[BoltThrower]

October 2021. Fez, K, and I are in the Innova driving from Aurangabad to Indore. K is there because he is a self-proclaimed authority on all things triumph. Fez is there because we asked him and he was bored. The plan is to check out this Tiger that's done 75,000 kms already (I know, I know). K is driving, Fez and I have split a beverage and a big ol' bag of chips.

This is the 4th tiger I'm going to see and the first 1200. Naturally, I'm not too keen. It's big, bulky, unwieldy, has done 75 motherflippin' thousand kilometers. We hit Indore by 11 am and were shoulders deep, so to speak, in the tiger by 11.30. The previous owner had bought it new in 2018 and had ridden, literally, the length and breadth of the country. Nice guy, was super upfront about everything and didn't mind us poking around the tiger for upwards of 6 hours. With our inspection done and with some niggling doubts still in my mind, I shook his hand and closed the deal.

Mechanically and electronically the bike was flawless as far as we could tell. My issues with it at the time were a) it lacked that super soft feel of the 800 and b) it lacked the triple whistle of the 800. Oh well. Here I was getting a 1200 for less than the price of an 800 of the same year (75k Kms, remember?) with all the bells and (most) whistles so I kicked some stones about, shrugged a bunch, and bit the bullet.

K and I putting on our most serious faces to try and get the tiger to spill its secrets


Having found no more than a perfectly reasonable number of skeletons in the tiger's closet, it was time to take it back home




The ride back home was rather revelatory in terms of both Yays and Nays.

First the Nays:

1. The tiger runs HOT. And I don't just mean cook your legs hot. The 3 cylinders pointing right up at you from underneath the tank like to guff and bellow something fierce. And this hot air likes to form a vortex behind the massive windscreen (even at its lowest setting) which means the rider is always enveloped in a toasty hug straight from the engine. A very welcome hug mind you, as long as you're north of the 30th Parallel this side of the equator. I rode to Uttarakhand last June and only after Dehradun was I comfortable riding during daytime.

2. Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Which incidentally, we have been talking about all this while for the Tiger 1200 is no tiger at all. It is an elephant. A male elephant. A male elephant in heat who wants to mate with the ground. All you're doing as the rider is spraying its face with water in a futile attempt to stop it from doing unspeakable things to mother earth. Since all 3 cylinders point upwards in that classic inline 3 configuration, the tiger 1200 carries most of its significant heft up top. Combine that with a high ground clearance and 20 liters of fuel and you have a top heavy pachyderm fresh out of the pub and looking for a fight.

Now the Yays:

1. All previously mentioned complaints turn into a light dusting of polite background murmuring once the Tusker starts rolling. 148 bhp (when new) and 122 Nm of torque make light work of just any circumstance it finds itself in.

2. Cruise control and quickshifter are an absolute delight. I do Aurangabad to Bangalore quite often and it takes me 11 hours with cruise set to between 90 and 110. The 12 step electronically adjustable suspension goes from ultra soft to cornering stiff on the fly and it adjusts preload automatically upon firing up, depending on weight.

3. Tyre pressure monitoring system as standard is a big load off my mind because having a puncture sneak up on you while riding this behemoth is akin to being caught with your pants down at your uncle's funeral. It's just not fun for anybody.

4. Shaft drives are famously clunky and most riders prefer chains over anything else but not having to carry a chain clean & lube kit frees up space for other essentials.

So Tusker as it's now known came home in October 2021 and I took it for a thorough service and TLC at Pune Triumph. This service cost me around 24000/- out of which 11500/- was the cost of a new ignition switch (previous owner had already told me about some issues he was having with it) and the rest was oil change, oil filter replacement, brake reservoir bleeding and topping up, shaft drive oil change, and labour charges for a full inspection of the bike. The bike has a BMC air filter which the triumph guys don't touch so I did the air filter cleaning at home with the BMC cleaning kit the previous owner was nice enough to include.

Once back home, I decided to have it wrapped in blue to protect the original paint from fading any further. Triumph sold a blue spec Tiger 1200 in european markets so I knew that won't look too out of place while still being a bit flash. Gotta have cheap thrills. I also put up a top box that I bought off a guy on instagram. 2 years on, it's only now starting to show signs of some dampness after being in the rain.

