The All New Honda Activa - Another reliable machine from Honda

  

Month of purchase: June 2009
On Road Price: 47000/- (including accessories, road tax and insurance)

Dealer: EVM Honda, Kaimanam, Thiruvananthapuram

The decision

Once in the market for a gearless scooter the following were the options considered

1. Kinetic flyte

Has lot of good reviews online and people has been recommending the kinetic flyte in all online forums. A test ride revealed that, eventhough it has a good engine, the vehicle seemed too small, like a scooty and the seats were narrow. There was only one service centre in city and it was not selling in good numbers. Kinetic's past history also helped to decide against it.

2. Hero Honda Passion

A good scooter with the proven honda engine, lower price than honda activa, good wide seats, slightly better mileage than Activa, lesser power than activa. The moment you step into the dealership one will experience the most horrid time ever, with the sales persons least interested and will have an attitude like no questions please, just buy and f*** off. An attitude created by the belief that they are the no 1 two wheeler seller of the country.

3. Suzuki Access

The recently launched suzuki access with 125 cc engine promised a lot, but with the dealership unable to specify a time for delivery and not allowing a test drive, how can a customer buy it. One of the reasons why you don't see many of them on road.

4. Honda Dio

Step into the honda showroom and you will feel a world of difference. Even with the heavy rush inside they are managing their level best to treat each of the customers well and will not get irritated by the questions. Dio has the proven 100cc honda engine and has a stylized shape. Body was fibre and the whole body kit costs something in the range of 2k, which means we can changed the color of vehicle when we want. The slanting foot rest in the front and a feedback on body vibrations by the existing customers put me off buying this one even though this model was readily available.

5. Honda Activa (old generation)

The proven old generation activa was still available. But when anything new has been launched, there is no point in buying an old version, when both of them is having the same price tag and the new one is having more powerful engine without any compromise on mileage.

Booking and Delivery

The All new Honda activa was booked on April 2009. They had specified a delivery date after 90 days. After 90 days when they could not deliver the vehicle, I wrote to their customer care email id, and was promptly attended to by a representative from bangalore, who kept on following up things until I got delivery within the next 10 days. What a way to keep to the customer happy !!! I was impressed. The vehicle was delivered on June 2009.

The vehicle in detail

One look at this vehicle will reveal that the cosmetic changes made is making this one look different from the older generation activa.

  

Looking from the front

The curvature in the front panel has been modified. The number plate can be fixed separately or the number can even be painted on the front panel. There is an option for putting a Honda sticker on the front. But it costs Rs. 500 extra. I prefer the neat clean look without stickers.

  

The headlight assembly with those integrated indicators is the one which is causing the feeling of a drastic change. The design is elegant.

  

The Back

If the front is different, the back side is also different too. Just one quick look at the back and you will know that it is not the old honda activa.

  

Again the major difference is in the back light assembly.

  

In the old generation one there was an option for putting the spare tyre in the back rail. But in all new honda activa the metal grabrail has been changed to a funky aluminium one which adds to the looks

  

The Seats

Wide, comfortable seats has been a trademark of the old activa and it is no different in this one either.

  

The Dashboard

The quality of items used is good. There are no panel gaps. The mirror position is good.

  

The speedo console is simple and elegantly designed.

  

The Locks

As is the precedence in modern scooters, handle lock and ignition are in the same lock.

  

The choke lever

The choke lever is ideally positioned in the front left side. Needed only sparingly especially during a cold start.

  

  

The Engine

What is a point in telling "All new" without a change in the heart. The heart of All new honda activa is 110cc engine. Start the engine and you will know the change from there itself. The engine feels more refined and silent. Eventhough one feels like it is slightly less powerful, the change in power is quite evident in the steep inclines with two heavily built souls on the seats.

  

The kicker lever also can be seen in the above pic. Honda has carried over the bad design of the kicker lever to the new Honda activa too.

One has to stand behind the scooter to operate this. Standing behind means he don't have anywhere to hold when he is kicking this to life. Wonder what is the logic behind such a design.

The silencer compartment has an additional padding as a protection from the heat.

 

Another thing to note down here is that hot air tends to blow out to the left ankle when you are resting your left foot on the ground from the engine compartment. Honda engineers could have slightly diverted its flow such that it don't directly blow into our legs as it will too hot in start stop city conditions and for people who have to put both legs on ground for stopping. When one is wearing pants and shoes it is not a problem though.

