[nasirkaka]

My concern is that a RE is meant to be a lifelong possession that i may want to pass down to my children and they may want to pass it down to their children after that. If the engine is under assault because a missing O2 sensor, then i very much doubt the bike will last that long.

Ha ha!! How we all wish the same!! But gone are those decades, when RE bikes were built of unadulterated materials to last a lifetime and may be more.

Personally, i feel that the current RE bikes may have a life span of about 12-18 years max, if maintained well, and not beyond that. The Aluminium alloy based AVLs or the UCEs may not sustain stresses and strains of combustion of a large single (350/500). The main cause of all the fatigue/hairline cracks are vibrations which are fairly higher in the AVLs and UCEs compared to CI.

The modern materials, processes, fastners, screws, nuts, bolts, welds,surface protection standards, etc are also of poor quality. My C5 is started rusting within a month of purchase.

So lets get realistic and enjoy while the bike holds together. Our kids will have to buy their own Enfields.

[Randhawa]

@AXG- Do you use a bit of throttle when you use ES? With UCE500 you need to tab a bit of throttle to get it started with ES and thats absolutely normal.

Once you get the things adjusted then let us know the starting behavior on your bike. If still those things don't help then there is only one thing left to adjust. Thats to do with Auto-decomp but I don't wish to scare you as its a very simple process and I'll guide you to it later. If you need to know how the auto de-comp works and what problems it can cause then have a look at the post I made on auto-decomp few pages earlier.

Dont worry mate, have a little faith in your bull. O2 sensor has nothing to do with engine life but something else has. There is only one week point on this bike-engine(I seriously mean it) which I have discussed with RE engineers and they beg to differ with me on that but I have proved it to them. But in near future I'll reveal everything about it so people can voice their opinion.

Your mileage is too low for a new engine as I was getting far more then that when new. But your problem is small and will be sorted just be patience and dont get to paranoid. I have gone through that phase.

Yes plugs can get rid of excess carbon by the means of proper spark and as I mentioned abut the plugs earlier. The new plugs I had on my bike were of higher heat range which means they were(electrode) getting hotter quickly hence burning the carbon deposit on the plug and providing better combustion. We all know who much a dirty plug can effect performance and mileage. So a cleaner plug with lesser carbon will do good.

By overheating I meant engine overheating.

[AXG]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Personally, i feel that the current RE bikes may have a life span of about 12-18 years max, if maintained well, and not beyond that. The Aluminium alloy based AVLs or the UCEs may not sustain stresses and strains of combustion of a large single (350/500). The main cause of all the fatigue/hairline cracks are vibrations which are fairly higher in the AVLs and UCEs compared to CI.

I'd be depressed if this bike gives out on me in 12-18 years. Forget my children, i myself won't be old enough by then to hang up my boots and say, 'No more bikes. That is for the younger generations'!!!

Originally Posted by Randhawa

@AXG- Do you use a bit of throttle when you use ES? With UCE500 you need to tab a bit of throttle to get it started with ES and thats absolutely normal.

I was told the same by the RE guys when i first complained and i make it a point to use the throttle every time i am starting the bike. Except that it does not work on every occasion.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Dont worry mate, have a little faith in your bull. O2 sensor has nothing to do with engine life but something else has. There is only one week point on this bike-engine(I seriously mean it) which I have discussed with RE engineers and they beg to differ with me on that but I have proved it to them. But in near future I'll reveal everything about it so people can voice their opinion.

Alas! In this commercial day and age, established products and companies seem to be losing sight of their core values. I do hope the issues with the RE are ones that can be sorted out. Once i get the bike up to a decent speed on a good road, the pleasure of riding it is truly unparalleled. I would however really want to hear what the weak point on the engine is whenever you are ready to tell us. Hope its soon though! I can tolerate niggles with electricals, etc - those are only secondary. But the engine is a vehicle's heart and any problem/deficiency in that, however small, is simply unacceptable.

Thanks for the tips so far and i hope things will get sorted out in the service. Will certainly get back to you on the state of the plugs and their make.

[nasirkaka]

A concern:

My C5 is getting drenched in the Bangalore rain, almost everyday. And i am not too happy about it. My office does not have a parking space, hence i have to fight for parking on the road-side, almost everyday. Using a bike-cover may not be feasible as i have to go out of office, 3-4 time a day.

What could be done to prevent/prolong the rusting? Can the rain water affect the bike adversely in any other way?

Do not suggest to get another job where there is a covered parking space, as i am actually considering that..

[ACM]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

A concern:

My C5 is getting drenched in the Bangalore rain, almost everyday.
What could be done to prevent/prolong the rusting? Can the rain water affect the bike adversely in any other way?

