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Thanks guys for the kind words and sympathy.

GOT HER BACK!!

Got the bike back from the service center. 3rd service was almost due, so had asked them to do that as well.

PARTS REPLACED:
1. full electrical harness
2. odometer (my odo reads 00002)
3. fuel tank main cap
4. ignition switch
5. all the locks
6. all 6 blade fuse
7. both the parking bulb

and a few more.


The good news is that all the above mentioned parts were replaced under warranty. clap: and i had to pay for the service / consumables etc.

The reason for electricals getting blown was not precisely discovered, but the service center manager told me the following:

1. As i had changed my rear tyre to M45, the tyre could have hit the tail lamp wiring on humps, leading to shorting.
2. The tail-lamp wiring harness was not in its original position, and some one had fiddled with the wiring, and did not put it back correctly.

I Did not buy either of these explanation. As explained by Randhawa, the M45 could not have fouled the wires. And i know for sure that the wiring harness under the rear mudguard was never fiddled with, in my presence. Except their service center, i have never left the bike at any other garage. All the small mods so far has been done in front of my eyes, or by myself. If if at all someone fiddled with the tail lamp wiring, it would have been during the service at the service center.

I had a look at the old burnt wiring harness, and on the tail lamp cables, tried looking for any friction/abrasion marks, but found none. Even those wires had melted.

So to me the real culprit of this electrical mishap is still mystery. Anyhow, i am satisfied that they replaced all the parts free of cost, or it would have costed me a bomb!!

The bike feels fine after the service. Hoping that something like this never happens again, with me or with anyone. Its really depressing.

Another point, while re-doing the electricals, they removed all the wiring done earlier for the horn relay, and have directly connected the horn, as in stock. I ashed them, and they said it should not be an issue, as i am using a single horn of the pair.

would it better to redo the wiring and connect the horn via relay?

@lalgudi- Welcome to Team-Bhp and I hope you have a nice time on here.

I think I have done enough R&D on C5 to advice you to go ahead with it. Previous problems with the handling and air filer has been taken care off and only couple of more things needs to be upgraded in the engine which you can do it later on and depends upon how you ride it, those things might not even effect you if you are a sedate rider. I am good with my ears on tracing mechanical noises. Normally people are not obsessed about tracing noises or don't bother unless the bike stops completely. I go too deep into things to find out the problems hence I have more issues. But I am done probing the UCE and quite content with what needs to be upgraded on it for making it a bulletproof UCE. Hang on for a little and you shall know it all.

@Nasir- Congrats on getting the baby back :thumbs up and carry on thumping. Now lets get back to fitting the K&N and try the thing I told you to do with the upswept. ;)

Thats good of RE to not charge you for the mess. But I wonder why the ODO was changed, the bulb holders on the ODO are removable so doesn't makes sense.

If the single horn will not draw more then 2.5Amp then the stock wiring is sufficient. If not then get the wiring done again and this time use a high quality relay and preferably a electrical sealed relay from a car. Also use sleeve on the +ve wire and include a fuse as well.

I am not a Randhawa or nasirkaka but from my limited experience with Bullets, I want to tell you this:

• All Bullets have issues from time immemorial - The C.I engines are notorious - leaky, creaky, rusty, unreliable, battery trouble, starting trouble etc etc..
• Still Die hard Motorcyclists buy them and enjoy them knowing and living with all those troubles. A Bullet is the preferred motorcycle for long rides and Adventure trips and even Foreign tourists visiting India buy only Bullets !
• The new Classics with UCE engines have improved greatly from the C.I era - reliable, no oil leaks, improved F.E, better electricals, easy to start - but they still have many issues.
• People like Randhawa and nasirkaka are Extremists. :D They minutely examine and cross examine each and every single tick and tock under a microscope/ stethoscope trying to find reasons and improvements. They do many experiments and modifications - K&N filters, Goldie silencers, HID lamps, Pirelli tyres, full synthetic oil etc.
• I feel we are fortunate have these fellows with us - We can learn from their mistakes and adopt their success - I am planning to go full synthetic after 3000km and reroute or add protection to tail lamp wiring.
• R.E itself is improving their production and design slowly - For C5 they have introduced improved centre stand, better air filter (hinges and filter cover), chain cover, 19" tyres in front and wider tyres at rear and from a blog of RE CEO, I hear some 57 improvements including better paint quality are on the way.

