Finally here comes the pics.

 

A perspective view from back

Me and my FZ-S.

Back view. Fat tyres are a treat for biker's eyes

Me as a real FZ rider. 

It's been quite a long time I joined the owner's club of Yamaha FZ-S. Sorry not to upload the pics. My Orkut friends will see more pics of the photo session including me, my FZ-S, Roopesh, Ajay and his Pulsar 200. Hmmm... I ve already covered more than 700 kms in my FZ. I m thinking to cover about the distance close to 1000 till my FZ-S will be refreshed and I can use its throttle response more and hopefully enjoy my rides more. 

A Tiny Review

Since the bike is a fresh one and yet to complete first service, not much I can say about the bike's performance. As per the manual, I tried my best always to keep its heart rev below 4500 rpm. The highest speed I noticed in the speedo is 56 on one overtake. Hmmm I also had a close shave with KSRTC last day. Oops I expected KSRTCs to have more braking power. I changed my opinion. Nor they have great drivers these days. Coz they tend to accelerate the mammoth's of city traffic as if they are Hayabusa's with little braking at times. Anyway by God's grace I was left without a scratch either to me or my FZ-S. :) The bike have good acceleration is what impressed me. Initial pickup is good. But I think in overtakes this bike won't help you much. You need to strain its 153 cc heart more to beat more and for that more blood should circulate. That is when the FZ tend to get a bit thirsty. I noticed my FZ-S not as thirsty like said in many reviews. I suppose my FZ with its brand new 153 cc engine in factory condition is returning a mileage of around 42. I m satisfied with that. The reason for very bad mileage reported by many is because the nature of the bike. When you sit on the bike and ride alone, it feels like a big bike. Initially throttle response is very good. Infact its better than some bigger displacement bikes like the Pulsar 200 and can even come closer to a ZMA.

There it ends. It will not pull you all the way to 3 digit mark with ease as the Pulsar 200 or ZMA, even though the bike gives you an impression that it can do it. It will do but takes a good amount of time at the expense of extra fuel. Result : Mileage will take a dip. But the bike's ride quality is amazing. Ride won't be enjoyable for the pillion on long rides. Bike's handle gives you superior control of your machine. Tyres are also very good as expected. The rear brakes are not so good if used alone. But the front 267mm KBX disc brakes are too good to stop the machine. If applied together, bike will stop where you would want. On some occassions I applied the front discs alone. I m surprised that bike doesn't skid at all. The front shocks are too good absorb the back force. I had experience not so good(not so devastating also) in braking Pulsar 200 and a ZMA on application of front disc brakes alone at speeds below 60.

Couple of things I dislike about this bike is its self start and seat installment. Self start is not precise especially in morning. It takes 3-5 presses with a bit of acceleration and choke on to start the engine. I think its battery is too weak for a self start only bike(5A, Non MF). Unicorn have a more powerful battery with 7A. Seat makes sound in potholes which could have been avoided if they had designed it better.

Anyway I am happy now that I made a right choice in acquiring a good bike that have reasonable power, good throttle response, good braking, good balance, good control, good ride quality, good build quality and reasonable mileage if ridden within its limits. I will be updating about its performance above 4500 rpm after first service. I m thinking of completing that in next week and take the bike for a long ride once again to home in 2 months. But this time I hope I can open the throttle more.

Got new bike and bid the Dio adieu...

Atlast, one of my dream came true last Thursday. A bike. I got my Yamaha FZ-S delivered. The bike rolled out of the showroom with temporary registration as I decided to get it registered from home town, Mavelikara as there are lot of complications and lot of time wasted when I tried to get it registered here in Trivandrum. So rode it last Saturday all the way from Sreekariyam, Trivandrum to Arunoottimangalam, Mavelikara  at a speed not exceeding 48 kmph as the bike is in running in period. The ride was enjoyable initially, but felt tired on later half as I got the speed limit on accelerating on long straight highways. So after 3 hours 45 minutes of journey(in normal case it would come around 2 hours 30 mins or less).