Why the Tiger and not the GS?

In 2015 I had attended a triumph camp held at K's resort near Ellora. They'd brought the Tiger 800 and I absolutely fell in love with the feel and refinement of it. The rugged aesthetics were the icing on the cake. In 2017 my then girlfriend and I rented an F800GS and rode it from Sydney to the Blue Mountains for a couple of days. Although the ride was spectacular, I came away feeling profoundly neutral about the bike itself. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just too - German. I felt no soul, no connection. I know comparing an F800 to a 1200GS is like comparing apples to oranges but by then I was entirely smitten by the Tiger. I also don't quite like the aesthetics of the GS so it was an easy decision.

As of June 2023 we've done 20,000 kms together. 20,000 kms of beaches, mountains, forests, forts, and all the assorted dhabas, pubs, shacks, bistros, and tea stalls along the way. My observations so far are thus:

1. Fuel consumption: Ranges from 14 - 24 kmpl. Strangely enough, I get better mileage on the winding tarmac of Uttarakhand than on the highways to get there. The torquey motor needs only light feathering of the throttle to putter up the curves at 60 kmph. This of course is true only of good, even tarmac. On the highways with a constant speed of around 100-110 I average 18-20 kmpl.

2. Reliabilty: So far, touch wood, I've not had any issues with reliability. Tusker is spritely and ship shape thanks to regular servicing. Be it Himalayan cold starts or dewy forest starts after a week of sitting idle guarding the extra camping equipment.

3. Rideability: This is the big one. 270 kgs wet + luggage + equipment + rider + pillion and you're looking at the business end of close to half a tonne, on two wheels. I'm 6'3, 90 kgs and so far I haven't had a spill off-road and really hope to keep it that way. Mostly by avoiding stuff best left to bikes better suited to tackling rougher terrain. Gotta know your limits. In the city the tiger runs tight and true. Can easily filter in a pinch and have fun with counter leaning to get out of traffic. The highways are a blast because as soon as one comes across a 'Peloton' of buses, cars, and trucks one can just glide off to the side of the road and ride standing up ahead of the snarl with dust clouds swirling in your rearview mirrors. Trails are tackled fairly well although the top heavy configuration means you're never fully confident. Rough terrain like loose dirt and gravel will make you pucker up where the sun don't shine.

Off-road and off-road pro modes reduce ride height significantly which seems counter-productive but I'm no ADV rider so what do I know. Rain mode is good for peace of mind if nothing else. Sports mode stiffens up suspension and increases throttle response by a few notches. All in all, I find myself riding in road mode 90% of the time and that's that I guess. If anything, I wish the tiger had a reverse gear since I'm forced to think about where and how I'm parking when touring with a full loadout.

4. Servicing and Maintenance: I get all my services done at B U Bhandari Triumph in Pune. At 85,000kms I had valve clearances checked and they were all within the tolerances set by triumph. Usual cost of a service runs in the ballpark of 7-10k. Brake pads need changing quite often because of all that weight. In the last 20,000 kms I've changed the rear pad 3 times and the front 2 times.

5. Accessories: Tusker came to me fully loaded. Small details like heated grips make life a lot easier when riding in rain or up in the mountains (where else can you experience the quirky charm of toasty palms and frosty knuckles?). The electronically adjustable windscreen is a neat party trick. I removed the old worn out cyclops aux lights it came with and got mad dog scouts (set low and pointing downwards) and mad dog alphas (set high and pointing away from oncoming traffic) put in. So far I'm pretty happy with the lights but I'm seriously considering getting two extra lights put in which point directly at oncoming traffic to be used only when b*****a** drivers don't dip their beams.
I'm using a no frills Bobo phone holder and it's honestly been no trouble at all. Rough roads, bumps, a head on collision - it's seen it all and brushed it aside with a nonchalance usually reserved for french lovers.

Likes and Dislikes

Likes:

1. Tusker munches miles like nothing else I've experienced. On the roll, power band is fairly linear with little to no drop past the 2k rpm mark.

2. Electronic Aids make for a very comfortable, personal experience while giving you that protective feeling of a safety net.

3. Build quality so far has been excellent. 5 years and 95000 kms later, it's still going strong while showing no signs of distress.

