[adrian]

Originally Posted by adrian

If it is OK, then slightly increase the air fuel ratio by turning the fuel screw 1/4th of a turn clockwise.

Please accept my apologies for not spotting the error previously

The carburetor version of Royal Enfields are equipped with a fuel screw.
Turning it clockwise leans out the mixture and turning it anti clockwise makes the air fuel mixture rich.

So in order to make the air fuel ratio rich in a carburetor version of Royal Enfield, you will have to turn the fuel screw anti clock wise.

[ArizonaJim]

Originally Posted by Rugged

Hi Bullet Guru's,
Need your advice. My Bullet a 2013 STD UCE, stops suddenly while driving, it's been from 2 days.It starts after multiple kicks. Today morning i got the battery checked, refilled. Bike service was done in March :( daily usage is less than 10km as i stay very close to office, this issue is giving me sleepless nights :( hence trying to figure out a solution at this hour.

Having the battery checked and refilled is a good thing but it is unlikely that it is the cause of your problem.
That's not to say the problem may be very close to your battery though.

There are two sets of wires connected to the battery. Each set consists of one thick wire and one thin wire.
The thick wires are used to power the electric starter motor. The thin wires are used to power everything else on the motorcycle. They also conduct the power from the alternator which is used to recharge the battery.

Here in the United States, many owners of the Unit Construction Engine models of Royal Enfields have found that the small (thin) wire on the black (negative) set of wires becomes broken where it attaches to the larger black wire right next to the metal connector that attaches to the battery terminal.
In this broken condition, the wire end usually continues to make contact with the larger wire but occasionally it will loose its connection resulting in the electrical system loosing power. This can explain the engine suddenly dying.

This wiring connection is covered with a soft plastic cover and some additional insulating material so just looking at it, everything looks fine. Looks can be deceiving.
The actual connection of the thin wire and the thick wire needs to be investigated.

Stripping away the coverings will often reveal the broken connection.

If your RE is like mine, this small black wire has a connector a short distance from the junction between the large and the small wire.

The wire between the connector and the junction can be cut and a new piece of wiring soldered to the now, cut length of wire. A new metal end on the new piece of wire is required so that it can be bolted to the battery terminal where the large (thick) wire is connected.

If this sort of repair was being made to the RED (+) power supply wire you would need to tape the soldered joint. On the BLACK (-) grounding wire you may either choose to tape the joint or leave it exposed.

All of this MAY fix the problem. Then again, it may not.

The sudden dying of the engine indicates a loss of electrical power and this can also be caused by any of the connections where the wires in the wiring harness plug into other wires.
More than a few times, the factory workers fail to fully plug in and seat these plug in connections. If the plug in connections are not fully seated, they can lose contact and cause a loss of power.

Although it is time consuming, it is a good idea to find and check each of these plug in wiring connections.
To check them, try to pull the connections apart. Do not pull on the wire! Pull on the body of the connectors.
If one pops out, you've found a problem which is easily fixed by firmly plugging it back in.

Good luck.

[eko]

Originally Posted by Rugged

Hi Bullet Guru's,
Need your advice. My Bullet a 2013 STD UCE, stops suddenly while driving, it's been from 2 days.It starts after multiple kicks. Today morning i got the battery checked, refilled. Bike service was done in March :( daily usage is less than 10km as i stay very close to office, this issue is giving me sleepless nights :( hence trying to figure out a solution at this hour.

1. Check the battery voltage in morning before start. Should be 14.2V at no load.
2. Check the fuel level in carburetor float before attempting to start. (Drain the float by using drain screw into a plastic cup).
3. Check for air leak in inlet manifold.

Originally Posted by Rugged

Hi Bullet Guru's,
Need your advice. My Bullet a 2013 STD UCE, stops suddenly while driving, it's been from 2 days.It starts after multiple kicks. Today morning i got the battery checked, refilled. Bike service was done in March :( daily usage is less than 10km as i stay very close to office, this issue is giving me sleepless nights :( hence trying to figure out a solution at this hour.

This is a typical RE problem. If you would have mentioned the KM on clock would have been helpful. Also details of past service / replacements.

