It's tough to have the P220 all for me 'coz of one main reason that I don't know the Madras roads too well. That's why every time I take the bike out, I'm having to, grudgingly :), allow my bro to ride pillion with me. I, however, got one golden chance of, er, not having my bro anywhere near it, one late evening. My bro and I had gone to one of his friends' house and boy was that area posh! The roads were in great shape, the traffic sparse and guess what, I had the keys! So, after a couple of minutes of a sort of warm-up ride, I began to revel in the experience of riding the bike proper. I made sure that I rode it as it is meant to be. On the other hand I had to keep a check on the max rpm, however (due to it being brand new). A tough compromise, indeed. Eventually, I guess I succeeded in sticking to a max of 6500.
The agenda was quite simple. Merciless driving. I just wound up the tough-to-modulate but precise throttle very hard in every gear, reached 75kph and braked. Except that it was no ordinary braking that I do daily on my Apache. At 75kph, after checking the mirrors twice, the front brake lever was grabbed with all my might. That, in the process, it was trying to spit me into the moon is a different matter altogether. I kept doing this some 5 or 6 times and it was not even close to doing a stoppie. The composure was absolutely phenomenal.
The roar you get from the aluminium end-can when the engine is given its fair dose of fuel is simply addictive. When puttering around town, the engine note doesn't sound too different to the other Pulsars. But, it's an aural delight once you are in the mood for it. Fantastic.
Bored at the now-easy acceleration and braking, I thought of another interesting idea to try out. To get the tail out. So this time, I reached the same 75kph and just slammed the rear disc. It stopped. Just stopped. No dramas whatsoever. The tail was exactly inline with the front and this was most disappointing. But no bike can keep its tail inline when you slam the brakes, in a corner. So, I set about trying that too. Of course, praying to all Gods that I don't drop this expensive machine.
I went into a grippy corner at about 50 and dabbed the rear brake. It slid wonderfully out and before the slide got out of control, I released the brake. A satisfying experience.
My bro informs me that the running-in period (2000 km) is now over. I feel sorry for the engine. Because, the next time I get its keys, I don't have any plans to be any gentle with it.
Links of interest:
> P-FORCE
> CHASSIS? ENGINE? BRAKES? WHAT'S THE PICK?
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| IF YOU'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT FORMULA 1, YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO HAVE A LOOK AT THIS.
| STAY IN TOUCH WITH WHEELS OF RAM. CLICK HERE.
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1 comment:
Next time Show some Mercy to that Machine
JS
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