Hey congratts dude.. Welcome to the club. when u kick, just pull throttle little bit.. The click sound from front brake lever is perfectly normal... nothing to worry.. when u filled 5L fuel, out of which 3.5 L goes into reserve. and u left only 1.5 L above res. Tank is so big.. so how much ever u fill it, fuel gets lost inside somewhere... Upto 4 L there is 1 bar.. so I think upto 4-5 L fuel it will only show 1 bar.. so don't worry ! ENjoy...

whats the ideal back tyre pressure if i'm not sure whether i'll ride solo or with someone in the back ???
are the gears harder initially ?? upto 50km or so.?

i think i'm spoiling the engine.. till now twice i tried going at low speed in second gear and the bike jerked and turned off..
once i revved to 6k rpm also while starting,by mistake..

Its "okay" touching 6k rpm once or twice by mistake or purpose..

Hey guys bought a black color 2 weeks ago and have done 425 Kms with 75kmph max. for a few secs at 6 slot...mileage seems to be 50+

My Observations before purchase :

1. There really seems to be rust probs with the blue ones...the display blue model had rust on silencer nuts
2. The showroom (only one in cochin, gonna work in chennai next month & taking bike there) r not that interested in selling it compared to the "NAKED BIKE TECHNOLOGY" chants of the yamahas ppl(also gals) or H/Honda persistent callbacks
3. Migrating 4m an activa to a 1st time bike and found ALL bikes do have more vibs than scoots
4.The FZ and GS had the least vibs (somehow managed to test ride...my 1st geared experience) with hunK and rtr having good sound + vibs
5.GS was the easiest to drive(yep not the FZ with its so short shifter) and Hunk the worst during test

Finally went for GS because (though had booked an FZ) :
1. Read Here the cruising at higher speeds better
2. Read Here Good for 6'' folks
3. Read Here comfort+ (very important as cochin roads r the best back breakers)

So got the bike within 2 days at 64,000 cash with a scratched silencer and hairline cracked tacho... parts being replaced free at 1st service. It was dusty and was dripping wet when delivered...wax (forgotten) was done in a jiffy in another hour...came home trying to change gears at 3.5 ~ 4.5 rpm as read here...

My Observations after purchase and 425 kms :

The -ve : The headlight/'fake'light sucks...useful only when there are no streetlamps...the main beam is straight and useless...the pilot lamps are not DC hence are flickering at idle like a dying bike

This bike is heavy when taking stop and go u-turns and if u are not a gym member but a tall drumstick guy, u better watchout

The sound is As Read here like a baby tractor not irritating nor interesting

The +ve:
1. The engine smoothness and the gear shifter are outstanding and gets better and better
2. Dunno what u ppl mean by poor rear brakes...yep they felt a bit soft but now they are just perfect with good bite...the disc is getting more hungry and seems to lose its progressive braking (I liked it)
3. NO RUST formation either on/under fuel tank or silencer with having been in rains and dirt
4.The comfort at 6th gear + stability is excellent and horn is great (compensates the tractor noise from engine )
5. Upshifts or downshifts are perfect and yep sometimes downshifts do make a deep vib-free sound but compensated by the fine N - 1 gear mechanism( 2nd gear light downshift is N, whereas a Stronger downshift(FEEL 2 clicks) is 1st gear
6. The gear indicator is GR8 for a newbie...yet to have a false neutral or wrong gear!!!
7.The RPM warning white Led is just the blinK u need even at clear noon to change gears...its bright and good switchgear placements

8.THIS BIKE LOOKS HANDSOME (in black)...The silencer and its side view is terrific(Yep i find it better than FZ) and its Big

9.Comfort is Vgood and the tanK contours seems just right for my leg and I DONT find the toe and heel shifter placement like Mt.Everest...use heel for upshifts and toe for downshifts with absolute ease

10.Am loving the bike more each day and THANKs to all the blogs here about GS...I made a decision and am 100% satisfied(not mentioning the Xmas pilot lamps...btw its not even a prob)

Notes: Having now driven (after being trained on my GS ) a R15, Fazer, Gladiator, P200, RTR 180 testride(the silencer shape is oops), CBZ Ext and driving them makes me appreciate the bike even more and its gear indicators and overall feel

My driving pattern is " accelerate freely through the Gears " as in handbook...change gears at 4~4.5K rpm and downshifts at 3K rpm with engine braking and late 40:60 Fr:Rr braking...still driving at ECO till 1st service Cheerios

rust is not colour dependent. u'll find members with all colours having rust.
may be the people with blue colour were first to report it, so some showroom people think its only with blue colour.
anyway, happy biking...

i find gears pretty hard compared to test ride vehicle
sometimes shifting from 1 to 2 it goes to neutral and i end up revving to 6-7k rpm . 60km till now on odo..

