Questions, Questions, Questions in My E-mail Inbox

There have been an influx of questions as to the reason that I have not been updating this blog of late.

No worries, I am alright here- just that I have been a tad busy plus the fact that I have yet to receive the bike that my friend was to sell to me, so there was really nothing much to update.

The story goes that my friend wanted to trade-in his Kawasaki Z750 CBU bike for a higher-capacity bike, and the bike shop would only offer him a pretty low trade-in sum with the reasoning that most bikers would prefer the Z800 CKD so there was very limited demand for the Z750 in the market.

Hearing the lowly trade-in price, I informed my friend that I would be willing to top-up an additional RM2k on top of the shop's offer, to take-over his bike. It would have been a steal of a price if I had been able to secure the purchase of the bike at less than RM30k. He had initially agreed to sell to me instead since I am able to offer him a higher price than the shop; but it has been weeks and he was said to be having second thoughts about upgrading for another bike since he stood to lose so much monies in depreciation. So here I am waiting for him to make a "jawapan muktamad".

In the meantime, perhaps I could write about Malaysia bikers' favourite scooter instead ie Sym VTS 200. You see these scooters everywhere, and there are really a huge following for this bike. In fact, there has been quite a no. of e-mails from fellow readers that requested that I get my hands on the VTS 200 and begin on modification works. I do have one, but I have hardly ridden it so perhaps I would hereafter utilize it to fill in the spaces now.

So it could just be scooter-mania in the following entries. Ride safe, mates.

Goodbye, Benelli Keeway TX200G Motard aka Bumblebee.

 

 

Well, the advert on Bumblebee was posted on 18th October 2013 and e-mails started to come in for appointments on its viewing. As I was travelling between 20th - 22nd October 2013, I arranged for 4 interested parties to view the bike on 19th October 2013.

The first 2 chaps took a liking to the bike immediately after the viewing and test-riding at Solaris Mont Kiara, but they requested between 2-4 weeks to raise the cash with offers to place a deposit immediately. I politely declined as I preferred a first come first serve basis. They promised to get back to me as soon as they could raise the RM6,000 that I had asked for the said bike.

The latter 2 chaps had to postpone their viewing and test-riding as it was raining in the afternoon. One of them was a very polite chap by the name of Raymond.

Well, Raymond got in touch with me today and requested to purchase the bike straightaway. I was on annual leave due to family matters and therefore, arranged a short trip to JPJ to meet up with him for the sales and transfer of ownership.

On my way there, another chap called me to confirm the bike but I told him that it has already been reserved. He then offered me a higher price at RM6,100 but I politely declined as I had promised Raymond on the sale of the bike; and he increased again and again until at RM6,500, he understood that I meant my word and that the bike was really sold. I explained that had he confirmed on the bike the other day, or at least prior to Raymond's confirmation, I would be able to sell to him even at my earlier asking price of RM6,000.

To cut a long story short, Raymond collected HIS bike and was pleased as a punch. Last I heard, he would be shipping the bike to Keningau, Sabah for plantation runs. I waved goodbye as he rode the bike off into the sunset, figuratively speaking.

Goodbye, Bumblebee... It's been nice working on you.

Houston, We Have A Problem...

I have been in Jakarta for a couple of days and Bumblebee had been resting next to my neighbour's Beemer GS1300 over the time. After I settled down, I thought that I might have a short spin around the condo after the brood has gone to bed.

And so I sneaked out of the house and then walked to Bumblebee with the swagger that only a biker possesses. And uh huh, I couldn't get the bike to fire up.

"Houston, we have a problem..."

 
The bike felt like it was going to start up but then the engine would rumbled back to silence. I checked the carb, the fuel gauge (to ensure that it was not at a locked position), etc. The only recent change that I have made to the bike was the installation of the LeoVince exhaust but it was working beautifully the last time I had it on the road.

All my previous bikes had started at the first ignition consistently, so it was a tad disconcerting that this very new bike was having problem starting, and at 2,500 km on the odometer only.

And that was when I glanced at the odometer and found that it was registered as 2,630 km on the odometer.

"Surely that rather big tank can't be good for just 130 km per full tank?", I wondered aloud as I checked the tank.

And sure enough the tank was empty. Looking through the external tank carefully, I found that the hard plastics on the left and right sides, which made the tank looked bigger, were purely for looks.

And the fuel gauge at the engine  should be turned to 12 o'clock ("on" position) while 3 o'clock meant "off" and 6 o'clock meant "reserve".

I had inevitably turned mine to 6 o'clock as I was riding, which meant that there wasn't any reserves for me to get the bike out to a petrol station.