Footrest

The footrest, rests neatly under the side panel when not in use.

  

This is quite easy to operate too

  

Storage space.

This is quite amazing. Just see this.

Open the storage space using the key on the left side panel

  

The seat which doubles up as the lid opens up completely

  

Watch the space inside

  

Now see a full face helmed. Will this one go in

  

The helmet is now inside the compartment

  

Close the lid and fits well too.

  

The storage space pretty is pretty amazing one of the reasons why I did not opt for the optional glove box in the front.

Braking

The brakes are effective too. But remember to apply both brakes simultaneously.
The brake locks are a pretty useful when parking in inclines

  

The Tyres

The tyres are puncture resistant, tuff up tubes. The company itself says that it is not 100% puncture resistant, but can resist to a certain extent. The suspension thingy also is good.

  

6 months - 4000 km experience.

The ride has been smooth so far. The service experience is good. No complaints to report.

Not good as a long distance tourer, but a more than effective city commuter, it stands tall among its other competitors. Buy it and forget all woes related to the machine. It will serve you loyally.

  

Handle bar for Royal Enfield Bullet

Most of the passionate Royal Enfield owners will have faced the dilemma of chosing the proper handle bar for their ride.

Some makes there selection based on aesthetic appeal and some selects it from a usability point of view. My take is to give priority to the usability part without losing out on the aesthetic appeal. The experience gained by me in chosing my bull's handle bar is shared here



The bullet which I bought came with a short handle bar, which has a touch of classic feel associated with it.

I just loved the majestic appeal which it gave to the Royal ride.

The seats were of the low slung type for the rider and slightly raised one for the pillion

A close up view of the handle.

and the seats

After one month of usage in this mode, I felt some uneasiness in the wrist after some long rides. But I felt this might be the initial syndromes. After six months or so I started developing severe pain on my right elbow, for which I have to consult a doctor, who rightly advised me to find the activity, which when done is causing maximum pain. I soon found out that it is while twisting the accelarator, I am feeling this. This pain was aggravate after my solo ride to Idukki (Click here to read the trip log). My wrist was bandaged and it was diagnosed as tennis elbow and the doctor advised me not to activity which aggravates this. I was horrified to hear this as I could live without my bull.

After a careful analyis of different elbow positions while twisting the accelarator, I found out the following

1. When the hand is dead straight, the twisting action of wrist is sure to exert the elbow muscles. I was feeling pain, when I kept the hand straight and tried to twist the elbow

2. When the elbow is bend, the twisting action is not straining the elbow. I noticed that the low slung seat, resulted in a relaxed riding position and we tend to either sit straight or lean backwards, which eventually increased the distance to the handle. So we have to keep our hands dead straight for giving the throttle.

So now I had two options

1. To change the seat to a flatter one. This will increase the height of the rider's seat. In this seat, people often tend to lean forward, so that the elbow will have a slight bend. But the higher seat means, the Centre of Gravity will also be high and high speed cornering is sure to take a hit. I don't want to lose out on the sitting comfort offered by the low slung seat during my long rides through those beautiful ghats where I enjoying scratching the footpedal on floor.

2. To increase the height of the handle bar. This will bring the handle bar closer to our body and hence we our elbow will be bend. For high rise handle bar there are a lot of options.

1. The bullet electra handle bar
2. The RD 350 handle bar
3. The bullet thunderbird handle bar
4. The aftermarked buttlefly handle bar which resembles a thunderbird handle, but is slightly wider.

I decided to try out any one of these and then if found not good will select the next one.

The first one, I got hold of was the RD handle bar, which was slightly wider than the standard bullet electra handle bar.

Fitted this on my bull. Just see the difference in height between the two bars

Even with the bandaged hand, when I rode with this handle bar, I was not feeling any pain at all. I was releived and decided to keep this handle for my next long ride.

This was closer to me as well.

The low slung seat and the high rise handle

After the next ride (Click here to read about this ride) which covered about 500km a day, I was extremely convinced about this handle and I did not test the other high rise handle bars.
But during this ride I noticed that there is excessive vibrations on the handle bar, which was not there with the short one. This vibrations start once I take of my one hand from the handle. The moment I keep my hand it will die down.