Also new bike means I am going to say good bye to my cousin's Honda Dio which served me very very well during its tenure with me for last one and a half year. I felt joyful on possessing the Yamaha and sad on saying good bye to the Honda. Roopesh ride the Dio alongside me to home.

On reaching home after long hour of exhausted ride and after having a delicious breakfast from my mother's kitchen I went straight to the meet the agent my Uncle introduced to me. On the way I dropped Roopesh at bus station.

The misery never ends if you go to government offices in kerala. I spent almost 2 to 3 hours at various government offices to get a photocopy of my passport attested. Believe me its not easy at all atleast in mavelikara region. The time was 11:00 am then and most of the gazetted officers were not there at their respective offices. Got some lazy explanations from assistants. At last I got it attested from nowhere other than my old school itself. Many things have changed there. Principal is new. But she welcomed me to her office very well asked me the matter. It didn't took more than two minutes to finish the sealing and complete the attestation. She went through my passport and find the UAE visa stamp in one page and asked me where I am in UAE. Then I told that its only a transit visa I took on my return from Germany. She flipped more pages in the passport and find the German visa stamp and asked me about my place calling my name. I then told her that my home is in Mavelikkara only and I studied that school only. She then greeted me an old student and I left there to the agent. The whole process ended at some 1:30 pm  and I left the place to my home.The agent told me that he will tell the number at 3:00 pm.

Finally the agent called me and said the number - KL 31 B 4339 (Hmm... not bad a number I thought)

I went to Chettikulangara temple along with my cousin, Dileep and gave my key to the priest for 'pooja' along with a nice pink garland. I put the garland around the headlamp and put sandal paste everywhere on my bike.

We then went to our relatives house at Olekketti. I picked Roopesh from Mavelikara bus station afternoon and we started to Sreekariyam. It took nearly 4 hours again. I noticed that the top speed I made was 53 kmph @ 4000 rpm on top gear. Now I am at office on a day and my first day with my Yamaha. My bike's odometer already reads some 350 km. I am hoping to get the running in period(1000 km) passed very soon to enjoy the biking to full.

More details of bike, the ride feel and the images will follow. Oops the writing took more time than I expected and became more lengthier. Going to do some programming...

Going to take my bike out of showroom

Atlast after a very long wait and weeks of wandering for getting the loan papers ready, finally I ll get my Yamaha FZ-S today. I need to rush from after today's work to the showroom which is some 15 km away from my office. I believe Ajay's Pulsar 200 will take us there in time as I ll only have some 30 mins to reach there before they close it for today.

Abhilash has left to EY and Ajay popped in

Today Ajay joined in office officially and Abhilash will join EY. I need to cope with the new office look as I know that the office won't be same as before for me without a friend like Abhilash. But the speedy life and its requirements forced him. Don't how long I can hold on here.

A Bike - Still a lot of complication to own it !!!

At last after two weeks of wandering to and from the bike dealer, I finally decided to cancel my booking at the Trivandrum Muthoot Yamaha as the Village officer denied a nativity certificate which is a requisite for bike registration. I talked with a Yamaha dealer at Mavelikara and promised to see him in person this weekend. I hope I can get a bike from there through finance. Don't know what ll happen. I m fed up and thinking to dropping my ambition of owning a bike for a while atleast.

An Indian victory I would like to forget forever...

Yesterday's India's victorious image is not the one to be remembered, but a forgettable one. A victory that every Indian expected to be completed in some style was acquired a close one, with India long history of inability to pick tailenders after bowling the top order cheaply repeated. If India plays with the same team that of yesterday's without Sehwag and Tendulkar for 6 months from now on then India ODI rank will dip to somewhere around 10. Bowling is week as ever. Batting is average. Fielding is more a fun for the players as they think they are not paid for it. The body language is very very negative until something pricks well like yesterday. They were playing very casually after 6 wickets are down with Kallis still there. Someway they picked Kallis and continued to play casual cricket until they found all changed in 2 overs.

My Country Celebrating 61st Republic Day

My great country is celebrating its 61st republic day tomorrow. Proud to be an Indian