[dkaile]

Originally Posted by tanayr

the dealership quoted 28K to me for the OEM 12V 12AH AGM battery

Sorry to hear your battery woes. Just in case you need it, the contact details of the Exide dealer from whome I procured it is - Vardhman Automobiles at Meerut , Sanjay Jain, +919837049002 (no commercial interest involved whatsoever). You can take my reference. He has billed the same to me for Rs. 3500/- with 1 year warranty and has 1~2 pieces more, JFYI.

Cheers...

[dkaile]

MT Helmet BMW'fied (22-09-2020)

I was looking to purchase a new helmet with the new bike and was looking at top of the line modular helmets and had almost shortlisted two of them viz. Schuberth C4 Pro and Shoei Neotech II, but their heavier weight was bearing on my mind (or my neck...Lolz).

But then I realised that I had a almost new 5 star Sharp rated MT Revenge helmet lying around, one which I was very comfortable in even at high speeds. Pinlock visor was also already fitted. Only thing was that the colour was matching my previous Ninja 1000. So I decided to BMW'fy it and change the Green strips to Blue to match the Beemer and give it a new avatar.

And here are the results -









Quite neat, don't you think! And my local sticker artist used Avery Dennison film (Made in USA) for the job and charged me just 200 bucks for the same. Lolz. Money saved!

Cheers for now...

[Turbanator]

^^

Sorry but those BMW letters look very bad. Better get rid of those, perhaps try to find some original sticker or something else. Just my personal opinion though.

And, this thread is super informative. I have been circulating this all over on our groups for any queries and am in process of ordering accessories using your Ali-Express link. Super helpful

[gthang]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Schuberth C4 Pro and Shoei Neotech II, but their heavier weight was bearing on my mind (or my neck...Lolz).


Cheers for now...

Have to say, not a fan of the sticker job. Generally not a fan of savings on helmets.

If you are concerned about weight of the standard C4Pro, try the Carbon version:
https://www.fc-moto.de/en/Schuberth-...orcycle-Helmet

Have used the C3 carbon, and now have the C4Pro Limited edition Carbon Fusion model, and I assure you they are worth every penny. Most comfortable helmets I have ever owned/tried.

Please don't skimp on the most valuable part of your motorcycle, your head. I know you don't normally, and have a good range of gear. Just trying to push you to try a Schuberth.

Cheers

Ride Safe.

[dkaile]

Side Stand Switch Protector (24-09-2020)

Received this Side Stand Switch protector from AliExpress



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...27424c4ducKiIn

This switch is a critical part which can render you stranded as the bike will not start if this switch gets damaged in the event of a fall or a rock hit, which was also mentioned by some other colleagues. Though there is a workaround by which 2 of the 3 wires (except the brown ground wire) going into the switch are cut and shorted to get you going, in case the switch gets damaged. Hence imho it's protection was essential.

This is a exact copy of the Touratech part which retails at 50$. Here's it's installation manual. I installed with the Type 1 installation instructions as shown in this photo, so only the longer M6 20mm screw and the washer was used, with blue threadlocker (Loctite 243). If you look closely, I also installed a little transparent tape to protect the white paint of the frame where the zip ties are attached.



Before Installation



After Installation



Cheers...

[bj96]

Originally Posted by dkaile

...
After Installation

Attachment 2058678
...

Congratulations for your new Bimmer. Keenly await for your updates on the thread. Please keep posting

Small tip- instead of plastic zip ties you could try these SS ones at Amazon.in.

Cheers,
-BJ

[tanayr]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Sorry to hear your battery woes. Just in case you need it, the contact details of the Exide dealer from whome I procured it is - Vardhman Automobiles at Meerut , Sanjay Jain, +919837049002 (no commercial interest involved whatsoever). You can take my reference. He has billed the same to me for Rs. 3500/- with 1 year warranty and has 1~2 pieces more, JFYI.

Cheers...

Well as luck would have it the shop at Karol Bagh has given up on trying to get a battery and have refunded the advance. Hence, this Saturday I'll head to Meerut and see what pans out (thanks for the contact).

