[Endofdayz]

Originally Posted by bradhey

It's so shameful of RE that they are not able to address the issue of bike stuttering and stalling even with a new ECU Map...

yes and believe me i have visited numerous number of times and also wrote to RE customer care. they forwarded my mail to service manager in brand store service center. he was happy to receive my bike and keep for good 3 days. first he said the bike is dying on you due to petrol is adultered. they found some oil contents. i changed to shell pump paying 5 to 8 rs more then normal pumps. still its the same issue.

Also my front disk brake is touching the disk plate all the time. when i brought to there notice i was told no problem at all. but after 4 k kms on my odo meter, i see there is permanent groove of 2 mm formed on the disk. they agreed to replace the disk plate under warranty and they have ordered for the part. but its been 2 months i havent received any call. i have dropped in personally twice but they say they will call once the part arrive. i think parts coming by walk from factory.


Apart from this small niggles im thoroughly enjoying the bike.

[epvineesh]

Originally Posted by Endofdayz

Hi All,

I have desert storm which has clocked 6k kms in 5 months. i have a strange problems.

1. Whenever i cross a pothole or speed breaker there is a thud sound coming from fork. i have had other bikes including TBTS before and used to use same roads. dint face problems. I have informed this to service center guys numerous number of times but they are not solving the problem.

2. Also while traveling in 30 to 40 km/hr, the bike behaves as if there is no fuel supply for second or two and gains acceleration. Its as if its dying on me and comes to life again. Are anyone aware of this issue and resolution will be of great help.

I'm getting no help from service center.

I'm struggling with the the same 2 issues u have for a while now well there are work arounds ..

1) if you are used to using the front brakes more often then ull notice there is a bit of a thud noise like u described on and off especially if u use the front brake before a hump or a pothole its louder,what i have been doing is that i periodically visit the service center to tighten the fork bolts and the main connecting one on the center,that works for a few weeks i guess since bangalore has more pot holes than roads our babies r feeling the grunt.

2)this issue of a misfire also happens to my green goblin,especially if i short shift its worse,as if its out of fuel and suddenly roars up,well from what i can tell is that keep checking the spark plugs and if there is any carbon deposit on the tips that should be cleared the missing will reduce to a great extend,im sure all the C5 owners have misfires and missing issues,ecu remaps,change of spark plugs,better wiring are some of the things to look at ...

[Torquedo]

Experts if you may help me on this -

I got my Classic 500 on the 12th April and have driven 360 odd kms since, I checked on the Engine Oil level yesterday and was in for a shocker:

1) The window did not clearly display the engine oil levels. Is it something common with the RE's?

2) Went straight to the Motul authorized dealer and picked up the Motul 3000 4T Plus and to my utter horror, out of a maximum 2.75 (the engine oil capacity for the 500), my bull was easily able to gulp 1L, I topped it with 1L but it seemed that it could take more. It is common that a brand new bike comsumes 1L in the 1st 350 Kms of ownership?

3) On my bull each day when I take it out of my garage, I can see close to 15-20 drops (an estimate) on the floor, what could be wrong here?

I am really really baffled at the QA standards being maintained by the RE chaps.

While searching for the engine oil as mentioned in the manual came across a few contacts in the NCR region, this might help:

Motul India Dealer:

Mr Baljit - +91 -9811667246

Noida Retailer:

1) Laxmi Autocare - D- 5, Sector 9,
Mr Anil Vohra - 97177-07219


A bit more on the EO's

1) Manual recommended -

Motul 3000 4T Plus 15W50 - Rs 260/L

2) Export Models (UK et all)-

Motul 5100 4T 15W50 - Semi Synthetic - Rs 495/L

3) Premium Fully Synthetic -

Motul 300V Factory Line 15W50 - Rs 985/L

Though this one is not recommended anywhere, but this seems right once the bull crosses the 20K mark.

Cheers Guys !!

[ArizonaJim]

Hopefully you had the bike level on the center stand when you checked the oil level?
If the bike was resting on the sidestand the oil window will show no oil because all of the engines oil is over on the left side of the sump.