I will list out the DIY ones first, which I can think of now.

1. Fuel related:
1. Check tank cap vent. The vent may be blocked and may not be allowing petrol to flow to carburetor. Can check by starting the bike with tank cap open.

2. The vent on the carburetor for float bowl may be clogged.

3. The fuel strainer may be clogged.

4. May be traces of water in tank or carburetor especially after rain or water wash.

5. Check the inlet manifold hose of carburetor for loose clamp screw/ bolt.RE has ill reputation of bolts and nuts working loose by itself due to poor quality of assembly and poor quality of fasteners. Any leak in suction will give rise to starting.

6. The float needle may be worn out and may be flooding the carburetor. Check the overflow pipe of float chamber for possible fuel flow. In case of flooding, may be due worn out float valve or impurity restricting valve closure. Solution is to dismantle carburetor and check.

7. Fuel flow may be restricted due to sticky float pivot. Need carburetor dismantling.

2. Electrical:
1. You have not mentioned the if your battery age. Batteries normally last 2 to 4 years. (I am assuming the ignition works on battery as my last encounter with RE was in 1990). Check the voltage of battery at no load. Should be between 12 to 14V. If voltage is low open the battery vents and see the color of battery plates. Should be grayish color. If is whitish means your battery is at end of life span. If color is grayish, then you can try recharging. Since you mentioned that your daily usage is less, chances are your battery is having problem. Especially if you are using the bike in town and with headlights (I am assuming the HL is battery fed). Since your daily usage is less I would recommend you to buy a trickle charger and use it daily. When you own an RE a trickle charger is a good investment and will help you have peace of mind.
2. There may be traces of water in plug cap (rain/water wash).
3. There may be traces of water in silencer. Keep bike on a ramp and see if water is draining from silencer. (Sometimes service stations fill the silencer with water to have fun. You will end up spending thousands with them).
4. Check if is any flickering of warning lights, may be due to possible loose contact.RE wiring is not the best in town.

I can go on further but I will wait for your feed back.

Originally Posted by farhadtarapore

Here are 2 videos of my bike starting. Not sure if the engine is supposed to crank so much before it actually fires up. Both times, the low battery icon starts flashing.

If bike tuning is spot on has to start in first revolution of engine.You will ruin your battery and starter if you continue starting like this. Your bike needs minimum an ignition and carb tune up.

Better go to an experienced mechanic 50 ish or higher.

Originally Posted by Beast

Hi

I am facing a peculiar problem with my electra 2013 model. The Bike runs very bad with engine doing missing for first 5-6 kms post that it becomes smooth. I have got the carburetor leaned twice but no improvement.

Please guide what could be the cause .

Regards
Beast

There are some misconceptions about tuning. If a vehicle does not start in cold without choke, I would say is perfectly fine. If it misses till engine becomes warm, I would say it is perfect.

Your bike is showing symptoms of ideal tuning. You can confirm this by checking your spark plug inner color which should be whitish/ fawn.

I am sure your bike is returning good fuel average. If it isn't, then you have a problem.

If spark plug is whitish/fawn, then you can stop the missing by making the fuel mixture rich by turning the air screw in by 1/4 to 1/2 turn. (Hope you know what air screw is).

The missing can also be due to cold rating of spark plug. Check the users manual for correct rating.

These are the easy DIY points.

Originally Posted by nityamishra14

Any leads will be very helpful. Should I try changing the TCI unit , can it be a cause given that bike kick starts in a single kick.

You mentioned that the bike starts in one kick but not with starter. The reason is simple.

The electric starter running is not sufficient to start the engine. The electric starter should have a minimum speed to start engine. If starter speed is low, engine will not start. Have your starter opened and the brushes, stator and rotor checked.

Originally Posted by farhadtarapore

Here are 2 videos of my bike starting. Not sure if the engine is supposed to crank so much before it actually fires up. Both times, the low battery icon starts flashing.

Your starter speed is low. This could be due to weak battery or faulty starter. First check battery voltage in morning before starting should be upwards of 12V. If battery is good, then get starter checked. Low starter speed is most likely due to worn brushes.


