[cooded]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Bling bling restored

After completing her first birthday, Anastassia wasn't looking all that jazzy and I kept on comparing the side engine covers to the new ones(grass is greener on other side )as mine had faded a bit. So finally after couple of hours search around Chandigarh and almost lost hope of finding the right buffing pad, I found one and went straight home to restore bling factor.

.

@Randhawa: Your before still looks much better than my bike which is atleast an year younger to yours.

[bradhey]

@Randhawa : I have been noticing that the gear selection mechanism on my bike is not "consistently good" It can be from being awesome at times to completely wretched. And then it would have this occasional slipage of gear on hitting a bumps/ditches.

Is it "ADVISABLE" to split a brand new engine (at dealership which in most cases are not fully equipped to deal with such rebuild), and get everything verified. Or should I just continue, hoping "everything will fall in place by itself" ???

Also awaiting your feedback on the heavier crank......! cheers

[adityaj]

Originally Posted by bradhey

@Randhawa : I have been noticing that the gear selection mechanism on my bike is not "consistently good" It can be from being awesome at times to completely wretched. And then it would have this occasional slipage of gear on hitting a bumps/ditches.

Is it "ADVISABLE" to split a brand new engine (at dealership which in most cases are not fully equipped to deal with such rebuild), and get everything verified. Or should I just continue, hoping "everything will fall in place by itself" ???

Also awaiting your feedback on the heavier crank......! cheers

Hi
+1 to the gear change problem. I have experienced very inconsistent behavior. For some time its smooth as silk and all of a sudden these days I am finding it so hard to find the neutral.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by adityaj

Hi
+1 to the gear change problem. I have experienced very inconsistent behavior. For some time its smooth as silk and all of a sudden these days I am finding it so hard to find the neutral.

have done around 1200 km on my classic 500. The only problem i would say i have faced is the gear box.


The gear box is very notchy. Gear changes are not at all fluent. Compared to my old std 350 the gear box on this one is horrid.

Any suggestions on how to improve the condition on my gear box ?

cheers
ac

[cooded]

@ Everyone: Whenever i start my bike in the mornings i can smell petrol although i cannot see any leaking out. Also my bike stalls while riding (dhakke marti hai).I have completed just 1100 kms.Is there any way to empty the fuel tank of C500?? Please do comment. Thanks

[bradhey]

Looks like the "mesiha" of C5 owners has taken a break from the forum.....!!

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by cooded

@ Everyone: Whenever i start my bike in the mornings i can smell petrol although i cannot see any leaking out. Also my bike stalls while riding (dhakke marti hai).I have completed just 1100 kms.Is there any way to empty the fuel tank of C500?? Please do comment. Thanks

One possibility is the bike is running rich.

[GreaseMonk]

Bikes are meant to do cold starts rich (think choke). With FI its a possibility that its being done automatically.

[Randhawa]

Sorry lads, feeling too lazy lately so didn't replied.

@Bradhey @Adityaj @AC427 -Give me couple of days and I'll share my experience and understanding of the shifting mechanism.

This goes for all C5 owners.

Fuel smell we all know are of two types mostly.

1.Unburned fuel through the exhaust caused due to rich mixture or misfiring due to foul plugs.
2.Just the fuel itself.

So if you can distinguish them then you know where to look for. Usually all c5's smell for a minute or so on cold start. Avoid giving throttle for couple of minutes until idling starts to climb and sets to the idling rpm. If you give throttle, you have every chance to foul the plugs and you will have engine hesitation.

Above is for the fuel smell for cause 1.

Now for the second cause, it's due to the fuel line on our C5. The black fuel line on the C5 is of quite poor quality. Mostly the fuel line will develop cracks on the outer skin within 3-4 months. Nothing to scary about it as it is double layered. But it happens due to the fuel line getting hard and this causes the pipe to develop loose contact between the fuel line and fuel pump.

Mostly fuel leaks only on priming just before you bring the engine to life. Thats due to the excess pressure generated by the pump before it goes on standby before starting. But cant blame the fuel pump as its doing what its supposed to. The problem lies with the fuel line or the clamp. If you touch the joint near the fuel pump in the morning after the red light goes off, you would see a few drops of petrol underneath it. If you just move the fuel pipe at the joint sideways then you could see fuel coming at the joint, that is if the fuel line clamp/fuel line is loose.

