[adrian]

Originally Posted by the-mechanic

The basic concept is:

Higher altitude = Less pressure = Less oxygen = Mixture becomes technically rich (Summer setting)
Lower altitude = High pressure = More oxygen = Mixture is technically lean (Winter setting)

So the answers would be: (for adjustment done in summer, i.e. less humidity, less-dense air = less oxygen, mixture is richer [than regular])

During and after downpour: the air gets colder = more dense = higher oxygen. So your mixture is lean and you need to richen your mixture to compensate.

In your case, I think you have a winter setting. So your vehicle's mixture becomes richer than required during summer because of decrease in density (or humidity). Also proper performance and pickup during winters means you're probably running a bit richer because you don't have pickup issues during cold. So the solution should be leaning the mixture a little.

Note: I am no Bullet guru/meteorologist. I am an automotive engineer whos worked a lot with carbureted motorcycles and this is the theory that I believe works. Do verify with experts before you take me seriously. :P

Thank you friend; From your post, what I gather is that the humidity will be higher in Monsoon season and lesser in Winter season when compared to Summer.

Winter<Summer < Monsoon (Least humidity in winter and peaks at Monsoon, right ? So my Bullet with the idle circuit adjusted in summer will run rich in Monsoon and run lean in winter.
Two more questions,
1. should I leave the fuel screw where the engine rpm peaks or should I turn it out another 1/4 ?
2. Any methods to reduce the effects of weather on a carburetor type motorcycle ?
regards adrian

[tharian]

Originally Posted by B O V

An issue cropped up on my enfield today.

I fear that its quite serious.For the past few days I've been intermittently hearing a sort of clicking sound from the engine/gearbox.Took it to the mech,couldn't find anything wrong with it.

2 days after i.e today I hear a clunk*thud and it dies.Tried to kick start it but the kickstarter was stuck.

Played around with a neutral finder,pulled the clutch in hopes that it would let the kickstarter free.Worked.Got it started and the clunk thud's keep rolling in.Got it to a local(not my regular)mech,He said that it needs to be opened up.Since I don't trust all mech's I took it back home.

Note-I can shift from between the gears.It makes that very nasty sound.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Sounds like the main engine bearing failed. When was it last replaced, knowing the bike is old, probably the last bearing was not of good quality.
Does not seem to be a gearbox problem since you are able to change through the gears fine.

Looks like you will have to open up the engine to find the exact issue.

[B O V]

Originally Posted by rideon74

Hey...check the bearing

Even I thought it was bearing failure.Turns out it wasn't.Yeah I only get her opened up by my trusted mech and only in my presence.Since I like to tinker around as well

Pictures below

Originally Posted by tharian

Sounds like the main engine bearing failed

Nope not the bearings.Although I am gonna open her up soon.Pics below.






Turns out that one of the 3 screws that hold the pressure plate had come loose,it was hitting against a part of the clutch cover.

Replaced pressure plate(worn) and all the other plates too.



Turns out the new pressure plate is slightly different from the old one(pictured above),had to get a longer screw(not sure what its called)goes into the with washer.

Found a bit of jugaad work done.Replaced those parts(gearbox chain tension adjuster screw)It was a shorter type with a rubber piece at the bottom so that it acts like the longer type.

Removed it and got the long threaded screw.Theres some jugaad work in the neutral finder box too.Once I correct that with the right parts my gearbox will be 100% perfect.

Next work is to inspect the engine.

Originally Posted by adrian

1. should I leave the fuel screw where the engine rpm peaks or should I turn it out another 1/4 ?
2. Any methods to reduce the effects of weather on a carburetor type motorcycle ?
regards adrian

1. If you let your engine RPM peak, then doesn't it mean you are running it too rich. I am thinking you should turn it a quarter or a half towards the lean (tighten the screw) till just about the engine tends to shut down and then open it just a fraction more. Should run fine then.

2. This is a little weird but I was once thinking of this problem with my KB100 in college. What I did was find the humidity and pressure-temp maps for the previous year and tried studying the effects.



From the above, I found out that the average humidity was between May-June or October-November. So if I tuned for that kind of weather I should be good for the year. But I was disastrously wrong. The thing was once you move from the factory setting, there's really no better all weather setting. Also what I misjudged was that I was looking at an average. When I saw the shift in humidity in a week, the settings made no sense.



So honestly, I have no clue how to keep your carb weather free except for putting it on factory settings.

The graphs above are for Bangalore. I had done this stupid experiment in Chennai.

