[vinu_h]

Hi. I'm new here and these happen to be my first words in this forum. I picked up a 94 Road King 3 years ago, after which I've managed to do quite a few long ones and like most others I can't get enough of it.

1. Fuel Cap - I'm using a one with a lock rather than the original that does not. While the one with a lock was made for a Road King, I'm not really sure about it and I'm wondering if I'm losing fuel to evaporation, even though its difficult to tell.

Unless you think this is normal and not much can be done about it, would you know if I can reduce/prevent evaporation if it infact is happening.

2. Brakes - Apart from changing the shoes and cables regularly, nothing else has been altered and they are in stock condition. Ever since I've had the bike, I've observed that the brakes aren't as powerful as that of a Honda Activa or most of the other modern non-disc based one's.

While there's the age and the technology that was available then aspect to consider, would you know if I can do anything to improve the braking and in-effect reduce the stopping distance.

3. Dynamo - I've always used a 12v 5AH Exide battery in my Road King and I'm very happy with it.

Although, there is sufficient space to install a 7AH battery and was hoping to know if the dynamo would be able to cope with it.

I would be really grateful and would appreciate if you could guide me on the mentioned issues.

[voodoochild]

Vinu,
Welcome to the forum, first of all.
Regarding your queries:

1) Fuel filler cap - All fuel lids are designed to allow a little evaporation, without which the fuel would not flow into the carb. You notice this phenomenon on many Bajaj Pulsars which are standing in the sun for a while. the tiny hole in the fuel lid is choked with dirt, and evaporated fuel (due to atmospheric temp) has nowhere to escape, causing something called a Vapour Lock. Result: Motorcycle wont start, leaving the rider completely stumped. Solution: Just open and close the fuel cap, voila! Bike starts. On the yezdi, you know you're losing a bit too much fuel when u see oil deposits on the tank around the fuel lid. I have noticed that the original un-lockable lid seals a lot better than that lockable one. Fuel theft being quite the norm these days, its not much of an option for a regularly used bike. On the lockable lid I own, I've added a head gasket in addition to the gasket already present inside, so it seals pretty well.

2) Brakes - Engine braking has proved more useful in everyday situations than standing on the rear brake while hoping for divine intervention. But keep the shoes and drums clean, cables greased and adjusted regularly. Also, you have the option of converting the cable of the rear brake to a rod for longevity and ease of maintenance. Rear brake cable snapping is a bit annoying when it happens in the middle of nowhere. Front brakes are known to be abysmal, but mine operate like imported discs!! Another option is a front disc. Have seen it mounted on the RD or a Fury fork. Not much improvement you can do on stock yezdi brakes overall.

3) Dynamo & battery - A battery on a Roadking powers peripherals like the horn, turn indicators and brakelight (and a foglight if required on highways). Most riders I know just dispose of the battery altogether. However, factory-spec equipment is good enough for regular running/charging. Just make sure you have the regulator installed and working properly. From personal experience, I stay away from those zero-maintenance sealed batteries (however much my mechie insisted on it, it just refused to charge on my bike). The Exide one I have now is working brilliantly. Dont forget the battery acid drain pipe. I did, and it ruined my beautifully chromed right silencer. Any specific reason you want to upgrade to a 7Ah?

Its a Friday and I'm stuck at work, so I hope I havent rambled on unnecessarily.

Cheers
Rahul

[vinu_h]

Many thanks for the guidance Rahul.

- We've had a Rs. 1.80 hike today. I'll definitely try to squeeze in another gasket into the cap.

- I did get told by a friend to convert the rear brakes to a rod type system and I wish I had done that before I had it painted, head to toe, 2 yrs ago. I don't really know the working behind this conversion. Would you know if I will need to paint or repaint any parts of the bike after.

- I've got nothing special installed except for 4 regular indicators, tail lamp and a not so loud horn. I noticed that the battery compartment can accommodate a 7AH, so I thought why not. Although, my friends use air horns in their bullets on long trips and thats when I realised that I would need a 7AH if I ever installed them on mine.

