[masterChief007]

When I had earlier encountered tirupati-chittoor expressway during my BLR-KOL drive in the trusty Aspire, I knew I will do it one day on a bike. Never knew that it would be my old friend the bullet which will bring me up there. So here comes the travelogue to a well enjoyed Saturday ride.

After doing 200, 400km test rides I had now planned up a 600 km ride (finally down to 526 kms) which had to include all conditions - slick highways and village roads, offroads and hills. Sort of BPT (Battle proficiency test) for the "jung-bahadur" (the name actually started from zung - meaning corrotion, instead of battle or "jung") !! This was a make or break trip for the bike. If it would have failed to pass this I would have had to fire it

Previous planning was to go to Chikmagalur for 300 + 300 km ride but I had to cancel that due to office work with my bookings not refunded. So I quickly chalked up a plan which will not cost me any dime but will cover the distance and sample the terrain that I lost. Thus came up with the following route.



The route had fast highways, and quite a few sections of broken/mud roads and hills with sharpish bends. And the bike performed to best of its abilities, which is still a bit on the lower side but still it is I can say a more relaxed tourer for now. For longer/multi day rides I need a faster more reliable machine with lesser chances of breakdowns (KTM adv/Inty 650/(Himalayan 450?)).

Accompanying me was my spanking new LS2 storm helmet which make me look 1000% more handsome, the comfort and fit is great, as I realized that I had bought a larger helmet last time so the medium was good enough. It seems I am a "samosa" ( aka triangle) head - M, shirt - L and pants XL but never felt that way when running or playing sports !! Now one thing I observed is that these premium helmets sort of create a echo zone near the ear (try cupping your hands and place it over your ears like a headphone). So any sound adds a bass element to it and the enfield's thump is quite loud I felt wearing this helmet (will take up 3M plugs in my next trip.). Helmet is quite light and comfortable, and good for karaoke when you are getting a bit sleepy when riding.



The date of the ride was immaterial as it was a single day test run, so I could go on either of the sat/sun days. I had already cleaned and lubed the chain (the el cheapo chain cleaner brush broke due to my efforts of cleaning, so used a regular cloth). I have to use the G-roller for rear wheel as the gas shocks make the rear wheel touch ground on center stands. Finally it turned out that I had a good sleep on friday night and so I woke up and left on saturday morning (my bags/riding gear was already kept ready for this pick and go use)

So started from home at sharp 5.30 am. Till I reached a good spot I bore witness to a beautiful sunrise. The LS2 sunshade came to the rescue while headed towards east and its helmet lever made it a nice flick operation.





Wore a base layer for the torso first time (I used the regular kipsta football base layer that I had for football/trekking), which worked quite well to cool me off during the ride. Earlier used to wear t-shirts and it didn't used to cool so much. But was always apprehensive if the base layer will increase my sweating, which didn't occur. Eitherway had packed a t-shirt in case it was so, then i will switch it over.

I was enjoying the ride, and was able to maintain 70-73 kmph peacefully. I had decided to try 80 kmph on the return leg just to check the feasability of the same. The bike's vibrations ebb away at 70-80 kmph range, either sides of which it vibrates so high that the mirrors (himalayan mirrors) get useless. From kolar I took towards horseley hills via some nice single lane village roads with ample sightings of monkey troops and once even langurs. I used to slow down and let them pass as these groups had fist sized baby monkeys too.

Many villages had lakes and I just stopped in one of the bridges to snap a pick of my gorgeous bike.



Now the question arises, why I am tagging along a cramster stallion saddlebag in all my rides. The answer is trust issues I have a lot of tools in my bag and also puncture repair kit (I know it will be useless if I happen to puncture my rear tyre as I don't have the relevant spanner 32" i think, but still all other stuff to let a puncture guy do his job without any excuse).

After a lot of offroads and village roads finally just before the

[masterChief007]

(Just now lost all updates I did for my next part !! )

entrance to horseley hills around at 110 kms from bangalore I stopped at a shell station to refuel and realized they have coffee too. So had a sip of cofee and did my pee-duty and clicked a few pics and moved on. The economy was 25 kmpl till now. Later calculation has me baffled as I filled at odo ~300 km and then next refuelling was ~712 km which is mind boggling around 40 kmpl? It must be the fumes i inhaled during the day !

