In the last 20,000 km, I had 2 incidents – an SUV rear-ended me & a friend also rammed into me from behind on his BMW F800GT.
BHPian sandeepmohan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I’ve had this amazing machine for a little over 2 years now. The odometer crossed the 20,000km mark a couple of months ago.
In these two years, the bike has been a reliable runner. I have zero complaints. I’ve largely ignored the low battery warning I’ve had since last April. The bike starts without a hitch so I’ve left it at that. When the lamp comes on, I charge the battery. Battery voltage has not dropped below 12.3 volts (With the low battery warning lit) so I am guessing I can carry on running like this till the bike hesitates to start.
Rust is a minor issue. What I have realized is that if you let small water droplets stand on the chrome bits like the handlebar, bend pipe, etc, they will turn out as rust spots. Wipe them down as soon as you can. I ignored this and my bend pipe lost most of its new look shine. While it’s mostly surface rust, the bike will no longer have that shine like it used to. I say this as someone who does not do any TLC for the bike. The bike gets a hose down at home once every 6 months at best. A gap this long means my rims and spokes are covered in grime and who doesn’t love the joy of cleaning spoked wheels? Reminds me of the days I used fine sandpaper elements for cleaning rusted spokes on my Street Cat.
I flagged the above as I’ve had a few rain-soaked days of riding. You are in no mood to wipe down the bike once you reach your destination. You are tired and drained out and the first thing you want to do is get out of those rain-soaked clothes and have a hot shower. More so after riding in ~15 degree conditions.
The last service was carried out at 19,7xxkm. Oil was switched from Motul 7100 to 3100 10W40. Oil filter was not changed. I’ve done >1000km with the new oil. Initial impressions are that the 7100 feels better. Will have to wait and see if there are long-term benefits with the 3100.
The strange thing is that I can’t tell that an oil change has happened with this new grade. It feels more or less the same. The engine isn’t more refined or coarse. The gearbox shift quality has not improved or worsened. When I used to do an oil change with the 3100, the change was noticeable. Even on the short ride home, you felt like the bike had new oil in it.
I’ve been maintaining service intervals of 6000 – 7000km. During this time, the chain does not develop much slack and you can keep riding if you have to. No rattles or anything falling off the bike to date. This last service raised a few issues with braking. None that I had realized while riding. I did have quite a bit of travel or play for the rear brake lever. Thought it was wearing out of the brake pads.
When the service station checked for brake pressure, they found it weak for the rear brakes. On checking the brake fluid line, they found air in the system. Brake fluid was replaced and the entire system was bled. The same was done for the front brakes too. There was no air in this case. The brakes are back to how they felt when the bike was new. Braking is sharp with little play on the levers. I’ve not had to adjust the tappets to date. Aside from a little noise during cold starts (<15 degrees centigrade), all is well. This is a blessing of sorts as I dread anything that requires lifting the valve cover.
I’ve had two small incidents on the road. First was an SUV rear-ending. Fortunately, the impact was at <5kmph so the damage was limited. Ended up with a bent and cracked tail lamp assembly. Water isn't seeping in so I left it as is.
The next was a bizarre one. I went for a ride with a mate who rides a BMW F800GT. I am not sure if it was a case of distraction or not paying attention. I was stopped at a crossroad and waiting for vehicles to pass. I was preparing to turn left. He comes up from behind and rear ends me at about 20 Kmph. He was approaching the same intersection and kept looking to the right for traffic while the bike was moving straight ahead. I guess his view of me in front of him went away or he thought I moved ahead.
That BMW is a bigger and heavier bike. The impact was enough for me to lose balance. I fell with the bike. The tail end of the AEW exhaust made contact with the road, which lead to a small scratch and my clutch lever was beautifully bent in the shape of a U. I managed to sort out the clutch lever over a weekend DIY.
In both these instances, it was the rider or driver not paying attention to the vehicle in front. Even though I was stationary in both cases, they thought I had moved. It was luck with the BMW as a quick glance in the rearview mirror suggested he was coming way too fast to stop. I braced myself for impact. The road had a steep camber on the left of the bike too so when I did drop my foot down to prevent a fall, there was no road for support. I must say that fitting the large engine guard was money well spent. It saved me and the bike from extensive damage.
I am not sure if the same applies in India. I had ordered a new clutch lever thinking I won’t be able to straighten out the damaged one. It was a wallet bleeding $90! Thanks for importing these parts. When the clutch lever arrived, it was the entire assembly including wiring for the engine cut-out circuit. I wonder if you can order the clutch lever alone as a child part in India, or if this is how it is. Anyway, this new lever assembly now sits in a spare parts bag.
