reach a whole new level where it is just too loud and I start feeling like I am becoming a bother for the other motorists on the road.
If I had my GoPro with me I would have recorded some onboard footage to show the extent of the situation but I digress.

Oh also, without the DB killer riding the bike within city limits is just asking for trouble. A small trip to the petrol bunk for fueling up yesterday was more than enough to realize this.

So, it's decided that the DB killer goes on. I will be testing it tomorrow with the DB killer again and will write about how it felt.

Did not click much pictures today, and the pics that I did manage to take came out pretty lame.



Met a few fellow riders on the way, had a good chat with them while taking the break at the Shoolagiri CCD/McD stop.


That's my brother's XRX800. It is sorely missing that front beak. Had ordered it about a month back still hasn't reached yet.


Cheers
Krishna

[VijayAnand1]

Beautiful write up Krish. But on a sarcastic note, you could have gotten the R15, me thinks. Gives everything the R1 gives, except at a smaller level.

Seems, you're already starting to hoard up spares, which is definitely the wise thing to do. Secondly on the tank drain gumming up, it's seemingly true that all Yamaha R series have this trouble, even the R15s. Pressure washing and rains can pool up water around the filler neck, and once you open for refilling, you'll have the shock of life. Glad you sorted that out. That sound check, dayum is an understatement, sounds like a MotoGP monster.

Oh, and that Tiger, looks much better without the beak.

Ride safe baba!

Cheers!
VJ

[krishnaprasadgg]

Went for a small Breakfast ride to a place called "Rocky Ridge Cafe" which is at a place called Denkanikottai which is just 70kms from Silk Board. Got to know about the place from @CrAzY dRiVeR's lovely V650 thread and the photos of the beautiful roads up to the spot and google reviews had a lot of wonderful experiences.

Though I took a relatively much different route as I stay at HSR. I just took the Hosur road highway and took the diversion from Attibelle. So for this ride, I was joined by my brother on his Tiger and a close friend and his wife in their brand new Hyundai Verna.

The roads were really awesome to ride on, apart from a 4-5 kms stretch after the diversion from Attibelle which was patchy/ broken, it was a cakewalk for both the Verna and the Tiger but I suffered badly there.

Even after CrAzY dRiVeR's warning about google map routing through a different patch of road at a point, we ended up missing a turn and going down the road he warned us about nut luckily for us the road was actually very recently fully resurfaced and quite literally saved my spine.

But post reaching there the story actually changed, I don't know if it was because of it being a Sunday, we reached there at 8.30 , they open at 8. There were already a few families having their breakfast and when we arrived nothing was ready and the families there were also waiting on their orders even though it was supposed to be a buffet.
We waited for about 1 hour or so to get food, but not only did we not get anything, but more families started coming in and the buffet quickly turned into a live counter situation.
At Rs.300 per head for a breakfast buffet, we would be lucky if we got 1 serving or Dosa or Paratta, so we decided to skip having any breakfast and try our luck at any wayside hotels on the way back to Bangalore.

The spot though is very beautiful and the roads leading up to the place are also worth driving/riding till there, but I was very disappointed at the way they handled their "buffet".
Well, here me hoping it was just an anomaly and that is not the case always over there.

Now, I took the opportunity to try out the exhaust with the DB killer in. So on the way to the cafe, I rode without the DB killer and rode with the DB killer fixed on the way back.

The DB killer does its job pretty well, as I stated in the exhaust install post, the sound with the DB killer is very slightly higher than the stock exhaust but has a better bass to it. Once the exhaust heats up to it does get more grunt to it and the crackles are still present but at a bit muffled.

So like I said in the previous post, I will be running the bike with the DB killer installed and occasionally be riding without it when I feel to have a bit more fun

Well, I'll leave you guys with a few pics from the ride. Like last time very few photos were clicked and nothing special too about the photos. As a force of habit we have very few stops when we ride and the stops if any are of very short duration we hardly take any pics.
Did not click any pics of the cafe as people we having their breakfast there at the time and it did not seem appropriate to click photos at that time.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Beautiful write up Krish. But on a sarcastic note, you could have gotten the R15, me thinks. Gives everything the R1 gives, except at a smaller level.

Seems, you're already starting to hoard up spares, which is definitely the wise thing to do. Secondly on the tank drain gumming up, it's seemingly true that all Yamaha R series have this trouble, even the R15s. Pressure washing and rains can pool up water around the filler neck, and once you open for refilling, you'll have the shock of life. Glad you sorted that out. That sound check, dayum is an understatement, sounds like a MotoGP monster.

Oh, and that Tiger, looks much better without the beak.

Ride safe baba!