There was a customary 30/- fee at the base of the foothills which one has to pay before entering the switchbacks. As I rode along the mountain I could easily pull along with 2nd/3rd gear and 40-45 kmph which is nice. 4th gear is and as should be is totally useless in the hills. Stopped midway to click a snap of the bike and enjoy the birds songs and insects chirping around.



There were also these flowering trees with magenta flowers I thought I will take a pic if I get a dense cover of such flowers on the way. But couldn't find one to my liking to kept riding up till the view point. At the view point I didn't want to tour around as I have already been here and the views are okayish and not that great. So snapped a few pics and started my climb down. Yes not even a coffee/tea break at a tourist spot !




There is a pond on the way to the top which is quiet and peaceful as people don't come near it much. I had thought of going down near the pond and sit there and ponder about everything and nothing in life. I realized if I do that then I will be sitting around for too long there as it is very peaceful place and no one generally stops by, but it will delay my test run and don't want to ruin my ride day objective with that.
So hopped on and headed towards tirupati. Had a customary stop from where I could snap the bike and the view together. While coming down I put on 2nd gear for most of turns to use its engine braking to slow me down.




After horseley hills I entered Madanapalle where there was some sort of protest going on. They were not giving way/moving from center and thus all 4 wheelers got blocked. Us two wheelers made a bee line from the sides and escaped a potential time warp . After madanapalle I encountered a lot of 4 laning activity (I think this is on the lines of tirupati-naidupeta 4 laning, so we might have a new connectivity between madanapalle and naidupeta for all BLR-KOL riders/drivers).


Before Tirupati/Chandragiri there is a wonderful ghat section for drivers/riders. I took only one pic when I realized my water is boiling hot. And if I stop then it will drench me in sweat due to the heat. The hills near this area will make you feel (if you have the a/c on) as if you are entering the himalayas. I really enjoyed the long curvy sections leaning on my bike.


After reaching tirupati/chandragiri, I was going for the final test for my bike today and it passed. I did 80-85 kmph speeds for sometime and it held those speeds with some effort but not too bad as the last time. There were ample food stops on the way, But I didn't take a break and kept riding with the view of the tirupati hills on the backdrop.
Had my breakfast/lunch over at the chittoor-tirupaty crossing ccd.



With this done, I made the full ride back home without stopping except within bangalore in one of the shell petrol bunk (have to monitor the fuel economy from odo of 712 kms). My knees were soring out due to the improper wearing of the riding pants. Will go to the rynox store/watch some videos and learn about how to get it properly set. So finally having a relaxed sunday with a grin on my face !!

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by masterChief007

BLR-Horseley hills-Tirupati/Chandragiri-Chittoor-BLR.

Ah, now that (along with your map excerpt) brings back distinct (and bittersweet) memories... For in fact it was in that neck of the woods that I rode my first two Bullets, both 350ci's, this was back in 2002 in the Punganoor / Palamaner / Madanapalle vicinity, through which so many of the Tirupati-bound buses plied... These were also my first riding experiences in India. First was merely a test-ride of one for sale for around 10k iirc, which seemed a lot at the time for a somewhat faded example with (as usual) the cantankerous gears... I'll admit the sound was compelling, but due to my unfamiliarity with the handling and right-hand changer and Indian road conditions themselves, I was pretty shaky.

Second one - memorable for all the right and wrong reasons - was absolutely pristine and definitely NOT for sale, done up in a gleaming metallic champagne color, the Beloved of the local Police Sub-Inspector, replete with siren, police ID plates, broad (be-jewelled?) white mudflap out back, huge leg-guard, and other typical accessories... There was nary a speck of dust on it, in that dusty little town.