[SuperSlick]

Well it's not a query or a solution..just a wicked but true thing that all of us bikers would have faced some day for sure! Just sharing it on a lighter note as I've faced it in the recent days

Note: - Dear Mods please feel free to remove it if you feel it's against the rules. But as I mentioned, it's just on a lighter note, but a fact of all biker's life!

http://youtu.be/1i-Hc5fqdqQ

[thumpingheart]

Hi guys. I need to change both front and rear tyres on my TBTS. I'm pretty satisfied with the performance of my stock tyres so I want to keep the stock size. But the availability of the MRF's is very low (no surprise) but the dealer (he's pretty reliable and I'm a regular at his shop) has promised me it will be there within a couple of weeks.

I wanted to fit the new MRF front tyre RE uses for the classic and t'bird. But the dealer said there is no possibility in hell that I find one anywhere!! MRF is supplying to only RE directly, so will go for either the MRF or CEAT ribbed front, whichever I find.



I found a Dunlop ribbed front as well as the JAP350 rear but overall I've heard really bad reviews of the Dunlops. So avoiding.

I've found a tyre available for the rear, CEAT Milaze (pic below) at couple of shops. I wanted to ask whether any of you guys have used this tyre on their RE. It seems quite chunky and more of a on road-off road tyre than a pure road tyre. I like the tyre though and feels not too hard unlike the MRF nylogrip. I won't be doing much off roading so I want a tyre that is good on road (being a relative term) at least comparable to the MRF nylogrip. Kindly comment on the CEAT Milaze.



Thank you.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by thumpingheart

I found a Dunlop ribbed front as well as the JAP350 rear but overall I've heard really bad reviews of the Dunlops. So avoiding.

I am using a Dunlop at the rear. Indian Army has been using Dunlop shod Bullets for over half a century now. Its a good tyre. Just wears out much faster than the MRF Nylogrips do. And if you want button then thanks to the Seura Sport not being available, these are the only option one has.

I've found a tyre available for the rear, CEAT Milaze (pic below)

Looks pretty similar to the MRF Nylogrip. CEATs as a general rule are softer than the MRFs.

[thumpingheart]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I am using a Dunlop at the rear. Indian Army has been using Dunlop shod Bullets for over half a century now. Its a good tyre. Just wears out much faster than the MRF Nylogrips do. And if you want button then thanks to the Seura Sport not being available, these are the only option one has.



Looks pretty similar to the MRF Nylogrip. CEATs as a general rule are softer than the MRFs.

Thanks boss. Will decide. May be I'll go with the CEATs this time. They're slightly different. The pattern is exactly symmetrical, where as the MRF pattern seems like the right is half a blob ahead than the left (can be seen in the background on the left). Hopefully the grip will be pretty good and will be reliable, because my MRF's have had just 1 puncture till now in almost 35k km.

I'm not so sure about buttons. Are there any major advantages? I sort of can guess the answer but its better to know from a person with real experience.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by the-mechanic

1. If you let your engine RPM peak, then doesn't it mean you are running it too rich. I am thinking you should turn it a quarter or a half towards the lean (tighten the screw) till just about the engine tends to shut down and then open it just a fraction more. Should run fine then.

2. This is a little weird but I was once thinking of this problem with my KB100 in college. What I did was find the humidity and pressure-temp maps for the previous year and tried studying the effects.


From the above, I found out that the average humidity was between May-June or October-November. So if I tuned for that kind of weather I should be good for the year. But I was disastrously wrong. The thing was once you move from the factory setting, there's really no better all weather setting. Also what I misjudged was that I was looking at an average. When I saw the shift in humidity in a week, the settings made no sense.


So honestly, I have no clue how to keep your carb weather free except for putting it on factory settings.

The graphs above are for Bangalore. I had done this stupid experiment in Chennai.

The factory setting of the fuel screw of bullet 350 UCE carburetor is 3.5 + / - 1 turn. But my bullet in the factory setting is knocking, backfiring through the carburetor and is having a hanging idle. Currently I am set 5 1/2 turns out so that my bullet runs without any hiccup. The spark plug is still grey in color and I need choke for cold startups. I have checked for vacuum leaks and found none. Checked the compression to eliminate valve leaks and also checked for exhaust leaks. I suspect a stubborn clog in the pilot circuit of my carburetor (I cleaned and rebuilt the carburetor couple of times and I was able to set the fuel screw at 5 1/2 from 6 full turns). I will try to clean the carburetor one more time and if nothing works, will go for a new updated cv bs29 carburetor which was installed in the bullets manufactured after May 2011.
Thanks for the help and for sharing your experiments , really appreciate it

@superslick : Nice video there. I have done the idle adjustment part like that in the video during the carb tuning process
regards adrian

[Thar4x4]

Guys,

My friend's DC500 faced wired issue on just 5000 km on ODO. Firstly the battery went kaput so we left it with my trusted mechanic, he checked everything and said battery is gone so we decided to replace it.

