As luck would have it I couldn’t find no one who could hand carry the parts and as a last resort I reached out to my man Friday Eddie and he sure enough didn’t disappoint.
BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
The Joys and challenges of owning and working on multiple bikes
As you guys already know with the RZ we were prepared for the unexpected in terms of what all we may have to do on the bike and hence I had been ordering parts even before we knew that we will have to replace them. On top of that I was ordering parts for the Daytona, RD 125 and RD 200 at the same time and in the past few months I have ordered 100’s of individual parts and at times have missed out on the finer details as the Daytona and RZ are bikes I haven’t worked on before and the Daytona especially needed a lot of research as there was basically no info available on the internet but the bike had original parts so that helped quite a lot. But still I ended up ordering the wrong parts like the wrong master cylinder repair kit of the latest being the wrong size calliper pin boots for the RZ. But, in all the chaos of ordering parts I ended up ordering the wrong quantity of parts as well and I only realised my blunder now when we are so close to firing up the RZ
The parts in question are the ever so critical engine damper’s without which the engine cannot be mounted back. These parts I had ordered in October even before we got the engine out and I just added parts which I thought back then maybe required but never got into the specific quantities that are required. I would explain further how I messed up on this when I post the pictures as that would help understand why you have to read about each particular part when you order online especially on Yambits. Now, after inspecting the engine casing up close is when it struck me that I may have not ordered the correct quantity of each damper and I checked my purchase history only to realise that my hunch was true and I did mess up big time. So, without delay I started contacting all known contacts including a few bhpians to see any one is coming down from UK as Yambits still don’t deliver to India. As luck would have it I couldn’t find no one who could hand carry the parts and as a last resort I reached out to my man Friday Eddie and he sure enough didn’t disappoint. He guided my to a UK Yamaha dealer who ship worldwide and all I had to pray for that the parts are in stock. Since, I was not very familiar with this dealer and their website I carefully read the details and view the part diagram and numbering to ensure I order the right parts. I shared the details with Eddie and he was kind enough to check and verify each part number was correct and gave me the final go ahead. But, life is not always kind enough to me and at times it really tests my patience and pumps up anxiety levels.
So, the Yamaha dealer who go by the name Fowlers work on from Monday to Friday and unlike Yambits their website doesn’t process orders on weekends especially for a shipping quotation which needs to be generated for your order. Also, while chatting with Eddie I told him I am only placing an order for the missing quantities of the required parts and enquired with him if it would be an issue as the parts would be supplied by two different suppliers and that when he told me that the ones from Fowlers are OEM parts, which made sense as they were almost 50% fore costly than the ones on Yambits. So, when I heard that these are OEM parts I just revised my order and ordered the right quantity and then the long wait for Monday morning for them to open at 9 am UK time to give me a shipping quotation. I kept checking my order basket and my email for an update even before it was 9 and finally got an update at 10 am UK time. Phew! But, the drama had just begun as I went to pay they had no option of paypal, which I use on Yambits or Amex. Only Visa and Mastercard. So, i tried making the payment through my visa credit cards two different ones and both were denied. I tried multiple times and even checked my banking app to confirm international transactions have not been turned off but no luck and then it struck me, do I have to use a debit card? I inserted the details and it was done and so was money from my bank account poorer by a few thousands in seconds….
Before placing the order I checked with my friend Tony as I had messaged him about this blunder on Sunday but he never responded back. He was all cool and not too stressed as he had kept the dampers which came on the bike as they didn’t looked damaged and could be reused. But since there was a crack at the front damper mounting point on the casing which we had welded we were not sure if it was a wrong size damper or instead of press fitting it was hammered in. So, fingers crossed the dampers from UK arrive before Christmas and the post man plays perfect Santa and doesn’t charge me custom duty
Some pictures….
When you take a step back and see the finer details. While the MC cap I ordered from Eddie looks similar but the one on mine being a JDM spec has all warning lettering in Japanese
Guess, i will now keep this one for a later date and refurbish the OE one
Amount of parts still left to go on the bike
The rectifier sent by Eddie
OE and non OE tank in action
Up close
Guess, i will get a spare set of panels and paint them a different shade to use the OE tank
Soon to switch to RUN
RZ is going to scream as the tacho needle climbs and unleashes all hell in Bombay
If one could read the signs always. The wrong calliper pin boot just below the dampers ordered in wrong quantity
When you order parts on Yambits this is how you see it and add to cart.
But the full description and quantity required is only mentioned when you click on each part. I have ordered a single piece of this one when I needed four in total. Brilliant!!! But can’t help it when you’re ordering 100’s of individual parts for multiple bikes
Fowlers website in comparison. Has a part diagram but doesn’t always mention the quantity required.
Waiting for my shipping quote
Some heads up on the powder coating. All done
A shiny clean engine casing all set for assembly
OE tank goes under my bed so I can dream about its future…
When my family thinks i can never throw anything away and only collect junk
But only legends will understand what it means to still own a OE RX side panel set from your own bike after it’s turned 25.
Daytona parts, which will now go in storage to be used when the need arises
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