We met and chatted over tea, our having being introduced by a mutual friend; The man took a liking to me and surprisingly told me in what seemed like real sincerity to take the bike and enjoy it for a few days - an offer hard to refuse which I, perhaps not too wisely, accepted. Thereafter enjoyed some thrilling (and in those days helmet-less) late-night top-speed runs through the Eucalyptus and mango groves down the utterly empty and finely paved (albeit shoulder-less two-lane) historic old Trunk Road, and daytimes cruised around the market a bit to the considerable interest of many resident observers of that small town. I believe it was a '76 or '78 model if memory serves. The real thing.

I knew nothing of Bullets at the time, regarded & treated it like other two-wheelers I'd owned and ridden abroad, repeatedly had trouble starting it and admit I revved it pretty high in each gear on those night runs; Moreover figured I'd "return the favor" I'd been shown by fine-tuning it a bit, as I'd done with all my past bikes. So fiddled with the timing and idle speed and mixture screws, etc a bit till I felt it was improved.

HUGE mistake !

When I pulled back up to the police station a couple days later, our dear Inspector, having heard us coming, walked out hurriedly; Looking rather alarmed, he hardly glanced at me, his full attention focused on the bike as he did a slow, meticulous walk-around... Obviously the idle was too high, the valves were clattering, and by advancing the timing a hair, it was evident when he tested it that it wasn't starting as Bullets are "supposed to" start... with that slow, methodical kick after observing the alternator needle (he'd shown me the technique earlier but I wasn't ready to believe this could be correct); Worse, the old, hardened rubber cover for the timing unit had got slightly ripped when I'd taken it off (oh horrors!). Truly to my mounting apprehension, he noticed both that and EVERY OTHER LITTLE THING that now wasn't "right". Probably even the mirrors were out of adjustment now, as far as he could see. A capable and careful Inspector indeed! His chagrin was clearly evident. I may as well have put my hands on his wife. Dear God, have mercy...

Well, I didn't get arrested thankfully ... but I fear any favor granted in the eyes of The Law in that time & place was thereafter fully spent!

I kept my distance for awhile, was away from town some months after that, and when I returned and inquired about our friend, I was informed that he'd been transferred... due to someone having "mysteriously" died in the police lock-up. Oh dear... I sincerely hope I wasn't the cause of any undue frustration. It could certainly have taken him many pains to get his beloved iron anything like "right" again...

...as you and a thousand others would now well understand...

It is great to see you using it as you are, it's a good looker and for (indeed) "relaxed touring" on roads such as these, can truly be pleasure-inducing, a good tool for the job. It's a beautiful part of the country, and I'd like to ride those roads again, sometimes wondered if they'd been ruined by enlargement and intense traffic, but going by your photos seems much as I remember from two decades ago; There are fewer and fewer places in India about which that can be favorably stated at this point.

-Eric

[masterChief007]

Hi Eric,
thanks for sharing your memories of the roads and bullets ! it was a nice interesting story. I am glad that the inspector didn't grill you much after

Originally Posted by ringoism

white mudflap out back

Every bullet rider who has loved his machine, has once in his lifetime contemplated getting those big rubber mats at the back !! Ask me, I had a big tiger-face mud-flap at the back. It has a dual purpose, looks fine and quirky and also if you manage to tilt it so that the exhaust gases hit the flap partially you will get an awesome sweet thump I used to tilt the flap just for that sound !!

[masterChief007]

No rides on this one though !! Pen and ink with watercolor.

A laborious day activity

[masterChief007]

Currently I am doing the FC for the motorcycle (2k done after restoration). Planning for service at 2.5K soon, after one more 500k ride. After that is done, I am planning to go for way2speed tubeless conversion (not yet finalised) which will give me a bit more confidence in taking it out for solo longer trips say BLR-goa without any additional tension for punctures. Don't want to get new alloy rims (I see lot of bullets in north using these, but just doesn't go well with the bike aesthetically).

So now the big 19" question: for 19" rims which tubeless tires should I get my hands on? Profile currently running is 3.25 *19 (MRF RIB+) front and 3.5*19" (MRF Nylogrip) rear.

I had recently changed my tires after restoration, so they are max 1k old. The idea of going tubeless didn't occur to me that time, as I didn't know how the bike will behave. But now as I see the bike doing decent and generally not misbehaving, I can definitely do some trips nearby with it. It is now my office commute and occasional highway day out ride.

