[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by tharian

Sounds like the sound is present only when decelerating at a certain rpm which mostly is the sound from the exhaust.

Spot on. Nailed this bit by doing some experiements over the weekend. Changed the exhaust and reproduced the test conditions. The root cause points to this:
- This is similar to blowing over a bottle that causes whistling sound. This phenomenon is called helmholtz resonance.
The greasehouse has a wider mouth and hence while the throttle is shut of at those high speeds, the pressure difference along with resonance and the wind blowing at the cross section of the mouth causes this howling/whistling sound.
The stock also produced this sound but at lesser frequency. on tapping the source of the sound, it came from the outlet of exhaust.

For folks interested in Physics, more explanation here -
http://physics.stackexchange.com/que...ng-in-a-bottle

Satisfied that the engine does not have a problem.

[Abhishek3001]

So,I think that my bike might be burning engine oil.
The things that seemed out of the ordinary to me are-
1.Smokey exhaust on startup,it goes away after 20 or so minutes of riding.
2.Smell-The exhaust smells like burnt oil,similar to that of the sooty exhaust of an old diesel truck.This,however,does not go away even after riding for some time.
3.Noise-The tappets/engine seems to be more noisy.
4.Drop in oil level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_vgZUYicUw

What could be the cause of this?

Thanks,

Abhishek

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Abhishek3001

So,I think that my bike might be burning engine oil.
The things that seemed out of the ordinary to me are-
1.Smokey exhaust on startup,it goes away after 20 or so minutes of riding.
2.Smell-The exhaust smells like burnt oil,similar to that of the sooty exhaust of an old diesel truck.This,however,does not go away even after riding for some time.
3.Noise-The tappets/engine seems to be more noisy.
4.Drop in oil level.
What could be the cause of this?

Mate the symptoms of your bike shows that it might be burning engine oil. White smoke from exhaust during the start up on cold engines was a typical issue on Old CI engines due to wet sumping. I am not sure if this is the phenomenon in new UCE engines as well, since my UCE Tbird500 never releases white smoke during cold starts or first start in the mornings.

If your exhaust smells like burnt oil then it is better to get the valves checked, I had a similar issue on my CI Bullet and it turned out to be worn out valves. Noise in tappets and engine might be due to worn out valves. Drop in oil level is definitely not good news, it can be either due to a leak or oil burning. Looks like latter in your case. Since the white smoke disappears after some time of riding I am not sure if the oil is getting past the piston rings. If at all you are getting your valves checked it would be better to get your piston rings checked as well. Do not delay this as dropping engine oil level may damage the engine.

[farhadtarapore]

Today being Ganesh chaturthi, the roads were empty and a pleasure to ride. I had to ride to office though. Found that my thunderbird 500 (with about 4500 kms on the odo) could not push beyond 110kmph. That too with great difficulty. What could be the problem here? I am probably lucky that the bike didn't have too much vibrations at 100, but pushing to 110 was a real pain and there was still lot of empty road left. Bike has seen 4 services.

[Akhileshmdp]

Hello fellow riders,
I own a 2011 RE Thunderbird 350 which has been my constant companion since then. Just wanted to know from the point of view of the bike performance that what are the speed to rpm correlations in 5th gear usually. My TBTS does 40 Kmph at 2000 rpm, 50 at 2500 and 60 at around 3000 rpm. Is this normal or it should do these speeds at a lower rpm. I got a bit worried as saw a post wherein a rider mentioned his TBTS 350 doing 80 Kmph at 2500 rpm which I cant remember my bike doing ever. Would be thankful if someone can also tell the approx. rpm figures for higher speeds 70/80/90/100 kmph.

[farhadtarapore]

My TB500 does about 80 @ about 3500rpm

[Abhishek3001]

So,about a week ago my bike refused to start,again.The day before yesterday,I pulled out the spark plugs and they were really sooty and would not produce a spark.I cleaned them and put them back in and the bike roared to life.It ran fine for about half a day but now hesitates to starts and doesn't hold idle until the engine heats up.



Now at this point I've eliminated the most common causes for an over rich mixture,which include-airfilter replacement,addition of injector cleaning additive in the fuel,changing the spark plugs for ones with a higher heat rating,and yet the problem still persists.
What could still be causing this problem?Could it be a failed electronic component like the MAF sensor which could be throwing the mixture off?
Could it be a weak battery? because I haven't check the level of electrolyte in the battery since I bought it,I will check it as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Abhishek

[ArizonaJim]

It's possible the Manifold Air Pressure sensor (MAP) is defective.
That could cause the ECU to increase the amount of fuel being injected into the engine.

(The Manifold Air Pressure sensor is somewhat like a MAF (Manifold Air Flow) but it uses pressure to calculate the fuel mixture rather than the cubic liters of air passing it.)

