Quote:
Originally Posted by sandeepmohan Does the RC book for this bike say that it is a 500cc? Don't get me wrong here but this bike sounds like a rip off. It looks like the upper half of the bore has been installed on a standard 350 lower block just to give the person an indication that the bike is a 500. There is no other way that the problems you faced can occur on this bike.
Please take a lot of care when you purchase a bike like the 500. It is now a very rare bike to come across as nearly all of them have either wreaked their engines or have been dumped somewhere. |
Hi Sandeep,
This is for sure original RE500, My friend helped me getting the bike, original owner manual, original duplicate keys, original folder given by southern motors chennai and the very original first aid (expired) kit of 2004.
Yeah, I will not buy any vehicle without personally inspecting. The damage that incured to me due to this issue are:
1. Over 23K for the damage control (Parts, Lathe Charges, Labour charges, Taxi charges to carry the parts to Chennai, Car fuel to carry the parts from chennai to Gingee)
2. 7802 additional kms (initially I was thinking this bike had run only 20K kms, but actually 27802kms when I took delivery)
3. Five days of my precious time
4. 580kms of riding
5. Rs. 1,700 worth fuel
6. Mental agony
I'm sure RE500 uses the same engine case of the RE350, only difference is in the crank. I heard my mechanic saying that the crank is little heavier than the RE350.
I/Powertwin validated the RC and it is genuine RE500 book, the only thing I missed is to check the cylinder/piston. If the cylinder/piston would have been original then I would have saved the whole expense.
I'm sure the oil pump for RE 535 was having much bigger cylinder size than the RE500's oil pump cylinder size to provide addtional oil lubrication. Hence the engine seizure had caused due to lack of sufficient oil supply to the moving parts internally. I had seen the RE535 oil pump in the shop in chennai and cornered the problem to oil pump for the following reasons:
1. The mechanic I met enroute to Tiruvannamalai told me that the oil circulation was not sufficient.
2. I felt excessive vibration due to rocker and value running with insufficient oil
3. The bigger bore/piston also added up more heating issues on the long distance
4. The carburater found to be running with RE 500 jetting and this also added to overheating as the RE535 cylinder running lean.
5. when Powertwin rode the bike in coimbatore for 450kms (as he stated on the phone), the bike didn't have any problem. I'm sure he covered the 450-kms in 10-15days tennure hence seldom ran. So the issues were not notified to them. My trip to Chennai was long enough for the oil to burn and engine to over heat so the engine seizure.
If you see the previous post before buying this bike, I did mention about 1.5mm oversize that was conveyed to me as replacement done on the previous service attempt. hence I had an impression that this bike was running on oversized piston of RE500. I only came to know when I met the lathe shop guy in chennai about RE535 cylinder kit was in use with this bike.
In anycase the whole engine components were restored to RE500 now. All I can remember now are the following parts:
1. Cylinder kit
2. Engine bearings
3. Floating bush and bearing (crank shaft)
4. Oil pump warm gears (long one and the nut type)
5. Oil filter
6. Rocker and Arm
7. Valve & Guide
8. Head, Cylinder, Clutch, Timing, Tappet and Rocker case gaskets
9. Engine oil seals (O ring type)
10. 3.5L of Castrol GTX 20w40 Oil
11. Oil pump kit
Additional fittings that I have installed:
1. Front and Rear crash bars
2. Side view mirrors (Need to change them as the ones installed are TB type)
3. Brass items:
a. Head light peak
b. Parking light rings
c. Neutral lever spring cap
d. Side lifting handle
e. Brass tapped plate with wing nut old style
f. Handle T nut
g. brake rod wing nut
h. Neutral lever
i. Pillion Handle
Apartfrom the above there are few more points to be addressed:
1. The speedo meter in this bike goes smooth until 60kmph speed, then it started shaking like a crazy fellow. - While I had discussion with the speedo meter service fellow in Chennai, he says
a. if the speedo went through correction/alternation this may happen
b. the meter is having problem
c. the warm gear is having issue
Put together I have some discomfort, as to think this way
Will the cylinder, rocker, value, guide, piston change requires for a RE500 with in 27,000kms of its life?
Mixing this question with above speedo issue and age of the bike(2004 model), I was forced to think that this bike would have been running more kilometers before handed over to Powertwin by the previous owner.
I will be changing the speedo meter with new one as I'm planning to keep this bike with me forever, the change of speedo is to make sure that I get proper reading.
In anycase I have peace of mind now as I have personally restored the bike to its origianl RE500 specs using all new parts. I'm proudly owning a very original RE500 after all the damages mentioned above, when I restored this bike and calculated all the damages I felt the bike I saw with 10K kms on the odo in chennai would have been steal to deal.