Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy
Adventures and micro-adventures on a motorcycle
When was the last time you opened up the front sprocket cover when chain cleaning? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been rather lazy to do just that. For the last 10,000km since the chain and sprocket set was replaced, I don’t recall myself opening up the front sprocket. After all, why does one need to? Especially if you’ve been diligent about cleaning and lubing the chain, right?
I WAS SO WRONG!
Yet another sgBikerBoy Sunday Morning Ride! Running out of ideas for nearby places to ride to, we decided to head to Tanjung Piai again. Anyway, it’s been almost a year since I last rode there. But for my riding buddy, Siu Hon, this was a first experience for him. Anyway, like they say, it’s not about the destination, but it’s all about the ride.
So, my 200cc Pulsar and Siu Hon’s recently acquired 600cc Yamaha XJ6 Diversion met at B-Point, Johor Bahru. We settled for a quick breakfast before setting off. In the previous ride there, I used Waze to guide me. Waze seem to suggest a more conservative route – sticking to the main roads, heading to Pontian before turning south towards Kukup and Tg Piai. For this ride, we decided to use Google Maps instead. Google Maps seem to suggest a shorter (faster?) route that will take us through some really minor roads. Hey! We’re on motorcycles! After all, what can be more fun than taking the small roads right?
And it was such an amazing Continue reading “Sunday Morning Ride to Tg Piai (Again!)”
I’ve received many requests for information on how to perform some DIY maintenance on the Pulsar 200NS. In this Bajaj Pulsar 200NS DIY Maintenance Guide, you’ll learn the following:
Some of the tools required:
May the festive holiday season bring everyone lots of joy and happiness! It’s been raining everyday lately – ride safe everyone!
Almost 2,000 kilometers over a 4-day trip around Peninsular Malaysia, and what a tour it was! And the attractions that I got to visit could really been summed up in two words – NOT MUCH. Well, if you live in this part of the world, you’ll know that the year end is the north-east monsoon season, and that means rain, rain and more rain. Not a single day went by without the skies opening up and dumping it’s liquid load on me. Well, at least I got to test my Pirelli Angel CT tires throughly in wet weather – and it was good.
Reached KL in the afternoon and checked in to the hotel. I was here to attend Continue reading “sgBikerBoy travels around Malaysia – Ride Report”
I’m going on a motorcycle tour (again)! Not gonna do anything too crazy like the last tour. This time, I plan to just circle Peninsular Malaysia. You see, I’m heading up to KL tomorrow to attend an ex-classmate’s wedding dinner. Again, it’s one of those “since I’m already here, why don’t I just head to….” kind of idea. Don’t plan to be away for too long – probably just for a couple of days. But then again…. who knows? =P
Quite honestly, I’ve only come up with Continue reading “sgBikerBoy travels around Malaysia”
My bike’s side stand seem to have given in to the weight of the bike. When kicked down, it folds forward more than usual, causing the bike to lean forward more than usual. In fact, I was fearing that the side stand will one day reach a tipping point just give way. And if it happen to be in a typical Singapore motorcycle parking lot, it will make for some interesting motorcycle domino scene.
Eventually got it replaced at Universal Motors for S$20. Bike now leans more normal.
I spent some weekend time pampering my bike. Pressure washed the engine area to get rid of some built-up gunk and applied a layer of wax (more specifically, a layer of polymer sealant – Autoglym’s Extra Gloss Protection) on the paintwork. It’s been some time since I treated the paint and I thought it was about time.
And since I was on the subject of paint, my fuel tank lid has accumulated some scratches and paint peel on it. Some of which was my own contribution (fuel station’s nozzle hitting the paintwork), but the majority of it was by the previous owner of the bike. You see, when I purchased the bike pre-owned, the fuel tank lid was already quite badly scratched up.
My 200NS has run for 44,000kms and coming to 4 years. And that includes the arduous 2-month SE Asia Tour earlier this year. I don’t think the fork oil on my bike has ever been changed. The Bajaj owner’s manual calls for a fork oil change interval of 10,000km. But this is one of those things that is commonly neglected – and yes, I’m amongst the guilty ones.
You see, I bought the bike pre-owned and I have absolutely no history of its previous maintenance. So I took the bike to Universal Motors and tried to schedule for a fork oil change. But the mechanics there dissuaded me and casually mentioned that “it’s not a necessary procedure unless it starts leaking oil”. And since there was a pretty long queue with 5 other bikes before my turn, I decided to hold out the fork oil replacement for awhile at least.
Just then, it almost seem as if my Pulsar had a soul, it didn’t seem to like the neglect treatment. And in protest, the fork seal start leaking 6 days after my visit to UM. So, now I REALLY have to get it changed. Continue reading “Pulsar 200NS Fork Oil Change”
I wrote about my killing of the motorcycle battery by deep discharging it some time ago. I also later found out that it was the IU unit that was eating up my battery juice when the bike is turned off. Previously, it took only FIVE days (5 DAYS!) of not firing up my motorcycle to completely drain my battery to levels where even the instrument cluster refused to work. And it didn’t just happen once, it happened a whole of 3 times before I swapped out the IU power wiring to only power up the IU unit when the bike is turned on.
Now, I’ve been a little busy of late and admittedly haven’t been riding my motorcycle. Boy! I sure missed my Pulsar! Anyway, it has been SIX weeks (6 WEEKS!) since I last fired up my Pulsar’s 200cc engine. So, out of curiosity, and before I fired up the engine again, I removed the seat cover and measured the voltage of the 6-week-neglected battery.
12.57V! That’s a VERY healthy voltage!
So with some excitement, I put the seat cover back, and mounted my motorcycle. I inserted the key and switched it on – so far so good! And then I hit the started button.
Vvrrrrooooom!
Ahh! The sweet roar of my Pulsar coming to life after 6 weeks of neglect was pure music to my ears! Needless to say, I took her for a spin today, with a huge smile hanging on my face.
Glad to be riding again!
