[AtheK]

Originally Posted by no_fear

There is an Italian company called FAR that makes good handle bar mirrors, but with customs duty + shipping cost, it will be too cost prohibitive.

Ya very tough, will continue to look around, RCB mirrors were good, but that circular look was not going well with the bike, it can be an option to fall back later on.

Originally Posted by no_fear

For the bike not starting, I had the same issue with my 1198. It stopped while I was riding. Waited for 10 minutes, then shifted to 2nd gear and ran holding the bike, and was able to get the engine fired up. Took it to FNG and we ran some tests. The old battery had no more juice. Changed to a new one. Check your battery has enough amps to power the starter motor. If not, then its time to change the battery. Even if battery voltage shows 14v, it doesn't mean battery is holding that charge or is getting charged completely.

Even we ran some test and at this point the battery seems to be doing well, and was informed that it can run through for sometime. I am monitoring it closely, and on first note of anything wrong, I will get it changed.

Originally Posted by no_fear

Are you planning to get rid of the Go Pro holder on the gas tank?

Totally skipped my mind with all the things happening around, I hope we have some ceramic material left, will take care of it when I visit him next.

Originally Posted by no_fear

I disagree with you that booze is destroying the country. It is the great unifier. Without booze, my friends and I can never agree to any topic, and come up with hare brained schemes.

He He, it did help me eventually. That said, never shy of having a couple of drinks, hopefully we get to drink together sometime in near future.

Originally Posted by no_fear

+1 on complaining about previous owner lack of maintenance. I share your anger on this aspect totally. It baffles me that people have money to buy a 20 lac bike, then don't want to spend even 10k for servicing. Then why buy these machines, if people lack the commitment to maintain them.

Very Sad indeed.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

I don't know if it is just me (the inner Greasemonkey in me to be precise) I get more excited by pics of replacement parts and service pics than bikes striking poses and flaunting their lines .

You are absolutely not alone, it's a different kind of high. The feel of taking a sniff of opening up any new accessory gives you a different level of satisfaction.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

About the battery issue. I think it will be a good idea to invest in the 70mai battery jump box. They come in 2 variants I think, and they are strong enough to jump-start Diesel engines up to 2L in capacity so should be light work for these bike batteries(Not sure if they work for Li-ion batteries so I haven't gotten one yet). The most attractive part is that they are super portable, Similar to a power bank in size. I came to know fo them through torqueblock instashop.

Definitely a good idea, my friend has it, and we were contemplating to get it and start the bike using it if it does not start. Let me check back with him and see if he has used it on any other bike.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Lovely pics as always, can't wait for the arrival and fitment posts fo the accessories and I am also waiting to see the exhaust conversion just reminding. Haha.

I Sold the SC exhaust, as I really did not want to cross the cops, and ride with a headache. The conversion though is now on the card, I can always show them the 899 stock pic and tell them it came with bike. I will source it once travel opens, as I will need to source the lower fairings as well.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

AtheK, nice to see more updates on your thread. Hope your wife has recovered fully.

Thanks Neil, She is doing well now and on path to full recovery.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I too was using my bikes to go to the medical stores to pick up some basic medicines and keep the bikes running. Great minds think alike.

Without a doubt

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

On the Sprint air filters, do check with the Ducati riding community, before taking the plunge. It was discussed in the Triumph India ownership group earlier and some users had reported sidewall flexing of the filter, that led to a lot of dust getting in. Fellow owners had suggested MWR filters instead, which are sturdier.

I will definitely have a check, specially now that we have time before the next service. Though in my initial research, Sprint seems to be favored really well abroad. It is expensive at around 12K though.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I hear the Amsoil fully synthetic ones are even better and have taken the plunge and ordered it.

I have heard good things about Amsoil also, was double minded if I should pick that, but was suggested to stick to Ducati recommended Shell. Do post your observations and I can then probably switch to it in next service.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

On the coolants, Im assuming MotoSpark did a full flush and replaced the old coolant. What coolant was the bike running earlier? The OEM Ducati coolant that came with the bike at the time of delivery?

It was indeed running stock and yes a full flush was done before replacement. Engine ice recommends to change coolant every year, so that is an added expense in every service here on.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

For bar end mirrors, why not the ones that Royal Enfield sells for the 650 twins? They are really good and sturdy. I think they cost Rs 4,400 or so.

I gave it a long thought, just that the circular profile of the mirrors don't sit well with the overall sharp design of the bike, they kind of stand out. They can be a fall back plan if I am not able to source something in next few months.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I have heard good stuff about MotoSpark, mostly from Ducati owners in Bangalore. Can you share a breakup of the Rs 21K bill? Just so that we can get an idea and see how much more the company SVCs charge us on an item to item basis. The biking community really needs more trusted and reliable third party garages and Im glad to see such high quality garages doing well in Bangalore.

