[iron]

What is this fascination with chugging on 4th at speeds of 30,20,10.??
In that case there should be a gear box modification with only 2 gears 1st and 2nd.
No need of the other 2 gears..

[desideep]

to be true with you IRON i really did not want to offend any one out there but thats what i wanted to type why does one really want to ride at 30-40 or even less and that also in the 4th gear what is being proved i cant get it though i ride a bullet and my bullet is capable to do that.

[shan2129]

^ you are right ! CI Bullet was made to pull through english urb roads on 4th gear. that means it was made to Pull out of a slow speed of 30-40 in 4th gear. The crank was heavier and engines were run leaner to achieve that. My bullet does 30 easily in 4th gear, but i dont get anything with that. You should not lug your engine so that it cries for help. ride your BULL like it is supposed to be. I swtich to 3rd gear as my bull crosses below 40 mark.

[Spitfire]

^Thats what I asked sometime back.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Whats the problem with puttering around on a lower gear?

Reasons given:

Originally Posted by navin_v8

The reasons for heavy crank are many but some of them are:

1. Frequency of changing gears is less
2. Can easily chug at less than 20 KMPH in 4th gear
3. Engine revvs less thereby throttling less and engine wear and tear reduces
4. Better torque from standstill(Awesome Pulling power can literally be felt on upward slopes)

To me this is going back to the middle ages type of mod. Now folks are trying to loose as much weight as possible on the Bullets and here we have an exact opposite need. But then yes each one can have its own needs.

[desideep]

Thats very true every one has their own need. i have spend loads on my bike till now. and now i feel that i have what i wanted but again after riding the 220 i feel there is a lot more that can be done. like next in line is 18 inch karizma wheels to acheive more reliability when it comes to flat tyres

[iron]

Originally Posted by desideep

to be true with you IRON i really did not want to offend any one out there but thats what i wanted to type why does one really want to ride at 30-40 or even less and that also in the 4th gear what is being proved i cant get it though i ride a bullet and my bullet is capable to do that.

I Agree with you deep. But the fanfare and hype that have been attached to the "Heavy Crank" bullet, have become like a benchmark in assessing an Enfield.
The common notion that If the bike does not chug along at 30kmph in 4th, then its not a bullet. The new breed of UCE Enfields are good on majority of the fronts with the exception of a few niggles hear and there which is slowly being sorted out the RE. Then comes the saying that these are Jap bikes, no thump etc etc. I have seen perfectly working Cast Iron Engines being stripped out to add the heavy crank because they did not chug at 30kmph in 4th. Then these bikes usually end up becoming cash cows for a local mechanic, until the owner gets fed up and sells it to the same mechanic who rips him off.

[jeeva]

I sincerely don't think that replacing or modifying the lighter crankshaft to a heavier one is such a complicated job as it is made out to be.
I have done it on my 1990 standard 350: modified the crank to weigh 11 kgs. Got it done some 4 years back and faced no issues what so ever. Infact the engine has become much more smoother but lazier

Coimbatore is the place best known for this kind of mods.
Infact this conversion is religiously followed in Kerala among bullet owners. People modify the crank to weigh upto 14kg to chug along at very low speeds in the 4th gear. To accomodate the heavier crank (size), they even go to the extent of machining off the inner walls of the engine casing and go for engine bearings with higher load bearing capabilities.

[subushady]

Guys,

Just one query here. All the talk about chugging at 20-30-40 km in 4th gear, is this done with the clutch slightly depressed (half) or without depressing the clutch.

I own a STD 350 CI 2009 model and I able to chug at 30-40 km in 4th gear without depressing the clutch. But when I go upto to 20 km then I have to slightly depress the clutch and then keep the throttle running and once the bike has gained a bit of momentum, I can release the clutch.

Below 20 km/h in 4th gear there is a sense of knocking if I do not slightly depress the clutch while giving the throttle.

Also how much throttle should I be giving. Guess the bullets are not supposed to be given too much throttle? Right?

Thanks,
Subu.