Solution

Tightened up the clamp on the fuel line where it connects to the fuel pump, but be careful not to over tighten the clamp as you can break the plastic nozzle coming out of the fuel pump.

Or if the fuel leak still occurs

Change the fuel line with a new one or better option is to get a fuel line of same size from a car parts vendor which is of superior quality. If the clamp is damaged then change that too.

This is a common issue on c5 which takes few minutes to take care off.

[Randhawa]

@Cooded. The jhatkas you are experiencing could be due to the fuel leak among many other reasons. I hope your idling isn't low too low. The best way to empty the fuel tank is to syphon out the petrol as much as you can, remove the fuel tank and then remove the fuel pump. If you run the pump direct with the battery and drain the fuel, it will still have .75L left.

[cooded]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

@Cooded. The jhatkas you are experiencing could be due to the fuel leak among many other reasons. I hope your idling isn't low too low. The best way to empty the fuel tank is to syphon out the petrol as much as you can, remove the fuel tank and then remove the fuel pump. If you run the pump direct with the battery and drain the fuel, it will still have .75L left.

@theMAG, @GreaseMonk: Yes my bike is running rich
@ Randhawa : I checked and there is no fuel leak anywhere. So that rules out cause 2.
The Fuel mixture is running too rich which i found out during the first servicing.(plugs were coated with carbon).I dunt think the mechanic there did anything to resolve it.Please can you tell me how to adjust the fuel mixture on FI to make the bike run leaner?

A couple of days ago i went to the service station to fix a few things and i met a guy taking the delivery of a brand new C5. I met him again couple of days later after he completed 500 kms and i compared my engine to his. I was shocked to find such a drastic difference in the engine sound. His engine was sounding much better...smoother and i could feel that every part was working in sync. In comparison my engine was sounding as if there were thousands of parts loose in my engine and rattling to glory.And i hate to accept this but my engine did not sound good at all. I just pray to god that day in and day out that one day i find some time and a mechanic who would agree to all the problems and fix them all. Thats like building castle in the air.

[Randhawa]

@Cooded-Every engine of same make on a air cooled engine will have different noises if compared to each other. As our bikes as mass produced so there aren't blue printed engine. Meaning every engine coming out of the factory has different clearances of working parts. So in your case and the other bike you heard is due to above reason. Some bikes come out of the factory super smooth and some not so smooth and may take some time to get to the desired clearances to run smooth.

After 5-7k your engine will become a lot smother and most of the irritating noises from the valve terrain will reduce to great extent.

As you have already done 500km so you can take her to 80-90kmph. That will help your bike to burn off the excess carbon deposit and clean out the plugs. Stick to the running in procedure as per manual and you will not go wrong.

Stick to a routine and follow few steps then let us know. This goes for all C5 owners during winters. For those who have gone through last winter with C5 knows all about black smoke issue and its back to haunt us.

1. Check out what heat range plugs you are running. It should be single point primary plug. The new ones have heat range 8 for big plug and 6 for smaller plug. Its written on the plugs so easy for you to check it out.

2. Use high speed petrol for at least 200km and you will see for yourself how clean your plugs will be. I have tried this multiple times to say this. High speed fuel have additives which helps burning up the carbon and burn well too. Fill her up on regular basis with it if you like but the high octane fuel is different at all the bunks. I personally like it at IBP. Don't have Shell so can not say about it.

3. Warm up the engine for at least 3 minutes, I prefer 5 minutes of warm up during winters. In summers you don't need more then a minute of warming up.

4. DO NOT ride for short distances(15km or less). If you want to keep things right then ride anything between 30km + in a day. I would also suggest to ride the bike for 50km+ in a single go on a weekend.

5.Set your idling between 950 to 1050 RPM.

6. Don't move until your engine is idling normally otherwise you will keep running rich for few km's which is enough to foul your plugs and once they are fouled, the engine will
keep running rich due to the inability of plugs to fire up nicely.


You can not do much for running lean and you don't want to do that either. If your idling is above 1050 then your engine will run rich a bit.

The big question is why our engine runs too rich on cold startup in winters?