So I hopped in my car and went to pump some petrol into a lubricant bottle; afterwhich I fed the precious liquid into Bumblebee. I pressed the ignition button again and voila, the bike came alive with a roar.

"Houston, we have lift off..."

You could be sure that I'd be looking closely at the odometer from hereon, and a visit to the petrol station every 100km would henceforth be a common norm for this bike.

"Fuel on the go? But is that RON97?"

When Harry Met Sally

I wanted to pass some bike stuff to Joe, the owner of my ex-Aprilia and arranged to meet up with him at 10.30 pm. What was supposed to be a teh tarik session between current and ex-owner became a lengthy support session that lasted till almost 3.00 am now.

It seemed that Joe was having a problem with the bike. He had problem starting the bike sometimes, and just faced the problem that the RPM would not go past 7,000 RPM. I had initially thought that Joe was not gunning the bike the way that 2-strokers needed to be coaxed with.

But once we exhanged bikes and I rode the Aprilia for quite a duration, I found that the bike was displaying symptons of water in its carburetor as per the following :

1) Won't start or run : If there is a large amount of water in your carburetor your engine will not run at all. Engines require a combustible substance in order to start up and fire; since water is not combustible, too much of it will completely prevent the motor from operating.

2) Rough Surging : The carburetor's job is to create the ideal fuel mix for your motor and supply your vehicle with the proper amount of fuel. If the carburetor is supplying your vehicle with watered-down fuel, or just has small droplets of water mixed in occasionally, your vehicle will be getting a mixture that does not burn effectively in the motor. It will cause the motor run badly, bog down when accelerating or surge as the vehicle alternately receives good fuel and fuel with water mixed in.

My diagnosis would be water in the carburetor, which reqires a mechanic to clean and flush the water out of the system.I would contact the mechanic tomorrow and appeal for him to assist in the carburetor job soonest possible.

However, despite this "teething issue" as Joe called it, the rest of the bike performed beautifully. The gear changes were swell, the brakes were great and the overall package warrant s 90% mark, let down by the erratic RPM.

 

I hope that we could settle this matter and have Joe having fun on his Aprilia again soon.

Banksy Renamed As Bumblebee ("BB")

Banksy would henceforth be renamed as Bumblebee. Not that it has anything to do with the Chevy from Transformers, but simply because its transformation programme has its yellow-and-black scheme becoming more and more obvious. Hence the Bumblebee.

Haha, the sting looks like the current mudguard.

Now, this Bumblebee is fierce-looking.

I went about polishing Bumblebee between 11.30 pm - 12.30 am today, after the brood has gone to sleep. I collected Bumblebee from the mechanic's place at around 7.00 pm, and there it was in all its glory but with oily hand print stains all over its body and all. And I couldn't stop wanting to look at her, so off I went with my polishing cloth and all.

Anyway, back to the mechanic's place, with the stuff that I ordered duly-installed, it really changed the whole outlook of the bike. She looked so much meaner and fiercer now, but that could be just in my eyes. You decide for yourself when you look at the pictures later.

Before and...

After.

The LeoVince Cobra looked so beautiful perched at the side of the bike. And when I started it, the exhaust bass was so strong that even the few Versys and Shiver owners servicing their bikes at the workshop came over to check out Bumblebee.

The exhaust note was oh-so-beautiful it would also attract too much attention from the authorities, so I had the silencer installed and thereafter, it was just-a-tad muted down. Just-a-tad.

The ProTaper cushion bar and hand guards added a touch of zesty yellow to the front of the bike, and it really added to the whole character of Bumblebee. No longer does the front looked dull and average-looking, now it exuded a sense of wilderness and danger.

Looks like an elk from this angle.

My riding view.

Looks good to me.

Right side, external.

Right side, internal.

Left side, external.

Left side, internal.

Add in the motard seat net and Racing Boy reflective sticker for sports rims, and the whole bike really looked the part. The Hella BM dual-horn improved upon the safety aspect while riding. However, the mechanic was unable to modify the footrests though, so we would have to go through other channels.

Spot the horn.

The ride home felt really good. Bumblebee's street cred and presence improved ten-fold at the very least, and other vehicles moved to give her space when I revved the boomy LeoVince to let them know that I needed to go through.

The bike's pick-up improved tremendously and there was a surge that was non-present previously. All in all, the LeoVince  really changed the nature of the bike.

And here she is in all her glory.

More to come, perhaps.

And for comparo purposes, here she was in stock form earlier the year as seen from the showroom.

Stock platform good to begin with.

Going forward, I am toying with the idea of changing the 2008 Kawasaki ER6N headlamps into Bumblebee. There are a few selling on Mudah now between RM350 - RM550 per piece, and I believe that the headlamp would change the whole outlook of Bumblebee all over again. Of course, the year 2011 ono Kawasaki ER6N headlamps would look even better given its more aggressive stance.