Note from Support. Posts merged & edited for readability, spacing.

[Equus]

Hey experts, my Thunderbird 500 (2013 model) has developed a strange problem. The LED display on the meter continues to display even after I remove the key! And this is leading to leaking of battery if left unused for a few days. The nearby RE service center suggested to replace the meter but it costs a bomb! Any suggestions or recommendations?

[KK RE Lover]

Hello Bullet Gurus - I own a standard 500 and have done just about 3500 kms. In the past one month or so, have been hearing a weird knocking kind of noise - may be like a clutter ( something like tak tak tak) when I try to accelerate. This knocking sound appears when I just open the throttle at any speed. I get this when I try to accelerate at 20 KMPH or even at 50 KMPH. It then fades away and when I shift gear and open the throttle again, I get to hear that.





No luck at the authorised service centre as I was told to just keep riding and in fact I was also told that this is very common in Standard 500. Wasn't convincing and reaching to you all to seek your inputs and guidance

[trtraj]

Originally Posted by KK RE Lover

Hello Bullet Gurus - I own a standard 500 and have done just about 3500 kms. In the past one month or so, have been hearing a weird knocking kind of noise - may be like a clutter ( something like tak tak tak) when I try to accelerate. This knocking sound appears when I just open the throttle at any speed. I get this when I try to accelerate at 20 KMPH or even at 50 KMPH. It then fades away and when I shift gear and open the throttle again, I get to hear that.





No luck at the authorised service centre as I was told to just keep riding and in fact I was also told that this is very common in Standard 500. Wasn't convincing and reaching to you all to seek your inputs and guidance

I own a Thunderbird 350 BSIV, and i also faces the similar problem, its not about the speed, its about the RPM which i feel matters the change. Beyond 2500 RPM, that strange sound starts, it looks like the air and fuel mixture ratio is not evenly distributed.

I tried my hands by clock wise - anti-clock wise turning of air screw once each with no luck, now running with the same setting and unable to ride over 75 kmpl (on an highway )

Any suggestions from experts ?

How many threads is the common setup for Air screw in carburetor, and does this cause because of BSIV inlet pipe to fuel tank (i suspect), or not enough air released via fuel tank cap ?

Thanks in advance.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by trtraj

I tried my hands by clock wise - anti-clock wise turning of air screw once each with no luck, now running with the same setting

I saw the carburetor on a BS-IV classic in our Office. It not that simple BS -29 carburetor any more. It has one rubber tube coming out of the inlet flange and two coming out of the carburetor body in addition to the overflow tube and the atmosphere vent. Most probably these are vacuum lines and are incorporated for emission related purpose.

So don't tweak your mixture screw based on the posts you find here.

[Suresh Stephen]

There is no standard thread opening for carburettors. It goes with the engine timing also. The right way to tune the bike is to start the bike and warm the engine for few minutes. Tighten the pilot airscrew completely( don't use force while tightening). Slightly increase the idling other wise the engine may die off.
Slowly un screw the pilot airscrew. At one point you will see that the engine idling will start increasing to a peak value and then further if you unscrew it, the idling will start falling down. The point in which the idling is maximum is the optimum for that bike. You can then reduce the idling to the required level

[bsenroy]

Hi, i am sorry, i do not have a technical query per se, but would appreciate some support.
I have recently moved to Noida from Delhi and am in need of a reliable mechanic to take care of my Machismo 500.

Can someone recommend a trusted mechanic in Noida?

[Maverick79]

Dear Bull Riders,
My ride is in need of a battery. OEM is suggesting Exide again.
I'm looking for Amaron make.
Does Amaron support with any model for TB500 ?
I was told by one of the Amaron dealer that they don't. Need confirmation on the same.

Mine is 2.5 years old model and is on a little lesser usage now a days.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Maverick79.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Maverick79

My ride is in need of a battery. OEM is suggesting Exide again. I'm looking for Amaron make.
Does Amaron support with any model for TB500 ? I was told by one of the Amaron dealer that they don't. Need confirmation on the same.