If the calibration was wrong, the ECU would not have any way of determining it.
This could explain the rich conditions.
(On start up the ECU basically checks to see if the wiring connections and the conductivity thru the sensor are right. It does not check the calibration of the sensors so, the warning light would stay on).

Unfortunately, the Service Manual does not give any test method to determine if the unit is operating correctly.
About the only way to know if this is the problem would be to replace the unit and ride the motorcycle for a few weeks.
If the plug gets fouled again, the MAP wasn't the problem.

Also, this is such an unusual thing to fail, the local Service Centers may not have one on hand to install.

For right now, if the motorcycle was mine I would buy a new (hot) spark plug and totally remove the air filter. Then, ride the motorcycle for a week or so.

If riding the motorcycle without a air filter in place solves the problem, buy a brand new filter and find out what and why the existing filter is being contaminated.
(NO. I would never suggest doing this for a long period of time.
Riding for a long period of time without a air filter is a sure way to damage the engine.
Dirt and dust can easily wear out the cylinder, piston and rings.)

No. Your battery is not the problem here but if you don't start checking it regularly and keeping the fluid level up to where it is supposed to be, it soon will be a new problem.

[maker_of_things]

So, I have been facing this weird handling issue in my RE Himalayan.

First there was this handlebar sorta jamming at low speeds (< 30 km/h). So I went to service centre, they said it was a tight handle bar. The mechanic loosened the steering stem nut and upper fork pinch bolts, and rotated the adjustment collar. Unsurprisingly it did not fix this issue. And I felt this weird play in the handling where at low speeds (again < 30 km/h), the handlebar went left and right alternatively, like a pendulum, but not that quickly and neither with a large degree of rotation. The bike swayed left and right alternatively.

I contacted RE, they put me in touch with the regional service manager. But I never got a chance to visit the service centre again after that with as I was loaded with work since then. I finally got a chance to go today morning.

I left the bike with them, they said they'd replace the cone set assembly. When they dropped the bike in the evening, handling felt even worse. The swaying of the bike was even more pronounced, this time going upto 40-45 km/h. Didn't face any jamming yet, but I'd be looking at that again to see how it behaves.

For now, I'm contacting the RSM again, and lets see how it goes from there.

Any clues what it could be? Maybe the adjustment collar is too loose, or they didn't really replace the cone set?

[saurabh89]

Hello Bulleteers!

I recently purchased a RE DS 500 last week. Surprisingly I am not able to locate the petrol cock on my vehicle. Has RE got rid of the lever in Classic 500? Pardon my ignorance, but I read through the manual but couldn't find a mention about the same.

[TheRajput]

Originally Posted by saurabh89

Hello Bulleteers!

I recently purchased a RE DS 500 last week. Surprisingly I am not able to locate the petrol cock on my vehicle. Has RE got rid of the lever in Classic 500? Pardon my ignorance, but I read through the manual but couldn't find a mention about the same.

Your bike has a Fuel injector system as compared to other models which have carburettors. The FI system does not require a petrol tap as there is no need to put the bike in reserve manually. When your fuel level goes into reserve, the reserve light on the console wil light up.

[saurabh89]

Thanks mate! I read about the EFI and now have understood it.

[saurabh89]

People!

I have another query here.

I am thinking of shifting my bike from Nagpur to Delhi driving through the north-south corridor next month. The bike is new with only 100 kms on the odo. I will finish the 500 km mark in nagpur, get it serviced and then plan for the journey.

I am concerned about the running in of my DS. Is it advisable to take the bike on a 1000 km journey with 500 odd kms on the odo?

I have had horrid experiences with transport companies over multiple occasions earlier and so I do not prefer to get my bikes transferred that way.

Please advice on this front.

[ArizonaJim]

If your DS has reached 500 km, it is due for its first servicing, the most important service of any the motorcycle will ever have.

During those first 500 km, a large amount of fine metal particles will be in the oil and in the oil filter. Occasionally, bits of fiber is also found on the oil pump inlet screen and these need to be removed.

If your motorcycle has had the 500 km service, you should be good to go.

Another good thing about this 500 km distance.
After the oil and filter change you can safely ride at speeds of 85-90 kmph without risking damage to the engine or transmission.
During the 500-1,000 km distance you should limit the amount of throttle you use to 3/4 max but this really shouldn't present a great problem for you.

With the high amount of engine torque the 500 gives, 3/4 throttle will easily keep you with or ahead of traffic and hills should be no problem.
If 3/4 of full throttle doesn't seem to be enough to climb a hill or pass traffic, shift down to a lower gear.

Ride safe and enjoy the trip.

[varadnerurkar]

Hello everyone. I own a RE classic 500. I have done around 5000 kms on the bike. But I have noticed that the rear tyre of the bike slips on wet and rough surfaces or also on turns. Can someone please suggest me a good tyre for my bike which has a good grip? I also go on short rides twice or thrice a month hence, I think it would be safe if I rather change the tyre. Thank you.