I’ve had the AEW TE102 exhaust on the bike for quite some time now. There is no looking back at the stock exhausts. An aftermarket exhaust, provided it is designed well and not too loud is the way to go. Not only does the bike sound & feel better with these exhausts, but the slimmer profile also does a good job for looks. I did try riding without the baffles and sure enough, it gets louder. Encourages you to ride the bike hard. There’s lots of bass and it’s entertaining to ride in the City. Gets irritatingly loud on an open road though. The noise will tire you after a point. Top-end response takes a hit too.
With the TE102, the one thing you do lose is a bit of low-end grunt. It’s not immediately apparent and when you can ride only your bike, you don’t notice what you’ve lost or gained. This was quite apparent when I took FM tharians bike for a short spin. He runs with an AEW TE201 with a Silent DB killer and at the time was using a Way 2 Speed air filter element with the stock air filter cover in place. It’s either the design of the exhaust that offers more back pressure or a combination of the TE201 and Way 2 speed air filter that is a good match. The bottom-end response is better than my bike.
I installed the same air filter with an open bracket, in hope of regaining some of that lost bottom end and improving top-end response without the Regular DB Killer. For now, that difference is purely theoretical or on paper. If anything, a little induction noise is heard when you go hard on the gas. For those of you considering an AEW exhaust, I’d go with the TE201. Whatever this exhaust is doing internally is something I can’t explain. It’s a better match and has a louder note too (This was a surprise). Even with the DB killers inserted. To be clear, I was not on a quest for gaining power. This bike has plenty enough that unless you are racing the thing around a track, I doubt you need more for everyday use and the occasional road trip.
A point to raise about the screws for the air filter housing. They are soft. Never, ever over-tighten them. I don’t know how this happened (must have been from the last service), but I could not get one of the screws out when I wanted to replace the stock air filter with the Way 2 Speed one. It was over-tightened. Fiddling with the one jammed screw ended up in a completely warped screw head. There was no way to grip it anymore. I got the screw removed and replaced with a new one (of better quality) at the last service. They used a gentle action of a hammer drill working in reverse and took the screw out. No damage to the inner threads or any of the plastics.
Economy has been more or less steady. I get about 240km till the reserve light blinks. I am sure one can extract more miles if one ride conservatively. When I switch to B roads, I pay less attention to the throttle and hit 5000 rpm with an aggressive approach. When you do this, the economy goes downhill, fast.
The lights are okay. I rarely ride post-sundown and don’t really miss a brighter headlamp. Fortunately, other road users dip their lights if they see oncoming traffic.
Most find the front suspension too soft. In this part of the world, I find that softness a blessing. The roads are far from smooth and anything that can reduce transmitting that towards the handlebar is a win. I need to have a play with the rear suspension. At times, you feel like you are being thrown around at its stock setting.
I’ve got Bridgestone Battlax tires on both ends of the bike and I maintain them at 30/34psi. Dry level grip is good. Is a better-wearing tire than the stock Pirellis. Haven’t gone wild with cornering in the wet. I will admit that I am close to wetting my pants these days every time I see a film of water running across the road (Will cover more about this further below). New Zealand chipseal roads are punishing due to the rough road surface so you need a tire that offers good grip and decent life. Ultra slick or grippy tires will be wallet bleed.
In terms of touring accessories and what goes along with the bike during trips, I have a Trip Machine duffel bag. It’s my Armageddon bag. I’ve got clothes, jocks, extra socks, a towel all packed in. This bag is never emptied out. The other main reason to strap the bag is to carry a water bottle and a spare tire tube. The bag is strapped to the bike 90% of the time. The best way to use this bag is to load it up as much as you can. It isn’t very secure when it’s part is loaded and can shift around the seat.
There are 2 hook straps that ensure the bag does not sway too much from the side by side and another 4 straps to secure the bag further. The bag isn’t waterproof. Trip machine do provide a rain cover that goes around the bag and is secured via a plastic hook. The rain cover can protect to about 70%. Water does tend to seep in under a torrential downpour, especially when the bike is parked in the open.
Comfort on this motorcycle is subjective or should I say a debatable matter. One thing is clear, the touring seat is better. You sit higher and there is some extra cushioning underneath. The stock seat feel comfortable initially and after about an hour, you feel like you are sitting on a slab of stone.
Combine this with a committed riding position, battling winds from all directions and you’re not all that comfortable anymore. In facts, its a struggle to be seated on this bike and ride at anything over 100Kmph. Fatigue sets in early, for me. Marathon or non-stop runs are best avoided.
The section below is less about the bike and more about the riding experience in a different country.
Riding on New Zealand roads has been quite an experience over the last 2 years. It’s mostly positive. To start, traffic is a sparse once you head out the city. Once you head onto B roads or off the main State highways, you are on your own mostly. I try and stay away from motorways or expressways as much as possible. B roads are better and you’re not around open spaces of land. I bring this up as the Interceptor does not not like any wind. You’ve got head on wind the deal with, however, side winds make it a bit hairy. You feel pushed around, depending on the direction of the wind blowing. You’d think that a bike this heavy will be rock steady on the road.
