[ringoism]

About a foot of snow over two days, but finally the sun peeked out above, and the Machismo from beneath its blanket. Not going anywhere soon.

The Marshal was brilliant out there today, though.

[ringoism]

Wow... going on two years since I posted here!

Covid situation has affected many of us in various ways, and travel has not really been in the picture for me personally. My professional work thankfully has continued, but I was mainly using the green Bullet 500 (UCE) for that since it had the very useful full "Leh-style" carriers on it and I was constantly having to haul work-related stuff. The Machismo was unfortunately sitting parked (outdoors, of course) most of the time and it seemed a shame. I had wanted to keep it light and minimalist and aesthetically in good form, a set of ideals wherein the prospect of those typical bulky metal carriers simply didn't fit.

But what's the point of ideals if they keep you from riding the bike???

So got some slightly abbreviated and lighter carriers fabricated and mounted. Having them now frees up the green one to rent out, and also allows the Machismo to be used more practicably at least a couple times weekly.

The two bikes would seem to be so similar- but they provide entirely different riding experiences, some of which I have outlined earlier and won't delve into here.

So the Machismo is alive and well a few years into our ownership. Just crossed 6,000km's since the rebuild - it seems to have run-in nicely. Net sum of mods as it stands (most mentioned earlier in the thread) are: The (jugaad) high-compression piston/barrel with correct "squish" band, 32mm P220 carb, CI cams and tappets, open-element air filter, mild porting and 3-angle valve job, old-style crankcase breather setup, freed-up headpipe, CL-sized front&rear tyres, sprung seat, and the slimmer Electra-style mudguards. Think that's it. Bike is quick, almost explosively responsive, and pulls pretty uniformly from off-idle up to high revs. The higher compression seems to have increased the "bark" from the pipe, and I've got a long-bottle straight-thru fiber-packed unit stuck at a friend's place in Delhi that I'm hoping to get put on before long.

The bike looks absolutely filthy and neglected most of the time, but mechanically / operationally it's a real gem. Still rattly in the valvetrain department, but that is simply the nature of the beast. A quieter helmet has helped somewhat.

Anyway, enough about tech and on to where it has got me:

Well, there was the Atal Tunnel (of course) and a little trip up to Baralacha-La last autumn... almost had forgotten about that. A good half-day's ride into what were fortunately quite desolate areas in that season. Need to post a couple of those pics too, but overall just typical Manali-Leh scenes!

But apart from that:

Had a bit of a shock a couple months back when I realized my passport had expired earlier in the year. Applied online but the specified courier doesn't deliver up here, and in fact they've only got one office in Himachal, so thought it would be an excuse to get a ride in after quite a long time.

So it was (more or less): Manali, Bajaura, Kataula, Mandi, Bilaspur, Ghagas, Subathu, Solan, Shimla, Mashobra, Ani, Jalori Pass, Jibhi, Manali.

Bike performed with hardly a glitch, and my confidence in it increased with the km's. This was the first time since the rebuild I've had it on a significant ride actually. Brother of an old friend came along on the B500 - a highly spirited rider with lakhs of km's of RE time under his belt... it made for fairly quick progress with a lot of pretty scenes witnessed.

The road that runs along the river here on the leg between Mashobra to Ani was a new one to me and notable in being quite narrow, well-paved, very lightly traveled, and overall quite delightful as a rider's road.

As for Jalori - I believe this is the first time I've been over it since it's been fully paved - and the older I get (and the firmer the bike's suspension), the more I appreciate that, I suppose!!!

A picture paints a thousand words, so will quit writing here.

[ringoism]

Will add a few pics of that run to Baralacha-La just about a year ago, just after the Atal Tunnel had opened. Neighbor was on his Duke 390, likes to ride briskly (not crazy) and I felt our riding styles and pace were a good match. The pavement is just great to that point, and it felt just fine to push the bike hard through the twisties. Even with that near 15-year-old-Dunlop Geo-Cruiser out back (stickier Ralco Speed Blaster up front)!

A truly beautiful time of year to be out there:

[rahuldongre]

@ringoism

I cannot help but admire your technical prowess and the adventures you have had !! Hats off to you. I was there in the elements as I read the story.

I am staring at a 2008 Machismo LB AVL, done 20K, asking for 1.45L.
Am eager to close the deal, however would like to hear from you....someone like me who is not technically so much into it, but wants to ride an old 500 for what it is.....and in the city (Pune) and few hill rides, do you think its worth it. I don't mind greasing my mind & hands once/twice a month to maintain it, but not more than that.

Looking to hear back from you Sir!

Thank you!

