![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Despite having lowered the bike in the front (17" front wheel, fork-tubes raised through the triple-clamps), the bike flips in 1st, hikes the front up in 2nd, and floats it in 3rd. Sanju Sahu called my bike a "mind-*bleep*" when he took it for a short spin, Rohan Bhadgaonkar told me to lose the Harley bar and get proper clipons because this was a racer, Madmax Arjun Raina couldn't stop raving about it either. Sling refused to ride it, LOL. One of Sling's friends, Amey Temghare who is an ex dirt-racer said the bike is "insane". Those looking for a review of the chambers can stop reading here.
But things weren't always this fun.
The issues I had with my bike were with things that were never touched by Ron (the speed wobble, the carburettor cable jugaad). There was a comprehensive feedback thread somewhere but I can't find it now so will post up again with all facts.
Mistake # 1:
Soon after I received my build, I trusted Prakash Shende, Ravi's mechanic, to put it all together for me under my supervision. That was my first mistake. I would MUCH later (almost years later) discover during routine carb-cleaning that because of his fancy jugaad with the carb cable, the throttle-slides weren't going up more than 2/3rd of the total distance. Anyways, this was not imporant during run-in so I didn't notice it at first. I did a 250 odd km. run-in on stock pipes, fat jetting, and Castrol 2t oil. Soon after run-in was over, I and some friends did some speed runs and the bike wouldn't go over 118 kmph. I blamed Ron's porting at the time and even sent the barrels back to him for some more "massaging", but it was only much later that I discovered that the carb-cable jugaad (among other things, but more on that later) was to blame.
Anyway, so when the barrels came back from Ron after the second porting, I decided to put everything back together myself. It was painful and time consuming but I was happy with my work. Sling provided helpful tips over the phone such as "remember to lubricate gaskets before fitting them so that they don't rip when you tighten stuff down". This time there were no oil-leaks either.
Also this time instead of stock pipes, I put the chambers. I had to take off the side-stand and cut off the side-stand mount. Putting the chambers transformed the bike. But it exposed SO many bottlenecks it wasn't even funny. The bike would take off like a rocket at 5500 rpm but even with 330 size mainjets, she would suddenly stone-wall at 7000 rpm. I just HAD to get to the bottom of this. This is when i discovered the carb-jugaad. Fixing it transformed my bike to some extent. Atleast now she was revving freely to 8500 rpm but the train-like pull would stop about 1000 rpm before that. That is when Motorhead (Rohit Koli) suggested that the next bottleneck might be my (stock) reeds. He was kind enough to carry back a pair of the world's best reeds (VF3s) for me, from the US. Installing it was another matter though, because by then Ron and I weren't on good talking terms
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
When the barrels came back with the huge-ass reeds installed, the transformation was so monumental, it blew me away. I guess you get what you pay for. She is now like an old-school dirt-bike or LT-on-steroids upto 5250 rpm. There is a slight flat-spot there upto 5500 rpm and then you are shot out of a cannon. There are no other words for it. The mind-numbing acceleration goes on right upto 9000+ rpm. The low-end is good enough to allow the bike to enter the powerband from 2000 odd revs, double-seat even in 6th. It has become a game for me and my pillion riders. Get the bike into 6th at around 3000 rpm, and keep the throttle whacked open. She gets to 5500 rpm like any normal stock-piped RD (no clutch-slipping etc. required) and after that, for the next few mind-boggling seconds it is like going to hell on a one-way ticket
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Whistle :-"](./images/smilies/eusa_whistle.gif)
Mistake # 2:
My second mistake was that i was looking in all the wrong places to resolve the wobble issue. Finally help came in the form of Teji who insisted that the culprit was most definitely the swingarm bushes. He ordered some fancy ones for me and I got them back when I traveled to the US for the third time. Took the swingarm off and got the bronze shit installed at the hydraulic press shop of a friend, and NO MORE WOBBLES!! A monthly visit to the local grease-gun operator is all it takes now to keep her rock-steady at 150 plus. Oh that reminds me, I did an unintentional top-speed run on my way back from Lonavla with Utsav CHS from x-bhp for company. She did 157 before I chickened out and slowed down for traffic.
Would I buy anything from RDD again? Not a chance in hell. Therefore my beloved car shall remain stock and I will hopefully continue to get my 4-wheel kicks driving my best friend's M5. Mohith you missed your chance to see a family saloon that can harass any production Ferrari, when you slinked in and out of Pune within 3 days without informing anyone
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
As to getting back to why I wouldn't buy anything from Ron again, well, getting anything out of Ron is like a labor of love. It is too painful. You have to pay your money up front, and wait for months before stuff turns up. AND things don't turn out well if you get even the routine stuff installed by a "reputed" RD mech (even one who has worked for Escorts for 25 years) I am not sure I would want to go through all that again. Also he's too cagey with a lot of stuff; like the time he refused to help me with the carb-cable spacers just because I didn't buy the carbs from him (I didn't know at the time that RDD sold carbs too, LOL) or the wobble, really pissed me off LOL.
And it's a very confusing duality because in person, he is one of the most hospitable and approachable human beings I know. I have stayed over at his place a coupla times and even very recently when I went to pick up the Husky from Bangalore, meeting him was like meeting an old friend who you started avoiding after you discovered he works for the KGB
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
And just for the record, I shall forever be indebted to Adrian for having sold me the chambers. One of the "stock RDs are best" clowns here who laughed at me for getting second-hand pipes for 15k and spending more money just to fly to Bangalore and get them back, offered me twice as much money for them after one ride on my bike.
And even Ron won't know whether to laugh or cry when he finds out who's offered to pay me 55k for the chambers alone
![Silenced :-#](./images/smilies/eusa_silenced.gif)