[//M]

Wow that looks like a fun way to go on a work trip boss.

I second your opinion on the sump guard, that is a must if you do longer runs on our roads. I have also had a couple of situations wherein a sudden pothole or pavement undulation caused a loud cranky noise from the underbody. Every time I stopped and checked, no damage or scratches whatsoever. A sump guard is highly recommended, do get one before the next long ride. Even the OE one is substantially good.

Btw, which front screen are you using? Is it height adjustable? I noticed some adv riders are having an issue with bigger screens specially in the monsoons when the screen turns murky and visibility is hampered. Did you face any such issue during this ride?

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by //M

Wow that looks like a fun way to go on a work trip boss.

yup!

Originally Posted by //M

I second your opinion on the sump guard, that is a must if you do longer runs on our roads. I have also had a couple of situations wherein a sudden pothole or pavement undulation caused a loud cranky noise from the underbody. Every time I stopped and checked, no damage or scratches whatsoever. A sump guard is highly recommended, do get one before the next long ride. Even the OE one is substantially good.

Yeah! It was super scary for a second there, because I really thought my ride was over as I had really convinced that I cracked the oil sump. Luckily all is good. Have looked into a few offerings from Motousher and Bigbadbikes and the price range is from 20-27k so far. Need to check in with the Triumph OE part as well. Will be making a call on this soon, and yes before the next long ride for sure.

Originally Posted by //M

Btw, which front screen are you using? Is it height adjustable? I noticed some adv riders are having an issue with bigger screens specially in the monsoons when the screen turns murky and visibility is hampered. Did you face any such issue during this ride?

That's the OE screen the Outgoing XRX models were equipped with from the factory. Acerbis makes it and supplies it to Triumph. They are height adjustable, and in the pics, you see it's in the lowest possible position. And yes it is a huge pain in murky conditions and even dusty conditions, it gets very tough to see what's directly below your eyeliner, and navigating the bumps and potholes while sitting on the bike is a proper problem, mostly I stand up on the footpeg to just get a better view.
Have seen several off-road-focused users actually chop up the screen to aid in their type of riding and now it all makes sense(never understood that action before until I started facing the same issue).

Cheers
Krishna

[krishnaprasadgg]

R1 Update post

The R1 has been in hibernation for a little over 1 month. I hadn't taken her out since 25th September, Apart from the usual weekly startups and general checks of course. The lack of usage was predominantly because of the heavy rains, and generally very busy schedule, I have been traveling quite a lot in the past month and will be so for the coming few weeks too, so if I did not get a ride in with the R1 this weekend it would have been an extended hibernation hitting towards 2 months.

So Sunday morning rolls around Aaand it's raining till the morning, I was on 2 minds about taking her out as I did not want to deal with the idea of washing the bike again or getting her dirty after an awesome detailing job but in the end decided to push through with the ride. And the ride wasn't easy, I keep getting reminded of why Kerala(especially my area) is not the place to have or enjoy these machines at all. The roads were in much worse condition and so was I (started gaining back all the weight I had shed ).

I had to take around 2 breaks just to cover close to 60kms of city/back roads and from the looks of it, I have definitely hurt my left shoulder somehow as I have a very specific stabbing pain on my shoulders whenever fatigue sets in while riding the R1. Need to look into this more and probably work on strengthening my shoulders too.

Another point I observed is that the gear shifts have become noticeably clunky and tight, looks like it's time for an oil change, it has been just about 10 months since I changed the oil and the bike has run only around 2.5k since then. I am beginning to question if the LuqiMoly oil is not that great for non-highway conditions, might be time to experiment with some other oil, if anybody has any suggestions do let me know.

The next thing that I have to share is about fuel.
I have decided is that if I have access to XP100 I am only going for this, even if the price tag is insanely high I am going to swallow that pill, the bike has been running on normal petrol for the last 200kms(because of unavailability at the time of refill) or so and I was pretty in tune with how the bike was riding, filled her up with XP100 today(tank was near-empty) and boy what a difference it makes, the bike runs a bit quieter almost immediately and runs a smidge cooler too, it's mild but you can detect the change in the heat for sure. XP100 is kind of hard to come by in my neck of the wood, but XP95 is getting much more accessible, will be trying it out too next chance I get. If the effects are similar I'll stick to the XP95 for sure, my wallet will definitely thank me for it.