4. The stance of the tiger gives you an unmatched vantage point when it comes to spatial awareness.

5. Seat height is adjustable mechanically with optional forward and rear tilt. I find tilting does no more than give me wedgies so I stick to a neutral position.

6. I'm really happy with the suspension. Usually on the road I prefer to ride with it set to maximum comfort and it absorbs all bumps without compromising on
feedback. When the road gets wavy and and jumpy, you just switch up a couple of notches on the fly to add some stiffness and you're cruising again.

7. I don't think I can go back to touring without cruise control. It really takes the fatigue out of 12 hour rides. Having your right hand free from doing the wringing motion and holding it that way makes a bigger difference than I had previously thought.

Dislikes:

1. The shaft drive being clunky by nature makes the tiger unwieldy in tight spots and at low speeds. The low end torque doesn't kick in till about 2k rpm so setting off takes some getting used to, especially with a full touring loadout. Same applies to off road as well. Simple slow, up hill climbs on rocky terrain are downright treacherous on the tiger.

2. Gear shifts are not Honda quality, obviously. Triumph aren't exactly known for their butter smooth shifts but the tiger's gearbox can sometimes feel like a tank's and that's saying something.

3. By far the biggest drawback of the 1200 is its lack of heat management. It is quite unpleasant to ride in cities like Pune, Mumbai, and Bangalore during regular traffic hours. So much so that even on the highway the Tiger is an unpleasant place to be if ambient temperatures are anywhere above 28 degrees.

4. The stock lights don't do much by themselves and it is almost unsafe to ride without at least one pair of auxiliary lights.

5. The traction control is quite counter-intuitive. Say you're holding the throttle open at 30% and hit a small bump or a tiny bit of dirt they use to cover up a pipe dug under the road. As soon as you cross it, TC will kick in and you'll lose all momentum for like 2 seconds which jerks you forward and then the power kicks in which jerks you backward when you least expect it. Same thing with rumble strips. You just can't glide over them.

6. Triumph are idiots. They have given 2 charging ports on the tiger but it's not the regular car lighter size port. I expect such humbuggery from BMW but et tu, triumph?



Getting the wrap done



Ta Da! The '1200' sticker is a poor placeholder for a better crafted replica of the original. I ain't paying 12800/- for a pair of stickers, triumph.


After I had it wrapped, I rode to Bangalore




Nephew and sister for scale



After this ride I realised that soft luggage as practical as it is, isn't for me. So I rode back to Pune, ditched the rynox bags, and picked up triumph panniers from BU Bhandari triumph Pune. They were on sale and I got a pretty sweet deal on them. 33k for both panniers + stays.





Falling rocks? Pfft. No it doesn't.



More to follow: tragedy, more tragedy, exultation, triumph, a surprise Daytona? and finally - the Fireblade.

[BoltThrower]

Some pictures:








Bike baba says: may your tanks be full and your visors clean




























Not all who wander are lost but I sure am







As promised in the earlier post, here's Tusker's tale of woe:
Tragedy befell the tusker in December of 2021. On returning from Hampi, a dog jumped out of the bushes in the highway median right in front of me. With no time to dodge, or respond in any way really, the front wheel of the tusker ended up T-boning the poor pup who promptly died. We didn't fall thankfully but the tusker's wheels were bent slightly so that there were vibrations in the handlebars between 70 and 95 kmph. So the tusker and I limped home and I had the wheels taken off for truing.



After much hemming and hawing the wheels were finally sorted and in June 2022 I left for Uttarakhand.

[BoltThrower]

The second tragedy happened at the end of my Uttarakhand trip in June. After riding 4150 kms, I was 80 kms short of home on a ghat section taking a left turn when a wrong-side-scooty-aunty ran directly into me. We hit head on. She had a broken wrist and her scooty was totalled. Thankfully I had my gopro running at the time. She was in the middle of the wrong side, on a blind turn , in a ghat. Tusker had taken a fall and again we limped back home. It was my first fall in 11 years (the last was on my pulsar 220 in college).

