[ArizonaJim]

I don't recall seeing any liquid sealant tapes that can easily be applied to wiring but I suppose some exist.

I do know a couple of short lengths of rubber or vinyl tubing costs about 80 cents (50 rupees) while the fancy tapes and such cost over $5.00 (300 rupees).

Stray cats freely roam around my Chennai home. Recently, one such cat managed to climb on to my Blue Bird's rider seat and slept during a rainy night resulting in some some minor damage to the seat.









After that incident, my Blue Bird remains covered, when not flying.



These lousy cats are too lethargic to eat rats, one of which made a meal out of my Linea's fuel overflow pipe. The details are here.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Stray cats freely roam around my Chennai home. Recently, one such cat managed to climb on to my Blue Bird's rider seat and slept during a rainy night resulting in some some minor damage to the seat.

Don't forget to seal the holes in the seat with something like silicone as water seeping in through these hole during heavy rains would damage the seat.
regards adrian

[ebonho]

I hate cats man. Can't stand the creatures to be honest. My kids have adopted 3 kittens, who are now grown up and will not leave us. One has been missing for some time now. Two are still around. And they love snuggling on the seat of my bikes under the garage covers. So now I put folded newspapers with stones as weights on top over the garage cover so that they do not have a cosy tent to sleep in and make piholes in my seat covers.

Bigger tragedy is that we also have a pup who is now grown big. Too slow to get the cats. So he takes his frustration out by ripping the bike seats to shreds. Yes he is teething, and yes he likes my seats more than the chewies we get him regularly from Dorabjee's. He also likes my office shoes. Thankfully my riding boots are packe away and put out of his reach ....

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Stray cats freely roam around my Chennai home.

Ravi Sir,
My apologies on seeing the seat in such a poor condition and with the monsoons in full glory suggest you to get them addressed lest they tend to suck in water and further aggravated the situation.

Probably feeding that street mongrel with leftovers might be a good idea to keep the cats at bay. Mongrel also happy but hopefully they do not create a scene in the dead of night

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

I don't recall seeing any liquid sealant tapes that can easily be applied to wiring but I suppose some exist.

Mate,
Look no further, click on this link and you should be able to get one to your doorstep. Unfortunately they do not ship overseas to Bangalore.

http://www.marinegeneral.com/product...5&directoryid=

Cheers!!!

A few weeks back while having petrol, I observed peeling off of the coating of the inside of my Blue Bird's petrol tank. When I rubbed my finger on the surface of the petrol tank's mouth, a layer of the coating came out along with my finger.





When my Blue Bird went to the company-owned service centre, OMR, Chennai, for the second free service on 18 July 2013, I witnessed the security guy checking the fuel levels of all Royal Enfields by dipping a scale. I saw all the petrol tanks of all other bikes were clean and neat without any signs of peeling off of coating. Why is that coating on the inside of my Thunderbird 500's petrol tank only peeling off, when others' are clean and neat? The service advisors did not have any answers for my query and consoled me not to worry. Unfortunately, the service manager was not available on that day. I made them mention it in the job card. I was told that they took some photographs of the petrol tank, they would discuss it with the service manager and I would be contacted later. I waited for 5 days. I did not get any call from anybody.





Yesterday morning, I sent a detailed email to Royal Enfield customer service enclosing these photographs and raising a few questions. Within hours, I got the response from them stating that the service manager would contact me. The service manager called me today and assured me that my Thunderbird 500 Twilight would get a new petrol tank within 7 working days as it was out of stock in the service centre. Now, I keep my fingers crossed hoping that the new tank would be free from the problem of coating peeling off.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Yesterday morning, I sent a detailed email to Royal Enfield customer service enclosing these photographs and raising a few questions. Within hours, I got the response from them stating that the service manager would contact me. The service manager called me today and assured me that my Thunderbird 500 Twilight would get a new petrol tank within 7 working days as it was out of stock in the service centre. Now, I keep my fingers crossed hoping that the new tank would be free from the problem of coating peeling off.