My friend, In my opinion, the desire for owning a Bullet should come from your heart. Do not go by what others are talking. Bullets always had problems and it will always have problems and one day if all these problems cease to exist, then it will be no different than an Indo-japansese bike.

Lastly - My suggestion is - wait for 3 or 6 months if you can so the rest of the 57 improvements are also implemented.

regards (I hope I havent confused you more )
san

very well said. To add to that, if u want to own a bull, prepare to clean the bullshit. (read this somewhere.. :D )

I guess its all about available options. Except RE, we dont have any options in 300+ cc motorcycles in india. Especially in the cruiser/tourer segment. If we had bikes like Triumphs, Kawasaki W800, and the likes selling in india, RE would would get tough competition, and in the process would either improve or perish.

I did not buy an RE for its historic legacy, I bought it cos i did not really have a choice. People who can pay 1.5, could also beg, borrow, steal a lakh more for a better product. I would surely be one of them.

But until those options come to india, lets enjoy what we have. :)

@ randhawa:

I am thoroughly confused with the above. :D

Was just planning to try and install the K&N to the intake hose, and leave the breather as it is with the stock filter. Now that you say there more to breather pipe than just removing hydro carbons. In your opinion, what should the simplest approach. My requirement for installing a K&N is mainly to complement it with the goldie, ( to save any probable damage to the exhaust valves), secondary is better performance.
What do u think about installing a cylindrical K&N (similar to our stock) inside the airfilter box?

I'll explain the bit you are confused about later on.

If you really want the easiest way then get the cylindrical K&N filter to fit in the air box. Just tried fitting the older bigger filter from CI onto our C5 and it fits well with minor alterations.

Bigger filter with C5 filter plate


The plate on our filter is smaller compared to the older ones as we have a smaller filter although in the picture below I fitted the bigger filter with our stock plate and it was not a suitable fit.

Stock C5 filter plate compared to CI filter plate on the bottom



To fit the K&N cylindrical filter you would need to alter few things.

1. Get the older and wider filter plate meant for CI bulls but you have to make the filter plate hole a bit wider to fit onto the filter bolt.

2. Change the position of the nut/bolt on the bottom of the air box up/down so that the bolt does not interfere with the filter. Without this you will not be able to fix the filter as its a tight fit with the bigger filter in the box.



3. Make sure the box hinge from outside is well laminated to stop the dust coming in.

The stock type K&N filter is expensive around Rs3000 + filter plate Rs 60. Thats all you need.


If in near future you want to fit the new dust cover for air box then wait till the new stock size K&N is available for our C5.


I tried a 10km run without the rubber intake attached to the air box but with the bazooka and felt no difference at all and rather I felt it lost a bit of power at the top end.

Sanjeet, et al. I have been following this thread even before I could successfully get a membership in this forum. The wisdom and insight of everybody here is truly awesome.
I had posed this question earlier but it never made it past the mods. Hopefully this one will ("please, pretty please"): Can we fit an HD seat to our C5s? (eg: Solo Spring Saddle, Low profile solo seat). I'm waiting on the delivery of my C5 and am increasingly concerned with the seat height (inseam challenged, as I am) what with the new 19" front and all. When I did my test ride during the booking, i was just about comfortable on it. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
Meanwhile, Nasir I commend your spirit for going through that ordeal. Wish you all many more years of trouble-free thumping.

Hey Nasir,

Sorry to hear about the mishap and glad you are safe and sound.

While it is disappointing to hear about all the issues we are facing with our ride, I am equally delighted to hear that they have replaced the parts they did under warranty for you.