The damage was pretty superficial. Mostly the beak and plastics on the left side. The crash guard and triumph panniers took the brunt of it and they're still the same ones I'm using today. Hats off to triumph's build quality on those panniers. BUT. Hats right back on for triumph's sourcing of parts. It took 10 months for triumph to give Tusker back. In the fray, I was able to get insurance to cover the cost of new front and rear wheels, a stanchion, and a switch on the left side that had snapped clean off. They even changed the tank because they found a dent in it and it was under insurance. In total I only paid 3500/- out of the 4,42,000/- it cost.

Here are some pictures from the Uttarakhand trip:












Excellent parathas! This dhaba comes just before Sama in Uttarakhand, on the way to Munsyari. It is run by a retired Subedar Saab from my Old Man's unit. Notice the sticker on my pannier.







So, while waiting endlessly for the tiger I started to get itchy. I got it in my head that 2 incidents back to back after more than a decade of riding without so much as a scratch, meant that Tusker was somehow the problem. After the 6th month of no riding I decided I was going to sell Tusker as soon as I got it back. I started to have those familiar dreams again. Ones involving fire, and blades. Blades on fire. So off I went looking for a fireblade. I had some money in my 10 year old retirement SIP. I said to myself - "If you get the blade and ride it stupid fast, you won't need that money because you'll be dead". Flawless logic. Pat pat, I gave myself pats on the back and one more for good measure. Pat.

All that pat-patting was short-lived owning to the absolute nightmare cesspool of options that is the used superbike market in India. Every bike I saw was iffy at best. I'm talking straight up abuse. What I wanted was a blade from 2010 - 2012 since the newer ones didn't come close to fitting in my budget and the bikes before 2010 didn't have ABS.

After 2 months of searching I finally found a 2010 blade with a single owner, a known rider, with no history of abusing his machines. The bike was in Lonavala. We decided to meet at dawn and I was there an hour earlier since I couldn't sleep all night out of excitement. After what felt like an eternity I finally laid eyes on The Blade.



Now, I had test ridden maybe 15 or so blades at this point and 4 or 5 daytonas. When I rode this one I knew in an INSTANT that we belonged together. All the love songs suddenly made sense to me. The air was sweeter, the butterflies in my stomach through some miracle of evolution were now a full fledged herd of adult bison.

I came back from the test ride with a mile wide grin and we hashed out the money part in a tea shop in Lonavala. I paid him the token amount and went off to bombay. 2 days later I received a text from him apologising and saying he's changed his mind about selling. Devastation. Complete and utter devastation. He had sent the token amount back and that sadly, was that.

Back to square one, I saw a few more blades and they were all horribly mangled. Like, their souls were black with years of neglect and abuse. Ridden with malice, by owners who bought them knowing they weren't going to keep them long enough to love them. Rebuilt monstrosities with chequered pasts. Disgruntled, I moved towards Daytonas since I had pretty much seen all blades within Maharashtra that fit my budget. In the dodgy world of Daytonas I found a little hidden nugget. A red little 675. And at long last, after having been bike-less for upwards of 8 months and after being on the search for more than 3 months, I finally decided to go for the little red daytona.









My first ever suited-up ride on the Daytona was a bit disappointing. I'm 6'3 and the Daytona is so compact that I couldn't even tuck under the windscreen. Cornering felt like doing neuro surgery with a JCB. No worries I thought. The old Daytona with the under-seat exhaust used to be my dream bike at one point. So I started to get to know it better with each ride. Beauty and the beast became a running joke with friends. Except, I was the beast on that gorgeous little beauty. I felt like a circus bear riding a unicycle.

One month went by and I was sitting with friends in Pune when I get a text from *drumroll please* the orange blade guy! He had changed his mind yet again and was going to sell it after all. After a very brief discussion with friends and some quick maths in my head, I decided to sell the daytona and a month later, I brought home The Blade.















So the blade came home and about 2 months after that Tusker came back as well. It was quite emotional because at one point I was sure I wanted to let it go for no reason other than a vehem. But as the date for its delivery drew ever closer, the though of selling it felt like putting a faithful old dog down. I couldn't bear to do it. My girlfriend at the time (she rides a tiger 800) was coming down to India and we made plans to ride that December to IBW and then to some very special places in Karnataka. I'll put up pictures in the next post. By now I had decided to keep both bikes (who needs a retirement plan anyway?) and all I can say is - the 15 year old version of me would wet his pants if he heard about this. I know because I'm wetting mine right now.

