abhimanyu31

Note: My post is merely a written record of my experiences with my bike. As these are quite lengthy, I will be posting it in parts as when I get time along with the photographs. I am aware that many people may not agree with some of my views, to them I only say that I have no axe to grind with them, I have my views, and they have theirs. To each his own.

WARNING: This write up is long and many may consider it to be boring!!!!

Prelude:
I have been a member of this forum for quite sometime now, I have really enjoyed going through the same. It has become a part of daily routine. Couple of days back I finished working on my R15, transforming it into what is essentially a R16 or R165. The work is culmination of months of planning and is also the start of a project that I foresee/ hope will continue for years to come.

I come from a family of engineers and doctors. My dad holds a M.E. in Auto and worked for the free world’s largest (at that time) forging company – Wyman Gordon. Hence, the fascination with automobiles and IC engines started at a very early age. Some of the earliest memories that I have are of cars and bikes, and Dad tells me that I use to drive him up the wall with all sorts of questions about them. I have been riding bikes since I was 17 years old. Like many of my day and age, I grew up on a steady diet of 2 strokes. By the time I owned my first bike, an RX 100, at the age of 18, I was working and could proudly say that the bike was bought out of my hard earned salary. As mentioned above since I come from a family of engineers and good ones at that, I was always taught to appreciate good engineering design and precision craftsmanship, to think and learn from the thinking that brought about the design of those well-engineered products.

After riding my first bike for a few days the curiosity bug bit me. I started comparing it with my pervious bike experiences i.e. Yezdi and Rajdoot. It seemed light years ahead in all manners. So like a typical teenager without a care for the consequences, I went about opening up the engine to see what magic ingredients had been added to make this bike so much better than anything that I had experienced so far. I was disappointed with my limited knowledge to find nothing fancy in there. This perked my curiosity further and I started looking for answers, I searched for literature on the subject (no internet in those days), found Dad’s old engineering books, I spoke to engineers who were Dad’s friends from Premier Auto, Telco, H.M., XLO, etc, and I started stripping down engines from my friends bike to learn more. Eventually, the big question crept into my mind; “Can I improve the performance of this engine”? Thus, for 20 years I have owned a 2-stroke bike in one form or other and have worked on the same, spending time and money (huge amounts at that) on the same and deriving immense satisfaction and pleasure from the same. But alas, the days of the 2 strokes are over, though I still have a RXZ 5 speed, which is scooped up and has lots of goodies on it. While I could see that the days of the 2 strokes were numbered, I was not very keen on buying a 4 stroke as nothing inspired me and to put it simply my 2-stroke could smoke them all.

I finally gave in and bought my first 4 stroke; an RTR160, when it became apparent that I needed to get something to commute daily as more and more time was spent at work and could not devote enough time to maintaining the RXZ with regular use. The RTR turned out to be a nightmare, with leaky fork seals, malfunctioning LCD display and speed sensor, oil leakage from the head, which the TVS guys could not figure out or solve, and a buzzing engine that irritated the hell out of me. To top all of this was the terrible service of TVS. Although, it was a delight to rip the bike to the redline. Everyday I use to think that I needed to get rid of the bike and get the new R15 that had been launched recently Thankfully, I did not have to live with the bike for long (only about a year). I got a R15 and have been one very happy bunny since then.

After running in my R15 carefully, I started enjoying the bike. The bike is truly as sharp as my friend’s FZR 400, which incidentally, in the late eighties was considered the finest handling bike in the world. Anyway, after owing the bike for about 3 months, the dreaded urge to improve upon a good engineering design raised its head again. Well, I guess it’s an incurable disease and once you catch it you have no option but to live with it for a lifetime. By now, the world had changed a lot; the information asymmetry had considerably narrowed due to the Internet and communication technology. A lot of fact and product finding was at the fingertips due to the Internet. I was looking for performance enhancement parts and was surfing for the same. During my surfing I chanced upon the xbhp forum. Through the forum I chanced upon a gentleman by name of Joel Joseph and the work he was doing with R15. It became apparent pretty quickly that Joel’s work on the R15 was not just class leading, it was the authoritative work on R15, period. His development had reached a sublime stage and as a privateer he had no peers to speak of. I also came across a few threads posted by people who had benefited from his touch of performance tuning.

