Suzuki V-strom 650: 50000 Km update & tyre change

Could clock only 5,000 km during the last year all thanks to the pandemic and also most of the outstation rides were done on the KTM ADV 390.

BHPian rb2399 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Life @ 50K

Posting an update ~ one year after the last one.

Could clock only 5,000 KMs during the last year all thanks to the pandemic and also most of the outstation rides were done on the ADV 390.

So, here's a summary:

The rear Metz tourance had almost squared off and hence I was actively looking for its replacement. Looked for options but could not get any as either ridiculous prices were quoted OR the usual suspects were unavailable. Talked to the torque block guys and they suggested Vredestein Centauro ST in the stock size. I had never heard of this name before and was kind of apprehensive about it as I don't like taking any chances when it comes to tyres. Rohan from torque block was quite helpful in answering all my queries and I went ahead and took a leap of faith. It's been ~ 3,000 KMs since and I am pretty happy with Vredestein's performance. Mind you, all of this running has been done on tarmac and that too in dry conditions. Wet performance of these tyres is something that remains to be tested.

I was hit with the c12 error code (crank position sensor malfunction) exactly a year ago and it came back again to haunt me around couple of months back. Thankfully, this happened within the city limits and I could get help from the Suzuki technician to clear out the error code and get her back to life again. Battery was the most likely cause per the technician although I had a feeling that it was some random alignment of stars causing it.
Anyway, I got the battery replaced and fitted the Shido LTX12-BS as I could not find any local make with the same CCA.

Just to test out the battery theory, I went for a long ride (Kokan) and the c12 menace struck me again !. It just renders the bike immobile when it happens. By now I had learnt the trick of putting the bike in dealer mode.

So, I waited for few minutes and with the bike in dealer mode tried cranking her. Somehow, she fired and I made it a point to ride back home without stopping anywhere enroute

I asked Kunal@slipstream performance to have a thorough look at the connectors and the stator on which the CKPS is mounted. He did not find anything objectionable as such.

I set out again to test ride the bike. This time around, I chose Pune-Agumbe-Kundapura-Pune circuit as I really wanted to validate things out and I had never been to Agumbe as well. In this process, she also completed the 50,000 mark. The error did not resurface during entire ride and I hope it stays that way. If it happens again, the only option that I am left with is to change the stator assembly itself as the sensor is kind of integrated with the stator.
Here are few snaps from that ride:

P.S. The ADV 390 too has neared the 50K mark albeit in just couple of years. Maybe that shows my preference

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