God job. Finally.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

The service manager called me today and assured me that my Thunderbird 500 Twilight would get a new petrol tank within 7 working days as it was out of stock in the service centre.

Wow not bad Ravi Sir, looks like your will moved the mountains. Surprised that RE reacted so quickly. But are you sure that this problem was not with different tanks? is it a particular batch or anything on those lines?

Suppose with the new tank you can be a lot more careful when filling up the tank :0)

PS: Hope there will be no variation in the shade

Originally Posted by ebonho

God job. Finally.

Yeah. Looks like that.

Originally Posted by ku69rd

But are you sure that this problem was not with different tanks?

I witnessed the petrol measurement process in many bikes like Electra, Thunderbirds [new and old 350s], Standard, etc. None of them had this issue. I remember, I did not see coating peeling off in my son's Classic 500 [March 2012] too.

Hope there will be no variation in the shade

The service manager specifically mentioned that they did not have the tank with Twilight shade for Thunderbird 500 in stock. So, he has ordered for the same. He will inform me soon after its receipt.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Yeah. Looks like that.

I witnessed the petrol measurement process in many bikes like Electra, Thunderbirds [new and old 350s], Standard, etc. None of them had this issue. I remember, I did not see coating peeling off in my son's Classic 500 [March 2012] too.

The service manager specifically mentioned that they did not have the tank with Twilight shade for Thunderbird 500 in stock. So, he has ordered for the same. He will inform me soon after its receipt.

This is quite a common issue and i guess it is related to the additives in premium petrol. Not sure though. RE quite openly accept this issue and promptly promise a replacement.

Originally Posted by Tgo

This is quite a common issue

Royal Enfield should recall the affected bikes, IMO.

i guess it is related to the additives in premium petrol. Not sure though.

Not at all. All along, I have using normal unleaded petrol only. Not a drop of premium petrol entered the tank.

[bradhey]

I am wondering where have all the custom made exhausts for the TB 500 & 350 disappeared. These were showcased along with the bikes at the Auto expo ?? Any Idea

[ArizonaJim]

This chipping paint in the fuel tank filler neck is not a new issue.
The area was painted on my 2011 UCE fuel injected G5 (Electra) and over the past two years the paint has all chipped or fallen into the tank with no harm done to the bike.
My G5 has over 17,580 km (10,800 miles) on it and has shown no adverse effects from the vanished paint.

I'm sure this is because the fuel injection pump has a very large, very fine 10 micron filter which will trap any paint fragments before they can get into the pump or the fuel injector.

As for Royal Enfield painting this area (or the inside) of the fuel tank, I consider it to be a worrisome thing to the owners and although it is just a cosmetic issue they should mask off the area before they paint it.
This would not be difficult and it would be one less niggle for people to be upset with.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

The service manager called me today and assured me that my Thunderbird 500 Twilight would get a new petrol tank within 7 working days as it was out of stock in the service centre.

Today, my Blue Bird got a new petrol tank fitted at Royal Enfield company-owned service station at OMR, Chennai. The new tank does not have the grey coating. The service manager Mohanakrishnan was kind enough to call me yesterday evening to inform that the new petrol tank arrived there and requested to me to come and get it replaced. I told him that I would come the next morning [today]. Again, he called this morning to remind me.















Mohanakrishnan informed me that the new tank is galvanised without the grey coating. I am thankful to Royal Enfield for quickly responding to my complaint and resolving it to my full satisfaction.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Today, my Blue Bird got a new petrol tank fitted at Royal Enfield company-owned service station at OMR, Chennai.

Fantastic news from your end Ravi Sir, So RE did it for you. Good to see that they infact followed up with you till the replacement.

What is more heartening to read was that the insider is not painted like your previous versions. Hopefully this stays the same for the rest of vehicles?

Did you check if it was only for a batch of motorcycle they had this issue or was it a one off case?