[BuBooMan]

Hey ya'all TBhpians!

I am new here but I aint new to the ZMA. Bought it in August '03.
She is old, she has been better. She has been an asolute blast whilst sometimes she's been a total bitch. Well I need some help with a few problems I am currently facing. But I will give you a little bit of history.

Early '04 - First big problem. Fuel tank. The silver inside paint started to melt or somehow dissolve. I was dumbfounded. SVC blamed me for repainting it. I laughed in his face. How could a tank be painted from the inside? And which insane idiot wud do such a thing Took the problem to the higher ups and got a new tank under warranty. Since then it kinda went downhill.

Mid-late '04 - Wierd sounds from the engine and a loss in low end torque. The sound was the typical tak tak tak. noticeable while decellerating. SVC ignored it. Took it to the higher ups. Turned out to be the cam tensioner. Point to note is that back then, even HH mechanics were unaware of the bikes quirks. Not that they are any better now. Got it solved for free after a month long battle and many calls to HH management.

Early '05 - First crash. Oil spillage. Slip-Grip syndrome. Got some plastic bits and the silencer protector shield replaced. Handle has never been straight since

'05-current - Well the bike has been pretty much running consintently. Consistently Crap that is. After numerous services, mechanics, fuel bunks, the bike refuses to pull at low revs. HUGE knocking. Between 1.5k to 3k revs under all loads in any gear. Happens ONLY AFTER 10-15 MIN OF RIDING! Got the tires replaced to Pirelli Sportdemon 120/80 and Michelin M45s 3.00. Handling improved by leaps and bounds.
Just got done with body repairs today. Fevikwik Jindabad!

Now for the bit where I need help -
* The engine knocks. Low rpm any gear. No low end pull at all. Once in the mid range she flies. Much better than most ZMAs I have ridden.
* Front fairing is super rattly. Fixed the cowls myself, but I dare not open the fairing. Dont have the dough to buy a new one. Contemplating a FZ16 headlight and junking the fairing. Will it work?
* Found a xenon HID kit real cheap. Cant quote. The guy wants tosell it since he got it as a spare incase his own conked. But its running strong. Should I get it?
* Minda Pulsar type dual horns. Any comments?

*** When I had removed the side cowls to fix em, I rode the bike for a whole day. The Low end had improved and there was almost no knocking. Same fuel in the tank, same state of tune. Installed them back and the problem came back. Its even worse with a pillion. Air Intake is not blocked. Filter is clean.
Also, the horn and headlight worked better. I am assuming it is due to the lack of the tail lamp assembly which had been removed. Could it also affect spark ignition current? Using a standard NGK plug. Good condition.

I would really appreciate the help guys! Thanks in advance.

Regards,

BuBoo

[the_trooper]

I have an 03 Zma too.

1) Have no doubts about it, get rid of the fairing and all assorted plastics. The plastics are of very poor quality and the rattles are very intrusive during low speed riding. Naked is the way to go.

2) Saw a Zma with an FZ16 headlamp and it looks awesome! In case thats too much trouble, just run a regular round headlamp and get the job done. These bikes are way past trying to look cool.

3) Saw a HID xenon on a friends pulsar. It's useless. Does nothing for the spread of light except blind on coming traffic, and maybe looks cool (if you are into that kinda stuff).

4) When you removed your side panels and rode the bike, did you check if your electrical connections were allright?

The Karizma is a great bike with a decent frame for riding on bad roads, excellent enduro style riding position and a very mild engine thats feels like it can last forever. But if the engine is more than 15,000kms old, the bike almost transmorgifies itself into a troublsome set of wheels. And expensive spares dont help the cause at all.

There is an excellent article in this months issue of Motoroids on the quality of Karizma spares, and I agree with every word of it.

[iron]

Originally Posted by the_trooper

3) Saw a HID xenon on a friends pulsar. It's useless. Does nothing for the spread of light except blind oncoming traffic, and maybe looks cool (if you are into that kinda stuff).

+1 . in my opinion they should be banned .

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by the_trooper

I have an 03 Zma too.

1) Have no doubts about it, get rid of the fairing and all assorted plastics. The plastics are of very poor quality and the rattles are very intrusive during low speed riding. Naked is the way to go.

2) Saw a Zma with an FZ16 headlamp and it looks awesome! In case thats too much trouble, just run a regular round headlamp and get the job done. These bikes are way past trying to look cool.

3) Saw a HID xenon on a friends pulsar. It's useless. Does nothing for the spread of light except blind on coming traffic, and maybe looks cool (if you are into that kinda stuff).

4) When you removed your side panels and rode the bike, did you check if your electrical connections were allright?

The Karizma is a great bike with a decent frame for riding on bad roads, excellent enduro style riding position and a very mild engine thats feels like it can last forever. But if the engine is more than 15,000kms old, the bike almost transmorgifies itself into a troublsome set of wheels. And expensive spares dont help the cause at all.

There is an excellent article in this months issue of Motoroids on the quality of Karizma spares, and I agree with every word of it.

how many kms old is your bike?
i have a Zma 05 with 66K kms on clock
and she rides like a dream still manages 120 on GPS.
and apart from a few parts like disc pads etc,spare prices are kinda ok.

[paras211]

could it be heating up with your faring? It is an air cooled engine after all.

[iamkapilb]

Originally Posted by BuBooMan

* The engine knocks. Low rpm any gear. No low end pull at all. Once in the mid range she flies. Much better than most ZMAs I have ridden.
* Front fairing is super rattly. Fixed the cowls myself, but I dare not open the fairing. Dont have the dough to buy a new one. Contemplating a FZ16 headlight and junking the fairing. Will it work?
* Found a xenon HID kit real cheap. Cant quote. The guy wants tosell it since he got it as a spare incase his own conked. But its running strong. Should I get it?
* Minda Pulsar type dual horns. Any comments?