Meanwhile I have found a few other options like a Varta AGM battery and Shido lithium ones which can be found in select superbike accessory stores in Delhi but they are all above the 10K mark.

[tanayr]

I rode to Meerut this morning, facing extremely large jams in Modinagar and reached Vardhman Automobiles, got the battery for 3.5K with bill and rode back home. It was highly exhausting - now I remember why we start at 4 or 5 AM to go to Uttarakhand - to avoid precisely what I just went through today.

Anyway, here's the old and the new batteries side by side:



So I plugged in the new one and the bike is back to top form. I just did a small city ride to fuel up and it cranks easily, will report long term observations.

I am really pleased with this alternative to ripoff prices. I am going to use the (perceived) savings on some bike accessories now

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by tanayr

I rode to Meerut this morning, It was highly exhausting - now I remember why we start at 4 or 5 AM to go to Uttarakhand - to avoid precisely what I just went through today.

So I plugged in the new one and the bike is back to top form. I just did a small city ride to fuel up and it cranks easily, will report long term observations.

I am really pleased with this alternative to ripoff prices

Congratulations on the new battery Tanayr, if that calls for any celebrations... Lolz. Sorry for the traffic to Meerut. Yes, it's terrible due to the Rapid Rail Project coming up. In the future, if ever needed to go to Uttarakhand, take the route via Hapur as the new Meerut-Hapur-Bulandshahar Expressway is now operational. Longer by about 15-20 kms but your speeds will be in 3 figures, unlike the crawling traffic on NH58. Anyways, Delhi - Meerut Expressway should also be hopefully be operational by December, so that extra distance will also vanish.

You won't face any issues with the battery, but do keep updated just in case.

Cheers...

[dkaile]

The Missus goes on a Adventure and gives a ?

So we both went on a long ride to Deoband on another new highway to Saharanpur, nearly halfway to Dehradun/Haridwar, to try out the pillion comfort for her especially with the Top Case installed and the backrest on it, et al



Had a nice breakfast en-route



Got a big Thumbs Up from her on the ride experience. Gosh, relief!!



176 kms in absolute comfort



Cheers...

[dkaile]

Corrigendum : In opening post #2 I had inadvertently mentioned the on-road price as Rs. 23.25L. I have received queries from members that those prices are not being offered by the dealers. So I need to clarify that it was in fact a package deal with some accessories involved, and not all the accessories that I have mentioned, and that the actual on-road price was approximately Rs. 25L with some accessories, details of which I am not privy to discuss. Sorry for any confusion caused in this regards.

Cheers...

[vignesh.cv]

Belated congrats on your acquisition sir. Lovely thread with lots of details and DYI info. Wishing you many happy miles of ownership !

[vijaythacker]

Many congratulations Dheeraj on your new machine, amazing one to own along with the harley.Saw some posts about a screen reflector bmw gives as accessory, do you find it necessary for your bike to coverup the glares and reflections on that large screen?
Keep updating and keep enjoying your bmw.

[dkaile]

Few Mods, Accessories and Additions

Received this Silicon Case for the Keyless Remote


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001...27424c4dptPt2z

Excellent quality and provides the much needed protection against falls and dents as I have heard 1-2 cases of the remote going bad after a severe fall.





----------------------

Project Fog Light

I was considering attaching additional Fog Lights as is customary (and necessary) on any ADV worth it's salt. But the costs of all the good one's felt quite prohibitory for now. A Denali Cansmart system could cost anywhere between 60k to 1.2Lacs for a one (D4's) / two (D7's) pair system. Clearwater and other's were even costlier. I had installed a excellent pair of Round Fog Lights on my Himalayan few years back which had served me excellently on my Ladakh Trip. And that was at a fraction of the cost of these ones. However I could not find the same quality anymore either in the local market, nor online. Finally I decided to to work from ground up and create the wiring harness and circuit myself.