Mine is 2.5 years old model and is on a little lesser usage now a days.

Mate as far as I know Amaron does not make motorcycle battery higher than 12V 9Ah. Like mine your Tbird500 would require a 12V 14Ah battery. Apart from known brands like Exide, SF Sonic(again Exide subsidiary), Amco, Tata Green etc. I don't think any other reputed manufacturer makes 12V 14Ah battery. There are some unknown brands who do make such batteries but I am not sure if we can trust them. From what I have seen RE had started equipping the Tbird350 with Amaron 8Ah MF Sealed battery a couple of years back but they have retained the Exide Lead Acid 14Ah battery for Tbird500. It might be due to the presence of EFi fuel pump.

[rajshenoy]

I have a general query for RE owners here. What is the monthly time/cost spent servicing these bikes.

Reason i am asking this is my heart is pushing me to get one home and I haven't really driven a motor-bike in last 6-7 years or so.

I am aware of niggles and maintenance issues of RE bikes and how they require frequent servicing etc., so when i told the same to the SA attending me his answer was to bring the bike to the service center once a month and do a general checkup to ensure everything runs smooth. This he said is necessary to keep the bike trouble-free. He also mentioned around 1500 rs for this checkup.

So i wanted to know if you really need to take care of RE bikes so much that I need to believe when Bajaj says "hathi math palo" ?

I am purely looking at a weekend ride to take on highways and my brain says go for a ride that i can take to service center say once in 6 months.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

so when i told the same to the SA attending me his answer was to bring the bike to the service center once a month and do a general checkup to ensure everything runs smooth. This he said is necessary to keep the bike trouble-free. He also mentioned around 1500 rs for this checkup.

There is no such requirement to go to the service center every month to perform Rs 1500 worth "check-ups".
It's simply not required.

We should visit the service center, only when it is time for service (or any breakdown), as per the service manual.

In summary, your brain is correct.

[k88k]

I own a RE Bullet 350 which I bought last July. It has been a trouble free year with my bullet. The bike has done 9K with quite a few road trips. Longest being to Puducherry from Bangalore with a pillion.

I follow the service manual to the point and get the bike serviced at the right intervals. Once a month general checkup is hogwash IMO. But yes, Service cost will hover around Rs. 1.5K figure. After the 1st year, you can also opt for a annual service plan if you would be going to the same service centre each time.

Regarding RE vs Bajaj:

I did close to 70K on my previous motorcycle which was the Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSi. The bike was definitely a tourer, had the most awesome pickup and I did have a lot of fun. But it disappointed in the comfort department. Even a 75 km ride felt like a iron butt ride after the 1st few months of ownership. Also, can't forget the sound of those rattling plastics!!

So, If you aren't into 3 digit speeds and just want to cruise somewhere around 85-90 kmph, go for RE for those weekend rides. It won't disappoint. Also, I don't consider going above these speeds in any 2Wh safer on Indian roads.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

There is no such requirement to go to the service center every month to perform Rs 1500 worth "check-ups".
It's simply not required.

We should visit the service center, only when it is time for service (or any breakdown), as per the service manual.

In summary, your brain is correct.

Originally Posted by k88k

I follow the service manual to the point and get the bike serviced at the right intervals. Once a month general checkup is hogwash IMO. But yes, Service cost will hover around Rs. 1.5K figure. After the 1st year, you can also opt for a annual service plan if you would be going to the same service centre each time.

Thanks, True. With such a high monthly sales, i guess service centers are only minting money.

I fully understand that the bike drinks lots of oil, clutch, chains etc. but could not digest monthly service for no reason and walked away. Manual says 3000 km service interval and i guess 3000kms might be like 4 months for my kind of usage.

It was not about Bajaj vs RE, in general RE vs modern engines -
Honda,Yamaha or Bajaj. But whichever is no frills and brings a smile(Used to ride TVS Victor last, abuse friendly)

If i just compare the price point, for the RE price i can easily manage Fz25 or Dominar or Avenger 220(and money in bank) or may be even CBR250R(if it is coming back).