Yes they are very good, run by two nice blokes Yassar and Subrata. They are like your friendly next door garage with whom you can speak at length while they work on the bike. Yassar came up with the idea of bar end extender and executed it to perfection. I have attached the Estimate I received, and on top of it additional expense was of towing and the parts procured. They gave me some discount on this estimate while doing the final billing.

PS: Estimate had all the personal details, so I have taken it out. Below is a screenshot.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Do you know what was the cause of the rear brake having to be looked at again by the other mechanic? Did the team doing the service overlook something or was there a part that had to be adjusted etc?

Yes, it was because with certain ducati models we need to bleed it with tires removed and caliper removed from the bike, or you will have air trapped leading to the free play. I did inform this to Yassar, and he acknowledged the same by looking at the service manual, and concluding that even they learnt something new. That relates to what I posted earlier, that they are willing to work with you, and there is always something new to learn.

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Hey Athek,
First of all, hope your wife has fully recovered.

Thanks Nitin, she is doing well.

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

I loved the bar end mirrors but it's a pity that they are not functional. Please pay heed to what Neil had mentioned. Mirrors from different brands (and not just super bike category) may fulfil your needs.

Ya it's a pity indeed. I am open to anything from any brand that fulfil the need, the ones I have right now are el cheapo 1100 rupees one. Will definitely end up finding one.

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Last but not the least, kudos to the beer friends who were with you during the exercise (literally). And I am with no_fear on the boozing part !!

Great blokes indeed, and well when was the last time we actually needed a reason to drink beer!!

Originally Posted by no_fear

@Athek - brother I missed out the fact that your Mrs was down with Covid. I hope she has recovered and you can ask her to make space to put your baby in the living room.

She is doing well, thanks for checking!! He He any such request will be met by a flying chappal There is little friend for Mark 13 coming next week, pictures coming up soon, please do advise a nice sleeping tent in the meantime

Originally Posted by no_fear

She confronted him, saw the pictures and was left very confused and disappointed. She cannot fathom how men can get excited seeing "rusty engines, bolts and pipes".

I think we are all the same, my insta and Youtube has recommendation or posts related to mainly bikes and this irritates my wife to no end, I secretly enjoy it!!

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

I get more excited by pics of replacement parts and service pics than bikes striking poses and flaunting their lines . Ok, I think that's my cue to shut up and not make things weirder than they should be.

You are not alone Krishna. My older brother is the same like you. He asks me to take pictures of the servicing / part fitting rather than pics of the bikes themselves. Apparently he sees the pics at night and then goes to sleep. His wife suspected him of seeing obscene pics or some illegal extra marital stuff

She confronted him, saw the pictures and was left very confused and disappointed. She cannot fathom how men can get excited seeing "rusty engines, bolts and pipes".

@Athek - brother I missed out the fact that your Mrs was down with Covid. I hope she has recovered and you can ask her to make space to put your baby in the living room.

[SnS_12]

Hope is well now and your wife has recovered fully and thankfully she just needed home quarantine. Me, and my entire family were infected in April and except my Dad who was hospitalized for 5 days, we all thankfully could recover at home.

On the battery issue looks like the lockdown is really taking its toll and even mine had gone kaput last year. We had jump started it but the bike was not holding RPM which was a sign of a weak battery. When I had the Crank1 battery fitted I let it idle till the radiator fan came on and then switched it off and started the bike with the headlight on high beam turn indicators on to see if it was cranking up properly under load and had no issues.

So, maybe you can try building up the revs and see if it holds on or keep fluctuating to see if the battery has really gone weak and needs a replacement as it not holding charge.

The other alternate to preserve the new battery when installed would be to have a trickle charger installed if you have a power point in your parking area.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I will definitely have a check, specially now that we have time before the next service. Though in my initial research, Sprint seems to be favored really well abroad. It is expensive at around 12K though.

Honestly, I heard about Sprint filters only when I started watching all the excellent content that was put up on Youtube by Brocks. These filters really arent all that popular in India.

Originally Posted by AtheK

It was indeed running stock and yes a full flush was done before replacement. Engine ice recommends to change coolant every year, so that is an added expense in every service here on.

I didnt know this! I thought Engine Ice had to be changed every 3 years.

Originally Posted by AtheK

I gave it a long thought, just that the circular profile of the mirrors don't sit well with the overall sharp design of the bike, they kind of stand out. They can be a fall back plan if I am not able to source something in next few months.

Thats true. It will look odd compared to the sharp styling of the Panigale. The only other option that I can think of is that of the Triumph Street / Speed Triples. Those looks small but apparently, they dont vibrate and give good visibility.

