Category Archives: Motorcycle

Motorcycle

I can adjust pushrods!!!

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DISCLAIMER: If after reading this, someone burns his engine valves or manages to get the pushrod off it’s rocker, please don’t come to me to claim damages.

This is one of the things that have been plaguing enfield owners from over half a century. The feature that gives the bullet it’s distinctive thump is also one of the performance bottlenecks of the engine and also a source of racket. Unlike other bikes which use a chain drive to open and close the valves, the enfield uses pushrods which are simply 2 rods which move up and down due to the motion of the cam and in turn open and close the valves. The most common drawback of the pushrods in a bullet is that if they are loose, the produce a lot of racket which only gets worse as the engine warms up. Quite frankly, I was tired of all the racket and even more tired of all the mechanics that “try” to adjust the “tappets” but the noise just doesn’t go away. The last straw was when the last mechanic loosened my pushrods even more and it was almost impossible to ride the back. It was time to take matters into my own hand.

Firstly, “adjusting tappets” is a wrong term because you don’t actually adjust the tappets, you just adjust the pushrods which in turn reduces tappet noise. I had tried my hand on this once before and even got a good setting but I forgot to tighten the locking nut and before I knew it, after revving the engine for a few seconds, the pushrod came off the rocker and I was left with a dead engine.

It took me almost 1.5 years to get my courage back and try this myself one more time. This is a step-by-step guide on what you need to do.

1. Bring the piston to TDC. On the cast iron engine, work the kick starter with the decompressor and wait for the moment when the Ampere meter shows 0. On the AVL engine, work the kick starter with the decompressor pressed till the time the decompressor is fully free. Open up the tappet cover while the engine is hot.
2. Feel both the pushrods and try to rotate them. They should just be free enough to rotate using some pressure from the thumb. If they don;t rotate at all, they are too tight. If they rotate too freely, or move up and down, they are too loose.
3. There are three nuts in each pushrod. The top HEX nut, the middle locking nut and the bottom adjusting nut. First unscrew the locking nut a little while holding the HEX nut in place with a spanner so that you can rotate the adjusting nut.
4. Increase or decrease the length of the pushrod by rotating the adjusting nut so that there’s no play and you can just rotate the pushrod with some pressure. Do this while holding the top hex nut with a spanner.
5. When you feel the setting is just right, hold both the hex and the adjusting nut in place with 2 spanners and slowly tighten the locking nut. This is the trickiest part because it is difficult to hold 2 spanners steady and adjust with the third one. It took me around 2 hours myself to perfect this part.
6. When you are done, just check if the adjusting nut is firmly tightened and if the pushrod setting is right. If you’re a newbie to this, it will take a few more tries.
7. Do the same with the other pushrod.

It is necessary that you do this while the engine is hot. If the engine cools appreciably while you’re doing this, your adjustment will be fine for a cold engine but the racket will start again when the engine warms up. This is what happened with me and I adjusted the pushrods too tight to compensate for the cold engine. After I had put the tappet cover back in, I realized that the kick starter was completely free and the engine didn’t have any compression at all. This was because I had adjusted the inlet pushrod too tight and the inlet valve wasn’t closing completely. I had to open it up again and start all over again by warming the bike. Just check that the kick starter should meet some resistance at a point on it’s way down. Also, adjusting them too tight may burn the valves, so be careful.

The best guide for bulleteers who want to maintain their own bike is Gurunandan’s website. This guy is an ace whom many people look up to for their bike queries. He’s very helpful and replies to your queries by mail(As long as they are valid).

Or, you can just go ahead and buy Pete Snidal’s bullet manual which is now for sale in India as well.

Adventure, Motorcycle

Road Trip

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This weekend, I did what I wanted to do since many years. I wen to Chandigarh by bike, alone. Had slept very late friday night (in fact Saturday morning), still woke up at 8 to beat the early morning traffic. Wasn’t feeling very well(was suffering from cold and allergy) so went to the neighbourhood doctor who jabbed a syringe full of some medicine in me and I was up and running in half an hour. Left at around 9 in the morning and was out of Delhi in under an hour. Let the throttle open and did a constant 80-90 kmph till Karnal for 2 hours where I stopped for some coffee and Kathi Roll and to stretch my legs and wash my face. Reached Chandigarh around 2 in the afternoon and hung out with friends and boozed after many years. Slept like a log till next morning and after roaming around a bit more, left around 4 in the afternoon and once again, stopping only once at karnal for 15 minutes. The bike performed admirably even when I didn’t rest it for hours and didn’t drop my speed below 80. Reached gurgaon at around 9 at night. Waking up in the morning today, it all seems a dream but my aching back and neck are proof all that happened.

Motorcycle, Rant

Engine failure..

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Poor zapeedo, my trusty steed was recently struck down recently in the midst of his prime from a faulty connecting rod and crank. Now it’s at the greedy bloodsucking company service center waiting for a complete engine overhaul. Though it would be gone for a week now, and even after that I wouldn’t be riding it hard for quite some time, I couldn’t resist one last ride of thrill on him.

Adventure, Motorcycle, Weather

Thrill!