[BoltThrower]

Tusker came back just in time for IBW 2022 and it looked *SHINY* with a brand new tank and all that jazz. I got a full service in prep for our ride down south. Full service + changing of all 3 brake pads cost me 19000/-

Nora and I made our way down to Goa and attended IBW which was a harrowing experience. 100 bikes all revving to redline for 5 hours non stop? No thank you. Not our idea of motorcycling. The second day we had a Secret Trails event by GOA MC booked so we went for that. That was the best part of IBW for us. The trails were truly secret and the fellow riders were all nice peeps that we got along with really well. Kudos to Goa MC for organising an absolute delight of an event. That evening we skipped IBW completely. Instead, we rented a royal enfield for Nora and the next morning we left for Karnataka to go to Kalinga Center for Research and Ecology in Agumbe where we spent a few days hiking and photographing malabar pit vipers and tarantulas. We then made our way back up to Pune via the coast and finally brought in the new year with a nice home cooked meal that took 8 hours to cook. Tusker took us to all the way from Pune to Goa to Karnataka and back. How could I ever consider selling it?





























Attachment 2458810











After this ride I had Tusker wrapped back in blue and also bought an Axor helmet as an art project which I painted blue to match the tusker. Gotta have cheap thrills.

[BoltThrower]

Now let's talk about the blade, shall we? When I bought it the reading on the Odo was 33000 kms and it came with a fairly comprehensive service history at Honda Big Wing in bombay. I took delivery of it at dawn in Lonavala and rode straight to big wing bombay. It poured the whole way there. That first day was spent hanging at big wing with the previous owner (top man, absolute gem of a guy) while the bike was serviced. The bill only came to about 5000/- since the bike had been serviced not that long ago before being kept at Lonavala where it was ridden rather sparingly. Since then I've done around 2000 kms. The blade is used primarily for sunday morning fast rides and for quick office commutes (I live in a small town, commute takes 3 mins). in Feb I had it serviced once more. Changed the oil, oil filter, all 3 brake pads, chain and both sprockets. The whole thing cost me 30,000/- including labour and 3000/- transport charges for the honda technician to come to Aurangabad. My friend Gaurav runs a garage here so it was no sweat at all for the technician to do his thing. And it ends up being cheaper for me as well. Fuel/tempo costs to bombay are more than 3k.

Why the blade?

My first big bike was a CBR 650F and I grew up with posters of the 600RR with the underseat exhaust. Ever since I can remember the CBR has held a very special place in my heart. The decision to go for one wasn't purely emotional I reckon. In terms of fully faired liter class bikes our options are
a) S1000RR
b) Zx10R
c) Ducati Panigale & Supersport
d) Fireblade
e) Gixxer
f) R1

Out of these the Ducatis were right out due to my being too poor to afford them. They're new so their prices haven't quite dropped to single digits in lakhs. Moreover, I've ridden with friends who have Ducatis and they would tell tales of abject horror at the service center. That was enough to drive me away from them.

For the Zx10R, I don't appreciate this new design trend of making everything angular. Auto designers, it's okay. You can make headlights round. No one's gonna shoot your family if you do. Your bike doesn't need to look like Optimus Prime's groin.

I saw some R1s but the only clean ones I found in my budget didn't have ABS. Absolutely LOVE the 2010 R1 and I'm sad about not finding one but I'm happy that I didn't have to decide between a blade and an R1. Real Sophie's choice, that one.

Suzukis were few and far between. I did find some that looked promising but something in my gut told me to steer clear.

The asymmetrical eyed S1000RR is a dream that persists but the cost of maintaining one is astronomical. They were also wayyy out of my budget to begin with.

So that left me with a very straight forward option: the Blade. An absolute icon of the liter class. Tried, tested, and true. Ubiquitous the world over and held in high regard as THE liter class bike before BMW showed up.

Likes and Dislikes:

Likes:

1. Um, everything?

2. No but, seriously. The ride quality is phenomenal. It is almost practical in how easy to ride it is. Heating isn't an issue - I rode from Big wing in Andheri through all of the hot wet buttcrack that is bombay in the afternoon to get to Pune and while I could feel some heat around my legs, the seat and tank were fine. Take notes, triumph.

