[mantrig]

I had a 1979 RE STD 350 till some months back which I sold due to some personal reasons and was back with my 10 year old HH Splendour which has always been a sweet companion.

The craving of riding a more powerful bike convinced me into saving again for a new ride and due to some budget constraints I decided to settle down for a second hand Karizma or a Bullet.

While thinking practically I knew I needed a more reliable ride (Kari) and not something which would take away most of my weekends pampering her (Bull), so I concluded that I will go for the new Karizma which might be released atleast this year. But going by the earlier trends the time for its release was something that is highly unpredictible so I decided to use a second bike while I save funds for a newer version.

Further to my decision, I saw a nice 2005 Karizma which was in a immaculate condition and it belonged to freind who is getting married in Dec'09 and needed to sell his bike as he has booked a 4 wheeler. I told him that I will buy his ride ensuring it stays in the circle and decided to take her home before making up my mind completely.

Took the bike and headed home leaving my splendour in his garage and it was not even 5kms on the highway when I took a asked myself, "Is this what you really want?". And the answer was "No, this is not what I want".

Went back next morning and narrated the incident to him and last week I bought myself a second hand 1983 RE STD from a gentleman called Iqbal Veerji who happens to be a Team BHP member as well.

The bike is in a immaculate condition and am happy buying it from a fellow BHPian who I must say has maintained this bike to its best.

The bike is ready to use with just some oiling and greasing which I did only because the ride was hardly being used.

And here I have a new baby parked in my garage.

I was not sure if mods would approve a new thread on this topic but just tried my luck.

Regarding the bike:-

• Overall Condition -The overall condition is excellent (As appears in the pictures)
• Tyres -The tyres are almost new though I will be changing the rear tyre as the Dunlop Jap 350 in the rear is not really giving me the desired confidence. So will be switching back to stock MRF which I have at home and has been used for hardly 600kms.
• Handle bar -Will either switch to the RD handle or STD Bullet Deluxe handle bar
• Electricals -The electricals are latest Electra switches and the battery is also new with the 12V magneto (One of the things I really liked about the bike)
• Paint - The paint is awesome - No paint job required anytime soon]
• Alloys - I personally prefer rims but since have the alloys will use them for now but in the future will switch to rims[/FONT]
• Crash Gaurd -Changing the existing gaurd to the diamond shaped one as I like the look of it but many have suggested that the existing gaurd will give a better support in case of a fall (Any Inputs Here?)

Here are some pics of my new ride (1983 RE STD 350) and one pic of my old bull as well (1979 RE STD 350)

P.S. - Thanks to Gordon on his help with telling me how to go about buying the bike and helping me make a better decision.

[Shashank.A]

Its good that you listened to your heart bro. Otherwise just imagine what happens when you are standing at a red light on your mind bike, and your heart bike pulls over right next to you. argghh....I cannot live with that feeling.

[Technocrat]

Congrats & Wow the bullets looks very nice with an all black engine

Do keep us posted on the ownership experience

[Abhay]

WOW..Those bikes are '83 and '79 vintage? Amazing!
Congrats on the buy mantrig...but yes I agree with you the alloys do spoil the look of that black beast.

[jkdas]

WOW! just make it all black! You have the RE Night Rod.

You old bike looks very well kept.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by mantrig

Alloys - I personally prefer rims but since have the alloys will use them for now but in the future will switch to rims

Congratulations, but do change to spoked ones ASAP.

[mantrig]

Thanks for all the comments folks, I will be considering giving the complete black look very seriously. Also the bike has been a delight to ride with some minor issues which I am sure will be rectified with your help.

Just a question - Is it only me or is there anyone else also who has had a bad experience with the Dunlop Jap 350 tyre in the rear? The bike seems to have a really poor road grip on concrete or any surface which might be even a bit slippery. I have experienced the same trouble with my earlier tyre. I normally prefer MRF stock tyre which is so widely used on the bulls. Also let me mention the tyres are as good as new, will upload some picks before evening for your refernce. (As I mentioned earlier I do have a new MRF rear tyre lying in the store room and would not mind shifting back to it)

With regards to performance, the bike has a great pick up and performs really well at high speed. Engine heating is very minimal even after a 35km ride to work.

However, I am facing a issue with riding the bike at around 40 in the top gear. Am not sure is this is to do with my riding skills or some tuning needs to be done. It feels as if the engine is knocking at a speed anywhere between 40-50 but once beyond 50kmph the engine rips really well and sounds much better. I might be facing this issue because I have been used to my earlier bull performing well in moving traffic @ around 40kmph with out any downshifting. Has it got something to do with the fuel supply?

Please give your valuable inputs to help me do the settings which might need to be changed here.

Regards,
Gaurav

[mantrig]

Originally Posted by Su-47

Congratulations, but do change to spoked ones ASAP.

SU-47 - Any particular reason why you said change to spokes ASAP? I certainly prefer switching over soon, but just curious as to why you said ASAP.

JKdas - Thanks for note. Yes the bike was in the best condition and I there was nothing that the new owner had to work on other then regular servicing. Thankfully, the bike is in good hands and a bike enthusiast

[mantrig]

Originally Posted by jkdas

WOW! just make it all black! You have the RE Night Rod.

You old bike looks very well kept.

Further to your inputs last week, I spent the weekend a little more productively and managed to paint the Crash Gaurd, Battery Cover & the small Grab Rail below the seat black just for starters and see how the bike looks with these changed. The paint job might not look amazing as its DIY policy that I have been adhereing to for cases where I feel I can do without any external help.

So worked on the following :-

• Black Paint - Crash Gaurd, Battery Cover & Small Grab below the seat
• Air Filter Changed (Earlier one was completely rusted and surely needed to be done away with)
• Rubber Cover for CB points
• Changed the Fuel Tank lid as the earlier one was rusted and water was seeping in (GAE lock for Yamaha RX series)

Spoke to two mechs about the knocking that happens and the advanced setting of the points due to which I am unable to ride on the fourth gear anywhere below 45-50 and the knocking that the bike leads to.

The answer I got from both of them is that the piston needs to be set (one said it needs to be changed and new set would cost me around 2k) Once that is done the setting can be changed to normal city riding instead of the hign revving engine setting that it is at right now.

I really need some help from you guys in having this resolved, as I am not that technically sound to come to a conclusion here.

Looking forward to some valuable inputs.

Regards,
Mantri G.