Cool, so now that I have that out of the way, enjoy a few pics from today's ride.

Got to meet a few friends along the way and happened to see the new S1000R in the flesh. Man!, what a beauty she is, Never really liked it over the predecessor model in photos but in person, it's just something else.

Does the R1 look 8 year old among these beauties? I definitely feel that it doesn't.

As a last note, 1 more item for my OEM+ project for the R1 has arrived and it is the DEI Heat reflective gold tape. This will be used to cover the airbox and to replace the current heat reflective tape just below the lower subframe cover to keep as much heat away from the rider seat. Many many thanks to no_fear and his brother for arranging this for me.

Installation of this will be part of the next DIY post that will be coming up, originally it was supposed to be this week but plans have changed and it will be delayed by a few weeks.

Cheers
Krishna

[no_fear]

@Krishna

A pleasure to help you. If I had known speedpost doesn't mean "speed", would have just used courier service. Oh well, next time.

How on earth do you get time to ride? Last few weeks that we talked, you were always out on your work travel.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by no_fear

How on earth do you get time to ride? Last few weeks that we talked, you were always out on your work travel.

Just good timing I guess, and I almost didn't go out because of the rain too.

November is another hectic month! I hope at least I can get some work done on the bike this month.

Cheers
Krishna

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Another point I observed is that the gear shifts have become noticeably clunky and tight, looks like it's time for an oil change, it has been just about 10 months since I changed the oil and the bike has run only around 2.5k since then. I am beginning to question if the LuqiMoly oil is not that great for non-highway conditions, might be time to experiment with some other oil, if anybody has any suggestions do let me know.

So my experienced friends believe to change oil more frequently rather than to use a more expensive oil. He has been using Motul 7100 for years and I am using it too for now. Just changed the oil again after 3500 KMs again to Motul 7100 only. But personally I can't comment on its performance as I have nothing else to compare. For my Honda, I stuck to what Honda put in.

If the effects are similar I'll stick to the XP95 for sure, my wallet will definitely thank me for it.

I have totally switched to XP95 and I think it is the best fuel for the price. 100 Octane is a bit too expensive for small incremental benefits it might provide. The abysmal fuel efficiency of the R1 also does not help the cause.

Does the R1 look 8 year old among these beauties? I definitely feel that it doesn't.

Absolutely Not!!


CHEERS!!
Rachit

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

So my experienced friends believe to change oil more frequently rather than to use a more expensive oil. He has been using Motul 7100 for years and I am using it too for now. Just changed the oil again after 3500 KMs again to Motul 7100 only. But personally I can't comment on its performance as I have nothing else to compare. For my Honda, I stuck to what Honda put in.

3500 km I feel is a bit too soon and might be a bit excessive, but as things have turned out it did take close to a year to cover 3500 so does not seem all that bad. But yeah I am thinking to change from LM to Maxima or Motul for sure. I'll report my findings once I have done that. And I think as far as cost goes LM and Motul 7100 are roundabout the same IIRC.
With Honda, I have found either Shell or Honda OEM supplied oils work best.

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

I have totally switched to XP95 and I think it is the best fuel for the price. 100 Octane is a bit too expensive for small incremental benefits it might provide. The abysmal fuel efficiency of the R1 also does not help the cause.

You are right about the non-existent marginal difference b/w the 95 and 100 Octane fuels. I am waiting for XP95 to be more available around my area(it's pretty much available almost every other place) and I'll be switching to XP95 too.

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Absolutely Not!!
CHEERS!!
Rachit

Cheers
Krishna

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

3500 km I feel is a bit too soon and might be a bit excessive, but as things have turned out it did take close to a year to cover 3500 so does not seem all that bad. But yeah I am thinking to change from LM to Maxima or Motul for sure. I'll report my findings once I have done that. And I think as far as cost goes LM and Motul 7100 are roundabout the same IIRC.
With Honda, I have found either Shell or Honda OEM supplied oils work best.

