Hi Guys,
Happy new year to all...

I'm pretty new to this forum but I've been following it for few months.

I am planning to buy FZ-S bike in Bangalore, Indiranagar showroom and this is going to be my first bike.
I have few doubts before going to take it.

What are the things I need to check while taking delivery ?
What mileage it gives before the first service and after it ?
I have heard many posts regarding air leakage in rear tire, if yes what is the resolution for that ?
and
Is there a new style/colours in FZ-S coming in 2012 ?

Thanks in advance.

My personal experience ( no axe to grind with anyone ): I have a Free Flow Exhaust designed by Joel for my R15. I have completed over 5,000 kms and a year of riding. I have till date experienced 3 Free Flow Exhausts that have been claimed to have been 'specially' designed for the R15 i.e. Race Concepts (Joel), the Daytona and the Two Brothers Racing. The last 2 makes were fitted on couple of friends' bikes which have now been reverted to stock exhaust systems.

The long and short of the whole experience is that looks can be deceptive. While an exhaust may be impressive to look at because of its shape, finish and materials used, it may still be just a bundle of pipes if not designed properly which can have a very detrimental effect on performance and the consequently the life of the engine. To put it simply, the other 2 exhaust let alone being in same ball park, they are not even in the same neighborhood.

I come from a 2 stroke background where the importance of tuned pipes can never ever be overstated. Similarly, a tuned pipe on a 4 stroke can work wonders in 'hopping' the performance of the engine.

'Pulse' tuning is something of a black art. The reason being, that no matter how many flow bench tests, dyno tests, and standard formulas are applied to create the pipe, the real results and final design of pipe for maximum efficiency are only be arrived at by testing (real world extensive testing on the road and track). And that is where experience counts. The black art lies in the experience and knowledge repository built by the tuner and his application of the same in the design of pipes. This experience is not something that is found in books, software or flow bench and dynos. Admittedly, books, software and measuring tools help in providing information and the right direction, but there is no substitute for real world experience in designing tuned pipes.

I have said it on a number of occasions and will repeat my self once again, Joel has truly mastered the art of pulse tuning. Try his FFE and you will know the difference between so called FFE and a pulse tuned FFE.

Ok I am back here.
Last week was a well deserved leave from office which meant that I could tour around with my fazer.
27/12/2011- Pune-Kolhapur-Pune 550Km Solo
29/12/2011- Pune-Panchgani-Pune 255km Solo
31/12/2011, 1/1/2012- Pune-Mumbai-Pune 400 km approx

That meant that I crossed 10100 km in 10 days shy of 6 months of my bike. The bike is running on a 1L 10w50 Yamalube SS filled 830 km ago.

Issues the suspension feels awful. I know it is due for fork oil change.
The real suspension is no better, the stock settings made me feel every small little pebble so the SVC guys set to softest but I can still feel the jerks. Whats the life of the stock suspension? I have only done city and very good highway rides only 100-200 km of off roading.
The bike is super rough and vibrates a hell.
The engine heats up and hence I had reported engine oil burnup.

Could anyone help with this?
Also I am planning to get Daytona spockets and chain. Any one has any experience of these?

Another thing I noticed, near Mumba on NH4 (Most pathetic road btw), there were these unmarked speed breakers.. Zero visibility during night. I had to do emergency braking often, and then downshift to accelerate but the gear lever would get jammed and would not shift, only accelerating would change the gear... This happened too often and I was a sitting duck at times with the bike simply stopping in the middle of the road....

Joel's FFE looks the same at the End can for all bikes. Is it the same end can for all bikes?

Coz I know the Daytona exhaust is common for both R15 and FZ.

Hey Abhijit,
What is the centre stand issue that u r facing?

Hi Nandy,
Not only me but others who got it from the same batch. When you pull out from the center stand it hits the FFE. Now what I do is I place my foot on the stand while moving the motorcycle so that it moves up gently. My brother advised me me few things but I'm not certain since then again the ground clearance will be reduced more & the stand will hit any speed breaker especially while riding with the pillion. As long as stand moves gently it is fine. If you planning to get a new one then confirm with Joel that he has sorted couple of issues that we reported (rear break connecting rod getting pressed against the FFE & the center stand issue). Because he told us that in the next batch he will solve the issue. Another issue is the rusting at some places especially at the welds, sadly we can not do anything about it since FFE is made up of MS. Only powder coat & extra care will be of some help.