Do not suggest to get another job where there is a covered parking space, as i am actually considering that..

True Love - Looking out for a new job to prevent rusting of the C500

What you could do is get the edges / ends of the frame & nuts and bolts mildy greesed with white petrolium jelly (that is used for battery contacts) + of course apply the monsoon protection polish on the crome bits. In todays time the crome bits should not require this, unless they are scratches / poorly finished. Any Service centre / petrol pump would do this for you as part of monsoon protection cover.

Covers of the type that one keep on while driving actually do more harm than good as the water then remains and does not dry off when the sun reappears.

[Randhawa]

Anastassia and me had a 2hr cold & wet ride today and I feel like a born again kid With tiny rain drops hitting my face, felt like an attack of bees who thought I had taken their Queen for a ride. Previously I had never taken her out in the rain. For a decade I had not bothered to venture out on a 2 wheeler intensionally for a shower but it was such an awesome weather so I gave in to the temptations.

Usually people on 2 wheelers avoid any puddle on the road and scatter to the safety of not so wet patch but I had every intention to get splashed my oncoming cars and so I did. Yeah I know how dirty and silly it sounds but today I enjoyed it.

I was wet like a sponge bob and dripping like a nutty professor on a tread mill. She showed no sign of choking in the heavy downpour so I have ticked her off for the water test with flying colors. I was a bit wary of water seeping into the electrical's but things were on safer side although the air filter box did managed to accumulate some water which I quickly drained and dried it.

Gave her a nice wash and noticed rust appearing on the upswept with only two weeks on the bike. Will inquire with dealer to what can be done about it. Don't want to get it re-chromed as the only chroming guy in Chandigarh does not provide a satisfactory service.

[nasirkaka]

Anastassia and me had a 2hr cold & wet ride today and I feel like a born again kid With tiny rain drops hitting my face, felt like an attack of bees who thought I had taken their Queen for a ride. Previously I had never taken her out in the rain. For a decade I had not bothered to venture out on a 2 wheeler intensionally for a shower but it was such an awesome weather so I gave in to the temptations.

Usually people on 2 wheelers avoid any puddle on the road and scatter to the safety of not so wet patch but I had every intention to get splashed my oncoming cars and so I did. Yeah I know how dirty and silly it sounds but today I enjoyed it.

I was wet like a sponge bob and dripping like a nutty professor on a tread mill. She showed no sign of choking in the heavy downpour so I have ticked her off for the water test with flying colors. I was a bit wary of water seeping into the electrical's but things were on safer side although the air filter box did managed to accumulate some water which I quickly drained and dried it.

Gave her a nice wash and noticed rust appearing on the upswept with only two weeks on the bike. Will inquire with dealer to what can be done about it. Don't want to get it re-chromed as the only chroming guy in Chandigarh does not provide a satisfactory service.

Good to hear the positive result from an actual rain ride. Are you running on stock tyres or changed them? Some people have been complaining of stability issues with the stock tyre in the wet / rains. Any inputs on that front w.r.t the ride in the rain??

@ ACM: Thanks for the inputs. Shall try the white petroleum jelly on the nuts and bolts. Will have to see how much of dust they accumulate though. Not too keen on the Anti-rust coat as i have had not so pleasant experience with them in the past.
Is there any mild clear anti-rust spray can available???

[Randhawa]

Running on stock tyres, I am happy with the front in all weather conditions but rear tyre is a death trap. Escaped multiple times from skidding on slushy roads, it does not give me confidence to take sharp turns in wet or even going through a muddy patch at low speeds. On hard rear breaking, it behaves just like any other bullet. Skidding sideways can freak you out at times.


People have suggested for upsizing the front but hard to find a tyre in the same tread pattern as I really like the front tyre grip. Upsizing might help with stability issues but yet to try. But I am waiting for the improved swing-arm to see if it helps. Will definitely change the rear though. I will be switching over to Pirelli sport demon but due to non availability of Pirelli in my city, I have to make a trip to Delhi for the tyres. Till then I'll have to be very careful in wet.

Problem with the rear tyre is its construction.
-ve
It's a hard compound tyre and does not provide adequate grip on sand and wet.
Noisy tyre- makes noises on turns like a overloaded truck tyre.
Does not absorb shocks that well hence making a ride on rough roads more bumpy.

+ve
Will last forever
It wont come off the rim at high speeds
You can ride your bike for few kms to get the puncture repaired without damaging the tube or tyre. Kind of run flat tyres. Speaking of my own experience.
Very good shoulder protection from cuts and bruises.