Today’s premium oils are good for 10k/1 year intervals. But ideally with our weather and traffic conditions its better to change them around 6-7k km mark. This is something most big owners will never achieve in a year so its all good from a engine safety aspect of not overusing the oil cycle.

Sticking to the manufacture specifications is the best approach and one has to to stick to motorcycle specific oils as unlike cars the motorcycle oil is what lubricates the engine, clutch and gearbox. Its the clutch particles which degrade the oil faster and if we use the big bikes in traffic conditions more often that is when earlier/frequent oil intervals would be necessary otherwise I feel it’s an unwanted expense as with every oil change the oil filter needs to be changed too.

[krishnaprasadgg]

R1 Routine Maintainance post

It was time for some Routine maintenance on the R1, last oil change was creeping up on the 1-year mark even though the bike had run only 3.xx K odd km since the change, the bike was in need of an air filter clean, and the regular chain tightening and other checks and inspection to make sure the bike is running in top mechanical condition. The only complaint I had was that during the last ride I felt the gear shifts to be rather clunky than usual, so I attributed it to the oil going bad as the 3.xx K km that it had run was in Kerala road conditions which are not easy on the motor or the bike or the rider, to say the least.
Incidentally, Xaos636 was due a much-needed tyre change for his 650F and some chain master link related work was needed to be carried out so we decided to ride out to Cochin to get the tyre swapped and head to our friend Sanju's place where we got the rest of job done along with Sanju. As I keep saying the next best thing to riding with your friends is working on bikes with your friends.

Waiting for Xaos636


Tea break en-route

It's almost mid-November and we are still getting hit by rain in batches, and as expected this was a rainy ride, to say the least. The more irritating part was that it wasn't a proper rain ride where you get fully drenched and you are okay with it. this was more of a gloomy overcast for the most part and makes you think you got away with it, but then it rains just the right amount for water to seep into your jacket and boots and get you uncomfortable enough and then stops and as if on cue comes back right at the moment you get somewhat dry, and how can it be complete without getting semi-drenched when you are just 2-3 km away from your destination? Well, we were lucky enough to get that too.

Anyways, we reached the tire shop about 30-45 minutes prior to their opening time as we had also booked an appointment for the same and waited for them to start work.

Tyre Guys, Edapally cochin


Striking a pose


Fmotors(Sanju) has joined the chat





New Shoes


Ready to roll

Our friend Sanju joined us for company as he had a good relationship with the shop, so it all worked out as smoothly as it can be.

While Sanjuand Xaos636 got working on Xaos636's 650F I got cracking on the R1. The first line of business was getting the oil drained. Plonked her onto the paddock and started by removing the lower fairing piece, giving proper access to the drain plug and somewhat of access to the oil filter.

I hate the oil filter placement for the R1 as it is just behind the header/downpipe and for someone with stubby fingers and fatter hands removing it can be a bit of a hassle, more so when the bike isn't fully cold yet. Had to make use of Sanju's thinner hands to get the oil filter out, luckily as opposed to last time we did not have to struggle much to crack it loose, the nut on the filter made things so much easy.

The dreaded Oil filter location. Note how the Header pipe for Cylinder 2 alone is super clean and not caked in muck


The oil filter mating surface



Cleaning it up to ensure proper seal whenever the new filter goes back in


Cleaner. The mating surface was cleaned spotlessly before the new filter went in, forgot to click the picture of that.

Anyway, with the drain plug removed the oil was being drained, removed the oil filler cap too to make the oil drain faster, then as mentioned above removed the oil filter too and let gravity do its thing to get all the oil out from the bike.

While that was happening I moved on to the next job in hand that was the air filter, the air filter hadn't cleaned since the last oil change so that's about 1 year or 3.xx K km and I was expecting the filter to be absolutely filthy, but to my surprise, it wasn't too bad, the airbox outer side(pre-filtered side was pretty dusty though),

The rider seat, 2 side panels must come off to life the tank up and bout 10 screws to get the air box open.




Pretty dusty pre-filter area


K&N Cleaner/Recharger used for the Air filter cleaning job

Cleaning and recharging the filter was done with the K&N Air filter recharger kit I had with me.