Report back of FFE -

3 days of riding the bike with FFE and its been such a joy.

If m cruising at 80 on highway n i feel the need to over take, just twist a lil bit n there the speedo reads 90+ in no time

There are 2 things i have noticed.

1. This FFE of mine with a good deep base has some kinda obnoxious effect on bike riders around me at times. They tend to drop a few cogs n over take me at high speed Most of these bikers have been Pulsar users.

2. The bike feels more flick-able now and can take tight turns at low speed very easily.....i mean keeping it balanced at low speed while taking a tilted tight turn is very easy.

Hi guys..

Gave my bike's MINDA battery for charging today, very little hopes since its a 2009 battery. Anyways Few queries..
1) Does running bike without battery cause any issue to bike or electricals ?
2) How possibly does bike stores enough power to turn on the LCD console, headlights, turn indicator etc even with no battery on board.
3) if the battery doesn't charge, which battery to go for ?? the guy suggested me
Tata Green battery for 900 bucks with 3 yrs or 1 lac km warranty.

I am running a Tata Green battery as I have double headlights on for my Fazer. 4 months and they have been good.
And the battery will charge but the life and Ah capability will be low.
Also when you start running the engine the battery gets charged because of a dynamo and hence all electrical work.

i would suggest go for amaron/Exide maintenance free battery. They have better ownership reports

Cheers

there wont be any problems in the bike or its electricals if you are not using a battery except that you wont be able to use the electricals when the engine is not running.....

without a battery the bike does not store any power for electricals like LCD console or lights etc. they wont wokr if the engine is not running...

if i were you i would have gone for a maintenance free or a dry cell battery from amaron....

FFE without DB Killer Report: Insane FE?

i have done so far 1527 kms w/o the DB Killer. To my surprise it is not a cop magnet in Mumbai. i always keep it around 4-4.5k the moment is see pandus on the road and then run away with full throttle!! and anyways if you are riding within the city premises the sound of the FFE gets muffled with 100s of cars, autos, buses running besides you.

For those who have already bought the FFE from Joel, i'd say remove the DB Killer and then go do your regular rides, the moment you see a cop reduce the speed so that rpm is around 4 - 4.5k or just simply dip the clutch.

Fuel efficiency is what has set me aback!! Earlier average with the DB Killer was around 42 kmpl with the usual thrashing and mix riding. Now without the DB Killer, it has shot upto 48(little bit sober and thrash in between) - 53 kmpl(Splendor mode)!!

It is a bit too unbelievable so i shall do some more tests and confirm. I would also consider the factor that at night the temperatures in Mumbai have been much cooler resulting more density of fuel in the fuel tank per ltr might be resulting more kms per ltr.


Now without the DB killer, the rpm meter goes crazy and perhaps begs me to stop as i almost end up hit 9k in no time... So now my investment on FFE is showing me the returns and i am really happy... next stage of upgrades are still pending.. just waiting for the green reserve to be at optimum level and that's it off i go to Blore for the heart surgery!!


Cheers

Official confirmation from my battery guy - No charging possible. Will have to replace.


Wat was d price u bought Tata Green for ? I'm said 1000 bucks & Rs 100 return for my old battery.

What shall be expected price of Maintenance free battery frm Amaron/Exide ? Which one do you use bro & from where did you buy it. My battery guy is realy not knowledgeable as he quoted approx 800-900 bucks for both the above batteries but he doesn't hav either of them in stock & requires a week to arrive.

What shall be the price for that one ? Any specific advantage of a dry cell battery apart from no hassles to change acid on regular intervals ? how is the performance?

Good review bro.. Tempting me to go for the pipe & cancel my upcoming upgrade to another bike plans.

^^^ @mitz......

the price for a dry cell battery from amaron will be around 1300-1500rs... plus you can get 50-100rs as replacement for a dead battery....

the major thing is they are maintenance free....

apart from that the reviews for them are better in terms of life and charging.....