Then I understood the importance of handle bar weights which is normally screwed to the ends of the handle. The original short one had handle bar weights. In this handle I had put a handle bar grip with a chrome cup at the end. Soon I put the original handle bar weights to the ends of the handle and voila the difference was amazing.
I am wondering about the worth of small and simple things in solving real world problems. What I thought of was having a mere cosmetic item was having such an importance was not known to me.

The weights were screwed in after welding a nut inside the hole of the handle bar.

The things I learnt are
1. Low slung seats needs high rise handle bar
2. High RD handle bar is adequate because of it height and also due to its increase width and lean towards the rider.
3. Handle bar weights is a must

I did many long rides and never did the pain in elbow came again. You can read about my rides here (http://subups.blogspot.com)

Interlocking Bricks - Save your construction cost

Product: Interlocking Bricks (update in 2013 posted at the end of this write up)

Interlocking bricks - as the name suggests locks itself with other bricks and it is these interlocks which give strength to the wall. No cement mixture is needed for the bonding.

This is a concept which many people of my State (Kerala) is not well aware of. People often tend to reject anything which is new. Same was the case with Interlocking bricks, as was evident by the response of people whom I approached to get expert opinion on the usage of these bricks.

It was my architect who introduced this concept to me. After visiting two or three houses built by the architect using these bricks, I decided that I was going to use this for construction.

 

Click here to get some useful Bathroom construction tips

The major difference with the normal bricks used for construction and the interlocking bricks are

1. Interlocking bricks are not baked, it is just mud in high density pressed using a pressing machine and allowed to solidify by drying naturally. Some chemicals are added for increasing the bondstrength. Normal bricks are baked ones
2. Size of interlocking brick is more. Approximately it is 2.5 times more in volume than the baked bricks. (size is 10" x 8" x 4")
3. Weight of Interlocking bricks is more than equivalent volume of baked bricks.

Method of Construction using interlocking bricks

1. Normal basement is to be laid down first. Since the interlocking bricks have more weight than conventional bricks, a more stronger basement is needed.

2. Once basement is laid, one layer of normal baked bricks is placed over the basement. Width of this layer shall match with the thickness of the wall which is going to be built using interlocking bricks.

Quick fact: the windows you see in the above picture are concrete frames. to know the pros and cons Click here to learn my experience.

3. The Interlocking bricks are neatly arranged over this layer. (Experienced labourers are a must, since any irregularities in their placement cannot be corrected at a later stage.

4. While concreting the roof, ensure that the edges of the roof projects out a little more than the wall. This is to ensure that rain water do not flow through the walls.

5. Once the construction is complete the corners of the wall are completely plastered using the cement. This helps to have adequate pressure from the sides of the building for the bricks bonded together. The pressure from the top is from the concrete above. So it is as if the interlocking is placed with adequate pressure from all the four boundaries.

Before plastering the edges

after plastering the edges

A close up view of the plastered edges

6. The external wall can be left as such without painting. But the gaps have to be filled with like colored cement.

If painting need to be done, it can be done directly over this wall. (I chose not to paint)

7. If internal wall need to be plastered, it is better to make the surface rough before plastering, since the surface of this brick is relatively smooth.

Advantages of Interlocking bricks

1. Cost saving in terms of cement, sand and water.

2. Design is more blended with nature as arificial bonding mechanism is completely done away with

3. The walls have more strength than the normal walls. (just hit the wall and listen to the sound of walls made by interlocking bricks as well as by normal bricks)

4. These bricks does not heat up as fast as normal bricks, hence the room will remain cooler.

5. Since no painting is required another cost saving


Disadvantage of Interlocking Bricks

1. The space between the interlocks of these bricks is enough for insects and ants to set up there homes. (To avoid this point the gaps using cement mixed with redoxide and do periodic mainteance once in 6 years)

2. If rain water flows through these bricks, the color of the brick changes very fast.

3. It is difficult to ensure availability of the same coloured bricks for the entire construction. If painting is not planned, all the bricks should be having the same color. For this all these bricks have to made from the soil of the same place.

4. Not suitable for buildings having more than 2 floors, if it is not supported by pillars. Pillars are not needed for double storeyed buildings.