@Nasir- Keep your upswept all way through the monsoons. It will be easy to clean and less places to get rust. My bazooka exhaust started rusting at places where it comes coated with silver paint so I am going to apply fresh coat of heat resistant paint on places previously coated.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

[b]
Comfort

Quite frankly I can attain the beauty of Baboon’s bottom without going under a knife. All I need is patience and dedication to withstand the onslaught of ever increasing numbing pain. After an hour of drive, it becomes unbearable and demands you to pullover and scream in agony or laugh like your are on crack. Just to ease your body tissue.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

[b]
Electricals
Tilt sensor gets activated and switches off the engine when one runs out of luck on a rainy/oil patched road. After reconciling with crashed/bruised ego and by the time you rekindle your emotions to get going again, you would need a 1.3minute silence after switching off the ignition switch. Only then you would be allowed to put the life back into the bull.

One of the best written reviews I have read. Along with Rhandle of his Gurkha. Awesome review, engaging, honest, and from the heart.

[nasirkaka]

Originally Posted by Randhawa
[b]
Electricals
Tilt sensor gets activated and switches off the engine when one runs out of luck on a rainy/oil patched road. After reconciling with crashed/bruised ego and by the time you rekindle your emotions to get going again, you would need a 1.3minute silence after switching off the ignition switch. Only then you would be allowed to put the life back into the bull.

Hey Randhawa! Did u get the bike with the tilt sensor?? or by mistake did they give you an export model?? (do remember your headlight glass issue).

Cos as far as i understand, the tilt sensor is been removed from the Desi C500s, to cut cost. Once my bike tilted slowly to 90 degrees (was flat on the ground), and i lifted it back, and throughout the process the engine was happily humming. Next visit i asked the service centre guys and they said - no tilt sensor on indian models. :(

[Randhawa]

@Velum- Hey thanks man

@Nasir-LOL I did got the tilt sensor and its on every C5 sold in India. It has saved my legs once and works flawlessly. Must have thing on every bullet.

I dont think RE can go that low to save money as the sensor is not expensive and considering the no of Classic they have sold, they would hardly saved anything.

Check your manual on page 35. Its shows where it is and how it looks. It's just behind the front seat spring looking from the battery side. I'll be surprised if you don't have it. May be the slowly part of tilting did not get the roll over sensor ticked on yours.

Do let us know if you don't have one but I am sure you have one and the A.S.S guys didn't had a clue to what you were asking.

[nasirkaka]

Sure Randhawa,

Shall personally check for the tilt sensor.

i guess i got confused with the side-stand sensor which is missing on the domenstic C500s.

But once my bike did slowly fall down ( my foot slipped on the gravel while pulling the bike on the main stand, and the bike started leaning towards the otherside, and i could not manage to pull it back, and slowly had to let it fall down). The engine was running throughout the process.

Shall check and update.

[Randhawa]

Mini update for all the Classic owners

It totally skipped my mind previously but I thought of sharing it.

For all those who feel the engine is running rough and not getting smoother or not sure when will the engine internals will settle in. There are no magic Km readings but between 5000Km -7000Km your engine will feel very smooth. For comparison the engine will feel much like any other 4 stroker or Pulsar by then.

The valve terrain noise will be hardly audible but the ticking noise remains. Winning noise between gears remain at least on mine mostly in third and fourth gear. It varies from bike to bike, some Classic have the noise coming in first and second gear and some third and fourth. On C5 the thump will get heavier but with the bazooka it will sound and feel more like Pulsar.

Put on the upswept and life takes a whole different meaning to it. From feeling of a pulsar(engine behavior) you will jump back to the feeling of a bullet thump and keep on with the good work of keeping the wannabe racer boys at bay with the help of obnoxious noise of braking wind.

Keep thumping Lads.

[Rahulkool]

I have heard that the air filter intake pipe goes inside the tool box. Is it true ? won't it suck outside dust these because i don't think tool box is air tight compartment. Can anyone confirm this ?

Someone told this to me on phone so i am too sure about the layout. But what could understand was as this pic.

[GreaseMonk]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

I have heard that the air filter intake pipe goes inside the tool box. Is it true ? won't it suck outside dust these because i don't think tool box is air tight compartment. Can anyone confirm this ?

Someone told this to me on phone so i am too sure about the layout. But what could understand was as this pic.

That is pretty much the case, although not exactly according to your diagram. Please refer to Randhawa's first picture in his second post. The filter resides in the toolbox along with the pipe leading to the engine. But there is no physical connection between the filter and the outlet pipe, hence there is no guarantee that all air entering the pipe has been through the filter since air leaks in through the side of the tool box as well. What isn't visible in Randhawa's photo is that there is an inlet pipe behind the air filter where most air comes in from, but the gaps in the toolbox are still cause for concern.