P.S: The Aspire must be jealous, have to start my jogs soon to get it excercise too. Else both me and the Aspire would get fat.

[masterChief007]

Finally got hold of the RC card with updated FC done. Next works in line are to get the bend pipe chromed/derusted and the general servicing at 3k kms. Which I suppose will take place by end of July. And also will do the tubeless conversion before the RE rider mania ride to goa.

[masterChief007]

So the Bullet is going good (as good as it can go) after the 3000 km service after the restoration. Doesn't have that roll on acceleration or torque to go uphill with ease, I need to wring the throttle dry, but it did go till 87 Kmph in GPS today to the Kotilingeswara temple. But majority of the ride was in 70-75 kmph and some stretches at 80 kmph.

The bullet had earlier done a ride to Janardhan Hotel in Ramanagara, didn't log it here as it was too short a ride. This time around we started for Kotilingeswara temple. I generally avoid crowds but joined in for the ride.

We started at 6 am from one of our spiti friends' (we got acquainted in my spiti ride) place near mysore road. There were 2 KTM 390 Adv, one yezdi adventure, and 2 other bikes (sorry I failed to register the makes, I think one was Ninja). Stopped at the Swathi hotel for breakfast and visited the Temple. The temple visit took 1 hour due to the queue and the fact that you are forced to walk in the fixed path and it thus takes time (we thought we can visit the temple quickly and head back home). Apart from the thousands of Shivalingas there is not much to "feel" there. I had a good peace and calmness in the Belur temple, but that calmness and peace was missing here somehow.

After the temple visit we headed back to Hoskote toll directly and then dispersed. Bike didn't give me too much trouble, but I couldn't overtake vehicles as it was lacking roll on acceleration. So I had to get a good speed differential long before the overtaking was done.

Even then the bike was decently quick, and it did overtake when it could hold on to it's speed. It might not accelerate good, so stop and go traffic was bane as picking the speed back up took a lot of time. Total Kilometers might be around 180 to and fro.

[masterChief007]

Long long time ago when the bullet failed in its highway ride on the way to Chikkamagaluru and it's engine had seized, thanks to the shoddy work by the Royal Enfield service center a week ago. I had retired it to the city crawler and never did a highway ride ever till after I restored it this year. This was 10 years ago approximately.

So I wanted to do this trip just to break this jinx, earlier I had planned this ride solo but had to cancel due to regular stories of office crunches. Luckily my friend couple from spiti ride were ready for a quick dash to Mullyangiri so we planned this up for this weekend. Plan was to visit the top and get back. And as they say the journey is the destination, I never reached the top seeing the chaotic jam and cars parked haphhazardly on both sides of the road ! But for me reaching to the point I reached saved me from seeing the tourism impact ruining the memories of Mullyangiri from 10-12 years back.

Earlier I had trekked to this place from Sarpadhari which was my first trek in my life and boy I got addicted to Trekking. I still get a wonderful feeling of that day when I got a Weinbrenner shoe for the trek and we trekked in heavy rain to the top of Mullyangiri (I was still unaware of Decathlon that time !).

So woke up at 2 am and then fiddled around with trying to sleep and ended up making coffee on a cold morning breeze in my balcony. This was followed up by a shower and having Sattu paratha and gearing up. Checked air and warmed up the engine of the Bullet properly and headed off at 4.40 am.



I had also setup an old SJCAM 4000 for moto video recording. I was highly excited and went to my trusty Petrol bunk for refuel (first time I was refuelling on the day of ride instead of the evening before). Started my GPS for Nelamangala Toll (I always get confused on which exit to take for NH75 from the Tumkur highway). Plan was to meet at the Nelamangala Toll and head to Dhruvathare for breakfast. However my fellow ride updated he was 15-20 mins late so I suggested we catch up at Dhruvathare instead, as my bike was anyways slow and they will catch up easily.


In all this I was fiddling around and talking nonsense on the action camera thinking I cracked a good joke or so and laughing and singing old melodies while riding. Took some small break in between to let the engine cool off a little, didn't want to get it siezed on this ride and planned to ride carefully. I always kept the speed under 75 unless to overtake some vehicles when I would do that on 80-82 kmph but that used to be brief periods.