I am no expert when it comes to RE's but I have learned a few things about my USA version of the G5 Deluxe (which I believe is the fuel injected UCE powered 500cc chrome fuel tanked Electra in India?).

First off when doing a complete oil and oil filter change and after leaning the bike to the right to get the oil out of the left hand engine side cover the most oil I can put into my bike is 1.9 quarts. That is 1.79 liters of oil.

My owners manual says the oil capacity is 2.75 liters but I suspect it is a misprint which should have said 1.75 liters. In my opinion there is not enough room in the entire lower area of the engine for 2.75 liters of oil.

For the moment, lets assume I am correct and the proper amount of oil should be about 1.75 liters.
If you had to add 1 liter then the engine had been running with only .75 liters of oil which I believe is enough to cover the oil pump inlet.
If the pump inlet was covered with oil while you were riding no great catastrophe should have occurred. I am not saying that it is a good idea to run the engine this way because overheating could be a problem.

I find it impossible to believe the engine actually burned 1 liter of oil without you noticing. It would have looked like a army tank running its smoke generator.
Is it possible that your dealer forgot to fill the oil sump when you first got the motorcycle? Stranger things have happened.

You mentioned some oil drips and I suppose that could explain the low oil level but I suspect those drips are caused from excess oil that was thrown off of your chain onto the flat area right under the transmission drive sprocket. There is a small cast shelf there where the chain oil tends to puddle. If left there, this oil will run down to the bottom of the engine and drip off on the floor.
This doesn't leave 20 drops but it can leave 2 or 3.
If you are certain there is more oil dripping you should take your bike to the dealer so his mechanic can check it out.

I do not have time to look up the specifications of all of the oils you list but here are a few things to keep in mind.

The engine oil is also the gearbox oil so regular automotive oil without some special high pressure lubricants should not be used.

Some automotive oils have newer friction fighters in them. This is not good for your motorcycle because your clutch is a "wet plate" design which gets engine oil between the plates.

Use a oil that is specifically designed for use in air cooled motorcycles. It will have the necessary additives for lubricating the transmission.
It also should conform to "JASO MA" which will assure your clutch doesn't slip.

In my opinion, in a hot region like Southern India using a 20-50 weight oil instead of the 15-50 specified in the Owners Manual will not cause a problem so if a 20-50 weight oil is available it should be considered as a good candidate for the RE.

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

Hopefully you had the bike level on the center stand when you checked the oil level?

Thanks for the inputs, Sir, yes I did indeed check the oil levels while it was on the center stand. Nothing almost nothing was visible.

First off when doing a complete oil and oil filter change and after leaning the bike to the right to get the oil out of the left hand engine side cover the most oil I can put into my bike is 1.9 quarts. That is 1.79 liters of oil.

My owners manual says the oil capacity is 2.75 liters but I suspect it is a misprint which should have said 1.75 liters. In my opinion there is not enough room in the entire lower area of the engine for 2.75 liters of oil.

Strange, very strange.

For the moment, lets assume I am correct and the proper amount of oil should be about 1.75 liters.
If you had to add 1 liter then the engine had been running with only .75 liters of oil which I believe is enough to cover the oil pump inlet.
If the pump inlet was covered with oil while you were riding no great catastrophe should have occurred. I am not saying that it is a good idea to run the engine this way because overheating could be a problem.

I find it impossible to believe the engine actually burned 1 liter of oil without you noticing. It would have looked like a army tank running its smoke generator.
Is it possible that your dealer forgot to fill the oil sump when you first got the motorcycle? Stranger things have happened.

After the top up, I have felt that the bike has become much much smoother and is heating up a lot lesser.

The bike was not smoking like an army tank.

You are SPOT ON on the dealer part, if seems, they goofed up big time at the time of delivery.

You mentioned some oil drips and I suppose that could explain the low oil level but I suspect those drips are caused from excess oil that was thrown off of your chain onto the flat area right under the transmission drive sprocket. There is a small cast shelf there where the chain oil tends to puddle. If left there, this oil will run down to the bottom of the engine and drip off on the floor.
This doesn't leave 20 drops but it can leave 2 or 3.
If you are certain there is more oil dripping you should take your bike to the dealer so his mechanic can check it out.

