[tharian]

A ride a quarter keeps the mechanic away.

I realized the engine gets better and smoother after every highway ride I do.
Did a short 300 kms ride to Penukonda and back via Hindupur. I was able to keep a steady speed of 70kmph most of the trip without a skip in beat. With the new clutch bed in, the torque was back which made moving in second gear much smoother from slow speeds.
City and highway efficiency remains the same at 25 kmpl.
Bike has run 1,14,500 kms with no issues.

[tharian]

After the clutch set was replaced few months back, I have never been able to enjoy the change because the clutch adjustment nut in the right side gearbox casing was worn out and I didn't have a T-spanner to remove it and adjust.

Due to this, gearshifts were not smooth and I knew the full effect of the new clutch were not felt. I kept adjusting the cable , which didn't help since that adjusted the tension on the lever.
The most annoying part was when the first gear was engaged in standstill and the bike starts to jerk slightly because the clutch is not engaged fully.
Took it to my mech finally and he ended up loosening it too much and it ended up the same again, the other way round. Didn't want to ask him to adjust it again since he is old/cranky, instead asked him not to tighten it too much so I can adjust it later, which he didn't.
Since I wasn't using the bike much, I didn't bother until one day I was passing a garage I never visited and borrowed his T-spanner. Now the gearshifts are back to its buttery feel and I can feel some power back.

Annual service is due in a month after which I will head for a ride.
Bike is nearing 1,15,000 kms and 15 years next month.

[tharian]

Done with the annual service at 1,14,700 kms.

It has been 4000 kms since the last service.
I wanted to reduce the oil service interval from the usual 5k kms to 4 or less as the bike gets older.
As the engine on the Cast iron gets smoother as the oil gets older, I followed the 5k interval itself. This was the first time the bike has run only 4k between oil changes.
Oil used was Elf with STP oil additive.

There is some loose connection related to the battery charging which I have to fix. The amp shows the battery charging at times only. The alternator was checked and fine, so the mech stated the wiring is old and needs to be checked. Since this is one rare model from RE which doesn't need battery to start or run, its not a urgent fix.
The chain hitting the brake pedal bolt on the inside is present still and the chain needs to be replaced. Hopefully the link doesn't wear off and delink the chain before that

With fresh oil, the engine is quiet as ever, something which I used pray for when the bike was new.

[tharian]

After a wash and polish along with adjusting the clutch and idling to my liking, took it for a ride to Yeshwantpur as traffic was low as well, for some train spotting.

[tharian]

Today marks 15 years since I brought Silverado home.
It was a Friday the 13th.
I went ahead took delivery since I couldn't wait anymore. Sat at the showroom the whole day and finally rode out at dusk.

I can still feel how the bike was when it was new and how I used to visit the service centre every week for every small issue.
Now 1,14,8xx kms down the line, the motorbike feels almost as new.

'Touchwood' , I have never experienced any issues or breakdowns in the last 15 years of rides. As of today, the bike has 0 issues keeping in mind it is running on the stock bore.
I used it to office this morning since being a weekday, I cannot do a ride and it is still gets a smile on my face on an open stretch.

Here is to another 15.

Some old pictures when the bike was relatively new and before the tank was re-painted. Note the rectangle light on the crash guard.

[tharian]

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday on a ride on NICE road.
Being a holiday I thought of doing a round trip around Bangalore. Back when ring road was built, I used to do this often when I didn't feel like going far out.

Start from Hennur cross and cover the full ring and end up at the same place. Of course, back then there were no jams.
This time I did the same and cut off at silk board to E-city and took the NICE road to Tumkur road and back via ring road again via Hebbal.
Traffic was not bad and I was surprised I could touch the claimed top speed of the bike and was able to maintain it as well. On the GPS, although my speedo is quite accurate till around 85kmph.
I was even able to do 5kmph over on a slight slope.
Had a nice smile inside my helmet. Didn't know the old girl still had it after all these years and with the stock engine.

In other updates, I finally submitted my bike papers for the FC renewal since it had crossed 15 years. Getting the renewed card will be another story.

[tharian]

1,15,300 kms.

The bike sees use only during weekends now and I haven't taken it on a ride for a while as well. Probably December I will since I will get some free time and the weather is right as well.

The only update and surprise is that I got the bike's renewed registration card which is valid for another 5 years. I was surprised since I got this within 2 months of application and after only one visit to the RTO after applying.
With my 96' 500 which I sold , I had to visit the RTO every month for six months until I got it from them and not even posted.

This is a RC card as opposed to the old book RC which was something different and should have had an option to retain it rather than surrender it to the RTO.

The motorcycle, apart from the RC, doesn't look 15 years and it has also become the siesta spot for the resident cat.

[tharian]

1,16,100 kms and the longest ride.

Every December, during the holidays, I try and do a long ride before the year ends. Kind of a ride to keep me happy that I made use of my off time before I head back to the routine of life.
My Bullet has been not used much since last few months with the last ride being almost 7 months ago.

I though why not a long day ride, one which turned out to be the highest my bike has done in a day. Hence the plan was fixed to ride to Kolli hills. One way distance - 280 kms. Not to forget the steep 20 kms, 70 hairpin climb.
I had done this ride on my '96 500 almost 6-7 years ago but totally forgot about the 70 hairpins until I started climbing.
Being a weekday and holiday season, traffic on the highway was higher than usual but surprisingly well behaved. I left home around 6am and was able to cross over to Hosur quickly. The cold weather and fog helped in keeping the engine ticking over smoothly and I was able to keep around 70-75kmph and reached Salem around 930. Topped up at Indian oil pump who I felt didnt reset the pump after the previous dispense and I couldn't get a right efficiency result.