*** When I had removed the side cowls to fix em, I rode the bike for a whole day. The Low end had improved and there was almost no knocking. Same fuel in the tank, same state of tune. Installed them back and the problem came back. Its even worse with a pillion. Air Intake is not blocked. Filter is clean.
Also, the horn and headlight worked better. I am assuming it is due to the lack of the tail lamp assembly which had been removed. Could it also affect spark ignition current? Using a standard NGK plug. Good condition.

I would really appreciate the help guys! Thanks in advance.

Regards,

BuBoo

Take your bike to a good mechanic. There are a couple of them in Mumbai. Additionally, remove all the aftermarket things you might have put. Go stock and then see the performance.

Originally Posted by the_trooper

3) Saw a HID xenon on a friends pulsar. It's useless. Does nothing for the spread of light except blind on coming traffic, and maybe looks cool (if you are into that kinda stuff).

Depends on how you fix em. If you use a good reflector assembly (Hella etc.) it should serve the purpose while creating little or no trouble to oncoming traffic.

Originally Posted by the_trooper

But if the engine is more than 15,000kms old, the bike almost transmorgifies itself into a troublsome set of wheels. And expensive spares dont help the cause at all.

Expensive spares i agree, but when you say troublesome, which other bike are you comparing it against?? Cause in my experience ZMA is one of the most reliable bike there is. Irrespective of kms on the odo.

Originally Posted by iron

+1 . in my opinion they should be banned .

They are already illegal. But then on highways who checks??

Originally Posted by akshay4587

apart from a few parts like disc pads etc,spare prices are kinda ok.

Duplicate brakepads are easily available, last about the same distance and are one tenth the price.

[the_trooper]

Originally Posted by iamkapilb

Expensive spares i agree, but when you say troublesome, which other bike are you comparing it against?? Cause in my experience ZMA is one of the most reliable bike there is. Irrespective of kms on the odo.

Sorry, there is no comparison for the Karizma in the market today. It really is one of the best all round packages.

When I say troublesome I mean rattles from the front fairing, cracked front mudgaurd, cracked tail panels all glued up, cold start problems, and the likes. These are minor irritants and take longer to find the problem and fix it.

Well, maybe my views are biased coz I have seen two other Karizmas with similar problems. Maybe I need to see a few more bikes.

[iamkapilb]

Originally Posted by the_trooper

Sorry, there is no comparison for the Karizma in the market today. It really is one of the best all round packages.

When I say troublesome I mean rattles from the front fairing, cracked front mudgaurd, cracked tail panels all glued up, cold start problems, and the likes. These are minor irritants and take longer to find the problem and fix it.

Well, maybe my views are biased coz I have seen two other Karizmas with similar problems. Maybe I need to see a few more bikes.

No no.. you are bang on with the specific problems mentioned in this post. Well its not a karizma if it does not rattle

When i read troublesome in earlier post i thought there were hinting towards some serious mechanical issues. My bad.

[BuBooMan]

Well guys I have sorted out most of the body issues. Went the DIY route.
But now for the engine issues, I still cant figure it out. Showed it to a dozen mechanics. No one is able to fix it. HID installed. Horns too. They both work just fine. To kill the glare I have lowered the reflector to its minimum setting. Good throw. Very bright. Help please. Engine knock is a total bummer.

[Sankar]

Hi, my replies are in line.

Originally Posted by BuBooMan

Now for the bit where I need help -
* The engine knocks. Low rpm any gear. No low end pull at all. Once in the mid range she flies. Much better than most ZMAs I have ridden.

>> Slightly richen the pilot circuit (turn the fuel control screw anti-clockwise) and see if it improves. Low end pull will increase too. Karizma is lean especially in the pilot circuit.

* Front fairing is super rattly. Fixed the cowls myself, but I dare not open the fairing. Dont have the dough to buy a new one. Contemplating a FZ16 headlight and junking the fairing. Will it work?

* Found a xenon HID kit real cheap. Cant quote. The guy wants tosell it since he got it as a spare incase his own conked. But its running strong. Should I get it?

>> Low end beam was good when i went the HID route. High beam was scattered all over the place blinding other road users. So if you're going the round beam style i'd say go for a metal reflector (plastic reflector would get burned) and put a 100/90 with relay. Upgrade the battery to Amaron 9AH (it sits there without any issues). The end result would give you much more useful light.

* Minda Pulsar type dual horns. Any comments?

>> Any dual horn setup would work. My suggestion is Bosch FC4 strong sound and okay current draw for a bike.


*** When I had removed the side cowls to fix em, I rode the bike for a whole day. The Low end had improved and there was almost no knocking. Same fuel in the tank, same state of tune. Installed them back and the problem came back. Its even worse with a pillion. Air Intake is not blocked. Filter is clean.
Also, the horn and headlight worked better. I am assuming it is due to the lack of the tail lamp assembly which had been removed. Could it also affect spark ignition current? Using a standard NGK plug. Good condition.

I would really appreciate the help guys! Thanks in advance.

Regards,

BuBoo

[sportz_kruzer]

Your bike has a CV carb which has different jets for differnt RPM bands. IMHO your low range and/or midrange circuit has gone for a toss. It might be clogged due to dirt. Get the carburettor ovehauled by a decent mech. You can DIY too. As you said the bike flies above midrange, I think the card here seems to be the culprit. Also check for air-leaks too.

experts, correct me if i am wrong.