Cost of one brick is approximately Rs. 12/- (In 2004)
Purchased from Sal Interlocks Thumba

Update on Nov 2010:
Sal interlock is closed now
Two more units are there in Thiruvananthapuram. One is near Puliyarakonam and other one is in MC Road near Venjarammood.

Update on Oct 2013
Current cost of brick is Rs. 28 (add Rs 3 for unloading too)
Initially when I constructed my house using interlocking bricks, I had plans to plaster and paint the exterior, after 5 years. Now 8 years completed. Still the exterior having fresh looks that I need not think of plastering or painting. Thanks to my architect who suggested to leave the exterior without polishing, and to the design which ensured that water doesn't flow through the walls during rains, it is still holding up good.  The plastered interior is due for a repaint now though.

Recently I fixed up some more cupboards (read showcase) using PVC and aluminium. The fixing of these by screwing was also not a problem. The brick doesn't break up. You can read about the low cost solution for wardrobe and kitchen cabinets by clicking here.


If you want to have more information on these bricks please post your question as comments or email me.

My architect was Mr.G Sankar of Habitat Group.

To read my experience of entire house construction , click here

Why don't you have a look at my Travel blog tooo? You can find exclusive coverage of exotic locations in and around Kerala - God's own country. Click here to view my travel blog

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.

Slate reincarnated - A reliable gadget

Product: Slate
Year & month of purchase: 2006 May

A slate is something which in olden golden days is the device using which we started our writing lessons. The advantage was its reusability, since we could erase what is written reuse it. But now a days it is no longer seen because of lot of disadvantages. But neverthless, it was a good starting point.

The modern avatars appeared in the form of toy and I happened to acquire one for my little one in 2006, but never thought that it will be one of his favourite toys.



The toy consists of a white writing slate and a pen attached to it with a string.

Just write on the slate with the pen.


Slide the lever at the bottom to the right side.





The slate is now cleanly erased and ready for next round of scribbling.

No dust, no need of chalks which posed the threat of being swallowed by the kid and no irritating sound of writing using a chalk.

The kids creativity is unleashed by creating different patterns and they just enjoy using this.

The reliability of this toy is beyond doubt when you can see that I took a pic of this toy in Oct 2009, a good 3 years after its purchase. Now my 6 year old and 2 year old is enjoying using this real rugged and built to last toy.

An offroader Toy - A rugged jeep

Product Name: Offroader Jeep
Age group: 04 and up

Before I say anything about this, just have a look at this jeep.



It is a looker.

This toy is simple in the sense that it does not have any electric gizmos attached to it. No batteries, no motor, no lights, but it is rugged.


The wheel is connected to some kind of mechanical assembly due to which when it rolls, it gives a real life sound.


This toy can be used outdoors and it is sure to withstand any abuse.

Just watch these snaps to see some real life stunts using this toy, which I captured when my kid was playing.

Ready to fly after hitting a bump


Up it goes.


somehow it balanced


Now ready to land after the acrobatic session


To be frank I enjoyed watching my kid play with this jeep which is quite big standing tall at 1 feet height.

Duckback - A true Rain coat

Product: Raincoat
Make: Duckback

Motorbike has been and is one of the most used commuting medium. One of the major hindrance in using this medium for regular office commuting is, during rainy days we can get completely wet. Raincoats are supposed to be the armory in our custody for combating this threat, which unfortunately does not serve its purpose completely.

Many a times after a ride wearing raincoats through heavy rains, we find that water has drained in through our neck region extending to our chest and also through your hand to the sleeves of the shirt. The rain pants also ensures that adequate water has logged into the top area of your pants, making the whole day of yours at office quite uncomfortable.

If you too have faced such an experience then please do read on rest of this review.

One of my friends recommended me to buy a "DuckBack" raincoat and commented that it is the best available in the market eventhough slightly highly priced. I purchased one taking into account his word from Chellam Umbrella Mart in (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala) . Purchase price was Rs. 750. Slightly high when you consider that you can get other raincoats for as low as Rs. 300.


Still I decided to give it try. The raincoat set consisting of a jacket and pants comes in a very small packet. It can be squeesed into as little space as possible. The packet also is a water resistant one.


After the first usage itself, I found out that this one is perfect. The advantages I found are.

