re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Found one. It's a whooping 20k for a set.

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53


These things are expensive. Too put it in perspective, my clutch cover was recently changed because I had a small fall. The factory one costed only 4500 or something which I think is cheaper than some of these aftermarket protective covers.

Rachit

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Yes. I have sw motech sliders and it didn't help much when I recently dropped the bike from a standstill. It scratched the engine( pic attached) this gave me a thought - what if I am in a remote area and have an incident and start leaking oil. Touch wood!!

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Yeah, I had a small scratch at the same place.
You have a valid point from a remote place perspective. Other than that the original is cheaper to replace.

Regards
Rachit

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

First of 3 updates. I apologise for being late with the updates.


So in the month of June me and some of my friends went for a one nighter to Lansdowne. All of us have been craving for some long ride and wanted some twisties action. We have been thinking about going to lansdowne since many years but I had not gone there yet. Generally my first preference is towards Himachal, but the Shimla highway is under construction. Any other place would have been too much of a distance for a one nighter. So we chose Lansdowne. Little did we know what lay ahead of us. My past 2 experiences of visiting Uttar Pradesh highways have not been smooth and as luck would have it, that weekend turned out to be the hottest of the season and we were on hot blooded super bikes navigating crazy UP highway traffic.


So the plan was to start early morning around 5 from Noida. The meeting place was City Center Metro Station. But we all were in a relaxed mood and wanted to enjoy. We were thinking that Lansdowne is 270 KMs from Delhi and if we start at 5, we might reach before the Hotel check in at 10. How wrong we were :Frustrati


The Bikes:
2015 CBR650F
2015 Ninja 650F
2004 Ninja 636
2014 ZX10R
Duke 200
RC 390
and the Saviour in this trip, Alto.


Starting Grid



We started around 6-6.15 and mostly were doing slow speeds as we wanted to keep the Alto in sight too. The friend driving the Alto was alone in the car and we did not want to leave him alone behind. We took our breakfast break at Giani dhaba at Gajraula. We were doing pretty okay till that time and still had a lot of energy in the tank. Things started going downhill from there. First we ended up taking a longer route and then we took a couple of wrong turns going in wrong directions bringing our first day total to around 330-340 KMs. After breakfast in Gajraula, the sun was out. We did get some open stretches to open some legs of our bikes, but that fun did not last long. Soon, as customary with my history of UP highways, we hit a traffic jam. We were stuck in it for around 45 mins and it really took a lot of energy out of us. The heat with all the riding gear was not helping either. We took a break at a petrol station and realised for the first time what we had gotten ourselves into. No amount of water was able to quench our thirst. We had to make a huge effort to get on our bikes. After that progress was mostly slow and we had to take breaks for one reason or the other every 40-50 KMs. Every break we took, just went into gulping water, loads of water.


Happy faces at Giani Dhaba



Taking Detour to avoid massive jam on the highway



The Petrol Pump Break



Some open Stretches





Finally we reached Kothdwar and I was really excited that now we get the twisties. I was riding the 636, my favourite for attacking corners, but the fun didn't last long. There were literally hundreds of unmarked speed breakers, the road surface was also not very smooth and as usual oncoming traffic was over eager at turns. Also, around 250 KMs of riding in 50 degree heat out of which around 120 was done on the 636 meant my body had started aching already. I was still more than keen to make the most of whatever corners we were getting and tried my best to be on it. Riding these bikes slowly, actually tires you even more. The final 20 odd KMs to Lansdowne is an even narrow road, although the traffic is less, but sometime oncoming traffic is fast and can put you into tricky situations. I got to ride the ZX10 first time on twisties here. Although the road was too tight for something like a ZX10 but the ZX10 impressed me immensely for its friendly nature. It was actually more comfortable than the 636 and in power mode B, it was a doodle to ride. This one had an aftermarket seat which was preventing me from slipping and that made making the bike dance between my short legs super easy. Overall I came out very very impressed with the ZX10 and in my opinion foot peg positioning of Kawasakis suit me more (Short Riders). I have found Kawasaki generally puts their foot pegs a bit above than rest which helps my short legs. Both the 636 and the ZX10 are the bikes where I have found holding tank the easiest. We took 9 hours to reach Lansdowne, barely able to walk upto our rooms by the end of it.


