The Duke is able to breath freely. I’m not sure if the difference is amplified because the old filter got super dirty and is at the end of its life, but I’ll take it.
BHPian amyntor recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
It’s been an eventful past couple of weeks.
Both the Duke and myself were eager to get back on the road after a one month hiatus. So, as soon as I got the rim replaced I planned for a 3 day trip to the eastern ghats.
Andhra Pradesh -> Odisha -> Chattisgarh -> Andhra Pradesh
This is an often overlooked region when it comes to tourism or road trips but every kilometre of this stretch is decorated with lush green landscapes, jungles and waterfalls waiting to be discovered and explored.
Some pics from the trip:
A feline friend that took a liking to me.
Sunrise at Deomali, Odisha
Chitrakote waterfalls in Chattisgarh. This is a horseshoe waterfall and often called the “Niagara Falls of India”.
Two days after I got back home, I was involved in an unfortunate crash. I was doing about 50-60 kmph on a four lane road and suddenly a guy on a old Pulsar crossed into my lane from an intersection without even looking for oncoming traffic and then braked suddenly after he saw me. I had no time to react or dodge him by steering to the left. So, I did the best thing I thought I could do in that instance. Braked as hard as I could to drop my speed and hit his front tire. He fell to this other side and I crashed side ways. I wore my boots and riding gloves like I always do and got out scratchless. The Duke did great too. Left leg guard took the brunt of the impact. The clutch lever and the gear lever got scraped a bit. And surprisingly, not a scratch on the handlebar.
Normally, I would call it a sad reality of the Indian roads and move on but this guy insisted that it was my fault that I couldn’t brake and caused the accident. I was particularly cranky that morning as my body hadn’t had its fill of caffeine. So, what started as a quick ride to buy some grounded coffee powder turned into a two hour argument with some eager bystanders joining in. After our patience ran out and everyone had to go to work, the other party accepted their mistake, I paid to get the Pulsar’s bent handle fixed, we shook hands and left.
On a different note, I ordered a BMC Air Filter and it arrived yesterday to my doorstep. I installed it last night, ran the engine in idle for five minutes and went for a 30 kilometre ride today.
Observations:
1. The low-end feels much smoother
2. The jerky/snatchy feel from the first two gears also seems to be gone
The Duke is able to breath freely. I’m not sure if the difference is amplified because the old filter got super dirty and is at the end of its life, but I’ll take it.
That’s it for this post.
Oh and how could I forget this stat. The bike turned one year and the current odometre reading is: 27607 kilometres
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