3. Handling and response are expectedly crisp and sharp. The blade is almost intuitive in the way it changes directions. Scalpel like precision on corners.

4. Acceleration is unlike anything I've experienced before. Prior to this I was used to riding 600s (650F, Street Triple, Daytona etc.) and was clued into that level of performance. With that benchmark in mind when I first opened up the Blade, the acceleration was maddeningly visceral. It is brutal in its intensity and sheer quantum. Dollop after dollop of forward motion, a seemingly ceaseless supply of propulsion. I've always said that if it doesn't scare you, you're riding the wrong bike. So far, the blade is leagues ahead of me. That fact puts a smile on my face and a flutter in my tum.

At full chat, the 1st gear sees you well into triple digits. Then when you switch to 2nd there is an immediate, manic rush as the front gets lighter and lighter. By 3rd you're thinking 'well surely, it ought to even out now' but nope. The acceleration hits you like a kick in the backside and a punch in the gut at the same time. 'Shoot' you think to yourself in disbelief, 'there's 3 gears left!' 4th knocks you out of the park without mercy or remorse. By 5th you're crying-screaming inside your helmet. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Hope you remembered to pack fresh underwear. By 6th you are no longer a participating entity on this mortal plane, merely passing through.

What really amazes me is if you're cruising along at legal speeds in 6th and decide to twist the throttle, the immediacy with which one reaches stoopid speeds is for the lack of any other word, astounding. Nothing prepares you for that. It is so far and above anything I've ever experienced before that it feels alien. and impossible. Yet here you are - rocketing down the road like a bolt thrown by Zeus himself.

Before Samriddhi expressway officially opened, bikes could access the freshly laid tarmac and we took to using a small patch of closed road for our sunday morning speed runs. I really hope Maharashtra government starts allowing motorcycles on expressways. We pay taxes too!

5. The blade is a frugal machine when ridden at legal speeds. On my Commute from Bombay to Pune I averaged a respectable 24-26 kmpl. That's due mostly to the fact that I was riding in the pouring rain. On dry roads I reckon a highway mileage of around 20-22 kmpl if ridden responsibly.

Dislikes:

There really isn't much to complain about but if I really press my 3 braincells together, maybe something will come out?

1. Alas, it's a bit small. I get the whole compactness = lesser weight equation but you used to be able to sit *inside* the bikes of the 90s, not on top of them. Does that make sense?

2. Stock headlights can't be used in any meaningful way on Indian highways. Lit city roads are fine but if you find yourself out for dinner at a dhaba just out of town, you're not going to be able to see much.


I switched to a first copy Yoshi slip-on that I bought from a friend but going ahead, I'd like to switch to a genuine SC Project. Other than that I'm on the lookout for a quickshifter (HealTech mostly), some rear-sets if I can get my hands on a good pair, and a seat cowl. I also plan to re-paint the chassis and maybe get a wrap.


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


So that's the story of how I ended up dual wielding. None of it was planned and I still pinch myself from time to time. Attaching some more pictures for good measure. Will post updates as they happen. Cheers and happy riding, folks \m/

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[wolfy]

i LOVE, LOVE the way you write!!
here is an extra Pat from me to you for the flawless logic of not needing retirement money!!

Ride on!!

[aneesh2M]

Lovely write up and great tale of 2 best bikes of their respective territory. Good that you kept the 1200 also.

Have a great time with the beauties.

[TejasV]

Humour - YES
Sarcasm - YES
Insightful - YES
Honest - YES
Great Pics - YES

Thank you for sharing your beautiful ownership experience in great detail, it was a joy to read and also helpful for people planning to invest in big bikes know how reliable there are even after munching so many miles! Enjoy your rides and keep sharing your awesome adventures!

[Nikhildrao]

I have to say , this is some of the best stuff I've read this year !! Kudos on the dual wielding. Hope someday I too could write something like this.

[Civic_doc]

Very comphrehensive and well written. Congratulations for the bikes and wish you a fuss free ownership ahead ...