About ten months back, I initiated contact with Joel to inquire if he would consider working on my bike. Joel very promptly replied back in a very positive manner. A number of emails were exchanged. All through out our exchanges he has been very patient in answering all my queries, and let me tell you that couple of the queries were admittedly downright ridiculous. He educated me in what was possible and what was outright nonsense mambo jumbo. Finally, we agreed upon what seemed to be a good platform of changes for my R15. However, the only hitch was that I needed to take the bike to Bangalore for the changes. Unfortunately, my work schedules did not give me the time needed to take the bike to Bangalore. Whenever I got on to the bike, something would whisper in my mind and remind me that I need to go to Bangalore as I had promised to get the work done.

While on the move for my work, I kept myself in touch with his developments through the posts on xbhp. In mid October, Joel announced that he would be making parts available from the years of development of R15 and knowledge bank that he had created. Well, the time and opportunity had come to avail the knowledge of one of the most talented tuners in our country. Within hours of his announcement I shot off a mail to Joel. Once again Joel was prompt in his reply. Once again we exchanged mails to decide which parts to order to create good engine performance solution. By this time my R15 had completed about 8,500 km. Thus, the cylinder and piston had plenty of life remaining and I wanted to retain the same. As Joel had earlier educated me, the cylinder head is one of the most important aspects of a well-tuned engine. Without a good flowing and well-designed head, most other changes will have very little effect of their own and the effect will be to stifle the engine’s output. With these factors in my mind, I asked Joel if he could source a brand new stock head and work his magic on the same, while I would like to retain the stock cylinder and piston. Thus, the modified head, a free flow exhaust, a modified street camshaft along with a custom ECU were the changes in my mind. However, Joel was confident that what I required was a 165cc cylinder kit. His take on the whole issue was that it would form the platform for all future performance enhancements and was the bare minimum that needs to be done. A lot of hard thinking followed, I also discussed the pros and cons with my Dad.

Finally, taking a long-term view of treating this whole project as a work in progress, I decided that I would order the big bore kit (note: the name big bore is misleading. This kit is not just some ‘boring out to size’ exercise. More on the subject later.) Thus, I discussed the same with Joel and agreed with him on what would be the best combination to start my little project.

The parts ordered were:
1. A stock Cylinder Head with revised flow geometry.
2. 165 cc big bore kit.
3. A free flow exhaust.

While ordering these parts I had also made up my mind that the following parts will go into the second stage:
1. A revised street camshaft.
2. A programmable ECU.
3. A high flow air filter.

These parts would be ordered as and when Joel was ready to release the same.

Next…. the Planning

__________________
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Multum in Parvo - Much in Little

"Yes, it is FAST! No, you CAN'T ride it!" - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/pit-stop...amaha-r16.html

sunilg

GBD approved.

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(Been There Done That) x 3.25

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abhimanyu31

Following the 4 Ps (Proper Planning will Prevent Poor Execution)

Although I had worked with 2 strokes for 20 years, I had virtually no experience with 4 strokes apart from knowing in theory how they work. I was initially apprehensive that I had bitten off more than I could chew. So I went about doing my homework and planning on how I would go about executing the whole thing.

Here I would like to thank xbhp and its members; it’s on this amazing forum that I found the service manual and parts catalogue for the R15. These were essential to understand and plan how to go about the whole project. I spent nights before going to sleep going through the exploded diagrams to understand what parts were involved and mentally visualizing how to disassemble and assemble the engine. I made notes on each milestone, what needs to be check before each sub disassembly and assembly. The parts catalogue was extremely useful as I got a good understanding on the parts that I would require in addition to the ones I had order with Joel to complete the job and the cost of these parts.

