No need for sorry bhai .. all I wanted to know is what all you guys are doing in practice . Are you all using that 3-bond/adhesive by default on all the gaskets you fix ? Or just on the ones that is known to weep earlier ? Or if I am not doing a mistake by not using it by default ?

Today (or maybe sometime this year) seems to be Splendor's 20th birthday, and Hero have released a 'Special Edition' Splendor Pro to mark the 20th anniversary (Source: The Hindu Newspaper front page ad)


And a bummer : taken from Hero MotoCorp's FB page.

gasket sealant and splendor 2nd decade

The whole confusion about gasket sealant is un-necessary as the adhesive used in gasket sealing is made of synthetic rubber like material and once we tighten the head bolt then it gets compressed, and hardly has any thickness to effect compression. Compression will be effected if bore and head mating surface are changed by millimiters but head gasket sealant changes it by a fraction of microns. It is better to use sealant as if by any chance the gasket fails then it will not leak. Also compression will not be lost until next time head is opened.

And splendor anniversary then it was in year 1993 splendor was introduced in market, but at that time it was not a hot seller. I used to sport short silencer and sound was loud. Also mileage was less in region of 65 kpl. At that time RX 100 and max 100 ruled the roost in 2-strokes and in four strokes CD 100 SS and 4S champion ruled the roost. However splendor continued to solder on with commendable sales. The main reason for low sales was its price, as CD 100 and SS both cost Rs. 39000 and Rs. 42000 in 1999 respectively. At that time splendor used to cost Rs.52000 which was too expensive for it to sell.

The spares were costly as a fork pipe cost Rs.1200, clutch plate Rs.635, Timing chain Rs.370, Bore kit Rs.2700, and like that. Some of the spares were ridiculously priced like fork pipe, panel and all that, but some parts were like that that i wished even to present day they would have continued. Examples are clutch plates which were fibre plate and known to last more than 1 lac km, as my OE plates(mine is 2001 Joy) lasted for 80 k with all the abuses that my cousin brothers gave. The timing chain were excellent as it lasted for 60k+ without sound. The bore kit lasted for 1.25 lac easily. How i wished there were available now.

The first refresh was in 2000 and was popularly known as Y2k splendor. Price decreased to 46k on road as i remember that when we bought the joy in 2001 it cost us Rs. 45,470 and splendor was Rs. 46,390 and passion(joy and passion was launched in april 2001) cost was Rs.48,680. I still have the quotation of three bikes with me.
So when in 2000 splendor was refreshed the changes done were changing the stickering, the u-shaped sticker(which remains favorite till date to me), Power was increased to 7.5 bhp from 7.2 bhp(that was CD 100 SS power, CD 100 was 7 bhp), carburettor was retuned with slow jet being 38 and main jet 105, the old model had main jet 98 and slow jet 42. Also the silencer length increased and sound became smooth. The final ratio was changed to 14/43 from old 14/45.
These all changes made the splendor more refined, better top end(top speed in excess of 90), mileage was 70+, and also sound became smooth with adequate stroke in sound. From year 2000 the price cut improvement made the splendor crazy among public and from then on it became best seller year after year.
I especially remember the power figure as when buying the JOY, i was in seventh standard and i had compared all the power figure, splendor and passion both put out 7.5 bhp and 7.7 Nm of torque and Joy put out 7.8 bhp and 8Nm of torque. It was because Joy was designed keeping riggedness in sight and thus increased torque. Later in 2004 when spl+ and pas+ came they were changed into 7.8 bhp and 8 Nm of torque.

But the spares price was major deterrent and customers flocked for cheaper spares which caused company a great hardship to sell spares. So in 2004 spares rate took a sudden plunge as company changed its vendor to indian. Fork pipe rate came down from Rs. 1200 to Rs.400, Clutch plates from Rs. 635 to Rs.260, Bore from Rs.2700 to Rs.1400, e.t.c. My retailer friend who stocked the spares was forced to sell in huge loss the old spares as nobody took it because new spares were available at half price. I remember buying the last Fibre plates from him during my first change. Carburettors also decreased from Rs.4000 to Rs. 1600.