[Williams_f1]

Originally Posted by rahuldongre

@ringoism

I cannot help but admire your technical prowess and the adventures you have had !! Hats off to you. I was there in the elements as I read the story.

I am staring at a 2008 Machismo LB AVL, done 20K, asking for 1.45L.
Am eager to close the deal, however would like to hear from you....someone like me who is not technically so much into it, but wants to ride an old 500 for what it is.....and in the city (Pune) and few hill rides, do you think its worth it. I don't mind greasing my mind & hands once/twice a month to maintain it, but not more than that.

Looking to hear back from you Sir!

Thank you!

Hi, I am in Pune as well and I have a Machismo 500, I can't pm you as you are a new member, if you could share your number then I could give you few pointers.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by rahuldongre

@ringoism

I cannot help but admire your technical prowess and the adventures you have had !! Hats off to you. I was there in the elements as I read the story.

I am staring at a 2008 Machismo LB AVL, done 20K, asking for 1.45L.
Am eager to close the deal, however would like to hear from you....someone like me who is not technically so much into it, but wants to ride an old 500 for what it is.....and in the city (Pune) and few hill rides, do you think its worth it. I don't mind greasing my mind & hands once/twice a month to maintain it, but not more than that.

Someone who has an older Bullet told me long ago that one's experience depended entirely on the individual bike: if you got a good one it could provide a truly pleasant ownership & riding experience, if you got a bad one it could be a neverending source of trouble and expense. His 1990 (1989?) Standard 350 is one of the good ones - I say "is" because as the original owner, after 30+ years it hardly ever created a fuss, and he has never seen fit to let it go.

When I bought mine, the downside was that it was selected from a fleet of hard-ridden, severe duty Himalayan (the mountain range!) tour bikes.

The upside was that it was SELECTED from a fleet of hard ridden, severe duty, PROVEN Himalayan tour bikes... I had 30+ bikes to test ride and choose from, and I took my time evaluating them and trying to get one that was most "right" in as many areas as possible.

I rode one that was much more powerful than the others but vibrated like mad. Rode one that despite a recent rebuild, good compression, etc, had trouble overtaking an AVL TB 350 with two astride (swapping out the carb, ignition module from a stronger running bike made no difference btw). Another ran so beautifully, with an unusually quiet valvetrain, but was very hard-starting (swapping plug and above components again had no effect). Others were well-running but had gearboxes that would habitually jump out of whichever gears. The BEST one I found and finally had settled on was really quite wonderful in every way, the shop was well into getting some maintenance done on it in preparation for delivery to me, when it was discovered that there was a very old loan outstanding on the bike...

Mine, maybe the second-best, then, after rebuilding engine twice and gearbox once and modding it pretty well for some extra output, has been a really sweet ride... very low vibrations (well, till I hydro-locked it recently after some heavy rains), very healthy power output, punchy and quick off the mark and good top-end as well. Handling is nowhere near as confident as the UCE Bullet 500, but that could be rectified with the latter's front suspension, as a friend here has done and I eventually probably will, too. It looks good despite the cosmetic neglect, sounds good, and is really just so satisfying all around - can ride it all day, carry fruit crates on it, do school duties and short blasts on twisty roads, it always starts easily even in vold weather, and it is the one bike that as of now, I never, ever want to sell...

HOWEVER, I started with a good one and as a longtime motoring enthusiast/ technical guy, knew how to research, gain knowledge, do a lot of hands-on and finally get it right. Depending on mechanics for almost anything important isn't easy for me, and with good reason.

As I probably mentioned earlier, Israelis in particular always loved these bikes and certain tour groups from abroad continued to specifically request the Machismos long after the UCE 500's and even Himalayans (the bikes) came on the scene. It's a generally under-appreciated model in India, and scarce enough abroad that many are unfamiliar with them - but well-loved and fairly legendary to not a few.

That said, plenty of other people, especially in the subcontinent, have had frustrating experiences with them as well.

If you are thinking seriously of a purchase, test-ride it very, very thoroughly, show it to a knowledgeable person / specialist, and then (as Ben Franklin quipped re: a similar realm, namely marriage): "Keep your eyes wide open beforehand, and half shut after"!!! Don't get wooed by the chrome - it's only skin-deep!

As noted in my first post, had always been attracted to these - I guess it was all that chrome and burnished aluminum that always had me interested... But indeed it's like marriage - both have been enjoyable BECAUSE I got a good one (soberly fixed my mind on the right priorities there, did NOT get irrationally wowed by chrome or lipstick, thank God)... AND because I've been willing to work on the, eh, relationship.

On those lines also do bear in mind that in some cases owning an older RE could cause or exacerbate marital stresses... had better not mention any cases I may or may not know of here

'Nuff said,

-Eric