Hey buddy i have practical experience of this with my cycles

All my cycles i had before in chennai were fully cloth(khaki) covered and within a month they ALL got rusted ...dont use them for a week, it rains, cover gets wet and voila!

My last bike a cannon barrel was kept outside, no cover...it took 1yr to form some rust on it

With regards to gear probs., i dont have them...If ur engine is off and u r in neutral, the 1st gear might not engage...but with engine on, its ALWAYS engages. At signals 4 me, bike is always at first gear with engine switch off Cheerios

Hey buddies, its Onam here and got some time to give a 1st service report :
The BAD Part :

The SC delivered bike yest. morn (they r closing down 4 Onam & reopen only next week )...All r in civil clothes and celebrating in SC...one mechanic got the bike out, oddly its the wrong bike, also orange color.

They re-opened the small room and brought out my bike...Then hell, saw that the 6 speed panel is detached with the other end loose.
But that's not all, the bike was not washed (they insisted its washed, but became dirty because someone drove it 4 test)...looked closely and saw its air blast cleaned not even water was sprayed...finally the expert said they had no time yest. & had probs. with water pump.

I insisted its should be better service, then ironically, the expert took it in the wash-room and gave my bike a short water jet(now its working) clean himself in his civil clothes. (celebration goin on outside SC)

The mechanic came later and blasted it dry using air pump...My buzzer was not working, they checked it out...not connected yet. The tacho was not replaced (2nd service)

I was a mix of anger and disbelief, but was always ...the expert remarked that i had some rust formation on tank but its just small spot (can't be seen 4m tank mouth)...told me to use any anti-rust in case i saw rust on body. Fortunately bike is 100% rust free outside...

By this time the Onam program had begin there & they all left promising to do anything required next week...I smiled and started bike.

The COOL Part:

The GS smoothness was like a blast of surprise...Its like driving a bike having gears immersed in oil with the bike engine...had to drive a buddies activa to check the smoothness ...almost near a scoot. now...

The 1 - 3 gears is same in smoothness and vib-free as 6th gear...The chunky handlebar grips are great (i recommend it to all) and believe me the bike was not even near this in smoothness on first day...I was the git, now driving with a big grin on my face...
The buzzer sound was atrociously high pitch n loud ...wanted a small beep 4 me, not a siren 4 the entire country, (plan to cut the wire) spoils the GS grace

Back brake is V strong and WILL stop the gs on a slope from 60 on its own gently, disc r gr8 with progression back.

Lights are frankly no probs. now...the low beam is well spread n bright, the high beam is concentrated spot and is light years better than before...of course could have been brighter .

Drove 100 kms simply 4 LOVE of it...5th gear strong acc. is gr8 and hard braking ( 80 - 0) is absolutely linear and grippe...am still gonna drive it in ECO...those blinks are just addictive and cool at night...no flatout until 2nd service

Bottomline: The SC guys were all in onam spirit...the wrong bike, detached panel, no buzzer(maybe they got fed-up) shows their concentration...but the REAL service is done and cause of that am all The only complaint is that i FEEL the engine (some resonance) in the R brake pedal when pressing clutch ...also my idle RPM is now 1.7K ...Other than that its simply awesome ...GS rocks

BTw congrats Photon on ur new photonic bike. Cheerio

Ok dear... so hear are some pics from my side, till date i have not uploaded a single snap of my gixxer, so just thought of doing it today...

Cool Buddy COOL
At first thought u modified it...but with that water drops and orange blast, it looks

No modifications, straight from my camera pics... i dont think any modification required for GS snaps man... the bike itself looks so awesome. haa haa haa... i know its too much, but what shall i do man, i simply love this bike

Hey as i remember there were some posts in earlier stages of this thread, people were planning for the photoshot for gixxer like the one we have for suzuki intruder in xbhp site, after that no one spoke about it.

Whoaaaa man... cool pics...

ur bike is relatively new... check your engine oil level or better change the oil once now before first service.

Some bike would have harder gear shifts and things smoothen out as the engine is run in. So, make a complaint at first service and this should be solved. I just hope it is not too hard.

Another thing is - learn to blip. hold the clutch, give a short and sharp twist to the accelerator, the engine tries to revv up, release accelerator and shift the gear. This should work in most cases.

Bro...Bro.....this is not at all good....this is not really fair man....after you give me advice you do this.....

First of all...I am really envious and jealous about all your bikes...and you go on posting such pictures....how do you expect me to wait and control myself....

Bro....I have to commend you....absolutely...awsome pics...really it looks a beauty.....great camera angles man.....
I had thougt I will buy the Black or Grey color.....but now man...I have second thoughts again....Orange looks absolute Yummy....

Amit bro...as you are telling you kept it coverd with a cloth cover...that might be the prob....cloth soaks up water and your cycles get rusted with the water soaked in the cloth....
So prob a Plastic cover might be better....atleast it can prevent dust and does not soak....
I personally do not use...I am a big lazy person....removing and putting cover everyday is not appealing for me....

it still takes in some moisture and doesn't let it escape easily. then there's the scratches problem!

anyways, just do what you think is better. You have suggestions from people with their experience... that might or might not work for you.

i'll try that sometime.
could it also be because i try to shift to 1st gear before starting the bike ??
About the cover, mine is plastic.. i have to decide b/w plastic cover or leave it in rain.. hard to decide

update:
i'd prefer plastic cover anyday. today my bike was left out in rain. afterwards, through the small gap in the lid i could see a lot of water floating around. it was getting drained so slowly, even after riding for 30min there was some water left there!!!
i dont think it will enter the petrol tank unless i open the lid but still, i cant open the lid to fill fuel till it dries up now!!!

Hi falcon,
Even i am facing the same issue of having to press really hard when i can't get to 1st gear. What i do is i go to 2 nd gear then press hard to go to 1st.........

Guys,
Is this normal or should i show it to service center..........

It is normal before the first service. After the first service, the service centre guys get it done more smooth. Moreover it takes atleast 500+ kms for the gear to get little smooth.

Rev before downshifting each time. See if u feel any difference.