I've had a tough week. It looked like as if it was never going to end. I need to get some brown into me pronto. Thank you again for the guidance.

cin cin
Vinu.

Originally Posted by voodoochild

Vinu,
Welcome to the forum, first of all.
Regarding your queries:

1) Fuel filler cap - All fuel lids are designed to allow a little evaporation, without which the fuel would not flow into the carb. You notice this phenomenon on many Bajaj Pulsars which are standing in the sun for a while. the tiny hole in the fuel lid is choked with dirt, and evaporated fuel (due to atmospheric temp) has nowhere to escape, causing something called a Vapour Lock. Result: Motorcycle wont start, leaving the rider completely stumped. Solution: Just open and close the fuel cap, voila! Bike starts. On the yezdi, you know you're losing a bit too much fuel when u see oil deposits on the tank around the fuel lid. I have noticed that the original un-lockable lid seals a lot better than that lockable one. Fuel theft being quite the norm these days, its not much of an option for a regularly used bike. On the lockable lid I own, I've added a head gasket in addition to the gasket already present inside, so it seals pretty well.

2) Brakes - Engine braking has proved more useful in everyday situations than standing on the rear brake while hoping for divine intervention. But keep the shoes and drums clean, cables greased and adjusted regularly. Also, you have the option of converting the cable of the rear brake to a rod for longevity and ease of maintenance. Rear brake cable snapping is a bit annoying when it happens in the middle of nowhere. Front brakes are known to be abysmal, but mine operate like imported discs!! Another option is a front disc. Have seen it mounted on the RD or a Fury fork. Not much improvement you can do on stock yezdi brakes overall.

3) Dynamo & battery - A battery on a Roadking powers peripherals like the horn, turn indicators and brakelight (and a foglight if required on highways). Most riders I know just dispose of the battery altogether. However, factory-spec equipment is good enough for regular running/charging. Just make sure you have the regulator installed and working properly. From personal experience, I stay away from those zero-maintenance sealed batteries (however much my mechie insisted on it, it just refused to charge on my bike). The Exide one I have now is working brilliantly. Dont forget the battery acid drain pipe. I did, and it ruined my beautifully chromed right silencer. Any specific reason you want to upgrade to a 7Ah?

Its a Friday and I'm stuck at work, so I hope I havent rambled on unnecessarily.

Cheers
Rahul

[voodoochild]

No painting etc required. Just throw out the cable, install a rod and ride away into the sunset!

[vinu_h]

Thank you again. Will report back once I've installed the rod into it.

Vinu

[vinu_h]

Hey. If I can ask you an other one, its about the clutch and the gear mechanisms.

I find that after the engine has warmed up or say after 10 km of riding, I will need to hold on to the brakes to prevent it from moving forward when in gear with the clutch engaged( while waiting at a traffic signal). Do you know if this is a known issue ?

[voodoochild]

Sorry for the late reply Vinu. The issue you're facing is with the clutch, not the gears, and isn't normal. The clutch shouldn't misbehave at all, no matter what distance you've ridden. Get the plates and cable changed (I'm running on Makino plates installed at Moosabhai in Bangalore), check the clutch rod and autoclutch mechanism. Basically, take a thorough look at the entire clutch mechanism.

Cheers
Rahul

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

Sorry for the late reply Vinu. The issue you're facing is with the clutch, not the gears, and isn't normal. The clutch shouldn't misbehave at all, no matter what distance you've ridden. Get the plates and cable changed (I'm running on Makino plates installed at Moosabhai in Bangalore), check the clutch rod and autoclutch mechanism. Basically, take a thorough look at the entire clutch mechanism.

Cheers
Rahul

You replied at a good time. I got the clutch thing sorted yesterday. Turns out that the 1st three teeth of the gear that is controlled by the kicker/gear were worn out. Fortunately, my mechanic had a spare one lying around and its all good now.

I got to say though, that the riding experience is really much better now. My mechanic is Puttarama near Navrang. He's 10 km from Jayanagar but worth it.

