I am a person who starting his two-wheeler adventures with an original, made in England Royal Enfield Bullet that my dad had brought in his younger days. As a college kid in the late 80s, the lure of a 100 cc 2-Stroker was too strong, hence sold the bullet for a Kawazaki Bajaj KB100 RTZ.
Eventually got tired of 100cc 2 strokers and moved back to a Royal Enfield Machismo 350 when it was launched, which I sold and bought another Royal Enfield Bullet Standard which was again sold a few years later.
About two years back, I was given a new Machismo 500 to use by a friend and the erratic behavior of the Machismo 500 was too much for me to bear and i decided that I had enough of bullets. I then bought a Hero Honda Hunk which is a great all rounder bike, with good styling and overall comfortable ride. But the urge to buy something older and restore always remained. Since the Bullet was ruled out, the next bike I had in mind was an RX135 5-Speed.
Having gone through a lengthy jeep build up, I wasn't ready to commit time for another project yet and thought I would do it a year or two down the line. As fate would have it, I was taking an evening walk with a friend and saw this nicely maintained RX135-5Speed standing outside a TASMAC Bar (Those of you who live in TN know what this is). So, i just pointed out the bike to my friend and said, I am looking for one of those bikes. This moderately drunk dude standing outside the bar sees me point at the bike and walks over to me and tells me he wants to sell the bike since he now has a family needs a regular commuter bike. So, I struck a deal and he went home got the papers and his id, and I dashed to the ATM and bought the bike. Talking about an impulse buy ..
Anyways, after I bought it I spoke to a few people on this forum and on the other bike forum and took some advise on restoring it. Unlike on my jeep, I decided not to go crazy and go stock except for a few things that I wanted.
The bike is stock except for the following changes:
1) Yamaha Gladiator Fork & Disc Brakes
2) Yamaha RD350 headlight Dome & Ring
3) Ambassador Grand Reflector with 60/55 watt bulb
4) The handle bar lock was changed from the side one to the top one like current generation bikes as it is much easier than the side lock where the key tends to get stuck.
5) Due to the central lock, i had to go for the post 2004 RX/YBX instrument console. I would have preferred the RXZ console, but since I wanted the lock on top, this was not possible.
6) Roots Horn
7) YBX Fibre front mudguard
8) Nitrox Gas Shocks from Bajaj Discover DTSi 125. The RX135 weighs about 100 kgs and Bajaj Discover DTSi 125 weighs about 125 kgs so the shocks should be fine. It was a bit hard initially, but as I am using the bike more, it is getting less stiff.
10) Removed the OEM Can-Con black silencer for an RX135 silencer. Bought an original second hand inner muffler to get the older RX135 sound. Sound is very close to the original RX100. I confirmed this by having both started side by side together.
11) Royal Enfield Machismo Rear View Mirrors
12) Custom made Crash Guard, as I found the OEM one too thick for my liking.
13) Changed headlight Clamp from the one that comes from outside the fork to inside. See last pic for details.
Bike was stripped down to the last nut and bolt and each part was chromed/nickeled.
All rubber and worn down parts were replaced.
Attaching a few pics.