Congratulations!

Approved

Congrats Diffuser! The Electra 5s is a good bike, smooth, with the sweet thump of the CI and the positive shifting 5S gearbox.
A lil bit of a compromise solution between the Std 350 and the higher revving AVls and UCEs, or you could call it best of both worlds!
And whats more you have a soon to be classic in your hands as the CI engine production is to be stopped in 2010.

Congratulations buddy! Waiting for your ownership report.
Happy Thumping.

Congos on your thump acquisition

@Diffuser: Congratulations on getting the 'Bull'. Do share the experience of riding her, and ofcourse a few pictures as well.

Congrats @diffuser looking forward to seeing pics of your new bull.

Wow..Congratulations, Sunil!!

Finally you got the Bull.Waiting for a full blown report along with the pics.Also waiting for you to take the Bull to the places where it enjoys the most!!

Thank you friends for your wishes. It's only through xBhp that I have managed without a bike for so long, watching the amazing pics and dreaming for my own bike. Here goes the buying experience...

The reasons for delaying the purchase were hope that the CBZ would be back and secondly, the very strict dates followed by my family for buying new vehicles. So when I finally got the green signal, I ran off with the cash in by backpack to Cuttack RE showroom, which many told me was better compared to Bhubaneshwar's in terms of sale and service. The in-charge had told me bikes were being unloaded when I called before leaving my office, so I reached after an hour at half past two. At five, I sent back my friend and waited alone. Bad news!! Only two bikes unloaded: a black and a red. The black was promptly taken by a guy who was waiting since Saturday and I plainly refused the red one. Called a friend to pick me up and stood fuming outside the showroom. At 6:30, this guy asks me to go to godown and pick bike directly. Again a failed attempt as godown owner refuses to release the bike. My friend gives them a HUGE piece of his mind and we left.


At the Cuttack showroom


There goes the black one

The very next day, I book the bike for delivery on next Friday at my city's showroom and leave town for a long weekend. Friday arrives real slowly and bikes are unloaded post-noon. I am more excited about the delivery than my annual appraisal. I reach and find new bikes parked there. After getting to see my own, I was like . I make the payment and get the papers ready, while PDI is going on at the same time. The sales people and the head mechanic were really friendly and I pass some time chatting around. It took some time before I finally got the keys, but the bike was there and I had no qualms. Will be going back next week to get a complimentary saree-guard fixed. At around six, I leave with a smile on my face and my new companion with me. Filling petrol and bike's pooja pass on like a blur and I am back on the roads in no time. Few friends who've seen the bike are impressed and re-thinking their decision of getting a ZMR.


My friend and the bikes lined up at BBSR showroom


Hold on...not mine (looked awesome though)


Here it is...


Another pic


Getting ready for PDI


The showroom


Last (decent) pic of the day
Right now handling is ultra smooth and I am strictly going by the book for the run-in for the first 500 km. After that, it would a mix of Gurunandan's and Ritwik's advice.

A small problem I was having was that bike was a little difficult to start, specially when the cold evening set in. The front tyre is squeaking a little, most probably the bearing needs oil, so I would be going back to the showroom tomorrow.

@diffuser, congrats on the new thumper.
It sure would be one of the last few cast iron classics to be rolled out of the showroom.

The starting troubles would ease out once you get used to the routine. ( Not sure if Electra 5s has decomp lever)
Gurunandan's website, xbhp, teambhp etc has a lot of tips on how to do it the best way.
You may also browse for pete snidal's tips.( he is the authority).

Happy thumping

@diffuser-congos for "the thumper".She is beautiful(touchwood).
Waiting for ownership report and some more pics.
Good luck.

Thanks VR.

The bike had already done 200+ km in the first day itself. Will post a small report and few pics soon.

Ride report

It's one day and the bike had done 200+ km already. Took out for a lazy Saturday morning spin to the twin city Cuttack and cruised along the scenic river road. The bike was performing flawlessly and I was shifting gears as specified in the manual. A problem that I faced was the front wheel squeaking at slow speeds, more so when applying the disc brake. Later that day, service center fellow told me it was just the brake pads setting in and should go away. Also notice little oil streaks along the enclosing along the rear brake lever. Maybe a gasket change required. Also got the hang of kickstarting the bike...was giving throttle at the wrong point of the kick.

Here are some pics.















Come Sunday and I am having a really bad day. First, I couldn't take the bike for a early morning ride. Then in the evening, I lock the front wheel with a chain and forget taking that out, resulting in a broken speedo cable. Felt really sad and shouted on my girlfriend coz she was nagging me at the time. The bike is resenting this and the gears are becoming hard to change, specially when coming to neutral. I am going easy on the ES and going for the kick if the bike doesn't start at one touch of the switch.

Can someone (yamt/ desideep/prajwal/niks) please confirm if I should not hold the clutch lever for more than 5 seconds? Read it on some forum. It's really hard to do that when engaging neutral standing in a traffic signal.

Congratulations , finally you bought it

About the clutch , avoid holding it for longer periods. Its not that difficult to shift down to "N" every time. Riding in bumper to bumper traffic will be a little hectic though.

Congrats dude !!! You have a beauty in your hands