After replacement the bike started normally just for week or so and then again battery went down. This time mechanic towed bike to his garage and kept with him for 2 days and installed new battery under warranty. However no luck and after weeks time battery went down.

After some research he mechanic said RR unit is in fault and need to replace it, bike was just our of warranty period so we decided to spend as we did not had any other option. RR unit costs some 2000 Rs I guess. This time new battery again and RR unit and we thought the issue is resolved.

After 2/3 weeks battery went down and this time I was so frustrated on my mechanic and asked him to keep the bike and do whatever and fix the issue without any cost.

This time he use the bike for a week and told us that the problem is totally different as below:

Before changing battery he tested if the current is getting for charging terminals or not and it was working, so his next doubt was RR unit as battery was draining without using bike however this time he found that the when bikes runs for 6/7 km battery charging stops so he opened everything form magneto etc and found that crank is slightly out and when bikes runs some km magneto get expanded and stuck in his case because of out on crank which resulted in no charging and battery kept draining.

I asked him how crank got out, he said may be because of abusive use where on high speed sometime crank turns opposite side?

Somehow the bike is running fine now so looks like what is told is might be true but I thought of sharing it here.

Do you thing this type of problem can happen to a DS 500 worth 1.80 L?

[shan2129]

If it's a desert Storm, you should get it hooked to a computer in a diagnostic environment. Ask the RE ASM or TSM or dealer for this. They can read your ECU & there is a sensor that gives out a reading of how the battery is charging.

Any RE with ECU must be taken to authorized service station immediately on such issues.

[Thar4x4]

Originally Posted by shan2129

If it's a desert Storm, you should get it hooked to a computer in a diagnostic environment. Ask the RE ASM or TSM or dealer for this. They can read your ECU & there is a sensor that gives out a reading of how the battery is charging.

Any RE with ECU must be taken to authorized service station immediately on such issues.

We tried that, we left the bike at authorised service station and asked them to look into the issue however they said everything is fine and after that my friend didn't got time to look into it again as once battery drain out there is no way to take bike to ASC and here my mechanic come to rescue with his bike. BTW he runs ASC however do not have ECU scanner etc.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Thar4x4

Guys,

My friend's DC500 faced wired issue on just 5000 km on ODO. Firstly the battery went kaput so we left it with my trusted mechanic, he checked everything and said battery is gone so we decided to replace it.Somehow the bike is running fine now so looks like what is told is might be true but I thought of sharing it here.

Do you thing this type of problem can happen to a DS 500 worth 1.80 L?

Thanks for the update Thar. Since we are both in Pune, can you share the name (and location, in case I have not heard of him) of this mechanic please?

As for your last question, its a Bullet. Anything that can happen, will usually happen. The date and price of purchase does not negate the effect of the DNA of the bike.

[SuperSlick]

Some observations from the issue i've been facing in the recent weeks of difficulty kickstarting the bike. I took the bike to RE service center to have it checked a few days back. I had tried kickstart earlier that day which dint help so I used the ES to get it started which worked fine. When I reached the service center and asked them to check, the bike started in single kick. I tried myself there and it started each time at the first kick itself!

I told when the engine is cold it takes a lot of kicks to get it started but ES is fine to which I was told the change in weather could be a reason and most carb bikes face this. So for now I use the kickstart once the bike has run quite a distance and warmed up well!

On the other hand my brother's 10 year old Max-R which is also a carb spec doesnt face this issue and starts in single kick!

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by Thar4x4

Before changing battery he tested if the current is getting for charging terminals or not and it was working, so his next doubt was RR unit as battery was draining without using bike however this time he found that the when bikes runs for 6/7 km battery charging stops so he opened everything form magneto etc and found that crank is slightly out and when bikes runs some km magneto get expanded and stuck in his case because of out on crank which resulted in no charging and battery kept draining.

I asked him how crank got out, he said may be because of abusive use where on high speed sometime crank turns opposite side?

Somehow the bike is running fine now so looks like what is told is might be true but I thought of sharing it here.

Do you thing this type of problem can happen to a DS 500 worth 1.80 L?

What did he mean by crank got out?? And how can a crank turn the opposite side?? Experts please comment.

Apart from that. Ask him to thoroughly check all the wiring. It sounds like a short wire to me!

And did he check the magneto coil instead of blaming the crank?