[EssYouWe]

Half-engaging the clutch means that you are riding the clutch. You will end up with a fried clutch plate within a few months.

Do not ride at low speeds in a high gear. It is a very simple relation. As soon as you feel your vehicle is lugging, you downshift. How difficult could it be? Why strain the poor engine by riding the clutch?

To answer your exact question. No, this is without riding the clutch. The heavier cranks allowed bulleteers to ride slow in the 4th gear without knocking.

[sureshkishore]

Desideep: I was told by my mechanic that the 60's Bullet Crank is available in scrap yard and the modification to install it was minimal. Only major cost was the main bearing for which 'German' ones costing 8k was to be used. Total hit would be 20k.
I do not have deep knowledge about the same.

My 90 STD (sold) had a light crank and at times i used to curse it. It would knock badly below 40kmph. But I got the chance to ride one modified STD with a seriously heavy crank and the owner was boasting about it. Oh yeah! the the feel of thumping along smoothly at 20 kmph at near idle rpm is really awesome. Only grouse is the response to the throttle when you want to overtake something is really bad. It really felt lazy.

[Randhawa]

Seriously! I could never digest the craze of doing to slow on a bigger gear. RE has made the Std UCE 350 crank heavier just to please the crowd of Punjab and the rest for wanting a heavier crank. Weight is almost similar to the UCE 500 crank weight(10.5kg).

[subushady]

Originally Posted by EssYouWe

Half-engaging the clutch means that you are riding the clutch. You will end up with a fried clutch plate within a few months.

Do not ride at low speeds in a high gear. It is a very simple relation. As soon as you feel your vehicle is lugging, you downshift. How difficult could it be? Why strain the poor engine by riding the clutch?

To answer your exact question. No, this is without riding the clutch. The heavier cranks allowed bulleteers to ride slow in the 4th gear without knocking.

Thanks.
I always down shift the moment I go below ~35 and have stopped riding the clutch. Even I agree that gears are there for a specific purpose and we should follow the ideal speeds at different mentioned in the service manual.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by EssYouWe

To answer your exact question. No, this is without riding the clutch. The heavier cranks allowed bulleteers to ride slow in the 4th gear without knocking.

The Kung-fu panda has hit the bulls eye !
To know the difference between the heavy cranked bull and the other, you need to ride it. I personally felt that the heavy cranked one was a lot good save for its low mileage and all that. Heavier crank really is a blessing in Ghat roads when carrying a pillion rider and luggage. With the power it has in the 3rd and 4th gears, think what it has in reserve in the 1st and 2nd when doing an uphill.
Regards Adrian

[Sankar]

I did the reverse actually, i went from a 70's heavy crank to the 80s light crank. Crank preference mostly got to do with how one rides their Bullet. If you are changing from a lighter factory crank to a heavier factory crank its well and good. But when metal is added to make the light crank heavy or the heavy crank heavier the balance goes for a toss, i doubt any mechanic/lathe dynamically balances the crank after extra metal is added.
An engine with an unbalanced crank is like a grenade waiting to explode at the wrong RPM. But maybe it doesn't matter in the case of Bullets because in most heavy crank Bullets and the way it is ridden in 4th gear engine RPM can be measured in Revolutions Per Mile rather than Revolutions Per Minute.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by Sankar

I did the reverse actually, i went from a 70's heavy crank to the 80s light crank. Crank preference mostly got to do with how one rides their Bullet. If you are changing from a lighter factory crank to a heavier factory crank its well and good. But when metal is added to make the light crank heavy or the heavy crank heavier the balance goes for a toss, i doubt any mechanic/lathe dynamically balances the crank after extra metal is added.
An engine with an unbalanced crank is like a grenade waiting to explode at the wrong RPM. But maybe it doesn't matter in the case of Bullets because in most heavy crank Bullets and the way it is ridden in 4th gear engine RPM can be measured in Revolutions Per Mile rather than Revolutions Per Minute.

Hi Sankar, did you ever felt that the vibration of your machine has increased after you moded it into a light weight crank?