The return journey was almost similar. After not much of a rest from last night, our battered bodies took the mantle of coming back. We wanted to go to Tarkeshwar temple, but the return journey seemed so daunting that we promised Shiv ji to come back again and skipped Tarkeshwar. The entire trip was full of water breaks. This is where Alto proved a saviour. It had all our luggage and some water. We drank and drank and none of us urinated. The water just seemed to evaporate out of our bodies. The highways in UP are not smooth. The traffic is awry, there is population on the sides and generally keeping speeds is not easy. By the time we reached Jain Shikanji in Modinagar, we were good to leave planet earth for heaven. We just lay on chairs for an hour and had buckets of Shikanji. We started our last leg and as if God thought it was not enough we saw a massive traffic jam. What happened next was the fight to survive. It had become an endurance challenge. Super hot weather, Super Hot bikes beneath you, battered and dehydrated bodies and stop and go traffic. This was not working out. We did what everybody was doing, started navigating from extreme left which meant puddles of dust and mud and what not but we didn't care about the bikes anymore, we were just desparate to make progress. In this 7-8 KMs ordeal which lasted around 2 hours, our bikes heat up twice. Finally we made it alive and reached friends place in Noida and if previous day was a record in taking the highest time to reach Lansdowne, we had broken it as we took 10.5 hours to reach back.


Overall experience was not as grim as it may sound. What stood out was friendship. We all kept pushing each other for that little more, we all stuck together as a group. Nobody left the group and the group followed the slowest rider always. We kept switching bikes which helped us in concentrating. The bikes performed flawlessly. This was just not what these machines were made to tackle, but none of them skipped a beat.


Lessons learnt: Dont take 636 touring.
June is not the time to tour.
Good friends around, help you go through the toughest of challenges


Some Pics:
Me with the 10R



Photography by Nitin bhai on the return leg









Duke 200



Arjun on my bike



Me on the ZX10



RC390



A couple of Videos:




Next Updates:
Tyres Changed
5th Service


CHEERS!!




Rachit

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

[MENTION=11437]rachit[/MENTION] how does the bike manage heat in the traffic, the ceeber say compared to the benelli 600 or ninja 650?honda is spose to have the best engine cooling systems all over.

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

In my humble opinion, the 650 heats up more than I expected. I have not ridden the Benelli, but the Honda definitely heats up more than the Ninja 650.
It has never stopped, I mean in crazy 1 hour complete stop and go traffic under 48 degree sun, but it does heat up. You idle it for 2 consecutive traffic lights and you will start hearing the fans buzzing. The ninja runs much cooler.

Rachit

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

I see, ok I was quoted 8.25 for the cbr and street triple S at 10 L, this is where confusion kicks in.

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53


It is tough one. My take would be, if your prefer something sportier get the Striple and if you would be doing some touring, get the CBR.

Rachit

Waiting for cbr 650f 2017

Hi friends.. am a newbie to the forum.. I am looking to buy a 650cc SBK and have shortlisted cbr 650f. Anybody else waiting along with me for the bike? I would like to know the ownership experience of cbr650f. Please enlighten me

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Hello Rachit, went through your write up just now. I know its been a while you fulfilled your dream but I am sure the feeling of owning something like that still must be fascinating...you write quite well..i hope you are having a good time with the bike...even I got to fulfill my dream some months back...do go through the write up when you get the time...

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Hi Friend,

There are actually a couple of ownership threads on CBR650F on xBHP and TBHP as well. Maybe you can go through them as well.

Hi Brother,

Thank you for your kind words. Hearty Congratulations on your awesome and so desirable Diavel.
I read your thread the first day itself you posted it.

Let me tell you a secret. When I saw the spy shots of the Diavel for the first time, even before when it was launched, I actually posted on this forum that I will buy this bike if it gets launched at a reachable price in India. I have been completely smitten by it ever since it has been launched. I did actually go for Test Ride as well, but AMP could not find the keys for the Test Ride bike for 30 mins. I wish I could afford it.

It still makes up for my dream garage as a badass street bike. Wishing you many happy miles with her.


Thanks

Rachit

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

Wow...that makes my heart swell with joy...hahahaha...like a parent hearing praise for the child from someone else...i am sadly away from the bike since last two months as I am sailing...can't wait to get back soon enough...hope we can meet for some ride too...thanks again for the kind words

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

May I know what's the fuel(octane rating) required for cbr650f?

re: My Honda CBR650F. EDIT: Track Day at BIC on PG-53

You are most welcome brother and surely, once you are back, let me know. We can ride together

Normal 87 Octane is sufficient. Preferred is 93 Octane or 91 octane some thing like Extra Premium etc.


Rachit