However, my mechanic has cautioned that those headlamps were quite heavy and that may affect the motard's agile riding experiences. Hmmm... let's sleep over it further.

24/9/2013 : Birthday Treat

Today are the birthdays of 2 of my dearest family members, so it's a great day to say the least. Happy Birthday to both my love ones!

Plus the fact that I had yesterday surrendered my bike to my trusted superbike mechanic since the early days, to work on a few improvements and I can't wait to have it back to see the stuff in person.

The pictures of the bike after I have taken back receipt of the bike should include yellow ProTaper handle cushion (already installed when taking its picture yesterday afternoon), yellow hand guards on the handlebars, yellow rim stickers from Racing Boy, LeoVince Cobra duly-installed with re-tuned carburetor, footrests, etc.

This project bike is moving along smoothly into the envisioned picture. Nice!

23/9/2013 : Givi Purchases

While killing time at the Benelli Keeway service centre, I strolled over to Givi to take a look. Lo and behold, I made some purchases which amounted to RM110.00 as per the following :

1) Givi storage base : The outside bike shop quoted RM55 for purchase and fixing the box on the bike, and I postponed it last week as the mechanic told me that it involved drilling mods and would take approximately an hour. At the Givi centre, the same base inclusive of a 5-min installation cost only RM35! Thereafter, I could then attached the Givi MotoGP LE storage box and it did change the looks of the bike somewhat.

2) Riding gloves : Givi had a new pair of gloves design that was quite soft and comfortable to wear, with silicon gel inserts and grips. It felt different compared to my leather riding gloves; and since it was a combination of yellow and black, which matched the colour of Banksy, I decided to get the pair at RM75.00.


Nice!

23/9/2013 : Servicing and Tuning at Benelli Keeway (M) Sdn Bhd @ 2,500 km

I went to BK on 21/9/2013 to service the bike but it was pretty packed; so the service representative informed me that it would be easier to go on a weekday. I made reservation for today and when I arrived at 8.45 am, there was another biker waiting for the centre to open at 9.00 am for the registration. I queued behind him and was the second customer for the day.

Besides the 2,500 km servicing for change of engine lubricant, I also requested for them to look into the following :

1) Hard to change to neutral gear : This was a common problem and was easily rectified.
2) Brakes : The slow brakes were due to brake dust build-up and a clean-up got it working fine again.
3) Chain tensioner : The chain was tighten.
4) Tappet sound : The tappet sound was quite loud, which again was a common problem but this was easily rectified.
5) General check on the rest of the bike.

The service centre was quite comfortable with free coffee, tea or Milo, air-conditioned with leather seats, TV, etc. Services however, were quite slow and my bike was finally pushed in at around 10.45 am. Gasp!

I passed time by chatting with other fellow bikers, and generally most of the people there were servicing either their TX200G or TNT600. Looks like these are the bestsellers for Benelli Keeway at the moment. One could also use the door linking to Givi shop for retail therapy while waiting for the time to pass by, which yours truly did too.

The bike was serviced after a long while; and riding it thereafter revealed that the riding experiences were indeed enhanced and the bike felt so much more smoother with improved running and idling conditions.

Total servicing cost was affordable at RM27.00 only. Great!

Dual Exhaust, Dude!

A Nice Example of the Benelli Keeway TX200 Enduro

A Wet Affair

Wheelies on the Benelli Keeway TX200 Enduro

Riding Magazine No. 209 : Benelli Keeway TX 200 Enduro

20/9/2013 : Jam-Packed City Roads and Crunching Miles on the Highway

I had been caught in the traffic jam that was more severe on 18^th and 19^th September 2013, and the news on 18^th published the following :

“KUALA LUMPUR: Several main roads in the city will be closed in stages from today for the rehearsal and actual celebration of the 80th Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

City police traffic operations officer Mohd Irwan Abdul Rahim said the roads will be closed from 6am to noon from today until Saturday.

The roads involved are Jalan Mahameru/Jalan Damansara (from Istana Lama), Jalan Travers, Jalan Mahameru/Jalan Damansara (from Parliament), Jalan Lembah/Jalan Perdana (Masjid Negara), Bulatan Hishamuddin, Jalan Tembusu, Jalan Cenderasari and Jalan Perdana.

Jalan Kinabalu, Jalan Raja, Jalan Leboh Pasar Besar, Jalan Hishamuddin, Jalan Leboh Ampang, Jalan Tun Perak, Bulatan Dato' Onn, Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan and Jalan Raja will also be closed," he said in a statement here today.     