Yep it might be there somewhere, but as far as i know blue color (in the showroom & stock) had a clearly present rust on silencer nuts and tank underside Anyway have a can of WD40 just in case

I find the upshift from 1-2 must be applied a bit harder than the others with the RPM above 3K...Hav not got a false neutral, and upshifts from 2 up just a touch... Downshifts ( 5-1 at 60-0) seems to be clanky(sound no vibs) at certain times & then disappear for no reason...

Even my friends brand new orange fazer(looks very cool ) has downshifts that are sometimes hard (once never went from 2-1 except at standstill with restart...3 of us tried at signal to make it fall to N or 1st) but never clanky...All i feel is that ANY new bike will have certain probs. with gearshifts and vibs at certain speeds...But i still find GS gears comparatively pretty smooth and definite though the clanky downshifts at odd times is a wonder

Reminds me of my vib-free Activa...had a slight engine vib at certain speeds (30 - 40) and next day it would be (20 -30)...after 1500+ kms it all changed and was smooth and constant operation

Another fact hav noticed is that the GS engine seems to be performing with greater ease when changing gears rapidly at 4~4.5K(blink) with incremental throttle at each higher gear (keeping speed<65 at 6th)...

Me thinks u just have to take it out at night around 10 (no traffic but beware of rowdy dogs and dancing cats) and trying out the bike gears and braking(6-1 engine braking w/o overrevving < 4K)...thats what i did every night from 10~11.30 (50 kms like that total) and just understood the bike and ideal engine rpm sound and its good way to break-in as air is cooler and enjoyable

BTW tractor sound ( GS exclusive) is getting better with a strong incremental acc. from 1~2 onwards ppl are all staring at it at signals

My same problem as i might take doubles but dont want to have that much air when going single on our spine cracker roads(on activa, with GS its just rough road)

So am filing 25 psi front with 31psi back...recommended back was 28psi single with 33psi doubles...feel 33psi on singles is too much (for my roads anyway) cheerios

Every morning before trip I press clutch 5 times and and kick-starter 5 times (with engine switch off) finally putting switch on and electric start (someone here had recommended this process and its good) with gear in N, allowing it to idle for ~ 1+ mins while I open the gates...then slowly glide through 1 with second at 2.5K rpm...any false neutral now is not that harmful... BTW even though its heavy rains at night the bike always starts at first attempt and remains in idle w/o going off, unlike the activa which starts if it wants to

Its OK at 2nd gear(provided u change it to 1st or a quick short throttle then release clutch and accelerate) once in while, but going at 5+ gear at <3K rpm is a huge strain causing engine lugging (engine SEEMS at ease but its really damaging to any engine)...Even the manual cautions against it...if rpm goes below 3~2.5K downshift...
Above is what i do but each person has his own style and engine characteristics...we jus gotta get hang of it

Hey congrats Amitine... Very nice write-up dude.... I agree all bikes have more vibes than scooters..! Good observations, I was going to say this....

@all:
My 2nd service is due in two days. Im thinking to adjust the suspensions. By default its at Level 3. Has anybody adjusted it to more softer level ? Do u feel any difference ? What say, shall I do it ?

Hello Shadowfax and abhi_gsr,
I read a sometime back in the forum that either one of you had applied white radium rings on your GS wheels.
the address was somewhere on Karve road for 80 bucks..........can you please let me know the exact address and name of the shop......u can PM me with the address......
I asked in Aundh area , one shop said 200 bucks for the job....

Congratulations Amit on your new purchase.

The rust problem is not common on blue colur.I have seen all the other colours also having the same problem.

Anyways thats said,we would like to have some pictures as well.

Congrats once again & Ride Safe

are u sure less than 3k rpm is a strain on engine ?? i downshift at 2-2.5k and upshift at 4-4.5k..
usually i try to keep it between 3-4k(varying continuously b/w these 2 pts coz manual says not to go at constant speed)
and regarding tyre pressure the guy in the petrol bunk filled 26 in front and 36 in rear !!! i didnt see it till he finished filling. shall i leave it like that.(i'm going to be riding only single for this week surely)

Dude you need to change your tyre pressure immediately. 26 & 36 are bad figures to ride with.

If you are riding solo & somtimes with a pillion keep 24 front & 32 rear.That is what i keep & the ride is smooth.

how do i deflate the tyre to around 30 ?
how many days would 36 take to deflate to 30 ??
is 36 bad for tyre(like exploding or cracks due to too much stretching) ??

Could anyone suggest where the best place to put a helmet lock is ?
i feel grab rails may spoil the looks.
is it risky to leave the helmet on the helmet holder under the seat ??

also suggest which colour rings i can put around my rim.
i have blue coloured gs..

also tell any good place(shop and address) in bangalore for these 2 things if u know.
thanks in advance.