Sales increased further when HERO decreased the spares rate. We remember that from 2001-2004 whatever spares have been changed in our joy was very costly.


So this is a brief history of our splendor, any body wanting to know more can ask me here. I wish our splendor run for another 20 years, and our children learn what is reliability, when today every 2-3 years bike replacement has become a necessity than luxury.
I for one will keep my joy for-ever may be when i get old then i can sit by the side of it looking at it and thinking about my childhood, to my young age and then old age. May be there will be tear in my eyes looking at it and thinking about my past and how it had helped me in all these years.May be my Children or for that matter my better half will never understand what bond we share, but our bond will never end. Sorry, for long post and i actually had tears in my eyes when i typed those last few words of my joy and me getting old at same time.

Hail! long live the splendor.

May I fit Power Start (Self start) to my Hero Splendor Plus 2012 model. Is it possible? If possible so cost?

It is possible but the cost & trouble is prohibitive . If you must have it, better and cheaper to sell your bike and buy one that has it .

Not sure about this. Nor am I technically sound like you pinaki saab, but I don't think its that costly either! I mean, one can try swapping components from a Honda Stunner and would need a few electrical fitments plus relay plus few wiring changes. May amount to 4-5k though!

Swap components from a Stunner to a Splendor. Not even from splendor pro ?

@ Sumit Baran Majumdar
If you are ready to take all the trouble of swapping the engine parts to that of splendor pro ,split the entire engine, swap crankcases,covers,magneto,stator,wiring,switch assembly,battery,case etc then go ahead, It will cost not anything less than Rs.8,000/- and you will lose the factory fit and finish of the engine.

So as Pinaki has mentioned,either sell the bike and get a new/used splendor for the same price or live with it.

Please refer to the discussion between me and sibun regarding this retro-fitting in this thread.

Never knew it's require so many changes. And bhai, Stunner was just an example.

Honda has released Dream Neo , literally meaning the new dream . Which I think means only one thing - yet another splendor killer ( their earlier dream - namely the Dream Yuga ) has conceded defeat . And that was a fast one , no ?

There is a saying- "the more simple the plan the more better is it".
It is also applicable to bikes, that more simple the technology the more better is it. Splendor runs on the simplest technology and returns around 70+ kpl and also runs 90 kph+, and the brakes are also good.
With such simple technology bikes will run for ages. But the new bikes like dream yuga and dream neo, has too much fiddling done to their small engines, which increases the probability of something going wrong. People know this very well. Moreover now i have seen during the initial days of Hero and Honda split, people were skeptical of Hero but now they have grown towards it and instead are preferring more now-a-days.

More over Hero has increased the warranty and also their customer service has become more active now-a-days, as the mechanic at service center told me that one complaint at regional office makes the dealer piss in his pants. All the complaints entered in the system are being monitored at the delhi headquarters which is linked to a software which the dealers cannot ignore.

I know a person who has been using a splendor for last 13 years and when i suggested him the new bikes from Honda, his first reply was what you know-" Man this is my baby and no second thoughts about bringing another bike". With the new shines and like coming with chain kit problem and also smoking problem, Hero is slowly gaining trust. Our stunner needs chain kit replacement at 14K kms, only. So people perceive Hero to be low on maintenance.

Proof is my Joy, even after more than 3.3 lacs km it still feels tight like the day it came from factory, and i have not even changed the lockset that came from factory. The wheel bearings are same from factory, spokes, rims, mudguard, paint, body parts all are from factory. In fact this was the major factor which made me buy the extreme and after 11k on it, i have not faced a single problem and mileage is also north of 55 kpl.

Yesterday itself i had ridden my joy at 80 kph with two people up and it ran as if it has no load on its engine, so Hero bikes are built to last ages, you can see old model CD 100 still running like dream even today, they are almost 25 years old.