Functionality wise, Im sure the Royal Enfield ones would be bigger and hence, better. And more affordable.

Originally Posted by AtheK

PS: Estimate had all the personal details, so I have taken it out. Below is a screenshot.

Thanks, this is very useful.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Yes, it was because with certain ducati models we need to bleed it with tires removed and caliper removed from the bike, or you will have air trapped leading to the free play.

I didnt know this, again learnt something new today. I was wondering what it was that caused the team to not do it properly.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Hope is well now and your wife has recovered fully and thankfully she just needed home quarantine. Me, and my entire family were infected in April and except my Dad who was hospitalized for 5 days, we all thankfully could recover at home.

She is doing well, thank you. Glad to hear everyone recovered well, and hopefully dad is also in best of health.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

So, maybe you can try building up the revs and see if it holds on or keep fluctuating to see if the battery has really gone weak and needs a replacement as it not holding charge.

The other alternate to preserve the new battery when installed would be to have a trickle charger installed if you have a power point in your parking area.

They have run the test and confirmed battery is good and holding the charge well, it did come back to life after a month of staying still. I think it got drained out due to my short runs and not getting enough time to get the juice it used up to turn on. No power point, but I can find places where I can charge it in between, will look at a mixed approach.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Honestly, I heard about Sprint filters only when I started watching all the excellent content that was put up on Youtube by Brocks. These filters really arent all that popular in India.

Honestly even I heard about them last week and then went on to do my bit of research on them. The stock air filter on Ducati is pretty good too, and you really don't need an aftermarket until you are planning to go to track regularly and take out maximum performance out of the bike.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I didnt know this! I thought Engine Ice had to be changed every 3 years.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1968421860128259

No sir, every year, above is from the official channel. Even the website says to change it with every oil change.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Thats true. It will look odd compared to the sharp styling of the Panigale. The only other option that I can think of is that of the Triumph Street / Speed Triples. Those looks small but apparently, they dont vibrate and give good visibility.

Functionality wise, Im sure the Royal Enfield ones would be bigger and hence, better. And more affordable.
.

The funny part is the cheap mirror does not vibrate, definitely less then the stock mirror, and gets the work done in day time. It's in night that it is a Joke. I am sure I will land something soon, triumph are too expensive at round 19K, saw few options in Europe, a friend might be travelling back soon, fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I didnt know this, again learnt something new today. I was wondering what it was that caused the team to not do it properly.

Ya was new for me and the team too, every time there is something new to learn indeed.

[abhi_tjet]

Wonderful updates to the Panigale Athek. Italians demand attention and reward you accordingly.

Regarding your battery issue, I can’t help but was imagining the scene of couple of guys pushing a panigale to start 😂

Anyways, what matters at the end is that all issues were identified, fixed and bike is running as it’s supposed to. You riding 100kms unplanned just affirms that.
Cheers for many more happy kms !

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Wonderful updates to the Panigale Athek. Italians demand attention and reward you accordingly.

Regarding your battery issue, I can’t help but was imagining the scene of couple of guys pushing a panigale to start ��
!

Extremely funny

Well I had a bike booked before the panigale in Feb and it was finally delivered yesterday. Presenting little Brother of Mark 13, the Mini Mark 13. Needed a bike which can help me ride long and also run city errands wherein I need to ride around 70-80 kms in a day. This will be also used for morning rides with missus as company. I wanted the downtown drag color, but was told by dealership that new booking will need to be made, and that meant another 4 months of waiting. Decided I will buy off the tank later, everything else is anyway the same.

Got the following accessories

1. Touring Seat
2. Bar end mirrors
3. Touring Mirrors (Not installed, but there has been price hike for all accessories, bumping price of these mirror to 6250 from 4850 earlier. Dealer had few pairs at old rates, so kept a pair for later when I go touring long, will swap them with bar ends, and get a handguard installed)
4. Leg Guard
5. Sump Guard
6. Black Magic Fly Screen.

Need to keep it below 80, for first 500 kms. Rode it in city for around 40 kms yesterday, encountering rain and mud, RE in it's elements on day one. What a beautiful refined engine. In a Typical RE ownership experience, i had some noise coming from rear, turned out to be some issue with brake pads, and they were changed immediately. God knows who does PDI, the fun journey of owning a RE begins, looking forward to it.

The speedo



Just before Delivery





Trying to pose



Got a flip key conversion done.



We have enough threads on Interceptor, and gems on that. So I will just continue both the ownership experience on this thread itself.

[abhi_tjet]

Congratulations on the Interceptor Athek! Wishing thousands of trouble free kms on this rugged performer.