Take care & Happy Thumping,

Gaurav

Completely agree with you Nasir. I also bought my UCE Electra for the lack of option. If I had an option like Triumph i would have given a second thought.
But i know one thing that UCE is atleast better than CIs maintenance wise.Lets see how these new bulls fare in the long run.
But until then i'm enjoyin my bull with minimal problems.SO NO REGRETS:thumbs up

I hope you are fine now and so is your bull. Good luck be safe and enjoy thumping.!!!!

@ Randhawa:

the 'Stock type' K&N fitment sounds like a piece of cake. :)
Get the K&N, get the bigger plate, drill a larger hole, reverse the bolt in the filter box, and we are set. No irreversible modifications at all.

My worry: when i had a chat with the guy selling K&Ns, he said that the CONE K&N is more powerful (more freeflow) than the cylindrical k&N. How much more is thw question. Is there anyway to find that out?

Cos, if we replace the stock filter with cylindrical K&N (not the cone type), It should be able to pass more air, compared to stock. If its same, or marginally high, it may not make much sense spending 3k on the filter. How do we get some clarity on this one?

U mean u rode the bike without any filter element? holy! and the power reduced?? i wonder if all this K&N excercise is worth the effort!


BTW, i heard that MAHENDRA is comeup with a 300cc bike, Fuel injected, 27 Bhp etc. hmnn. RE, are you listening..

You can check the air throughput for either filters. That will give you a fair idea if the difference is appreciable. Given that the filter element remains same, it will not be much.

As it goes with cars, the stock replacement usually makes more sense than the CAI if no further modifications are planned. I also do not know if our Bulls are even panting at the top of the rev range. If they are not, this is an exercise in futility.

A free-r flowing exhaust would liberate more top-end than the filter. You might see some appreciable improvements in such a case.

Air filter upgrades are overrated :)

Also, please remember to disconnect and reconnect the battery after installation so that the fuel tables can be re-looked at by the ECU. This might have been the reason why Sanjeet faced a drop in power.

Cheers!

@ Nasirkaka

Check out this link K&N Air Filter Facts You Should Know to know the facts about the right air filter. You will be pleasantly surprised that the round filter with more diamter will have more inflow than the conical one suggested by the dealer. Dealers have a biased view depending on what is available with them, at that time.

However the shape of filter you must buy will depend on space constraints, as to whether you want to mount it directly to the throttle body or put it inside the air filter box. Cheers.

Randhawa, Nasir and ST Nair. Thanks for the responses. i have decided to go ahead with the purchase, but just that i am delaying it by 3 months as suggested by ST Nair.

Nasir,

That is well said.

Hi,

Good to hear 57 improvements coming through. I am planning to book a CL500 this week, is there any possiblity of these improvements during the delivery of my bike? Cause these improvements are much needed. Any link regarding these? I am also not able to zero in about the color, I have not seen all three colors. Guys I would love to have your inputs reg the color please:. According to me the green is too light/red is feminine. I always used to love the black and the olive green. I decided to go for a CL 500 to quench my looong standing thirst. I could not forget my trip with my newly wed wife to Kodai in a 350 followed by my younger cousins in their indo jap bikes, it was indeed frustrating for me to stop once a while for them to catch up with me, especially in the ghats. From that time I had this severe urge in my mind. Till now I have been owning only the indo jap bikes. But, I wanna break free. I have a pulsar 200 for the past three years which has run only 2500 kms till date (Which is coming for sale by the way). Its only for commuting to my clinic once a while, but the CL500. I wanna make the trip again. Hope my wife can make it or I got to search for a stepney. I know, I know, I am digging my own grave. For the guys who I am not known to and who feel a CL 500 needs constant care unlike its japanase counterparts. I own a jeep...and I loovvee it.

Dr.Jones

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Sorry Moderators, will correct myself. Do anyone have any idea about the waiting period for a CL 500 in Chennai?
Dr.Jones