After an hour or so we met up in Dhruvathare and I was surprised that their Masala dosa had much less oil than my previously favorite Mayura. Tea and coffee were good too. Then we planned to meet up near the Hassan ring road and Belur road crossing for next catch up and refuel.




After a quick cup of tea we headed towards Siri Cafe Chikkamagaluru. I had unharnessed my phone from the Bobo holder and went to drink tea when a kind rider in KTM 390 Adv told me about it Thanks to the rider if he is reading this post ! After wonderful but slow ride we both reached Siri Cafe but were around 4.2 Kms apart - some sort of Heisenberg's uncertainity. Since we observed our positions were not accurate I was standing inside Chikkamagaluru Siri Cafe and they were at Kaimara Siri Cafe !! So I made my way there and had a wonderful cold coffee and walnut brownie.




The ride started to the top of Mullyangiri and my phone's Battery was already 20% and also my charging cable was not working so I was doomed. We made our way through the twisties in the fog and rain. Though I had the rain cover but I refrained from using as I loved the nice drizzle but worried about my phone I put it inside my jacket. The bullet was mostly on 1st and 2nd gears but with a little effort it did make it to the top without much fuss however there was a terrible jam at the top. I thought of updating the riding mates but found there is no cell reception and also my battery started draining fast maybe due to the rain.








I decided to head down where I got some reception and then updated that we should meet near the first petrol pump on NH75 (which is under construction BTW and doesn't have the sign board yet). No wonder my friend's Navigator missed it, as I had waited there for 20 mins without a sign of them. Mind you by this time my phone was switched off due to battery drain. The switchoff happend in Belur itself. It was already 3.30 pm so I decided to start riding since they ride fast they will anyways catch me. I also checked 2 more petrol pumps in case they had overtaken me meanwhile but didn't find them. Waited 5 mins there too but to no avail. I thought then the ride has become solo now, that I can't even update them where I am.

After around 40 mins or so they did come down and overtook me. And we decided to stop at Empire near Kunigal. We had a decent Lunch at 4 pm of Biriyani, chicken varuval kerala porotta, pepper chicken and lime soda. The rain came down heavily and we even managed to see a dual rainbow. None of those pics were taken by me as my phone was dead. We said our goodbyes and started off for our respective homes by 5.30 pm we started off our rides back.

With lights fading the idiocy of Indian road users started glowing brightly. No lights in their cars, opposite side driving with high beams, slow trucks/cars on right lanes and immense jam near the NH75 and Tumkur road crossing took a toll on me more than the ride till now itself. Managed the whole Bangalore traffic and parked the Bullet at 8.50 pm.

And regarding my first moto-video recording, Today morning I saw "Memory Error" - All my quick witted jokes and melodious singing now lost to the wind somewhere on NH75.

[masterChief007]

10th Year Anniversary of Kolli Hills ride

After my recent 3900 Km drive to Kolkata and back in the Aspire, I was just hoping that Jungbahadur is not so jealous of being left alone that he refuses to budge. But as a pleasant surprise, it started in one single kick (okay, after the usual, clutch kick, decomp kick, and choke pulling, but that's like the preface of a book not the first chapter, so they dont count !). That was something amazing. Last time I took my bike to kolli hills he could to 100 kmph without a hiccup and I could do 20-25 kg dumb-bells without breaking form. Now 10 years matured, he has issues with speeds beyond 85kph and is comfortable with 75kph and I have to break form for 20 kgs and so I do 15 kgs So both of us have aged similarly.

There has been lots of things that happened in life too, he also suffered from engine siezure (I am glad that here the similarities end as I have not yet had any heart attacks !). So it was obvious that I reminisce that trip. Last time I went was in a group with a mix of avengers and Thunderbirds and my std ci bullet. This time I was going solo. It was not by choice though but my other ride buddies had pressing issues and I had already postponed my ride 2 times, so the third time I decided to wing it solo as they were busy again. Also for me making it a November ride was important as the last ride also occured in Nov 2013.