The answer to that is - ECU on our C5 takes the reading from the temp sensor to know how much fuel it would need to crank. In summers our engine ambient temperature is above 30º C which is when our engines don't run too rich on startups. Now when in winters that same engine ambient temp is far too low and it runs rich until the temperature crosses 35ºC. Oil takes a bit of time to warm up and recirculates through the head then the barrel where the temp sensor is located. Temp sensor gets the reading when oil passes over its lobe and then ECU controls the fuel supply.

If someone wants to try out what I have written then buy an extra temp sensor, dip it in hot water for a minute or so. Just connect it to the temp sensor connector and start up in the morning.

RE can modify the mapping on the ECU or just plonk in a O2 wide band sensor but don't think they are convinced enough to admit it is a problem we all C5 owners face during winters.

[cooded]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

@Cooded-Every engine of same make on a air cooled engine will have different noises if compared to each other. As our bikes as mass produced so there aren't blue printed engine. Meaning every engine coming out of the factory has different clearances of working parts. So in your case and the other bike you heard is due to above reason. Some bikes come out of the factory super smooth and some not so smooth and may take some time to get to the desired clearances to run smooth.

After 5-7k your engine will become a lot smother and most of the irritating noises from the valve terrain will reduce to great extent.

Guess I will have to wait and watch.But i dunt want any parts in the engine getting damaged due to lack of attention now.So i was a little worried.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

As you have already done 500km so you can take her to 80-90kmph. That will help your bike to burn off the excess carbon deposit and clean out the plugs. Stick to the running in procedure as per manual and you will not go wrong.

Yes i am following the running in procedure exactly as given in the manual. I have avoided sudden acceleration as far as possible.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

2. Use high speed petrol for at least 200km and you will see for yourself how clean your plugs will be. I have tried this multiple times to say this. High speed fuel have additives which helps burning up the carbon and burn well too. Fill her up on regular basis with it if you like but the high octane fuel is different at all the bunks. I personally like it at IBP. Don't have Shell so can not say about it.

I have been religiously filling Power petrol from HP.Do you think i should switch to speed?Should i fill my bike with speed 97? Which type of petrol would you recommend and what has the company recommended.?

Originally Posted by Randhawa

5.Set your idling between 950 to 1050 RPM.

I need to find a tachometer somewhere.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

6. Don't move until your engine is idling normally otherwise you will keep running rich for few km's which is enough to foul your plugs and once they are fouled, the engine will
keep running rich due to the inability of plugs to fire up nicely.

i used to warm up the engine for a minute or so.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

The big question is why our engine runs too rich on cold startup in winters?

The answer to that is - ECU on our C5 takes the reading from the temp sensor to know how much fuel it would need to crank. In summers our engine ambient temperature is above 30º C which is when our engines don't run too rich on startups. Now when in winters that same engine ambient temp is far too low and it runs rich until the temperature crosses 35ºC. Oil takes a bit of time to warm up and recirculates through the head then the barrel where the temp sensor is located. Temp sensor gets the reading when oil passes over its lobe and then ECU controls the fuel supply.

If someone wants to try out what I have written then buy an extra temp sensor, dip it in hot water for a minute or so. Just connect it to the temp sensor connector and start up in the morning.

RE can modify the mapping on the ECU or just plonk in a O2 wide band sensor but don't think they are convinced enough to admit it is a problem we all C5 owners face during winters.

Please can you give me details of the ECU. I know that RE is using FI produced by Keihin but i wanted to have more specifications of the ECU if possible.

@ Randhawa: Thanks a tonne for your post.

[stnair]

Originally Posted by cooded

I have been religiously filling Power petrol from HP.Do you think i should switch to speed?Should i fill my bike with speed 97? Which type of petrol would you recommend and what has the company recommended.?

I used to fill HP Power in my Splendor few years back. But within a few hundred kms, there was power loss and I had to de-carbonize. Never filled it again and only use Ordinary unleaded petrol. Perhaps Indian bikes are not tuned to use High performance petrol.

regards
san

[GreaseMonk]

Originally Posted by stnair

I used to fill HP Power in my Splendor few years back. But within a few hundred kms, there was power loss and I had to de-carbonize. Never filled it again and only use Ordinary unleaded petrol. Perhaps Indian bikes are not tuned to use High performance petrol.

regards
san

Although i agree that most Indian bikes do not require 'high performance' petrol, it shouldn't cause any negative side affects like carbon buildup. That would indicate that the fuel itself was bad.