Thanks for the info, shall be taking it to the dealer over the weekend.

I do not have time to look up the specifications of all of the oils you list but here are a few things to keep in mind.

The engine oil is also the gearbox oil so regular automotive oil without some special high pressure lubricants should not be used.

Some automotive oils have newer friction fighters in them. This is not good for your motorcycle because your clutch is a "wet plate" design which gets engine oil between the plates.

Use a oil that is specifically designed for use in air cooled motorcycles. It will have the necessary additives for lubricating the transmission.
It also should conform to "JASO MA" which will assure your clutch doesn't slip.

In my opinion, in a hot region like Southern India using a 20-50 weight oil instead of the 15-50 specified in the Owners Manual will not cause a problem so if a 20-50 weight oil is available it should be considered as a good candidate for the RE.

Thanks, thanks a ton for the added information, Sir.

[nasirkaka]

Hi All,

I have desert storm which has clocked 6k kms in 5 months. i have a strange problems.

1. Whenever i cross a pothole or speed breaker there is a thud sound coming from fork. i have had other bikes including TBTS before and used to use same roads. dint face problems. I have informed this to service center guys numerous number of times but they are not solving the problem.

2. Also while traveling in 30 to 40 km/hr, the bike behaves as if there is no fuel supply for second or two and gains acceleration. Its as if its dying on me and comes to life again. Are anyone aware of this issue and resolution will be of great help.

I'm getting no help from service center.

You reminded me of the early days of C5 ownership experience.

For the front fork thud, try and locate the source of sound. See if the fork sleeves are loose/misaligned. get the front fork oil level checked. For this, you will have to take it to a mechanic. Could also be an issue of the steering bearings.

The engine dying / hiccups is a big pain. I had it since day one. We tried everything including various plug changes, re mapping 4 times, injector cleaning, pertol tank cleaning, various types of silencers, K&N and paper filters, etc, without success. Finally after about 12k kms, got the entire fuel injection system including the injectors, and throttle body replaced. That did solve the issue permanently.

Regarding the front disc squeak, i have been having it since the first week. Have been reporting the same during every service, but the problem is not yet rectified. have tried, various wheel alignment attempts, and disc pads replacement, but the squeak always comes back in a weeks time. Have learnt to live with it. Use it as horn these days, and the squeak sounds works better then the horns.

I got my Classic 500 on the 12th April and have driven 360 odd kms since, I checked on the Engine Oil level yesterday and was in for a shocker:

1) The window did not clearly display the engine oil levels. Is it something common with the RE's?

2) Went straight to the Motul authorized dealer and picked up the Motul 3000 4T Plus and to my utter horror, out of a maximum 2.75 (the engine oil capacity for the 500), my bull was easily able to gulp 1L, I topped it with 1L but it seemed that it could take more. It is common that a brand new bike comsumes 1L in the 1st 350 Kms of ownership?

3) On my bull each day when I take it out of my garage, I can see close to 15-20 drops (an estimate) on the floor, what could be wrong here?

I am really really baffled at the QA standards being maintained by the RE chaps.

While searching for the engine oil as mentioned in the manual came across a few contacts in the NCR region, this might help:

Before the refill what did the oil window show? could u see the small vertical rectangular cut in the center of the glass window? or was the window completely blackish?

as ArizonaJim said, stick to the oil grade mentioned in the Manuel. 20W50 would work fine for delhi summers, but 15w50 would be better during delhi winters. Avoid synthetic (full or semi) for the first 10,000 kms.

Also, did u try and locate the source of oil leak? check the silencer end inside for any wetness? If possible compare the acceleration response with another c5. Did u check the oil level at the time of delivery? sounds like a case of less oil filled at the delivery time, but the 20 drops a day leaking needs to be investigated.

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Before the refill what did the oil window show? could u see the small vertical rectangular cut in the center of the glass window? or was the window completely blackish?

as ArizonaJim said, stick to the oil grade mentioned in the Manuel. 20W50 would work fine for delhi summers, but 15w50 would be better during delhi winters. Avoid synthetic (full or semi) for the first 10,000 kms.