Also discovered that ear plugs are a great stuff ! Along with FortNine suggested on the move excercises that can be done to relieve and excercise on the move. Will discuss that later.

11-11-2023: 390 Kms (5 am - 2:30 pm) BLR - Kolli Hills - Salem

I was talking with a friend and discussing this and that It was already around 12 am ! Suddenly it hit me that I should get some sleep, so put on my earphones to listen to the usual podcast and tried to sleep. One story ended, 2 done, 3rd over but sleep didn't grace me, took a look at the watch shouting 1.30 am. Headed out to the kitchen drank milk with honey and biscuit (heard something about melatonin in milk). Attempted again but again some truck horn woke me up at 3.30 am. After a lot of to and fro and cursing I got up and made some extra strong coffee, had some curd rice, biscuits and started getting ready with the Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild, on speakers.

Finally headed down with all the luggage loaded the cramster saddle bags and wore the Jacket after that (This is a new trick as I get drenched if I do all that loading saddlebag drama wearing the riding-jacket.). Also set in the 3M foam plugs and it was a boon. It nicely filters out the engine thump which is unbearable at highway speeds but you can still hear horns/heavy vehicle sounds.

Within 3 kms my bike achieved it's 30,000 km mark.


As usual passing through early morning Bengaluru traffic is as interesting as to see a plant grow. So I passed through Hosur then only I realized the real ride has begun. Being Diwali weekend both sides of the Hosur highway was lined with cracker customers. I had decided not to have any breakfast apart from some apple I was carrying so stopped 30 Km before Dharmapuri in a nice empty space and had my water and apple break.




I made sure my buddy was aware of my location and exchanged a few quick chats to update my location and other random details and pics via Whatsapp. I had also shared my live location so that they can be the eye in the sky angel for me I was running out of petrol so decided to refuel it after Salem and kept riding till I hit the Kolli Hills checkpost. Where I gave the bike some rest and updated my freind via pics.



I have been counter-leaning for quiet some time in flat turns, but even in spiti ride I was leaning inwards in the uphill turns, so I decided to try counter-leaning turns in the hairpins of Kolli Hills. It was not difficult to do, but in a few turns I did lean inwards though by habit. I need to do more research on counter-leaning and made it a point in my mind to collect more info on this. Basically is this always the best way or does inward leaning (leaning into the turn) makes sense in certain scenarios. What perception I have is that counter-leaning is go to for regular traffic, and race etc scenarios it is inward-leaning. Any experts going through please provide inputs here !!



One by one the turns finished and I found myself on the final milestone 70/70. However was a little disheartened that the turn marker has been replace by a new one. Earlier one was white. Either way a customary pic later I proceeded to the Nallathambi resort where we had stayed and had fun 10 years ago, by muting the CID serial and using our own made up dialogues and laughing like maniacs.






It was both nostalgic and emotional. Decisions made then have forked our lives for better or for worse. I was lost in these things and then suddenly realized I forgot to update my friend and did so pronto. It is always mandatory for me to keep the ones following your trip to update asap. This keeps them from worrying less. Anyways I had already shared my live location. So all was fine. After these quick pics I decided to head down to the hotel in Salem for resting for the day. I could have returned from the ride to Bengaluru but I was not sure how the bike will be after tackling 80-90+ hairpins both up and down, so to give the bike some rest had booked room in Salem. Went to the hotel ordered food freshened up and updated my buddy with the trip details. Next day ride was a straight dash so it was comparatively easy ride for ~200 kms.

The bike performed decently, only gripe being in 2-3 of the turns after latching on to second gear it came off into a false neutral. So that was a bit inconvenient. But the bike was fine otherwise.