Zeroed in on these (decent) pair of Fog Light Mounts from Amazon. Made of aluminium alloy and seem quite sturdy.


https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here they are attached to the OE engine protector bars on the bike



A simple Fog Light Circuit Diagram was designed



Highest quality Wiring and Terminals were used for all connections from the Battery and high quality Minda relay and switches were used.





As I wanted it to be a Switched Circuit, working only when the Ignition was on, a wire needed to be tapped to provide the Ignition Supply as shown in my circuit diagram. In the US forums, other owners were using this from multiple sources, one of which was directly from the DIN Power socket on the bike -



The Brown wire is the Negative (as in all German vehicles) and the Red/Green wire was the Positive Supply which needed to be tapped. But I chose against going with this source as it meant tapping into the bike's 'original' wiring harness. I therefore chose to tap through the wiring of the GPS Mount, which is an attached company accessory anyways, and in the process did not touch the bike's original wiring harness in any way. Here it is tapped and a Red Butt Connector was ready to supply switched 12v supply to the relay, as shown in the circuit. No OE wires were cut.



The Fog Light was sourced and now attached to the mount (at a fraction of the cost) which can anyways be replaced at any time with a better product, if necessary, once the basic installation was complete.


https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here it is switched ON. It turned out to be of a pretty decent quality and the brightness was at least 3-4 times more than the OE company Fog Lights that were attached to the bike, which served nothing more than marker lights.



A complete view of the installation. I chose this position of the install to give maximum width to the lights which hence lead to better frontal visibility of the bike to the oncoming traffic. The lights were focused properly so as to not blind the oncoming traffic but without compromising the increased width of the light throw and visibility, for which they were actually installed.



Switched ON with the Low Beams. Note the exact colour temperature of the lights is matching those of the OE LED headlights.



And with the High Beams on. The visibility has almost doubled in actual riding at night.



A full head on view. Now provides great width to the frontal view for the oncoming traffic, which is a great safety requirement in our riding conditions.



Minda Switches on the handlebar. Look pretty decent and matches the Red accents on the OE switchgear. The 2nd switch was also installed during this process to switch on/off the additional Denali Horn that was installed previously, as I did not want to use it within city limits as it was too loud for the city. Will serve purpose mostly for highway use.



All wires were routed and zip tied to OE specs and the wire routing was done along with the Denali Horn wiring which I had discussed in my previous posts. Pretty satisfied with this near OE setup for now. May upgrade at a later date, when 'moolah' allows. Lolz.

---------------------------------

A Side Stand Extender was also received


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-...27424c4dmlAeaU

Doubles the side stand acreage width from 2" to 4" and is made with high quality aluminium alloy and stainless steel.



The bike plants more firmly and securely on the side stand now. An absolute must accessory for a bike of this size and weight. It was attached with Loctite thread locker 243 to prevent any vibrations.



Does not foul with the main centre stand



Bosch C3 12V Battery Charger
Got hold of this charger on the Amazon India sale at 2974/- bucks



Heard pretty decent reviews



Excellent quality and build. Though it's Made in China, it says 'Germany' as the country of origin, surprisingly, on the package.



Only thing I found irritating is that it comes with a proprietary X-Connect Connector and not the standard SAE connector used on most imported bikes (read Harleys) for charging. I had also installed a SAE connector on the BMW for charging requirements. A solution was required.



In use



Comes with a wall/hanger attachment which was promptly put to good use



As the SAE adapter was missing in this setup, I searched online and found quality adapters available abroad but no one was presently shipping to India. As both my children were studying/working in Ireland, promptly ordered one from NOCO through Amazon UK at around a 1000 bucks. Pretty steep for a piece of wire but the quality seems worth it as I did not want any compromise in electrical connections. Landed in a day. The packaging was huge (waste) for the part it entrails -


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the actual connector



The other end attaches directly to the Battery lead of the Bosch Charger



More coming soon. Cheers for now...

[DevOnWheels]

Great Bike and and awesome write-up. Congrats on the God-Father of ADVs...