BHPian asr_b500 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: 26.10.2025 Update after 999Kms Well after a month, first service at 500 plus Kms and a Saturday morning solo ride of 247Kms, I’m now really happy with what the bear has to offer. All my rides till yesterday was to and from office which is around 60Kms, 3 days a week. Been waiting go on a longer ride until I finally managed to ride to DD Hills, which is a good 120+kms from where I stay. About the first long ride: I wanted to take the longer ride after first service and started scouting nearby places where I can just go and comeback before noon. As usual, Nandhi hills was the first and easiest option as I know the route and been there already in my bullet last year or so. But then I wanted to go somewhere I haven’t been, where traffic is less and not too many people at the destination. Found lot of places which I didn’t know about from TBhp ‘Sunday morning ride’ thread and choose DD Hills. Started at around 5 from Whitefield and reached viewpoint by around 7.15. Obviously missed sun rise (I was somewhere in the highway at that time ). We have to pay 20Rs entrance fee, I had no change and UPI didn’t work as only Jio network was available at that place. But the guard let me go anyways. Road was in pretty good condition except for 1+km and the bear had no issues climbing up. Taking turns while climbing up was little tricky in the beginning but got used to it pretty fast. I didn’t feel suspension too stiff or hard in the bad stretch of the road, those small patches were absorbed pretty well. I even tried riding standing on the footpegs and two ton heavy bike felt very light. Reached safe on the top, there were only a few handful visitors on the top. Clicked few pics and returned withing 10-15 minutes. On the way to the hill top It was very sad to see the place around the viewpoints and temple littered with plastic and other wastes. I think temple on top is not open everyday and there are no shops nearby. But once you come down and join main road, there are some options. Onwards ride was 80+Kms on highway (boring) and rest view smaller roads. Wanted to try different roads and took some diversions (when google maps said right, I took left) and ended up in some really good stretches. Went through small villages, muddy roads, climbed up a smally rocky place and clicked few photos. Return trip would have been really boring if I hadn’t taken those roads. Except for the last few kilometers on the highway, I tried keeping the rpm near 4k and got an average 27.4kmpl for the roundtrip. I used to fill petrol in Shell outlets and last time Power was filled, not sure if it really makes any difference between normal and power options. Have to try it out and confirm in the next trips. I haven’t installed any of the accessories I had mentioned in the earlier posts yet, might immediately get a mobile holder if I could manage to find a second phone that I can use without fear of damaging optic sensors. While going, didn’t connect phone with cluster and used gmaps in mobile and watch. It was not so convenient and used maps in the cluster (with the RE app) during return. Phone battery was draining quickly and ended up changing full navigation to turn by turn navigation (shows only turn left/right in xxKms – I don’t know if its called turn by turn navigation though) alone. But I really liked the sync between mobile and cluster. It showed – incoming calls (but without contact details), fuel low warning and asking if I want to navigate to the nearest fuel station, warning of low mobile battery and prompting to switch to turn by turn navigation etc. Might be able to manage all trips with this setup risking fast draining mobile charge. There is a charging port below the cluster unit, have to try it and see how it helps. Meanwhile, I had bought my first pair of riding gears (Rynox healium gt jacket, Rynox riding pants and a pair of boots) from Autonity. Have tried both the Jacket and Boots in this ride and really liked them. Need to get the base layers before the next trip. That’s all for now. Hear is the younger bear looking at his elder brother. Bullet500 is still a charm, except the vibes at 80+kmph. I think he is not leaving me anytime soon. Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