Cheers!
VJ

Haha..! There are times during each ride where if you'd present me that R15 I would just take it and run with it, not going to lie.

Yup, hoarding up consumable parts and quite a few still in transit, will update as and when it reaches. I'll make it a point to get the drain cleaned each time the tank is removed for air filter cleaning or so, better safe than sorry, I might have to tape off the fuel filler area before getting it to be pressure washed from next time.
Just wait till I pay you a visit to Ooty soon, but like I said it would have to be a weekday, I'm pretty sure you'd love to hear it only with the DB killer off the bike.

Tiger looks better w/o the beak? Oh boy! You are just asking for trouble!!

Cheers
Krishna

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

But post reaching there the story actually changed, I don't know if it was because of it being a Sunday, we reached there at 8.30 , they open at 8. There were already a few families having their breakfast and when we arrived nothing was ready and the families there were also waiting on their orders even though it was supposed to be a buffet.
We waited for about 1 hour or so to get food, but not only did we not get anything, but more families started coming in and the buffet quickly turned into a live counter situation.
At Rs.300 per head for a breakfast buffet, we would be lucky if we got 1 serving or Dosa or Paratta, so we decided to skip having any breakfast and try our luck at any wayside hotels on the way back to Bangalore.

That's horrible! Sorry buddy - never had such an experience! Infact, all three times I went there, no other group was around also!

We were on the same road today, probably 30 minutes ahead. Half the team as last time, but in our cars! Didn't want to try the same place for breakfast and hence headed to ASR Parklane hotel in Hosur highway.

We should ride together sometime!

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That's horrible!... probably 30 minutes ahead. Half the team as last time, but in our cars! Didn't want to try the same place for breakfast and hence headed to ASR Parklane hotel in Hosur highway.

Ah...I have to say, it was probably just bad timing for us. I suspect they had overnight guests who were staying in those cottages.
The hosts were very sweet and they were really trying to serve everybody. I'd probably give it one more try on a Saturday maybe.
And that was a wise decision to go someplace else, or you guys would have had the same fate.

We should ride together sometime!

Yes definitely, we can plan something out for next month maybe!

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

It's about to be 2 months since I bought the R1 home. So far have managed to do 3200 plus kms on it so far.

ODO stands at 24,xxx KMS at the moment.


The last 956 kms of which was done over the weekend.*I hadn't ridden the bike the week before as I had to go to my hometown for some personal stuff, this week too was meant to be a no-ride week as I was supposed to get the tyres of my car changed at Madhus, but alas something again came up and had to go to my hometown but this time since the bikes too were all ready and just sitting there waiting to be ridden me and my brother decided to just go for it and ride home just like old times(Up until about 2 years back we regularly used to go home to Kerala on our bikes, so in a way, it was a fun ritual to be done again, but this time on 2 very very powerful and fun bikes).

First pit stop






Re-fueling stop at Salem, just before taking the on-ramp towards Coimbatore




We started the trip from Bangalore at 4 am, I was expecting and prepared to take more breaks this time around as riding the R1 with the super committed riding position fatigue would be more.
We did end up taking a 5-minute break every 80-90 kms which I found was the best way to do it, and I did not even feel the need to jump on the tiger as I was very comfortable on the R1 by now and the very lenient break intervals we took made sure I wasn't beating myself up too much.*

Breakfast at Saravana Bhavan at Vaikundam, some 30 odd kms after Salem towards Coimbatore side. Been stopping for breakfast for years here for years now.


The highway rides were pretty much uneventful as always, had a great time and puttered along at a very decent pace, we were able to hold the same time we took usually while going by car even though we took much more breaks. All of this went well until we reached Kerala at around 9.30AM. Even though I have ridden through Kerala at this time countless times and even during bang noontime I was not prepared for the heat while riding with the R1, it was not so much as the heat generated by the R1 but the whole ordeal to control this mammoth of a bike in some really tight roads, heavy traffic, and the blazing temperatures even as early as 9.30-10 am.

Pit Stop a few kms before TN-KL border at the A2B/Ajfan


Needless to say 30-40 kms in Kerala roads brought on as much or more fatigue than the 400kms ride till the borders of Kerala.

Cold Red Bull to cool the body down and keep the energy levels up for the torture whats to come in a few kms


We had to navigate 2 really bad stretches of roads while in Kerala, both where road work was going on while my brother just happily sailed through on the tiger, I really struggled, I could not shift above from 1st gear at all and managing the bike dodging potholes and recklessly overtaking autos and buses and not to mention people getting intrigued by the sound and size of the R1 and Tiger riding together and getting a bit too close for comfort my shoulders and hands took the brunt of it and had to quickly take a break.

