The highlight of the ride was the R15’s exhaust note, which I’m pretty pleased with.
BHPian R15M_Rider recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
A Short Ride and An Experiment to capture the exhaust note
I took my R15 today for a short ride of around 60 km(round trip of 120), to a location on the outskirts of South Chennai, on the Thiruporur-Guduvanchery Road. I have already done this ride twice in the past, but documenting it for the first time on TBHP.
The route involves a little bit of ECR, then OMR and finally with rural roads connecting OMR with the GST Road. So it is a nice mix of highways and some twisty back roads. For rides outside of city limits, I always wear my riding jacket, apart from the gloves and of course, a helmet which I wear always.
Thanks to the Pongal holidays, the roads were quite empty as most folks had gone to their native places already and the going was smooth. While I was filling up at Shell petrol station on the ECR, I thought of a way to capture the exhaust note of my bike. Now, I only have my smartphone with me, no GoPro or any standalone audio recording equipment. Wind noise is another issue. So the only thing possible was to start the recording, keep the phone in my jeans pocket and hope for the best. In the end, the audio quality turned out much better than expected! 40 minutes of the exhaust note, captured of both spirited and sedate driving. I hope you guys like it and I am looking forward to your thoughts! Please let me know in case you’re facing problems related to access.
As soon as I filled up, the engine felt alive! The R15 was starving a bit(1 bar on the fuel gauge in display before filling up), and as soon as I filled her up, the engine response was transformed. You can sense this in the audio clip shared below as the recording starts after the fill-up. On empty stretches, the VVA band was always in business. The true dual nature of the engine is felt here. The soft and sweet note in the low-mid end, the initial grunt of the mid-top range and the raspy scream at the top end post 7500 RPM. Going even on such short rides truly connects you with the bike. The same bike which is capable of smoothly going without complaining at 40 in 3rd-4th gear in traffic, shows the other side of absolutely giving it all when you ask for it. Days like these make you realize as I mentioned in the initial review, 155cc is just a number, the way it is delivered, the drama, the excitement and the satisfaction are all that matters in the end. The proof of a soul within the machine. It is clear, with each km, the more and more attached I am getting to this machine. Can’t imagine, how amazing this will be if I get a chance to try on a race track.
While empty highway stretches let me reach speeds of 100-110 kph, the real fun is indeed in the backroads, though at much lower speeds, the corners are where the R15 comes into its own. Hope to tackle a ghat section with hairpins one day!
After spending around 2 hours, it was time to return in the evening, and for once I got to experience a dimly lit road (previous rides on this route were in the day) with hardly any lights to test out the R15’s projector LED. Honestly, not up to the mark. I did have to pay a lot more attention to the road. The single projector headlight looks beautiful for the design, but it is not adequate for night riding, especially on roads without street lights. So, for those who do night riding on non-lit highways, I would highly recommend getting additional/auxiliary lights, or else avoid riding at night altogether.
Overall, it was a nice short trip, with the highlight being a good audio clip which I am pretty pleased with. Would love to hear your thoughts on this and who knows, for people who consider exhaust notes to be a major factor in their purchase decisions, I hope this helps! Frankly, I would love to hear your machine’s exhaust notes too, if you’re willing to share.
A well-deserved rest after a 120 km ride of bliss
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