[Proxima]

Guys,

I have a 05 Machismo in great condition and I need to fit an electric start on the bike.

1. Where do I get it done? (In Chennai)
2. Is it realible?
3. How much will it cost?
4. Will I have to do any modifications? (battery etc)

I was told that the new Thunderbirds and Machismos have electric start as an option.

Let me have your views please...

[nitrous]

Proxima,I'd suggest U get in touch with 'the_trooper' or 'madbullram' who are a part of the Madras Bulls-Bullet club of Chennai.
PM me if u need their contact numbers.

[kuttapan]

I would suggest that you don't bother. The electric starts on Bullets are not reliable, and there has been umpteen instances of the things packing up. Is kickstart that difficult?

[Sankar]

It's going to cost too much mate. And not worth it.
New primary inner cover, primary outer cover, 14 amps battery, tapping new holes on the crankcase for the primary inner cover, welding the starter motor mounts on the crankcase, re-loacting the oil line going to the head and also might need a change of the crankshaft's drive side shaft.

[madbullram]

Shankar has answered most of your question.
I was told that the new Thunderbirds and Machismos have electric start as an option.

Yes, but then they come with TCI circuit which is much more reliable and the alternator can charge the 14 AMP. Whereas u r mach is CDI and does not have the power to charge a 14 amp...rewinding etc not worth it.

It can be done but it aint fool proof...is that that important that you badly need then get it done...Else stay with it.

[lohithrao]

Yup not worth it. would cost you a bomb.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by Sankar

It's going to cost too much mate. And not worth it.
New primary inner cover, primary outer cover, 14 amps battery, tapping new holes on the crankcase for the primary inner cover, welding the starter motor mounts on the crankcase, re-loacting the oil line going to the head and also might need a change of the crankshaft's drive side shaft.

Thanks Sankar, Can you please give me the break up, it will be of great help.

Originally Posted by kuttapan

I would suggest that you don't bother. The electric starts on Bullets are not reliable, and there has been umpteen instances of the things packing up. Is kickstart that difficult?

Not for me, for my dad it is. We have 2 vehicles now between us, A TVS Victor, the bull and the safari. Want to get rid of the Victor and share the 2 vehicles. Thats why.

Originally Posted by nitrous

Proxima,I'd suggest U get in touch with 'the_trooper' or 'madbullram' who are a part of the Madras Bulls-Bullet club of Chennai.
PM me if u need their contact numbers.

I know madbullram a little bit. Ill ask him.

Please SMS me the trooper's number though. Thanks bud.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by madbullram

Shankar has answered most of your question.
I was told that the new Thunderbirds and Machismos have electric start as an option.

Yes, but then they come with TCI circuit which is much more reliable and the alternator can charge the 14 AMP. Whereas u r mach is CDI and does not have the power to charge a 14 amp...rewinding etc not worth it.

It can be done but it aint fool proof...is that that important that you badly need then get it done...Else stay with it.

I have answered myy I want to do it in my previous post. Can you suggest an alternative?

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Yup not worth it. would cost you a bomb.

Im realising that now. :(

[kuttapan]

Sell you bike then and get a new one/used one with electric start. That will save a lot of hassle believe me. Don't get too adventurous and try a retrofit. You WILL CRY at some point.

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

Sell you bike then and get a new one/used one with electric start. That will save a lot of hassle believe me. Don't get too adventurous and try a retrofit. You WILL CRY at some point.

I Agree, I know couple who tried this and were not happy with it.

I do mis ES on my bulls, especially in signals but what the heck i dont to kick too hard to fire the engine

[Ketan]

I agree,, it helped me once on a traffic signal.. apart from it, I had to use it once or twice when I was in hurry and kick start did not work for me (it was not more than 15 days I bought my Mach 500 and kick is still really hard,,,). However, almost 99.9% of the time, I'm using kick start and I like that.. its becoming easy as I keep using it... I just need to wait for the right time, a real gentle push at the right time and engine will fire - you may need to use decomp sometimes - not always (beleive me, If I use the same gentle push to my 9 years old HH or any other bike, it may not start..). So, I guess its all about the proper tuning of your bike and understand that reset of piston position > gentle kick and there you go...

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Thanks Sankar, Can you please give me the break up, it will be of great help.

I dont have the break-up mate you have to approach your spare dealer for that. I have a kick start Bull.

If you want to go ahead with the conversion i'd suggest going in for used parts like clutch covers, crankcase (if u want to retain the original as it is), electric start crank etc... from the local gujli. These parts can be reconditioned and used.

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by Ketan

I agree,, it helped me once on a traffic signal.. apart from it, I had to use it once or twice when I was in hurry and kick start did not work for me (it was not more than 15 days I bought my Mach 500 and kick is still really hard,,,). However, almost 99.9% of the time, I'm using kick start and I like that.. its becoming easy as I keep using it... I just need to wait for the right time, a real gentle push at the right time and engine will fire - you may need to use decomp sometimes - not always (beleive me, If I use the same gentle push to my 9 years old HH or any other bike, it may not start..). So, I guess its all about the proper tuning of your bike and understand that reset of piston position > gentle kick and there you go...

Ketan seems like you are one of the first few people to go for the Mach 500. So how is the bike doing?

The secret of starting a bull when it is rightly tuned is that you just have to use the half kick, get the kicker to the middle and just give a gentle kick. you wont even know engine firing.

btw i have removed the decomp from my machismo, though tmy 500 still retains it(cant leave without it in cast iron engines).

[Ketan]

@lohithrao
Yeah,, Agro told me that I'm the first one to book Mach 500 with them and while saying that, they did not give me any discount :( only because they were selling the first vehicle of this model - not sure whether its true or not...
I heard it was launched on May 18, Friday in Chennai.. I got it booked on 21/22 and I got it delivered on May 24, Thursday. I had to leave my bike for the first service within a week time and completed 1000KMs within ~12 days or so (because I took it on highways both the weekends after I got it delivered)..Now I'm little soft to her,, its done 1300KMs and its close to 1 month from the delivery.
One thing that I regret is I was in too much of hurry and may not have used right break-in techniques.. I read articels by Motoman where he says you got to run it really hard..so that the piston rings gets settled properly and we get the right performance out of it. However, I was riding it easy all the time and never went beyond 60 for first 1000 KMs,, went uptill 65 a couple of times between 1000-1300 KMs now..
Bike is doing very good.. its real fun riding her after the first service when I got the tappets adjusted properly and also got the gearbox a little softer,, I switched to short bottled silencer withn 5 days of delivery..
I'm loving it...

That reminds me that I need to contact agro and get the permanent registration done,, man!! I'm riding her in and out of Bangalore without the registration no on plate... though I have got the temp registration that will expire by 23 or 24 of this month....
I shall post the short term ownership report in the appropriate section soon (as soon as I'm out my busy schedule)..

[lohithrao]

@Ketan: Cool, yae running in is kind of a art you will have to do few run-in's before you master it.

btw lets catch up some time so that we can do a comparison between the cast iron 500(mine) and the avl 500.