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Yesterday I discovered a new kind of thrill. I had just left office and was on my way home when it started raining. Not just a drizzle but a heavy downpour. Too lazy to go back or take shelter somewhere, I decided to go on. Upon reaching the long flyover on my way home, I decided to go really fast. So I twisted the throttle of my bike open and raced ahead. The thrill and excitement I experienced was beyond comparison. As the bike gained speed, the wet clothes suddenly stuck to my skin and it was a feeling as if someone had just sunk me in freezing water. Heartbeat increased fast as I went faster still. One reason I had never experienced this before was that I never used to wear a helmet before and it’s impossible to go at even moderate speeds in the rain as the rain drops try to kill my eyes. It was almost invisible up ahead as the helmet visor was completely wet. Add to that the headlights on high beams from oncoming vehicles. Above a speed of 100 kmph, the rain drops started to sting any exposed bit of skin(the throat and chest) like needles. Anyways, after driving like mad and thanking my stars that the cops did not see me, I stopped at the traffic signal ahead of me. There I noticed that everyone was staring at me. The reason being that the raindrops falling on the hot engine had made a cloud of vapor which had surrounded my bike. It was a sight worth seeing and a feeling worth experiencing.

Motorcycle

Review of Royal Enfield Thunderbird

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My bike would be 4 years old in January next year. So I thought it’d be appropriate to write a review. The bike named zapeedo and later re-christened to silver lightning has never let me down. It has been through thick and thin for more than 40,000 kilometers. Except for a few specks of rust, it still stands strong and graceful. Here are a few pros and cons I have noticed with the bike till now:-
Cons:-
  1. One major engine repair which was due to a noisy cam shaft. Was rectified in a few days but engine had to be opened.
  2. Few specks of rust at the handlebar ends and rims but that’s more due to the humid atmosphere of Calcutta.
  3. Clutch cable tended to break but the design was rectified by the company.
  4. Poor design of the decompressor cable lever which has led to 6 replacements till now.
  5. Tappets remain a little noisy even after adjustments.

Pros:-

  1. Performance is still amazing. Amazing pulling power at high speeds and top whack still goes upto 120. Pulsar riders, you may bow..
  2. Engine has steadily become smoother and less noisy.
  3. Disc Brake pads provided by pricol still going strong in spite of heavy use.
  4. Strong chassis which has not let me down in spite of a few accidents.
  5. Excellent riding position and comfort.
  6. Good for showing off.
Adventure, Motorcycle

Exams Over..

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Well, exams are finally over. So here we are, lazing around in the evening with nothing in mind. So what do we do? We head out for a long drive of course. There’s nothing like a long drive to refresh your mind and uplift your spirits.
So, off we went to Wardha Road at a steady speed of 50 kmph. I have to say that driving at a speed of 50-60 is much more enjoyable than going crazy and twisting the throttle off. We drove for about 60 kilometres, stopped at a dhaba and ate like pigs. We had paneer parathas, curd and lots of butter. After we were almost bursting at our seams, we started our journey back. At this point, the cold almost killed me as I was without a jacket wearing just a measly sweater.Got back to Nagpur in an hour to have hot coffee at shanky. Also clocked 30,000 kms on my bike on the way back.


Was dead tired when some friend called us to his place for bakar(useless conversation). Did bakar till 2:30, came back and fell asleep.

Woke up at 6 in the morning dying of hunger. Had an accident a few days ago, hurt my shoulder then. Didn’t think about it much but it was hurting bad now. Went in the freezing cold to shanky to finish off 3 plates of poha. Came back just in time to watch the sun rise, had a painkiller and writing this blog waiting for the pain to subside.
Well, I’m off to sleep now. God knows when I’ll wake up. Good Morning!

Motorcycle

Long Term Review of Royal Enfield Thunderbird

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Hey!! I seem to be enjoying writing reviews. January 2006 will mark the 2nd anniversary of my bike. So I thought a review would do nicely. This bike(Zapeedo) has been my constant companion for almost 2 years now and enjoys a special place in my life. It never fails to start at the first(or maybe second or maybe third) kick in the morning. I simply love the thumping and smooth ride. Anyways I would now list the pros and cons of the bike which have come to light during these 2 years and 21000 kms..
Pros:-

  1. Great Pickup:- It’s faster than most indian “sports” bikes available inspite of the heavy weight(180kgs). Incredible pulling power even at speeds above 80.
  2. Great Top-Speed:- I have personally touched a little over 120 kmph on the Nagpur-Kamptee road but could feel that the bike had a little more power left to go even faster.
  3. Extremely smooth:- At speeds of 50, this bike feels very smooth and stable. Even at speeds above 100, the bike feels well balanced. No gust of wind can shake this bike.
  4. Great looks.
  5. Extremely cheap spare parts:-The clutch plate of the Thunderbird costs around 400 and that of the CBZ costs around 1300.
  6. Extremely simple engine design.
  7. Good handling:- Though not like the standard 350, the thunderbird corners great on even the most slippery roads.
  8. Great feel:- No other bike can replace the thumping feeling of the enfield.

Cons:-

  1. Below Average service:- The service centers refused to repeatedly acknowledge noise in my cam and tappets which led to my cam problem. Instead they keep pestering me to buy accessories like a windshield etc.
  2. Handling:- After a certain degree of cornering, the low footpegs touch the road though I think this can be corrected. Please remember that I am talking very low cornering.
  3. Pushrods based Engine:- Though, the thunderbird is never expected to reach rpms above 4500 rpm(At a speed of 100 kmph, the rpm in 5th gear is 4000 rpm), the pushroad system provides certain difficulties in the form of tappet noise and subsequent adjustments.
  4. Design drawbacks:- I think these are design problems that the decompressor cable breaks at a certain point every time where the cable bends sharply. Today was the 5th time in 2 years and starting without the decompressor is a pain in the arse.