More than checking for rain or sunshine, the focus on my weather App is to check wind speed around the region and towards my destination. You don’t want to be riding any bike if cross winds are over 30 Kmph. Not that you can’t ride. Its a strain and you need absolute focus which ends up making you feel more tired by the end of your road trip. Aside from wind, I’ve also come to learn and discover first hand, what various tar compounds can do to the surface of a road. The chip seal process used for roads in New Zealand contains petroleum products for their sealing (I guess this is standard fare globally).
I have not read enough to know the ratio of this compound that goes in with Bitumen. When it gets really hot (>25 degrees centigrade), this petroleum mix starts to rise from the melting tar above. That makes the road extremely slippery. I was advised on a Motorcycle Training Program on spotting these patches and to avoid them as much as possible, especially on roads that have a lot of patchwork done to them. B (A lot of A roads too) roads are full of patch jobs. The Trainer showed us footage from a motorcycle dash cam of a rider sliding and falling off the bike while taking a wide turn on a bone dry road. To my eyes, the road looked perfectly okay.
Things get worse when the weather suddenly switches from hot & muggy to rain in an instant. We see this a lot these days. That oily substance mixed in the tar, which has risen due to heat is now mixed with water. We all know how that plays out. I experienced this sort of thing on a trip to Hastings last year (Same part of New Zealand thats now submerged and destroyed after Cyclone Gabrielle). The conditions were wet and I was going arrow straight at about 90Kmph. At a point, the bikes rear end fish tailed. It lasted for a second at the most and was scary enough that I reduced speed immediately. I lost all confidence for that day and till the weather improved.
That experience spooks me out even now as I’ve never experienced a motorcycle fish tailing while going arrow straight down a road. Its that Chipseal compound used that makes the road dangerous for a motorcycle rider. To make matters worse, many New Zealand State Highways used steel wire for fencing or dividing two lanes of the road. If you slide into one of these at motorway speed, you’re looking at serious injury. On wet roads, it’s best to ride with plenty of room for error.
The above isn’t to say New Zealand roads are bad. The Government has not prioritized the upkeep of B roads in the same way they do for A Roads or Major State Highways. Design and Execution of motorways are really good. I’ve yet to come across a situation of water standing on a motorway. Expansion joints are barely felt when you go over a bridge.
It is mandatory to own two sets of riding gear in this part of the world. For Winter and Summer. I’ve kept it quite simple. I’ve got hiking pants which work well during the colder months like Winter and Spring. These pants block out wind entry like no other pant I have used before. Spring can get cold and a lot depends on your ability to absorb or bear that cold. My body can’t deal with any cold so I am suited and booted to an almost winter level during Spring season.
I have a short sleeve part leather, part fabric Glove and a long Sleeve full fabric winter one. Both were made by Ixon. The winter one isn’t as good as advertised. All the temperature ratings claimed don’t hold up. My fingers end up frozen on a winter day. An Ixon wind deflector jacket is worn under my Dri Rider jacket. I recently got a used Levi’s Leather jacket which has a furry inner section. This is my current Summer Jacket and I love it to bits. Leather keeps the wind out far more effectively than my Dri Rider. I also love the flexibility to move versus all the inner armor plating on the Dri Rider that restricts movement.
I had a simple Rexine fabric shoe that I wore till the sole on one of them got a hole in it. Replaced it with a similar ankle-height shoe. The only bit of riding gear that I am no longer enjoying is my Bell lid. It is starting to feel too snug and I am finding it rather heavy. I want to get something lighter and in line with the styling of my bike. One of those classic look ones with a large visor area like this Bell Bullitt. There are a few manufacturers making these. Need to find one that prioritizes comfort and wind deflection. I wear two balaclavas below my lid for a second level of wind protection.
With just about any ride, there is some preparation you do. You look at destination options, the route you take, should you carry luggage or not, look out for weather (which is getting harder to predict nowadays). As days get closer, preparation switches to the excitement of the ride. This happiness or excitement happens only when you have the right motorcycle. That is what the Interceptor is, to me. I love this machine.
Every weekend, I am looking for an opportunity to hit the road. Granted it isn’t the ultimate touring motorcycle. Its a sort of big brat bike which can do some touring due to the size and nature of the engine. Yeah, I do need a stretch every 80 to 100km and that’s okay. Comfort is not the Interceptors selling point. Its about how you feel when you ride this bike. It’s raw. You feel the engine buzz, you hear the intake, and there is immense satisfaction when riding on a twisty road. Few bikes have this.
Signing off from Aokautere
Keyword: 2-year & 20,000 km experience riding the Interceptor 650 in New Zealand