[vinu_h]

During the clutch job, I got told by the mechanic that a bit of work needs to be done on the connecting rod. There's a strange sound coming from the engine and it apparently is going to benefit me in the long run. The mechanic is trust worthy and I can tell from the sound that something is not right.

Not sure if I've given you sufficient information to make anything out of this. Although, I would like your thoughts on this, especially because there's a 4.5k cost associated with it.

[voodoochild]

What sort of a sound is it? The most commonly heard sounds are a slapping and a ticking sound. The slapping would occur due to the piston pivoting on its gudgeon pin, causing its skirt to slap against the cylinder wall. Usually this leads to the crankshaft developing a lateral play, manifesting as another regular clunking.

The ticking sound occurs when the gudgeon pin is worn, allowing a vertical motion of the piston on the conrod. This motion would occur at the end of a stroke, when the piston reverses direction.

Neither of these sounds, as you can guess, is normal or desirable. I probably shouldn't comment on the cost stuff, but 4.5k seems suspicious. Find out what exactly the problem is. The mechies usually say "I can tell you only when I've opened it up", which is a valid argument 99% of the time.

[vinu_h]

I'm sorry but I do not know much about the problem. You can tell that I'm not very technical. Some key words from the conversation with the mechanic are 'replacing pins', 'connecting rod', '2 days of work' etc. I can always speak with the mechanic again and get details that you may require to advise me better.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

As for me, the lesser mortal with a measly Yezdi headlight, I feel like the cockroach in that Laxman-Rekha advert!

I've been wanting to do something about that. Can we connect the lights directly to the battery ? I use my Yezdi mostly after dark and hence the need for bright head lights. I did a bit of search and couldn't find any relevant literature or discussions about Yezdi head lights.

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

I've been wanting to do something about that. Can we connect the lights directly to the battery ? I use my Yezdi mostly after dark and hence the need for bright head lights. I did a bit of search and couldn't find any relevant literature or discussions about Yezdi head lights.

No point connecting directly, as the battery would drain in a few minutes! Are you running points or CDI? '94 would be CDI I guess. Try using a Halonix 35/35W halogen. It did the trick for me. However if this is not adequate, you will have to change to a 100/90 wiring loom. It involves re-wiring the lighting coil of the magneto, and changing the wiring harness. Ruby Electricals on Lalbagh Road does this pretty well.

Contact Patrick or Venky for details. They might be able to help. Venky has done this on his bike if I'm not mistaken.

Cheers,
Rahul

PS: A few friends have tried foglamps (Neolite etc) direct to battery, but they too didn't last more than a few minutes.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by voodoochild

No point connecting directly, as the battery would drain in a few minutes! Are you running points or CDI? '94 would be CDI I guess. Try using a Halonix 35/35W halogen. It did the trick for me. However if this is not adequate, you will have to change to a 100/90 wiring loom. It involves re-wiring the lighting coil of the magneto, and changing the wiring harness. Ruby Electricals on Lalbagh Road does this pretty well.

Contact Patrick or Venky for details. They might be able to help. Venky has done this on his bike if I'm not mistaken.

Cheers,
Rahul

PS: A few friends have tried foglamps (Neolite etc) direct to battery, but they too didn't last more than a few minutes.

CDI, 2 kicks is all it takes . Just few minutes ? That's disappointing. Halonix 35W would require a 3 pin setup wouldn't it ? Since the head lamp casing/wiring could only accommodate a 2 pin bulb, I decide not to make modifications and continued with the 2 pin bulb.

90/100 sounds like a lot of work and modification. I'm not so sure about messing around with the wiring; not with an oldie.

We should dedicate a thread to Yezdi's; instead of having to rummage through the motorbikes section.

[voodoochild]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Halonix 35W would require a 3 pin setup wouldn't it ?

Direct fit. Just throw out the old one, install the new one, and ride off. Make sure you've got your regulator in place, or you may blow a halogen for nothing.

Originally Posted by vinu_h

We should dedicate a thread to Yezdi's; instead of having to rummage through the motorbikes section.

Ask away! You will get help, thats for sure.