What a lovely second bike this is turning to be! We have so many people in our forum itself with Interceptor as second ride for city and some quick highway runs. Easy to ride, cheap to maintain and can give a run for the money to the 250/350/400 cc bikes costing same(more or less).

[nitinkbhaskar]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Extremely funny.

Wow. Congrats mate.
That's a wonderful addition to garage. 2 up riding will be fun on this.

And that's a cool key. Where did you get the conversion done?

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Congratulations on the Interceptor Athek! Wishing thousands of trouble free kms on this rugged performer.

What a lovely second bike this is turning to be! We have so many people in our forum itself with Interceptor as second ride for city and some quick highway runs. Easy to ride, cheap to maintain and can give a run for the money to the 250/350/400 cc bikes costing same(more or less).

Thanks a lot. Ya even in my group quite a few got the Interceptor or GT as secondary bike, personally I have been a RE basher all my life, right now I am taking quite a brickbat from the friends who have been bashed up by me off late. Then again I think RE has outdone themselves, and any good work should be appearicated and vice versa.

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Wow. Congrats mate.
That's a wonderful addition to garage. 2 up riding will be fun on this.

And that's a cool key. Where did you get the conversion done?

Thanks mate, 2 up was one of the major use case. Conversion was done next to my home, helps when you don't have a transponder in the key.

[no_fear]

Gasp!!!

You really like pain and misery don't you? Was the 959 not troubling you enough? Do you want to be best friends with tow truck and service folks all the time?

Jokes aside, congrats on the new ride. Ditch the missus, and ride alone. I read a lot about RE ownership on Neil's thread, so now I get to read yours too.

Who took the cool pic btw?

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by no_fear

Gasp!!!

You really like pain and misery don't you? Was the 959 not troubling you enough? Do you want to be best friends with tow truck and service folks all the time?

Jokes aside, congrats on the new ride. Ditch the missus, and ride alone. I read a lot about RE ownership on Neil's thread, so now I get to read yours too.

Who took the cool pic btw?

Ha ha, I expected this from you, been getting this quite a bit this weekend . Guess this next couple of years of my motorcycling life is going to be quite a rough one. The positive news though missus did come along for a 100 km ride yesterday and with the beautiful weather she really liked it. This was almost after 3+ years that she hopped on for a ride.

The pic courtesy is also thanks to her while our way back home.

[SnS_12]

Congratulations on the new addition. This is prefect bike when you want to keep things Calm and Cool either riding solo or with a pillion.

I have ridden it only once and it has a real gem of an engine. Apart from the weight of the bike one would be really hard pressed to believe that this engine was developed and built by RE.

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Needed a bike which can help me ride long and also run city errands wherein I need to ride around 70-80 kms in a day. This will be also used for morning rides with missus as company.

In a Typical RE ownership experience, i had some noise coming from rear, turned out to be some issue with brake pads, and they were changed immediately. God knows who does PDI, the fun journey of owning a RE begins, looking forward to it.

We have enough threads on Interceptor, and gems on that. So I will just continue both the ownership experience on this thread itself.

Congratulations AtheK! This will be the first Interceptor in Superbikes section

An Interceptor for a two-up riding is also a first! Welcome to the RE world. As you're used to admiring an Italian beauty, spotting issues on this machine would be easy. Happy riding and detailing these machines!

Cheers,
surjaonwheelz

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Apart from the weight of the bike one would be really hard pressed to believe that this engine was developed and built by RE.

Thanks Sachin, yes the weight does make it's presence felt, but once you get rolling the engine is very nice. Linear power delivery, Decent brakes, rear is a bit spongy, but front are perfect. I am in run in period so have been asked to keep it below 80, but a couple of times I did take it over 80, it was pretty well behaved.

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Congratulations AtheK! This will be the first Interceptor in Superbikes section

An Interceptor for a two-up riding is also a first! Welcome to the RE world. As you're used to admiring an Italian beauty, spotting issues on this machine would be easy. Happy riding and detailing these machines!

Cheers,
surjaonwheelz

Thanks Suraj, my updates on Interceptor would be less and more still inclined to Panigale, but ya no point having a duplicate thread when we already have gems of ownership experience. Two up riding will be mainly limited to breakfast rides, no way she is sitting with me for a 500Km long ride on a bike.

Took it out again today for a spin, and it gets so dirty specially with the current weather, the first mod I guess is to powder coat all the chrome bits to Black, including the exhaust. This thing still makes people head turn even after being in market for so long, and this is not even the new color. RE did get the looks right.

Major Irritant though is the age old speedo, it does not even have a clock, the tacho side is empty they should have atleast kept the clock and gear indicator that side. My 13 year old apache has a clock :P