1. Not a single drop of water leaked into my dress after a ride of 10km continuously in heavy rains.

2. There is fastener at the end of the hand sleeve near the palm which can be tightened. This ensures that no water will enter through that opening.


3. The fastener in the neck is adequate to ensure that the water drain through the neck area is also blocked.
4. The material used is very light.
5. The water resistant bag provided can be used for storing the rain coat after usage. This bag can be confidently carried along with your office bag with full assurance that water in the raincoat will not drain out through the bag. This is a boon as earlier I used to carry plastic covers for carrying the water logged raincoats which does not look quite good.
6. It has Longer life than other local raincoats. I have been using it since Jan 2008 and so far it is serving its purpose just like when it was used in day 1.
7. The pockets provided are also rainproof. The flap on top of the pocket ensures that no water leaks through the pocket's opening.


The riding jacket which I use for long distance tours which contains body protection paddings is not quite water resistant, as a result of which now a days I wear this raincoat on top of the riding jacket when it rains.

This rain jacket cannot be used as a substitute for a riding jacket as wearing this during sunny days is sure to make you really wet because of sweating. Also there is no protective padding. Use it only for its intended purpose - ie protection from getting wet during rains - which it does wonderfully well.

Quiet a good product. I have using it for protecting myself from rain during the trips listed here. Click here to view my trips on Royal Enfield Motorcycle

Home Loan - A fact file

A General review based on my experience in availing a home loan.

Dreaming about a house !!!!

Well we all are sure to dream about it at some point of life.




But how to make moolah or the money. Most people, if not all depends on Bank loans for constructing a house. I am no expert in analysing or evaluating the existing housing loan schemes from various banks, But I can very well share my considerations based on the loans which I have taken and the sequence of events leading to taking a bank loan.

Right from the moment we decided to buy land and construct house, we were in search of a loan , since we needed loan for purchasing the land as well and only based on the loan amount eligible we were able to fix a budget.

The question which I asked the banks and the conclusions based on the answers arrived at were the following.

1. What will be the Equated Monthly installment (EMI) per lakh for a period of 20 years / 10 years / 5 years.
2. How much loan amount am I eligible for based on my monthly income?
3. How much loan amount will I get based on the estimate of the house which I am going to buy?
4. Can I get a loan for the land before purchasing a house?
5. When will I get the loan amount for the land purchase?
6. Is there any stipulated time before which I should finish my construction once I avail the land purchase component of the loan?
7. When should I start repaying my loan? or when should I start paying my EMI?
8. What will be the initial processing charge for the loan availed?
9. Is there any penalty for premature closure of the loan? If yes what's the rate?
10. What are the documents needed by the bank for sanctioning the loan and how much time it will take?

Also please note that I got all these answers as emails or in writing so that I have an quantitative and authoritative answer rather than an aribitrary answer from some marketing guy of the bank.

1. What will be the Equated Monthly installment (EMI) per lakh for a period of 20 years / 10 years / 5 years.

Eventhough there are many EMI calculator websites around, I found out the actual rates vary based on some calculation methods.
EMI shall be calculated based on the fixed interest rates and also based on the floating rates for all the tenures mentioned here. The interesting thing is that the emi varied from bank to bank eventhough they quoted the same interest rate. So this step is a must. Also you can decide what is the tenure that you have to opt.

2. How much loan amount am I eligible for based on my monthly income?
Found out that this varies from bank to bank. They also take into consideration whether you are a government employee or a private sector employee.

3. How much loan amount will I get based on the estimate of the house which I am going to buy?
This figure also varies from bank to bank. Banks quoted in the range of 80 to 90%. Some banks offered full amount also, but for that I have to increase the estimate by including the estimate for furniture, gardening etc.
Answer to questions 1, 2 and 3 will help you to arrive at the budget that you can fix for the purchase/constrution.


4. Can I get a loan for the land before purchasing a house?
Yes almost all banks includes value of land also. But the amount sanctioned for land purchase depends on the amount which we show in the records during transactions. Usually people show only less amount in the records just to evade from the land registration tax. In some cases the land seller itself tells to show only less money in the records so that he can evade from paying tax on the profit earned by him in selling the land. This might be a factor to consider while buying the land. Tell the land seller in advance that you may have to put either the actual amount of the purchase before finalising on the deal and paying the advance for the land.

