After years of praying for a multi-cylinder bike, I could get my hands on the first COMET in India ( ON 11 nov 2004 ) . The first few weeks were real ecstacy...... Lots of BHP, great engine roar, excellent handling, and lots of admiring looks at traffic signals... etc....
I did about 2000 kms of weekend riding ( in a month ), AFTER WHICH REALITY BEGAN TO SINK IN........ and I gradually started avoiding riding the bike for reasons not related to the bike itself !!
Riding on our choked roads is a pain, to say the least..... you have to literally fight for space on the road, every moment is a brush with danger, the dust, grime, pollution, burning eyes, dirty clothes, potholes, arguments with rickshawallas, dealing with haphazard parking of other 2-wheelers, the BLACK ’’sun-tan’’, the helmet itself, the poor vision at night through the helmet, carrying the helmet around, OH WHAT A BLOODY PAIN.....
And who can ever forget being splattered with PAAN JUICE, GUTKHA JUICE from buses or other fellow motorists !!
What’s the fun in having all that BHP, if you can’t have a enjoyable drive on the roads......
I guess the thrill of riding bikes on our Indian roads is over.... I wonder how guys ( gals ) with R1, R6 feel, but riding 2-wheelers on our city roads is NOT FUN AT ALL!!
When ( IF ) bigger bikes arrive ’’officially in India ’’, would they be even more painful to ride ??
So atleast for ME, it is back to 4-wheelers for SAFE and ENJOYABLE driving !!
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Some input on KINETIC SERVICE that I would like to share with everyone... I live in Hyderabad, and I have driven 2500 kms in the last 6 months ! So I had only one occasion for servicing the bike ( 500 - 1000 kms period ).... before I took the bike for service, I informed KINETIC about the bike servicing.... Unfortunately they did not have the spare oil filter and O ring ready, so I had to put a TVS ( victor , I think ) oil filter... for a few days...., the TVS FILTER was an absolute match for the original HYOSUNG FILTER -- at least visually .... the original filter arrived a few days later and I replaced it again.
The engine oil to be used is specified in the KINETIC MANUAL, API SG/SJ JASO MA 20W40. Now this was not available with the KINETIC DEALER, who promptly suggested adding their ’’regular’’ oil into the bike.... I stopped them from doing so ( and PROBABLY screwing up the engine ) and spent a whole day running around to oil dealers looking for the right grade of oil.. Finally I found PENZZOIL and I went back with a measuring jar, and added the right amount of oil into the bike, avoiding a trial and error with the quantity ( which the service guys normally do )!!
The bike has only a side stand, and the bike had a fall ( to the right ), when parked at home, the accelerator/switch assembly was damaged.... KINETIC mechanics did a temporary repair, as the original spares were not available.....I ordered the spares ( switch assembly ) and it arrived after 2 weeks..... So if one is a little careful about the quality of service ( in other words, hang around and do it yourself ), prepared to plan in advance for spares ( 2 weeks delivery time from order ), the COMET would be in perfect running condition......
KINETIC ( the COMPANY as well as their LOCAL DEALER ) responded very well to service/spares requests !!