I had the choice of transferring the existing Cylinder Head internals to the new one. After thinking long and hard, I had decided to follow the good old engineering saying “Do it once, do it right”. I decided to source completely new internals for the new head. I know, I know, many would say that it’s a waste of money. However, considering that a new camshaft was to be source for a new cylinder head in future, its was thought prudent to source new internals for the same, making these new components along with the big bore kit an almost completely new engine.

A list of the parts required was made. The list looked something like this:
1. Head Cover Gasket x 1
2. Cylinder Head Gasket x 1
3. Cylinder Gasket x 1
4. Intake Valves x 2
5. Exhaust Valves x 2
6. Valve Stem Seal x 4
7. Valve Cotter x 8
8. Valve Spring Retainer x 4
9. Valve Spring x 4
10. Valve Spring Seat x 4
11. Inlet Valve Rocker x 1
12. Exhaust Valve Rocker x 1
13. Exhaust Pipe Gasket x 1
14. Motocool Coolant x 1
15. Yamalube Mineral Oil x 1
16. Gasket Sealant x 1
17. Lapping Compound

In addition to doing the engine work, I wanted to take this opportunity to replace the brake lines. I was not happy with the standard brake lines as I use to notice brake fade after some heavy break usage. I started looking for steel braided break lines that would fit. I though maybe I would find the same on one of my trips abroad. Luckily for me I found HEL break-lines for the R15 here in Mumbai itself. Thus, replacing the break-lines and break pads was added to the itinerary. The following were added to the list:
1. HEL break-lines set x 1 (includes front and back lines)
2. Break Oil DOT 4 x 1
3. Front Break Pads x 1 (the rear ones were in good shape)

Though I am still trying to identify and source a set of EBC or SBS break pads. Any help in identifying the EBC or SBS break pads will be highly appreciated.

While waiting for Joel to dispatch the parts I started collecting all the listed parts.

Next… Collecting the Parts and arrival of Joel’s parts

__________________
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Multum in Parvo - Much in Little

"Yes, it is FAST! No, you CAN'T ride it!" - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/pit-stop...amaha-r16.html

KwokFist

Very well written!

Congrats on deciding to upgrade your R15. It's certainly worth it. I'm enjoying my ride everyday on the bike.

Btw, Please check your PM.

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Own:
2009 Yamaha YZF-R17
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Owned:
1973 Jawa 250 B-353
1998 Yamaha RX-135 4 Speed
2007 Bajaj Discover 125
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Storm Rider

aargee

I'd call it R17 rather. If YMIS labels their 153 motor on FZ to be 160 CC, then why not a 165CC to be 170cc?

Congratulations

I remember watching someone riding the modded R15 with 165 cc with speedo topping to over 142 Kmph.

I hope yours does that too.

__________________
Patience pays...The Vulture's virtue is patience and the bird always get it's food - Wise man saying

This is not a bakery. I don't sugar coat anything. If you ask for my opinion...then that's what you'll get. Don't be mad when it's not what you want to hear

darkknight

I would surely like to test ride yours one of these days

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abhimanyu31

Thanks. What's in a name??? . Though, since Joel is the one who started it all he should get the honor of christening these bikes.

__________________
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Multum in Parvo - Much in Little

"Yes, it is FAST! No, you CAN'T ride it!" - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/pit-stop...amaha-r16.html

abhimanyu31

Some day, my friend, some day... right now being run in

__________________
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Multum in Parvo - Much in Little

"Yes, it is FAST! No, you CAN'T ride it!" - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/pit-stop...amaha-r16.html

satyenpoojary

Can you put the price up for all the parts you have sourced so far?

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abhimanyu31

Ya... will do...

__________________
Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Multum in Parvo - Much in Little

"Yes, it is FAST! No, you CAN'T ride it!" - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/pit-stop...amaha-r16.html