5. When will I get the loan amount for the land purchase?
Getting an answer to this is important as some people need to get the loan amount for completing the land deal. Many banks issue the cheque in the name of the seller, before we complete the land deal. The banks might require the duplicates of land documents well in advance. We have to submit the originals of the land documents immediately after the deal.

6. Is there any stipulated time before which I should finish my construction once I avail the land purchase component of the loan?
Yes, Once the deal on the land is done using the loan from bank, there will be a minimum period of time before which we should complete the construction. Usually this ranges from 2 years to 3 years.


7. When should I start repaying my loan? or when should I start paying my EMI?
This is a very very important question as this can save you a lot of money. There are 2 options available
Option 1. Some banks ask you to pay the Pre EMI. That is you have to pay the interest on the amount which has been sanctioned to you. Usually banks allot amounts in different stages like, during land purchase, before start of basement, after finisihng first floor, after finishing second floor and then final disbursement. After each amount is availed we have to pay the interest for the said amount each month. This interest will not be counted upon when we start to pay the EMI after final disbursement. So if your construction is delayed you end paying Pre Emi for months.
Option 2. Some banks offer you that you can start repaying the EMI of the loan right after the first disbursement. If this option is available, it is the best, because then you are starting to repay your loan irrespective of there is a delay in construction or not.
In the case of private banks, if you keep on asking for option 2, before taking the loan, they might give it. So ask for it.


8. What will be the initial processing charge for the loan availed?
This also varies hugely between banks. Some banks even offer zero processing charges. Some cases it can go upto to 1%.


9. Is there any penalty for premature closure of the loan? If yes what's the rate?
For some banks yes and for some banks no. In some cases it varies from customer to customer. Most of the people don't ask about this while going to take a loan, hence the bank will remain silent about this and when the customer comes to prematurely close the loan, bank will ask for 2% of the remaining loan amount, which can be a huge sume. Now why should we plan for prematurely close a loan, when we know that we won't be able to raise this much sum during the next 10 to 20 years. This need can come for anybody.
Usually some banks comes up with offer for taking up existing housing loans at a much reduced interest rates. In such cases we can close the loan of the existing bank by availing loan from the new bank which has come with the offer. Then our existing bank will tell us to pay 2% more than what need to be repayed.
So try to bargain with the bank before taking the loan itself, and get a 0% premature closing offer. This is something we can get by asking. So ask ask and ask.


10. What are the documents needed by the bank for sanctioning the loan and how much time it will take?
The documents needed by bank will stated clearly in some of the instructions given by the bank. But the major thing is that how much time will be taken by the banks to verify these by the banks before sanctioning the loan.
Quite obviously private banks does this pretty quickly (1week to 1 month), but nationalized banks just eats up loads of your time (1 month to 6 months or more). So take this time into consideration and approach the banks quite early.
For getting an answer to this question, try to approach atleast one of the recent customer of the concerned bank and get feedback from him. In some cases some of the documents required by the bank will be very hard to get. So be well informed about the related documents and how to get it before finalising the decision.



Once you get an answer to the above questions, you will understand that there are lot of differences in the approach of private banks and nationalised banks. Some of the their advantages and disadvantages based on my experience are given below


Advantage of private banks

1. Very very customer friendly
2. Ready to wait till late in night to talk with us (saves us from taking off during office hours, I benifitted a lot because of this)
3. Documents needed are easy to get.
4. No need to run around after submitting the documents
5. Gets answer to all our doubts very promptly
6. Loan disbursement process is very smooth


Disadvantage of private banks
1. Generally rates and charges will be high. (this will not be clearly evident, but once you get answer to all the queries which I posted above, do a simple work out and this will be evident)
2. Default penalties will be more.
3. Tends to hide some of the hidden costs involved. Will get those information only after repeated prompting. Also will try to make us feel that such costs are highly unimportant.


Advantages of nationalized banks
1. All operations will be transparent.
2. All rates and information will be provided.
3. Generally rates will be low, eventhough not quite evident.


Disadvantages of nationalized banks
1. Very customer unfriendly. (One of the SBI branch manager here in my state was trying to scare away from taking a loan citing the difficulties involved)
2. Verification process is quite cumbersome. (We may have to run around for getting some documentation straight)

Ask for information. note it down, be very well informed and then decide.

You will not go wrong.