The roads as always in TN were good and perfect for riding on and I able to get that sweet spot for cruising like how I used to on my 500 and on a cast iron engine, that feeling is just priceless. There is another 30 kms to reach the foothills after cut off from the NH which passed through rural TN with beautiful tree lined roads.
The climb was a mixed feeling mainly because my gears had become hard and it was annoying when getting that not smooth shift and the other being, some of the steep bends, i had to shift to first just after the bend which spoilt the turn.
There are plenty of local two wheelers who knows these turns like the back of their hands and all of them had nice loud horns too. Me on the other hand was not able to take these blind curves with 100% commitment mainly because I had removed one horn from the double set I had since the cops had confisticated one from another Enfield I was using just the day before and I didn't want to loose this one too.
I didn't spend much time on the top except click some pictures from one of the bends since I wanted to get back before dark. The return was more involving since there was no power involved and I could enjoy the second half of not so steep bends.

On reaching the bottom, i noticed a short wheelbase bus that does this route which had cornering lights. The location of these lights were it was right behind the front wheel arch and was recessed and pointing outward at an angle and present on both sides.

Back to the ride. On the onward journey at the first stop after around 150 kms, I noticed that there was oil leaking from the head gasket on the engine. It wasn't bad and the oil had covered all the fins on one side till the tappet cover but seemed to have stopped at that and it didn't bother me. On the return though, when I was cruising at around 70kmph, I started hearing a clunk sound from the engine intermittently. Everytime I heard it, I reduced speed and ended up doing around 60 for half of the return trip. I have a feeling the big end bearing is on its way out since I remember the sound from my 500 just before it failed.
Thankfully, it didn't die on me even though I increased my speeds after Krishnagiri and the sound disappeared as well. The return was slow because of this although I ended up taking the same time as the onward journey in which I was averaging 60kmph,moving. Had some solo riders on Classics and a Tbird with luggage strapped on for company as well from Salem for few seconds

Traffic was quite high from Salem with most of the tolls lined up with cars. At Krishnagiri toll, the fast tag line was the longest because of a long line of trucks. Thank God I was on two wheels.

With all the stops, I did the onward and return at exact 6 hours each with 280kms each way.
This was the longest day ride on my Electra and it did that with an engine never worked on and run 1,16,000 kms

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by tharian

[b]Kolli hills.

This was literally my first long ride destination where I covered 1300+ km's in almost a day.

At the time running on an aftermarket intake setup, I can relate to the thought's you might've had about the hairpins, not to mention having busted both my fork oil seals while jumping a rock and facing minor vapor leaks here and there albeit mine being a modern(almost) motorcycle.

Hats off to you for achieving the same on a CI block and that too one which has crossed the 100k with flying colors, which speaks volumes about the effort put in.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by tharian

Topped up at Indian oil pump who I felt didnt reset the pump after the previous dispense and I couldn't get a right efficiency result

Checked the efficiency on the return leg which was around 350 kms and it was 29 kmpl. Happy that I can still extract these figures from the bike.

[tharian]

A short video of the climb to Koli hills towards the top.

https://youtu.be/Lk1vX7if92g

[tharian]

It has been a while since I updated this thread. Reason being the bike wasn't being used much.
I am trying to change that by using it more to work although it is the wrong time to do so with the heat increasing.

I was using it only on weekends and the starting trouble was showing up more frequently. I had to switch the ignition on and off while kicking continuously and it would start eventually. It looks like one of the ignition components is failing or the alternator is not producing enough current for the spark.
The engine runs perfectly fine and has enough power as I found on a short ride yesterday. Oil consumption seems to be okay too.The efficiency remains at 25 kmpl .

I was thinking of going for the original exhaust set up of the bikes manufactured before 2002 which has the long bend pipe and short bottle muffler which will give it that more authentic beat, but decided against it since the bike revs quite freely with the current set up.

Mileage stands at 1,16,750 kms

[tharian]

A short ride done and with it crossed 1,17,000 kms.

This was a good ride since traffic was low and I took the state highways rather than national highways.
I headed to Magadi from Bangalore and then to Kunigal on the Hassan highway. From the there took a well paved single lane road to Maddur and then back via the Mysore highway which wasn't all that bad today.

The bike was running fine at 60-70 kmph for most of the ride. I didn't try pushing it more because of the summer heat. Towards the end of the trip, there was vibrations when I crossed 60-65 kmph.
The metal clank noise which I heard on the last long trip did not happen again.
Pick up is not great, but once it gets upto speed, it is fine. As long as the speed is kept within 70 kmph, it can run all day long.

The wire connecting the horn got disconnected and I stopped at this very peaceful place off the Hassan highway to fix it.

[tharian]

One of the clips from the ride which was taken nearing Magadi;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvSw89zBOO4

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by tharian

One of the clips from the ride which was taken nearing Magadi;

I would suggest you carry a Bajaj RE clutch inner cable in your tool kit rather than routing spare cables, reason being even wind resistance can wear your cables.

Sounds petty but circa 2015 on my brand new P220 I got rid of the clutch cable boot(not for aesthetics) and rode to Bangalore, didn't bother with spares as the motorcycle was brand new, after around 150km's odd my clutch cable started developing friction and shortly after it snapped just after the notch, had to ride close to 300 km's before I found a SVC at Karur and got the cable replaced.