The filter once removed was given a healthy done K&N air filter cleaner fluid and left to settle for about 5-10 mins and then the filter was cleaned thoroughly with a slow but steady stream of running water and it was left out to dry for a few hours.

While that was happening the oil dripping from the drain hole and the oil filter point had dried out. So took the bike off the paddock and with the help of another person tilted the bike a bit to the left and right side and put her on the side stand and that did the trick to get out the remaining of the oil that would not come out while on the paddock.

Oil fully drained out while on the paddock


Put it back on the side stand and watch as more oil flows out from the drain hole.

This is something that is pretty commonly overlooked while doing an oil change. You'd be surprised by the amount of oil that gets retained even when you think you've drained it out fully if you are only using a paddock or main stand for draining the oil.

Anyway, I left the bike for another 30-40mins for it to fully drain out while I went over to help Sanju and Xaos636 work on the 650F post which the drain plug was fitted back with a new crush washer.

Have a look here at how the old crush washer looks as opposed to a new one.

Old vs New crush washer

The crush washer we used is actually a Suzuki Hayabusa OEM crush washer, they are easily available and dirt cheap too, and do the job without a single drop of leakage or seepage.

It's pretty clear from the pics as to why it is important to never reuse a crush washer as if the name wasn't self-explanatory you can see how the washer gets crushed to form an air-tight seal. It's almost tough to comprehend for me as to how some people/shops actually re-use crush washers and are surprised when they find it leaking at a later point in time.

New crush washer and drain plug ready to go back on


Oil quantity required as per the manual

Anyways since that was done the new oil filter was taken out and filled with fresh oil and rotated well to make sure it had proper oil seepage into the filter material, we made sure to not fill the filter to the brim as this is a horizontally mounted filter and filling it up would mean you spill oil while mounting the filter onto the block and creating a mess and unwanted wastage of fresh oil so we used enough to get the filter cartridge properly wet with fresh oil and stopped there.

Prepping the oil filter


Getting the oil filter lubed up the right way

We also gave the rubber seal on the filter a good healthy dab of oil to make sure it does not seize in place once mounted.

As for the oil, I went with the Motul 7100 10W40 this time. I actually wanted to try the Maxima oil as it had good reviews and fellow Bhpian Odeen had also advised me to go with it but unfortunately, I could not procure enough stock for my usage and timeline so went with the much easily available Motul oil for this oil change. Will move over the Maxima for the next change and review the changes.

Oil Used


Oil Filter used

As usual, while filling the oil too it's not as simple as filling it shut it, and off you go, doing it properly means you fill the oil up to the halfway mark b/w min and max in the oil inspection window, run the engine up until it gets to operational temperature, switch the bike off, let it the oil settle into the sump again for about 15-20 mins and then top up to the midway b/w the min and max in the oil level inspection window. This ensures that you have the right amount of oil available for the engine in the oil sump at all times.

43NM Torque spec for the oil drain bolt

Torqued to spec!

Oil topped up!

Anyways, all this time was enough for the air filter to be fully dry and ready for the recharging fluid to be applied. Do make sure that you do not over apply the filter element oil, yeah that is a thing, you can and it's very easy to go overboard with it, usually following the instructions on the box on how to recharge the filter element should keep you on the right side of the limit so nothing to worry there.

Once that was done got the bike all buttoned up back again and then proceeded to get the drive chain slack adjusted, even after 3.xx K km of use there was just a slight extra slack that had come into the drive chain system, quickly tightened it back to spec and moved onto cleaning the front and rear brake calipers.

Cleaning the pads and the calpers

Did not click a lot of pics and as I have already posted a very intricate detailed DIY post in this thread on how that is done so we just got on with it. Much to my surprise, there was a lot of dust hidden inside the pads which weren't visible outside. Anyways, cleaned it all out, applied some copper grease onto the backside of the pads, doused the caliper bolts in anti-seize grease, and torqued it all down to spec as per the manual. Next was just greasing the clutch cable points and a few other spots with waterproof grease and the work is all done.

By now it was lunchtime, I wanted to get the new set of grips, bar ends and brake protector levers fitted today too, but since we had to rush back home the same day itself decided to do it next time.