It needs to be said that once the temperature crosses 90 degrees the R1 exhaust note changes substantially and gets quite loud and with a generous dose pop and bangs at the slightest hint of letting go of the throttle.

By the time I reached home, the 70 odd kms of riding in Kerala had me completely drained and my back aching quite a bit.

Trip meters on reaching home


The return ride on Sunday went by pretty uneventful apart from the fact that we stopped almost twice as many times as my back was aching much more, in hindsight riding 500 kms on a Saturday and returning back 500kms again on a Sunday with not much time to relax(had a lot of moving around work to be done once I was at home) in between was not a bright idea. Oh well, I am not the smartest guy anyway, after all, I did think that buying a big, hot overheating liter-class bike to ride on our roads and climatic conditions to be a good idea.

Somewhere just after exiting Palakkad town


Coffee break at Chengapalli CCD






All in all, I managed to ride around 900 kms of the 952 kms, the rest of which I jumped on the tiger when my spine really couldn't take it anymore on the R1, 50 odd kms on the tiger and a 30 minutes break for food was enough for me to jump back on the R1 for the rest of the trip.

Last pit stop of the return journey at Krishnagiri Burger King


Trip Meter at the end of the trip


A few highlight points that happened during this trip :

• Something new that happened was that when I stopped the bike for a breather the temperature on the dash shows at around 102 degrees, after a 5 min break when I turned the ignition key on the temperature showed 119 degrees and the engine overheat warning light was on. Quickly turned it back off as I did not want to crank the bike at such high temperature and gave it another 10 mins to cool down a bit and as the expected temperature dropped to the low 100 degrees and the bike turned on no problem and we set away.
  
• I had a plan to ride without the DB killer for a few hundred kms along the TN highways to have some extra fun, but ended up fitting it back on in less than 80kms, it was getting a bit too noisy and I was not enjoying it at all towards the end. So I think I found my limit of riding without the DB killer would be maybe a lazy short Sunday ride along the highway in the early morning hours as the best and only time.
  
• Riding a supersport comes with a bit of compromise, and I realized that to be able to ride the R1 for longer distances, I really need to let go of something I achieved over a course of 6-7 years of hard work in the IT field. I am of course talking about my tummy. While it does not bother you much on shorted trips, during this ride I found that losing a few kgs around the waist would really make things better and easier to reach the handlebars with lesser effort.
  
• Now this is something I feel very weird, and I have felt this only on the R1, riding at night/early morning hours when visibility is less, I tend to ride with my body much more tensed up and get tired sooner,*I somehow end up grabbing on the handlebars very tightly too. Once dawn breaks this problem goes away. In all my riding years I hadn't faced this problem once with any other bike. Do let me know if you have any inputs on this.
  
• This time around made sure to refuel around every 200kms of run time. The fuel light did not turn on even once , but the bike drank around 12L of fuel. So that's gives a rough 16.6 KMPL

Cheers
Krishna

[bigron]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

A few highlight points that happened during this trip :

rishna

1) It is normal when one is riding for an extended period of time and at sustained speeds or in traffic for the bike to heat up considerably. Infact, even the battery will give up charge for a few minutes if the temperature rises beyond a certain point. Just letting it sit for a while like you did is the best way to go about it.

2) Losing weight is of course going to help.. You could also look at handle bar riders and adjustable pegs. They do make a difference.But touring on a 1000cc will always going to be an arduous task. You will eventually get used to it but it will still be a limiting factor for longer tours.

3)All about perception and what you are thinking while riding at that point.
When I tour, I am always looking out for a dog or a moron crossing the road randomly.Like its persistently at the back of my mind whether I do a 80 kms ride or a 800 km and no matter if I am on 20 or 200. Its just your brain telling you to be careful in low visibility situations in your case. I wouldn't think to much in to it.

Enjoy your ride.

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

The return ride on Sunday went by pretty uneventful apart from the fact that we stopped almost twice as many times as my back was aching much more, in hindsight riding 500 kms on a Saturday and returning back 500kms again on a Sunday with not much time to relax(had a lot of moving around work to be done once I was at home) in between was not a bright idea.

Riding that far on a supersport is no mean feat and coming back the next day is nothing but self inflicted torture. But nothing beats that sense of accomplishment. If it's any consolation, even on a "comfortable" ADV my joints get stiff and am forced to take a break long before my mind is tired. I am seriously considering joining a Pilates or Yoga class to stay limber.
The only way to negate early morning jitters are Auxillary lights but they would look ugly on a supersport. So the only alternative is have your brother fit some powerful Aux and make sure he is your pilot on every early morning start. Also your body is just waking up so riding will feel a bit unnatural with early morning starts. In my case I feel really uncoordinated in the first hour of an early morning start and ride purely on muscle memory. So I make sure I don't cross 80 - 90 kmph in that window
Ride on and ride safe!