I went for re-condition my fork on this Thursday. And after opening i found that both pipes are bent. The right one which i was thinking is correct is also slightly bent.
And that one has this scratch mark on its surface.


The another one (left) is more bent. As I bought only one pipe so had replaced my left one only. But couldn't replace the right one because i have only this bike to go to the market. So had to use the scratch one again. I thought it may on my left one.

Drained the old oil directly on measuring funnel and got exactly 160 ml. But in actual it would be more, may be 170~175 ml i think. And thats also one of the more reason for my fork for working hard.

After building my fork they had gone really soft. Its a great noticeable difference. Just a slight touch on a front brake pushing the fork in
Had used Veedol oil, 2 bottles, 175 ml @ Rs.45 each.
Oil seal Rs.81 each
O-ring Rs.5.50 each.
Copper Washer 8 mm Rs.5 for one. All OE

Got measuring funnel for Rs.45
Total Rs.318 (excluding pipe for 300)

But had to do something with (right) scratch pipe also. So i had decided to get my another (left) pipe to get straighten in the lathe because it doesn't had any scratch mark. If it get perfectly straight then only will change it, otherwise will buy it one more from that scrap yard
Have to change soon because that scratch mark can piss off my oil seal.
Had to change one piston too because this rod was slipping because of excessive wear/damage on its hole. Its particles had came off. Another pocket damage of 180 + lathe charge if works otherwise, another 300! f***!!

huh, once again my grinding machine helped me and i made this rod.

@shoeb, here is the pic.


This is 13 mm rod. Piston inner diameter is 9.5~10 mm. And 22~23 inches length of the rod is fine.

On the another end, i didn't weld as T. I had grind it and used adjustable jaw wrench.

Maybe the hard shocks made the pipes to bend.(Due to air lock)

Did you change the dust boots to the new type ? Sibun advises to use the new type dust boots to prevent the pipes from getting scratched.

That oil lock holder tool looks good.
I am saving money and my next tool investment is going to be
1.Deep sockets set
2.Deep Allen bits.(Allen keys tend to bend easily)

Thanks for the heads up Paul .... I need to get my front forks serviced as soon as I can get a free day .

Upon my advice my young friend got the X-Pro ...



Nice looking light bike , Eh ?



This is the top-end variant with disc brakes and all .... (Another close buddy who booked the self-spoke-drum variant the same day is waiting for delivery) .



Swingarm is different type than Passion / PassionPro ..



So is the fuel-tank cap ( I don't like this design type - it allows rainwater in ) .



Leg guard wasn't factory fitted like Splendor's , so we had to buy a chalu one from the dealer . Come'On Hero - you can atleast give a leg-guard with the 5-years warranty !



Superb speedo-console design , loved this one .



I'll post the self-spoke-drum variant's pics when we get it , maybe next week only .
And yah , the fuel mileage is 50-52 kmpl on city roads , some of it congested . Measured reserve to reserve twice with one liter each time , just after taking delivery - no services/adjustments yet . WHat do you guys say ?

Maybe by next week if I get time,I am also going to do a full overhaul of the front suspension including the steering bearings.
Xpro is undoubtedly one of the most decent looking bike. Even I had planned to get a XPRO after selling the old passion.
What ? XPRO comes with a leg/crash guard as with every hero (excluding Karizma ZMA/ZMR) in Hyderabad.

EDIT 1 : Rim tapes done so soon eh ?
EDIT 2 : Your friend's helmet looks like a size bigger than required.

Then the dealer cheated us on the leg-guard !! Dang !! Ok , pakdega saale ko isspe . Yah , done seat-cover & tape from shop opposite to the showroom at once . That is my extra helmet - I have L size head LOL .
Do post everyting about the fork-oil and coneset-bearing work with pics and all . I need that . Front is bottoming out with a thud in the bigger potholes now . Thanks in advance . Yah , even I am tempted by the X-pro , waiting for longer-term feedbacks on the engine's reliability etc , Hero's frame is flawless .