Windshield for Royal Enfield Bullet

Product: Windshield
Make: Royal Enfield
Purchased on: Jan 2007
Overal rating: Excellent

The need:
1. When driving at good speeds near paddy fields at dawn or at dusk, lot of small flies comes and hit against the shirt, killing itself and spraying blood stains all over the dress

2. At times my little one just want to sit in front of me, and I want to protect him against these flies and dust

3. I liked its looks

The study:

The study based on net search and discussion with friends on pros and cons of fitting this yielded the following results,

1. It will create drag because of higher resistance, but there was no concrete evidence to prove this theory
2. Visibility will be very less especially when helmet is worn
3. It is very costly
4. In the event of a fall this can be dangerous


The decision:
Sometimes, even if you hear so many cons, you just decide based on your instincts and in this case also my instincts made me buy it

The purchase process:

The local dealer in my town told that it will take atleast 1 month to source it and quoted a price of 5.6k INR, which was a good 1.5K higher than one of my friends whom I have contacted had bought it, one year ago. I searched in other cities too and luckily found out one dealer who had one in their godown and offered me at the previous price. Within no time, I purchased it with the help of one of my friends in that place

The fitting

I decided to ride down to the place where this was bought which is a good 250 Kms away from my place (another reason to ride).

The packing was quite excellent, since it was a small package than I had in my mind.

On opening the following components were present

Nuts: 15 numbers
Short clamp: 2 numbers
Long clamp: 2 numbers
Small pipe like clamp: 1 number
Windshield : 2 parts

The fitment with the markings are as shown below.




1 & 2: Nuts to fix the short clamp to the headlight assembly. Only in Machismo there is provision for this nut to be mounted on the headlight assembly. In other models of bullets, one need to drill a hole.

3, 4, 5 & 6: Nuts to fix the lower part of windshield to the headlight clamps

7, 8, 9, 10 & 11: Lock nuts to join the lower part of the windshield with the upper part. Note that, since these are lock nuts, they won't tighten too much against the windshield. If you use any other nut instead of these original lock nuts, chances are there for cracks to appear, since those nuts tighten themselves against the windshield body.

12 & 13: Nuts to fix the upper part of the windshield with the long clamp which acts a support for this long windshield. The long clamp is to be fixed to the handle before this is done.

14 & 15: Nuts to fix the long clamp to the handle

16: Pipe like clamp which is to be fitted in the handle. The long clamp goes inside this pipe, which is tightened using nuts 14 and 15

17 & 18: The short clamp, which is fitted in the headlight assembly using nuts 1 & 2

19 & 20: The long clamp, which is fitted to the handle using the pipe clamp and which acts as support to the upper part of the windshield

21 & 22: Windshield lower part and upper part.

This is just a do it yourself fitment, but if you don't have all the tools then better do it at an authorised service centre.

Another thing to ensure when the package is opened is to check whether all the nuts are present. In my case it was not there and the installer tried to put normal nuts instead of lock nuts. Luckily this was found out and when the matter was reported to Royal enfield by their website feedback form, I got a prompt response and replacement was done within 2 weeks. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT isn't it?

Pros and cons I experienced with Windshield on

Pros

1. It really adds to the looks. A favourite with kids, coz you can always see them pointing towards you. Windshield is best avoided, if you don't want to be the centre of attention.

2. Fatigue levels are lesser after long rides because the hard hitting of air onto your chest is missing and this is one of the reasons for fatigue

3. You can ride even without your jacket on through the crowded and dusty city traffic and still emerge with a neat shirt.

4. The flies and other insects are clearly blocked

5. The drag is less, since the resistance offered by the slightly slanting, glassy surface is less than the resistance offered by the body. (My top speeds not decreased after fitting this one. Tested this before and after the fitment)

6. During heavy rains, water don't lash hard against your body. It will not completely block the water, but just helps to reduce its severity and your rain jacket is happy at the lesser work it has to do, to keep your body dry

Cons

1. Driving at night, when it drizzles is a pain. The lights of oncoming traffic will be brighten up this windshield and you will not be able to see anything in front through the windshield. If your height is more than 175cms you will be able to see through the top.

2. Maintaining it clean and scratch free is a pain.

Now time to see for yourself, one of the snaps of my bull with windshield



Feel free to ask me any questions in this regard, by commenting on this post.

If you are interested in reading my experiences of long rides in a bullet, please visit here http://subups.blogspot.com

To know about other not so common accessories click on the following links
1. Custom made dual sideboxes - a practical as well as aesthetic solution
2. Goldstar silencer

Exterior Tiles - Sirex Interlocking Tiles - Built to last

Product: Sirex Exterior Tiles

Do you like to have these kind of exteriors to your house?

If you are planning to lay exterior tiles and is in the process of choosing one, read on my experiences in selecting and laying of exterior tiles.

When it comes to exterior tiles two types are available.

1. One which is laid on a hard top, ie after laying a layer of cement mixture. The tiles are also bonded with the help of cement mixture. Water will not go through these tiles to the ground.

2. Interlocking type, which is laid on top of a layer of sand. No cement mixture is needed. The tiles are tightly packed and their interlocking nature helps it to tightly bond to each other. Water can easily go through this to the ground.

