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Bringing a 1990 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 back to life

17th July 2023, 17:15 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

This was the first time that the motorcycle's engine had been opened up since the day it was bought.

BHPian Vaastav recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Background

My uncle had bought a Bullet back in 1990 when he was posted in Kanpur (he was in the army) after having used my father's Bullet (1988 model) while my father was in the field area (he was also in the army). Unlike my father's Bullet which saw a lot of use (it even rode around Nepal), my uncle used his bike sparingly (it had done only 36402 when I got my hands on it now in 2023).

The original payment from the CSD (note that the CSD price for a Bullet was Rs. 23,324 in 1990)

The bill for the add-ons fitted at the dealership

My father's Bullet was sold in 2008 for Rs. 10000 by his mechanic as he had been instructed to sell if anyone came around offering decent money, as my father had been getting back-to-back field postings. My uncle's bike, however, followed him around the country, and then back to our native village near Roorkee after he retired. Its use gradually lessened to the point where it was just kept in running condition by the mechanic when he came once in a few months.

It was brought back to running condition for being re-registered in 2021, but that was it, nothing major was done (in some places some jugaad was also done just to pass the RTO inspection). I turned 18 in 2021, and knowing my interest in vehicles, my uncle asked me if I was interested in the bike. I said yes, but due to various commitments (not least going to college in Pune) and finally, when I got around to returning to my village this year, I asked about the bike.

The odometer reading when I first got it. It still has its original speedometer

The Starting

The bike had been gathering dust in a garage for some time, and I wasn't very confident about the battery, but rather surprisingly after putting some petrol in, and giving a few kicks, it thumped to life. But it was misfiring a lot and there was some white smoke coming from the exhaust. Not an encouraging sign. The nearest bullet mechanic was 17km away in Roorkee, and so I went with my father and looked for someone who was willing to come to our orchard where the bike was to get it in a condition to ride to Roorkee.

After a few failed enquiries we came upon the garage of Haji Rais Ahmed, near Vaishali cinema. He was willing to come, and sure enough, he came the next day with his tools and worked on the bike. The misfiring was traced to the spark plug lead not conducting properly. After this, the carb and points were also set and then we set off in convoy for Roorkee.

The condition it was in when I got it

The mechanical work

Riding to Roorkee also brought to light a few more issues, such as the clutch plates sticking and the gearbox sometimes skipping a gear entirely while changing up. The issue of white smoke was traced to the piston rings being jammed with oil and also becoming brittle. Upon opening the head, we found that the valves also needed changing and their seats needed cleaning, as they were fouled with hardened carbon deposits. This, incidentally was the first time the bike's engine had been opened up since the day it was bought. The mechanic also remarked on the condition of the bore (still standard size).

Long story short, the engine was overhauled, oil was changed and the bike came out of it sounding like a different machine, smooth and refined.

Haji Rais in the foreground and his assistant Waseem leaning on the seat. Both are very skilled mechanics and their shop is a treasure trove for old parts cosmetic and mechanical.

After the block had been removed

The right side was also completely opened up as I decided to have the chain sprocket changed after a close look at the rear sprocket which was looking a bit saw-toothed. The clutch plates were also changed.

All of this work took the better part of a day and I decided to come back the next day for the cosmetic work.

The cosmetic work

The primary cosmetic work was getting the original petrol tank back on. It had been taken off when the bike was being readied for its renewal as it had petrol gummed up inside it and had been lying at the old mechanic's garage since then (he was the family mechanic, with whom my father's Bullet used to stand when he was in the field). The blue petrol tank was from a different bike and had been put on as an interim measure. Thus, I went to his garage where I met him and his son, and he gave me the original petrol tank, which had its ENFIELD monograms a bit worse for wear but otherwise intact.

With the tank tied to the back of my bike, I went back to Haji Rais' shop. Over there, the first order of business was to clean the tank, which was done by first putting many nuts and bolts into it along with some petrol, then vigorously shaking it and then having it pressure washed from inside. That was successfully accomplished, and then I was informed that they had a pair of ENFIELD monograms in the shop, and would I like them. I jumped on the opportunity, as they were in much better condition than mine. I think the ones that I bought are from an older model, as the fonts are different.

The monogram from the petrol tank.

The logo I bought.

Then I also got the buffing of the clutch cover, gearbox and timing cover done. The Bullet 350 stickers were also changed, as one of them was rather worse for wear.