Meanwhile, Jalan Hishamuddin/Jalan Raja, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman/Jalan Raja, Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan will be closed from 9pm on Friday till 4pm on Sunday. – BERNAMA”

Today being the 20^th and a Friday further, only meant that the Parade rehearsal jam plus the Friday clubbing crowd would ensure that both peak hours would be quite a nightmare. I glanced at the Weather App and it forecasted that today would be a sunny day throughout. And an immediate change of plans had me going for my leather jacket and fullface helmet, instead of the office jacket and tie.

I haven’t had a long ride on Banksy for a while, but she fired up easily nonetheless.

I had barely gone a short distance from Sri Hartamas when the traffic jam build-up was not a pretty scene. Banksy was able to go between the cars easily and I managed to maintain a constant speed of approximately 40-60 kmph passing through the stationary cars. There were of course some cars that would cut out from their positions without any indicator lights; and that’s when a loud horn on the bike would really help.

Note to self : Let’s have the horn changed to the dual horns over the weekend.

The bike was light and agile, similar to my previous Tuono; and it moved easily and changed directions at a flick of the wrist. This was a bike that you won’t go wrong for tackling the city roads.

I soon hit the highway and noted some minus points start.

Lack of Top-Speed

We all know that the single-cylinder ain’t gonna win a drag race anytime soon as there was simply low top-end speed. Banksy was no different. While she performed beautifully on jam-packed city roads; once on the highway, I would twist full throttle and the speed took time to build up; and it seemed to be limited to 110 kmph throughout. Perhaps the engine was still tight being fairly new and clocking only 2,000 plus km thus far, so one could only hope that more speed would be released with given time for the engine to settle down comfortably. The LeoVince full system exhaust that I got may assist in this capacity.

Wind Factor

The wind factor was simply defeating at full blast. Well, it was a naked motard with no windscreen after all, so it was only to be expected somewhat. With my Ninja 650R and Tuono, I was able to climb to triple-digit speeds easily and in short bursts of time; and even then, the wind factor was very bearable. Banksy was only doing 110 kmph and I was already being pushed backward strongly.

Note to self : If I was going to do more highway patrols, I would need to invest in a good set of aftermarket touring screen to combat the wind onslaught.

Brake Dance

Banksy may be equipped with front and rear calliper disc brakes, but the feel of them were heck of different compared to the Tokino and Aprilia Racing calipers that I were used too. If those were like slicing butter with a hot knife, then the Banksy’s equivalent felt more like slicing butter with a blunt knife. For someone whom just upgraded from a moped, Banksy’s brakes would likely felt like a massive improvement. I’m just setting the standards a tad too high given that I had been using better parts.

Neutral Gear

The neutral gear was quite elusive. I read online that it would get easier as the mileage piles up and with an added tune-up at Benelli Keeway service centre at Jalan Ipoh. I would make a visit to the centre and see if it indeed helps.

Screw-em Up

One of the screws from the exhaust pipe protector had fallen off, presumably due to the vibration of the single-cylinder. Search online revealed similar experiences from other bikers. This would be an easy rectification; but it also meant that the local assembly guys should take note and improve their works.

Irregardless of the aforementioned points, Banksy was riding beautifully thanks to some saving grace.

Seating Position

I like the seating position which was perched up high ala Kawasaki Versys, and there was hardly any strain on the riders’ wrists. You could ride like this the whole day long (with an aftermarket windscreen, of course) while touring. Try that on a real sports bike and you would limp achingly to the chiropractor to exit with a sizeable bill.

Get Some Grip

The Pirelli tires supplied stock standard really made riding the bike a better experience. The grip was good and the rider would inevitably felt more confident during the rides. KTM Duke 200 especially, had pretty crappy tires spoiling an otherwise well-made single-cylinder bike. Bike manufacturers should take a feather out of Benelli Keeway’s cap in providing good tires for added safety and riding experiences.

I would be stopping by a bike shop on the way home this evening, to install the Givi storage bracket at RM55. It should be a walk in the park riding Banksy later the evening whilst with the jammed-pack clubbing crowd in their honking cars later.

Ride safe, mates.

Givi Base Plate

So I have collected the brand new Givi MotoGP 2012 LE storage box yesterday and it was an absolute beauty. The quality of the paint job was marvelous and it would really beautify any bikes that it was attached too, preferably a Honda model.

 
And if you have a BK TX200G too, and you were thinking of getting a Givi box to store your stuff as per my shoes, then this tip would help you. The Givi box would not attached to your bike's provided storage bracket at the top rear of the bike.

Instead, you need to get a Givi base plate, that could then be attached to the bike's bracket; before you could utilize the rear for placing your Givi box.

So do remember to get the base plate when you shop for your storage box. I'll be making a trip to Givi to get the base plate soon.