I opted for the second type, due to following reasons

• The rain water gets absorbed in the ground, which is the way it should be
• If at all some maintenance is needed for some pipe line which goes underneath these tiles, it can be taken out and then put back without the need for breaking a concrete floor.
• This breed of tiles seems to have the best grip, even during rains
  

After a bit of local enquiry on exterior tiles, I shortlisted Johnson and Sirex tiles, of which I felt Sirex is more ruggedly built and cost effective too. Also I happened to see one house where this tiles were laid. Chose a color matching the exterior of my house. According to me, the tiles should not steal the limelight once it is laid. It should be neat and colorful but should only aid to the ambience and play complement the exterior of the house.

Once I gave contract to one of the leading retailers in my town, I get a message from him that Sirex has stopped production and he will instead give me Johnson. I was not happy to hear this, googled and found out a website of Sirex. Was surprised to know that this brand is made in Kerala. Sent an email to the contact person mentioned there. Surprisingly I got a reply within some 1 hour and then a marketing executive contacted and soon the retailer called me and promised the deliver as soon as possible. It was one unexpected customer service from a brand which I thought would not have any such support.

The retailer himself arranged for the work contract also. The work details are like this.

1. First a layer of sea sand was spread
2. Using a mechanised leveller the sand was levelled. This levelling and packing of sand is very critical for the uniformity of the tiles.
3. A small chemical treatment was done to prevent the attack of ants and other pests
4. The tiles were then laid ensuring that it is packed tightly so as to avoid any lateral movement.
5. The leveler was used again to level the tiles.

An area of about 400 sq ft was completed in a days work.

The rate of work was at Rs 50 per square feet, including labour and excluding sand. Once finished the look of the house itself changed.

Just see for yourself


It has been 3 years since I laid this one, and even now after a small cleaning using water, it looks brand new.

These are the words from a truly satisfied Sirex customer.

Sreesanth - A review of this turbulent Kerala Speedster

Sreesanth -
Is it a product to be reviewed?
How can a human being be a product?

Basic purpose of cricket match is to entertain the viewers, I am seeing each match as a product just like a movie and hence its characters also can be termed as products.

Any how this speedsters performance in his comeback test against Sri Lanka on a dead pitch deserves a review, for it truly pumped up the spirits of many cricket enthusiasts of India.

I have been watching this guy with utmost enthusiasm ever since he started making headlines in local newspapers and each of his actions or his families actions were traced with much vigour by the media. In him I saw a real life representation of the dreams which I cherished from my childhood of playing cricket along with national team, a kind of brotherhood since he belonged to my state, a kind of sympathy since I felt he will fade out soon amongst the bigwigs of the cricketing fraternity and above all the vigour with which he bowls.

Within no time success came in his stride, because of his bowling skills, but somehow his antics on the field was getting out of hand and soon even people of his home state started to curse him. But even when he was showing all his antics, I never felt real bad, because he was doing what he was supposed to do wonderfully well and when he danced midpitch after hitting an Andre Nel delivery for six, tears were rolling from my eyes, because I too was terribly disappointed when Andre Nel was abusing him after bowling a bouncer and hurling abuses at him. I don't think many Indians who has seen this one sequence live on TV may not have felt differently from what I experienced. This event eventhough initially appreciated by many, including the commentators was soon added to the negatives in his resume.

His staring at the opposition batsmen were at times looking odd because of the frequency with which he does it. Naturally when someone becomes famous, along with it the number of foes will increase. It seems like people who wanted to see his downfall was plotting a scheme and Sree helped them by creating new antics in the cricket field. I was surprised to see, when his home cricket association was also aiding his downfall and many press conferences were held just to tarnish his image. Felt pity for this guy, for he does not seem to have a godfather for making a comeback to his team and the plot against him seemed to intensify.

The inaugural IPL was seen as a boon for him and eventhough he was the second highest wicket taker, no body was seen appreciating him, because the Harbajan slap episode got the limelight more than his performance. It was real pity to see other people's contribution highlighted, who did not even do what Sree did with the ball in his hand.

Sree did not take part in most of the games of the second IPL because of an injury. Still he was one of the most discussed topic as is evident from the comment's section of fakeiplplayer's blog. People were busy in abusing him, making all sorts of negative comments and the interesting thing was that no one, even from Kerala was seen supporting him. Is it a matter of jealousy, or is it a matter of joining with the mass opinion, or does he really deserved to get all these negative appreciation.

Soon his coverage in press also was limited to only his antics and not about his performance. When he was selected for an English club and took wickets, the main news which figured was about the great Allan Donald's comment on Sree's emotional outbursts.

In the Renji Trophy matches which followed suit he did not make any notable performance in terms of wickets and so his entry back to Indian cricket team was not expected by many.

But agains all odds, he was selected to the National team for doing duty against the touring Lankans. He was not included in the first test and seeing the batting friendly conditions, it seemed that all bowlers love to be the twelth man rather than in the playing eleven. It even seemed like he will be given a chance in these dead pitches which is highly batting friendly, where no fast bowler is expected to take wickets, and based on his performance he could be ousted from the team permananently. So when he was inducted in the playing eleven for the second test no expectations where raised. But he bowled tremendously well and in good control. He bowled some beautiful deliveries which did not get him a wicket, but he was fortunate to get wickets in not so good deliveries. His performance resulted in turning the match in India's favour. As a cricket enthusiast I could not control my emotions when I was watching the highlights of this game and see this guy perform the way no one expected him to do.

He has a long way to go, if he does not get carried away by the recent success and by being careful for evading the plots by the foes around him.

Overall he is a good product, but the longevity is depended on the way he manages himself.