3 Years of bliss!

First off, I finally got my Karizma back today from repairs! yay!
Been riding around in Santoosh's souped up Pulsar 180 since i had given my Zma for repairs, thanks to his generosity and helpfulness post my crash. Am loving the daily commutes on his Pulsar 180, it's so very different from Zma, but it gives different kind of pleasure compared to riding a Zma. Will post on his pulsar's riding report later.

Picked up my zma after repairs today by noon from SaiMotors, was happy to see her like a brand new bike, with almost all plastics replaced. I had to get the engine checked and done up too as she has clocked almost 47000 kms. So the engine work was done with, now she's got new set of clutch plates, new valves and new O ring seals. Engine is decarbonised too. Mr Kiran of SaiMotors has done a really fantastic job, engine noise is almost negligible now, gears are too smooth, she's purring like a cat now :P

The Bill was a shocker indeed! The body work after the crash with new plastics and new alloys came up to Rs 15784/- The Engine work came up to Rs 2850/- Total bill was whopping Rs 18634/- !
I had anticipated a max bill of 15k including everything, but it overshot my estimates, Have claimed insurance on the bodywork bill of 15k change, should see how much i will be getting back. Santoosh dropped in to see the bike after i got her by evening and it was he who reminded that today was my zma's 3rd birthday after going through the RC Book. I guess i gifted my bike with 18k worth goodies and a makeover for her birthday :P

Here's a pic of Zma that i took immediately after getting her back, the arrows point to the parts which were replaced:

These are the external parts which were replaced:
1. Cone set
2. Fork oil and oilseals
3. Front Alloy Wheel
4. Rear Brake Pedal
5. Headlight Reflector unit
6. Right and left front farings (includes inner plastics)
7. Right and left Rear Cowls
8. Battery Cover cowl
9. Silencer heat shield
10. Front Mudguard
11. Handlebar barend weights
12. Winker Relay
13. Right Footpeg unit
14. Right Rear View Mirror.

The Engine related internal parts:
1. Clutch plates (full set)
2. Inlet Valve
3. Outer and Inner Valves
4. Clutch friction disk
5. O Ring seals

Point to note is that the Plastics are horrendly overpriced! Looks like HeroHonda is fleecing their premium bike customers to generate revenue. Front mudguard costs Rs 850! Each cowl (front or rear) costs almost 1000 bucks! Maruti's Alto car's bumper would be cheaper compared to 4 cowls (2 front and 2 rear) of zma! The front alloy wheel alone costs whopping 4000 bucks! I can get 3 alloys of pulsars for that price! The engine components are reasonably priced though.
Silver lining is i got back all the old parts :) now i have a spare slightly bent front alloy, lots of plastics (cowls) spare headlamp unit and much more! :P Most of the stuff can be used in emergencies or for R&D :P

3 years went by like a breeze, Zma took me to many places that i had only seen in maps :P She gave me freedom on 2 wheels. She never let me down in any of my rides and always stood by me even in worst of terrains and situations. She took my riding skills to a new level and transformed me in to a mature rider from the novice that i was initially. She's one of a kind bike, who switches between a commuter to a tourer with just an oil change :P She's almost 47000 kms old now, am looking forward for many more thousands of kms of pure bliss and joy with her.

She's gonna be with me for many many years to come for sure, even if i upgrade to any other new bike in future. But no matter what bikes i buy in future, none of those bikes will ever take her special place in my life.