Also, did u try and locate the source of oil leak? check the silencer end inside for any wetness? If possible compare the acceleration response with another c5. Did u check the oil level at the time of delivery? sounds like a case of less oil filled at the delivery time, but the 20 drops a day leaking needs to be investigated.

Thanks for the inputs, nasirkaka, my responses:

1) Yes the vertical line was visible, but that was the only things visible, the oil did not even show up at the minimum mark.

2) Manual suggests, 15W50 and I'll stick to the same, I hope i'm doing the right thing?

3) ArizonaJim in his post it seems has pointed to right problem, I don't think it has anything to do with the silencer.

4) I think they topped up the bike with the EO and it looked good at the time of delivery.

5) Another fellow TBPian is facing the same issue, he's going to the service center today, let's hope it gets rectified for him and I'll follow suit.

[Endofdayz]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

You reminded me of the early days of C5 ownership experience.

For the front fork thud, try and locate the source of sound. See if the fork sleeves are loose/misaligned. get the front fork oil level checked. For this, you will have to take it to a mechanic. Could also be an issue of the steering bearings.

The engine dying / hiccups is a big pain. I had it since day one. We tried everything including various plug changes, re mapping 4 times, injector cleaning, pertol tank cleaning, various types of silencers, K&N and paper filters, etc, without success. Finally after about 12k kms, got the entire fuel injection system including the injectors, and throttle body replaced. That did solve the issue permanently.

Regarding the front disc squeak, i have been having it since the first week. Have been reporting the same during every service, but the problem is not yet rectified. have tried, various wheel alignment attempts, and disc pads replacement, but the squeak always comes back in a weeks time. Have learnt to live with it. Use it as horn these days, and the squeak sounds works better then the horns.
.

HI Nasir,

Good to see old experienced c5 owners acknowledge the problem which RE still dont think so.

So regarding fork sound i'm trying to live with it. but sudden switch off and coming into life is one thing i need to get sorted out. i had 5 close calls and in 3 instances was not lucky enough which happened in speed breaker. bike all of sudden acted as if dying on me. and traffic on my back banged on my silencer twice n number plate. and one banged right on the reflector below number plate. so was your fuel injectors and throttle body was replaced in warranty. if not how much did you shell out for the same.

[nasirkaka]

So regarding fork sound i'm trying to live with it. but sudden switch off and coming into life is one thing i need to get sorted out. i had 5 close calls and in 3 instances was not lucky enough which happened in speed breaker. bike all of sudden acted as if dying on me. and traffic on my back banged on my silencer twice n number plate. and one banged right on the reflector below number plate. so was your fuel injectors and throttle body was replaced in warranty. if not how much did you shell out for the same.

yeah.. can can very scary esp if you are just intending to overtake. In my case, the injectors etc were replaced free of cost, as the problem was identified much before the expiry of the warranty. Also, i was constantly reporting to RE with mails and Pic during that time. Else would have burnt a big hole in the pocket.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

3) Premium Fully Synthetic -

Motul 300V Factory Line 15W50 - Rs 985/L

Though this one is not recommended anywhere, but this seems right once the bull crosses the 20K mark.

Cheers Guys !!

In case you don't want to spend close to a grand for a liter of 300V, I would suggest you to try Motul 7100 Fully Synthetic oil. Its a single ester unlike the double ester 300V and costs around 700 bucks a liter. I have been using this in my ninja for over 10k kms now and the engine feels very refined and runs butter smooth... as fresh and smooth as a brand new bike

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

In case you don't want to spend close to a grand for a liter of 300V, I would suggest you to try Motul 7100 Fully Synthetic oil. Its a single ester unlike the double ester 300V and costs around 700 bucks a liter. I have been using this in my ninja for over 10k kms now and the engine feels very refined and runs butter smooth... as fresh and smooth as a brand new bike

Thanks for the inputs, Aditya.

Pardon me on stating this, 300 bucks a Litre would not hurt that much if there be benefits.