[surfatwork]

Beautiful writing and beautiful bikes. Enjoyed it.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Epic is the word to use for this thread.
Something about having an ADV and a supersport in your garage simultaneously has its charm.

And I love this generation of blades, I have been super lucky to be able to ride one extensively, having one of your closest buddy own one helps

As far as what you said about having to choose b/w the R1 and the Blade, I keep saying that the blade is like using a scalpel, super powerful and efficient at doing anything you ask of it and the R1 is like using an axe for the same thing. But ironically enough I fully agree with you, it's a very tough choice to make.

Hope to see more on both bikes on this thread.

Cheers
Krishna

[SnS_12]

From a short not meant to be love story with the Daytona to getting the Blade home and finally holding on to the Tiger, its really been an interesting chain of events when it comes to motorcycles and you have penned down all if it beautifully and in a very unique way of writing

Since, both your rides have high and very mileages and also have aged quite a bit (13 years on the Blade) it will be interesting to know the maintenance cost for replacing wear and tear items for people considering to buy such high mileage bikes or planning to keep theirs for a longer duration.

Do keep the thread updated and wishing you many more happy miles and adventures with your rides.

[BoltThrower]

Originally Posted by wolfy

i LOVE, LOVE the way you write!!
here is an extra Pat from me to you for the flawless logic of not needing retirement money!!

Ride on!!

Thanks a bunch wolfy. At this rate, I'm gonna need all the pats I can get.

Originally Posted by aneesh2M

Lovely write up and great tale of 2 best bikes of their respective territory. Good that you kept the 1200 also.

Have a great time with the beauties.

Thanks Aneesh. I appreciate the kind words.

Originally Posted by TejasV

Humour - YES
Sarcasm - YES
Insightful - YES
Honest - YES
Great Pics - YES

Thank you for sharing your beautiful ownership experience in great detail, it was a joy to read and also helpful for people planning to invest in big bikes know how reliable there are even after munching so many miles! Enjoy your rides and keep sharing your awesome adventures!

Much thanks TejasV. These old gals still have a lot of love to give. I'll update the thread with maintenance and service as and when they happen in the hopes that some other older beauties can find loving homes for themselves.

Originally Posted by Nikhildrao

I have to say , this is some of the best stuff I've read this year !! Kudos on the dual wielding. Hope someday I too could write something like this.

Thanks Nikhil. Waiting with bated breath to read your write-up. Sooner than later, Zeus willing.

Originally Posted by Civic_doc

Very comphrehensive and well written. Congratulations for the bikes and wish you a fuss free ownership ahead ...

Thanks a lot Civic Doc, comments like yours encourage one to write more.

Originally Posted by surfatwork

Beautiful writing and beautiful bikes. Enjoyed it.

Right on, surfatwork.

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Epic is the word to use for this thread.
Something about having an ADV and a supersport in your garage simultaneously has its charm.

And I love this generation of blades, I have been super lucky to be able to ride one extensively, having one of your closest buddy own one helps

As far as what you said about having to choose b/w the R1 and the Blade, I keep saying that the blade is like using a scalpel, super powerful and efficient at doing anything you ask of it and the R1 is like using an axe for the same thing. But ironically enough I fully agree with you, it's a very tough choice to make.

Hope to see more on both bikes on this thread.

Cheers
Krishna

Thanks a tonne, Krishna. Means a lot coming from you. I've been a constant lurker on your review of the WGP edition R1. What a beast! And I couldn't agree more, axe and scalpel are the perfect analogies for both bikes. Much cheers, brother.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

From a short not meant to be love story with the Daytona to getting the Blade home and finally holding on to the Tiger, its really been an interesting chain of events when it comes to motorcycles and you have penned down all if it beautifully and in a very unique way of writing

Since, both your rides have high and very mileages and also have aged quite a bit (13 years on the Blade) it will be interesting to know the maintenance cost for replacing wear and tear items for people considering to buy such high mileage bikes or planning to keep theirs for a longer duration.

Do keep the thread updated and wishing you many more happy miles and adventures with your rides.

Thanks for your words of encouragement, SnS. It is quite the point of interest to see how these erstwhile belles hold up at the ball. They're not quite done dancing just yet. I'll be updating the thread as and when parts are replaced and services happen. Cheers.