[jingaboysr]

Guys, I heard that the RE has stopped producing spares for CI 500. So I am planning to keep a piston cylinder kit along with both valves, as a spare.

I checked in Bangalore and Coimbatore, but they say it's out of stock. Does any of you guys know of any place where I can buy one and keep? Any pointers to this are most welcome.

[lohithrao]

OMG! dont tell me....there are soo many bikes on road i hope they dont stop the production of spares! but i feel it should not be an issue to procure the parts....

[jeeva]

Yes. Its true.
The CI 500's spares are'nt available that easily. I was on the lookout for a cylinder and head kit sometime back and was'nt able to procure it from anywhere in the south (Bangalore/Coimbatore/Chennai). The dealers were saying that the 500's spares are hard to come by from RE.
I tried Karol Bagh too, but in vain. You get the "Made in Punjab" head/cylinder kit there though, but I opted out as I thought quality would suffer.

[(Alok)]

In addition to that, how to recognize genuine RE parts?

[jingaboysr]

Originally Posted by jeeva

You get the "Made in Punjab" head/cylinder kit there though, but I opted out as I thought quality would suffer.

How did you manage then?

These "Made in Punjab" ones, are they locally made? I heard the piston and cylinder can be adjusted by boring and sleeving.. but the valves?

I think i was too late in making up my mind to buy a spare kit

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

How did you manage then?

These "Made in Punjab" ones, are they locally made? I heard the piston and cylinder can be adjusted by boring and sleeving.. but the valves?

I think i was too late in making up my mind to buy a spare kit

Where did you check in Bangalore?

Cheers,

Jay

[jingaboysr]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Where did you check in Bangalore?

Cheers,

Jay

Checked at Prem motors, not there

Checked at Sandhya motors, he says he will let me know when it arrives ( he has a piston there though )

[lohithrao]

So in couple of years it will get even bad procuring the parts i guess?

also am sure even avl parts will be in scarce few years down the line...

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

Checked at Prem motors, not there

Checked at Sandhya motors, he says he will let me know when it arrives ( he has a piston there though )

You have a PM.

Cheers,

Jay

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

So in couple of years it will get even bad procuring the parts i guess?

also am sure even avl parts will be in scarce few years down the line...

AVL parts are already scarce. The only parts with a steady supply is that of the CI STD350.

Cheers,

Jay

[Spitfire]

Why will they stop manufacturing spares for these vehicles?

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Why will they stop manufacturing spares for these vehicles?

RE doesn't stop manufacturing many of the spares. Rather they stop sourcing/supplying them. They don't manufacture many of the spares anyway. They simply stop sourcing them from the vendors if the demand for a few spares(read CI500/AVL500) is less. Later, the vendors won't produce these spares if the orders are not large enough. Sometimes, RE also stops supplying spares to the distributors if the factory needs a lot of spares to meet the production demands. A classic example is the AVL500s Head assembly. When the AL500s were being produced for the Indian market, RE didn't supply stating that it needed to meet production demands. Now that the production has stopped, they will/already have stop making/sourcing heads.

This is true particularly of the 500s as the number of 500s(both CI/AVL and now the UCE) sold in India are way less compared to the 350s. Now, the dealers apart from the brand stores don't buy directly from RE but they do so from the regional RE spares distributors. This because the distributors offer better margins to the dealers than RE itself. The distributors won't buy spares which don't sell quickly and then they'll blame RE saying that RE is not supplying spares. Right now, the UCE spares are also difficult to come by as the factory itself is having a tough time meeting production targets. This scene will improve once the production at the factory stabilizes. The cycle continues.

Cheers,

Jay

[(Alok)]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Now, the dealers apart from the brand stores don't buy directly from RE but they do so from the regional RE spares distributors. This because the distributors offer better margins to the dealers than RE itself.

Is there any trick to identify the genuine RE parts like barrel -piston? There may be c chance for delicacy like we read above ‘Made in Punjab’. I think this is painted reboring job.

[lohithrao]

One needs to be carefull while buying the bore and piston. there is a procedure to check if the piston is not too tight, if so it might lead to seizure...

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by (Alok)

Is there any trick to identify the genuine RE parts like barrel -piston? There may be c chance for delicacy like we read above ‘Made in Punjab’. I think this is painted reboring job.

No trick. The safest way is to buy things packed and sealed by RE and sold by a reputed distributor. That said, some material which RE packs also doesn't pass muster in the quality stakes. While you can find out whether the bore matches the specifications with a micrometer, there is no way of finding the metallurgy without complicated processes. The main issue with the fakes barrels usually is with the metallurgy rather than the clearances.

Cheers,

Jay