OT: Aditya, what is the frequency of oil change that you have kept for the Baby Ninja with the 7100 grade.

Cheers.

[GreaseMonk]

I have also been facing the fork noise and engine dying issues since I got the bike 1.5 years ago.

The engine dying issue is resolved temporarily if the plug is cleaned or if my battery is fully charged (another issue I have). I suspect that when the voltage from the battery is sufficient, the strength of the spark is enough to burn deposits away relatively quickly.

Speaking of spark plugs, after placing an order for the WR8DP plugs on Vicky.in over a month ago, I received an email today stating that Bosch no longer has these in stock and wont be stocking them in the forseeable future.My local bosch dealer states he will also have to place an order with the company to get these, however I suspect the end result will be the same. Anyone have any leads on where I can source these plugs from, or can you recommend any alternatives?

[iron.head]

Originally Posted by GreaseMonk

Anyone have any leads on where I can source these plugs from, or can you recommend any alternatives?

Hi GreaseMonk

One of my uncles is the second largest dealer of Bosch parts in my state and the state distributor of Bosch Car Service i.e. they allot and control all the Bosch Car Service centers. My uncle ordered WR8DP plugs for me. Minimum order is for 20 plugs. I have 2 new plugs lying with me and one running in my bike. I gave rest 17 plugs to RE workshop in my city as they also dont have these plugs with them. If you have some friends in Jaipur, I cam give a plug to them. Alternate would be to look for a NGK platinum plug.

[ArizonaJim]

The regular NGK BPR6ES spark plug is working very well in my fuel injected UCE 500cc G5.

It solved the occasional missing problem I was having with the factory Bosch plug.
After running it for over 2000 miles (3220 km) the electrodes and center insulator look as good as the day I installed it.

If the engine sounds like it is quitting when the motorcycle is driven over a pot hole or some other severe bump the cause may be due to the sidestand safety switch.

The new RE's have incorporated a safety switch into the sidestand so that when it is deployed it is impossible for the engine to start or run.

If the bump is hard enough, the sidestand may momentarily be moved downward activating the switch. When the sidestand spring pulls the stand back up the switch will return to its normal "on" position reinstating engine power.

This side stand switch can be disconnected easily by unplugging the wiring connector which is located just above the sidestand towards the rear of the engine. It is on the left hand side of the motorcycle near the rear downtube.

Disconnecting this switch will not cause any electrical or mechanical problems and it will guarantee that you won't have any future problems caused by this switch.

A word of warning about disconnecting this switch.
If you have had the motorcycle resting on the side stand and forget to put it up before starting on your ride, the sidestand can hit objects in the road or it can bottom out on a curb which you have ridden off of. It this happens, the sidestand will throw the motorcycle down on the right side, high siding you into the dirt.

As motorcycle riders have known for over 80 years, never ride with the sidestand lowered.

[adises]

I moved to Bangalore recently and got the bike down just 2 weeks back. Riding Mumbai - Goa - Bangalore was the first long distance trip I did on the bike and NH4 is an absolutely brilliant highway! The only issues I had was having to fill fuel every 300-320kms and about halfway through my journey the bike started struggling intermittently like it wasn't getting any air. I attributed this to fouling spark plugs and cleaning the same seemed to help, reading this thread extensively has proved to be very fruitful.

Got the bike serviced at Teknik Motors Indiranagar last wednesday, they installed the new air filter box free of charge as my bike is a 2010 model and didn't come with it. The mechanic had also swapped my primary spark plug with someone else's during the cleaning process, I noticed this because the bike was jerking a lot the next day, and they installed a new Bosch Platinum spark plug as a replacement. All said and done the staff were quite polite and seemed competent. I'm planning on getting the ECU remap done sometime soon as it wasn't available in Mumbai, Bangalore seems to be the only city where Royal Enfield is doing it.

Some questions for anyone from Bangalore:
- Where is the nearest place from Indiranagar that I can buy tools and parts to service the bike (oil, fuel injector cleaner, cables etc..)
- I also plan on exploring the south over the weekends as much as possible, do let me know if you know of any fellow riders that are doing the same.