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by bigron

1) It is normal when one is riding for an extended period of time and at sustained speeds or in traffic for the bike to heat up considerably. Infact, even the battery will give up charge for a few minutes if the temperature rises beyond a certain point. Just letting it sit for a while like you did is the best way to go about it.

I was expecting to have this light come up at some point. Luckily since I had done my research about the R1 heating issues it was not a worrying sign. Have to say the Engine ICE did it's job very well.

2) Losing weight is of course going to help.. You could also look at handle bar riders and adjustable pegs. They do make a difference.But touring on a 1000cc will always going to be an arduous task. You will eventually get used to it but it will still be a limiting factor for longer tours.

I did look into aftermarket rear sets when I had finalized on the bike, but the cost of these parts gave me a heartburn . While they are on the list of items to acquire, they are way down many other items.

3)All about perception and what you are thinking while riding at that point.
When I tour, I am always looking out for a dog or a moron crossing the road randomly.Like its persistently at the back of my mind whether I do a 80 kms ride or a 800 km and no matter if I am on 20 or 200. Its just your brain telling you to be careful in low visibility situations in your case. I wouldn't think to much in to it.
Enjoy your ride.

True.

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Riding that far on a supersport is no mean feat and coming back the next day is nothing but self inflicted torture.... So I make sure I don't cross 80 - 90 kmph in that window
Ride on and ride safe!

Oh! It was self-inflicted torture for sure! But actually it's not too bad, it's the next day morning now and luckily my back/shoulders are not sore at all.
It definitely pays off to be a bit more limber while riding in that committed a position.

You know what, my brother and I were discussing this exact same thing while riding, need to look for some brands other than Triumph options I think, they cost way too much than we are comfortable with. And Yes, whenever we ride when there is no morning light, he is always the pilot, the lousy headlights on the R1 is another big reason we do this.

Cheers
Krishna

[theredliner]

Belated congrats Krishna on the acquisition of the mighty R!

It's no mean feat to do 500 km trip on an R1. It gets tiring even on the much more comfortable, much less hotter running and lighter RC 390. No questions about it on the R1.

I don't see any tank grips on your R1. I feel some good tank grips would go a long way in reducing wrist pain on long rides. From my personal experience with the RC, there is no way to get around wrist pain on bumpy roads and roads that need a lot of braking on, but they'd help in delaying it certainly.

Hope you were not wearing a backpack

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by theredliner

Belated congrats Krishna on the acquisition of the mighty R!

It's no mean feat to do 500 km trip on an R1. It gets tiring even on the much more comfortable, much less hotter running and lighter RC 390. No questions about it on the R1.

Thanks a lot mate! Really appreciate it.

I don't see any tank grips on your R1. I feel some good tank grips would go a long way in reducing wrist pain on long rides. From my personal experience with the RC, there is no way to get around wrist pain on bumpy roads and roads that need a lot of braking on, but they'd help in delaying it certainly.

Hope you were not wearing a backpack

About the tank grips, I was searching around for the TechSpec snake skin grips in multiple websites, but it seems to be out of stock almost everywhere. If by any chance you have any leads on the same do let me know.
And Bumpy highway roads are especially the worst, by now many times I have been almost thrown off the seat because of the same.

No, stopped wearing backpacks while riding almost 3-4 years back, that ride as much fun it was it got painful too at the end, I was carrying the luggage of almost 3 people during that ride. Swore that day that I won't ride with a backpack anymore. I might have a photo of the trip too, let me see if I can find it.







I only carry a hydration pack on my back while riding.

Cheers
Krishna

[theredliner]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

About the tank grips, I was searching around for the TechSpec snake skin grips in multiple websites, but it seems to be out of stock almost everywhere. If by any chance you have any leads on the same do let me know.

I too was looking for TechSpec ones for the RC 390 a few days back. Found them only internationally. Some reviewers on Revzilla had mentioned that they had got generic rectangle sheets which one would have to manually cut to the desired shape.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/TechSpec-Sna...5/383438997210

Stompgrip seems to be a cheaper option with good reviews (I personally think they don't look as good as TechSpec)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/STOMPGRIP-T...K/272433490653

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

No, stopped wearing backpacks while riding almost 3-4 years back, that ride as much fun it was it got painful too at the end, I was carrying the luggage of almost 3 people during that ride. Swore that day that I won't ride with a backpack anymore. I might have a photo of the trip too, let me see if I can find it.

No comment

I carry the hydration pack too in the tankbag these days.