Hi all. Hope everyone is safe, healthy and in the best of their riding shape!
I've clocked about 1250 km in about 4 months. So far so good except minor niggles here and there. Have taken the motorcycle off the road a few times already and boy does this machine shine off the tarmac! It would have been PERFECT if the weight were about 10% lesser and the foot pegs were a bit higher set. The power & torque availability lower down the RPM range does help the bike a lot here. I did have a couple of drops, owing to my inexperience while tackling off-road. Once I got the hang of it, maneuvering the bike was a cakewalk! On the highway, one does feel the lack of a high end, 24bhp feels insufficient to pull the 200 kg machine (60 - 90 kph acceleration). The sweet spot for cruising is between 80 - 100 km/h while the bike pulls uptil 120 km/h easily (lowered confidence because of the soft suspension and higher NVH levels post 110 km/h).
As mentioned by many, the windshield is useless for any sort of wind protection post 60 km/h. I did check the Carbonracing aftermarket bigger windshield but didn't like it as much and might end up using a windshield extension.
Couple of things that need to be addressed with the bike, in general. The first "niggle" is, of course, the random stalling of the bike itself while decelerating to a stop (gear 1 & 2) which I'm suspecting can be pinned to the EVAP mechanism. Will get the pipes checked and the system cleaned as indicated in detail by VJ previously. For now, it has been happening rarely enough to be ignored.
Apart from this I still have a rather high-treble exhaust note. Met a few BS6 owners and their exhausts are noticeably bass heavy, comparatively. Will get this checked at the service center as the exhaust on my REH does sound tinny too.
The headlights are an utter disappointment. I've upgraded the H4 headlamps on my car from 55/60W to 90/100W using a relay harness which has worked wonders. Is something like that possible on the bike? I'm unwilling to fit a H4 LED bulb as I find the throw distance of LEDs to be underwhelming despite the added brightness in close proximity. Alternatively, I might get a pair of fog lights installed on the forks which also move with the handlebar.
While saddling, I did find the stock position of the handlebar to be quite low. One workaround I found on a YT video was to use an additional top raiser and installing it under the handlebar, facing upwards. Should add about an inch of height. Alternatively, the Thunderbird X handlebar could be installed. I like the black finish on that one more than the Aluminium stock ones but I feel it would require longer cables too. Anyone here who has done this mod already?
After a long ride (about an hour or so), I could feel the handlebar vibrations causing a numbing/tingling sensation in my fingers after I stopped. The vibrations are mostly unnoticeable while riding but the after effect is present. Not sure if wearing gloves or getting a grip wrap would solve this. Would be good if someone could lend an insight.
The only reliability issue with the bike, so far, has been the tubed tires. I've had 3 punctures uptil now and dealing with them on a hot day can get exhausting if you don't have a repair shop nearby and have to rely on the RSA for a fix. Considering a tube to tubeless conversion solution, if anyone has done that successfully please guide me on it. More than the actual issue it is to be done for the added peace of mind!
About the whole REH ownership in general, the motorcycle has a lot of pros that outweigh the cons of it. Hoping to clock more km soon and take time out to carry out the mods that I've on mind.
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