As for the expense
Hi-Flo Oil Filter X2 (Part No HF204RC): Rs.1500/-
Engine Oil (Motul 7100 10W40 4Ltrs): Rs.3280/-
Labor charge: Rs.0/- (DIY)


Continued in next post...

[krishnaprasadgg]

R1 Routine Maintainance post 2/2

As expected the rain subsided once we reached where we wanted to reach and was clear for most of the day and right when all the work is done, lunch is done, and after all the double-checking on the work done and bikes are warmed up for the return ride it starts raining again. Luckily for us, it was just for a small patch and the return ride was pretty much dry, but then we had some insane traffic to keep us company for the rest of the ride.

One of the many bum/tea breaks


The final stop before we split ways


Yet another break

After many breaks made it back home, after some 300 km of rain and slush and traffic and many many potholes. As for the gear clunkiness, it still remains as is. Not sure why though. Need to keep an eye on it and see if it improves at all.

Final ODO Reading


Trip meter reading for the day

As expected the bike was absolutely filthy, took a good 3-4 hours of cleaning session to get all the dirt and grime out from almost every nook of the bike.

Having dedicated heavy-duty degreasers helps simplify the process a lot and not to mention a pressure washer.

I can't stress enough how much of a savior these products are!






All cleaned and tucked in until next time.

Fin!

Cheers
Krishna

[SnS_12]

So, the airbox was clean and the K&N filter outer rubber portion is providing a proper seal?

Also, what brake fluid do you use DOT 4 or 5.1? 5.1 has a higher dry and wet boiling point over 4 but is also more hygroscopic and hence will require more frequent fluid change. Hence, I am using DOT 4 and plan to change it every year.

With all these rain rides are the caliper pistons moving smoothly? Guess that would need frequent cleaning and greasing to take care of the grime build up and for it to operate smoothly.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

So, the airbox was clean and the K&N filter outer rubber portion is providing a proper seal?

Yup, the seal is perfect so far. No dust ingress to the filtered side.So holding off on replacing the filter just yet.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Also, what brake fluid do you use DOT 4 or 5.1? 5.1 has a higher dry and wet boiling point over 4 but is also more hygroscopic and hence will require more frequent fluid change. Hence, I am using DOT 4 and plan to change it every year.

I had moved to 5.1 around March of 2020 but somehow the brakes got super spongy within a few months and moved back to Dot 4 and never had that problem again. Maybe it wasn't bled exactly right, never went back to 5.1 so can't say for sure.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

With all these rain rides are the caliper pistons moving smoothly? Guess that would need frequent cleaning and greasing to take care of the grime build up and for it to operate smoothly.

Yes, caliper pistons are all moving smoothly. We are using proper grease to make sure no seizure happens but cleaning more often is something I need to take care of.

Cheers
Krishna

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

I had moved to 5.1 around March of 2020 but somehow the brakes got super spongy within a few months and moved back to Dot 4 and never had that problem again. Maybe it wasn't bled exactly right, never went back to 5.1 so can't say for sure.

As 5.1 is more hygroscopic than 4 it will absorb moisture more quickly. So, with the rainy season the air moisture content would have gone up and the fluid could have gone bad.

Hence, it is always advised to use a brake fluid from a sealed container and never from a used container as if the percentage of water goes over 3.5% in the fluid its time to replace and it can happen in a open container in an hours time if exposed to the atmosphere.

Hence, DOT 4 works best and good to change every year so that the braking performance is optimum and the internal seals are lubricated well and last longer.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

R1 Routine Maintainance post 2/2

After many breaks made it back home, after some 300 km of rain and slush and traffic and many many potholes. As for the gear clunkiness, it still remains as is. Not sure why though. Need to keep an eye on it and see if it improves at all.


Cheers
Krishna

Well, I have almost always had clunky gears on my R1. I kept putting it to clutch wire adjustment, and ended up playing with so much that I almost destroyed the wire. We changed the clutch wire, but to be honest that did not sort it out for me completely. I did make it a bit better though.

Get a Quickshifter. That solved everything for me!!


Rachit!!

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Get a Quickshifter. That solved everything for me!!
Rachit!!

Oh boy! I do want to but holding off on buying any more stuff till I get and fix the number of parts I have still pending.

Cheers
Krishna