I had seen a video of some ways to ride the bike to excercise and stretch your body while riding in safe areas by FortNine, out of these I was aware of only the sitting on the pillion seat excercise. But sitting close to the fuel tank was new approach !! It was really refreshing way in a long ride. I would recommend the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XP_qr9NNcc

12-11-2023: 210 Kms (5.40 am - 9:30 am) Salem-BLR

The final dash was as butter smooth and simple as bread and butter. There was only fly in the ointment - and actual weird looking fly entered my helmet and sat on my face when riding at 75 kph !! This was the corrective stop I had to make



I stopped again just before Krishnagiri for some pics and water and protein bar. Updated my friend as usual and proceeded to BLR to be at my parking by 2.30 pm. However on the way within the City I saddled the bike over a huge speed bump and my water bottle flew out from the saddle bag and fell. I saw that happen in the rear view mirror but left it, the bottle was old and the traffic was dense to risk a pickup of the same. Case in point though - bottles need harness or tight holding straps in saddle bags.




Finally reached home and parked the vehicle till next office day . Roads were totally decongested due to Diwali long weekend. Total trip was on 609 Kms.

[masterChief007]

Faced an issue in heavy traffic today. Motorcycle has been running fine without much issues, however today all of a sudden I lost compression and the bike stopped. There was no sign of any leakage from the gasket or the exhaust bend pipe or anywhere for that matter. The decomp cable was also not stressed and there was no oil marks near anywhere. Just the kicker was moving without much resistance. I stopped and tinkered with the sparkplug and the decomp lever. After the engine cooled a little the bike started (no need of decomp lever). Can anyone give insights why this might happen?

Will keep an eye on the compression scenario in my next few within city rides. Planning to use soap water to see if there might be any leaks. No oil spurt marks were seen, so it's perplexing for me. Also engine was not running too hot either.

[masterChief007]

Originally Posted by masterChief007

No oil spurt marks were seen, so it's perplexing for me. Also engine was not running too hot either.

Did a bit of reading on this, possible causes maybe piston ring failed/holes in piston well if this is the reason, then I have some decisions to make. Will keep an eye on the compression from now on.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by masterChief007

Will keep an eye on the compression scenario in my next few within city rides. Planning to use soap water to see if there might be any leaks. No oil spurt marks were seen, so it's perplexing for me. Also engine was not running too hot either.

This has happened to few times on my 500 CI when I had it. I stopped at a signal and when I kicked, it just went soft. But, after a few kicks, it fired up very slowly and gently and then in few seconds was back to normal.

My guess was the valves were sticking for some reason. If doesn't occur again, then don't bother about it.

[masterChief007]

10th Anniversary of Engine Seizure Ride:

Well it was not planned like that, to have a 10th Anniversary of the CI Bullet's engine seizure. @tharian and myself planned for a Saturday ride over to Kolar and STRR. Just by chance I happened to check that 28 March 2014 was the day when the Bullet's engine got seized up on the way to Chickmangalur. Thank god I didn't face any such issues on this ride.

Either way we met up at the STRR (Hoskote-Devanahalli-Doddaballapur-Dobbaspet expressway) start after Hoskote at 6.30 am. Rode till Woody's and had a nice breakfast, discussed our bikes and then again rode up to STRR and swapped our bikes till Devanahalli. It was fun to ride a 1.3 Lakh km CI and a CI with a working suspension !!! In my bike the suspension is so stiff that I use "downside up" suspension (a.k.a my own legs and knees do the shock absorbers work as I saddle each bump on the road )

Parallel twins (twins standing parallelly ):


Tharian returned home from Devanahalli and I decided to check out till where the road completion has been done. It was nice meeting and maybe will catch up for more rides some day. I was pleasantly surprised except for a small stretch the STRR road is open end to end. When in Dobbaspet, I decided to ride till Sira till Gurjent Dhaba just after Sira. Had the average food there and rode back to a riding training school where a friend was getting his trail riding skills upgraded. We caught up in the Devanahalli CCD and finally rode back home clocking 530 kms in total.





70-75 kmph for the Bullet is quite comfortable. But which is a bit slow for the long distance touring nowadays. So seizure anniversary ride was quite a successful one !! Next I am planning to do Goa sometime in near future on the Bullet.

[BlackMambaXX]

Wow!! good to see the old thumper still being used for long rides. I have an CI electra 5s 50th anniversary edition which has been converted to right side gear just for kicks. Its a custom build made to look like a bobber. I am planning to De-customize it to make it stock. Any workshop suggestions in and around Whitefield?