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First highway ride on my restored Bullet 350 CI after an engine seizure

8th May 2023, 14:04 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

Covering 180 km on the resurrected Royal Enfield definitely boosted my confidence in the motorcycle.

BHPian masterChief007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Finally headed out on the highway on the beauty. Did a solo 180 km roundtrip BLR-Mulbagal-BLR (Ok I admit that I had decided to do a 100km round trip while in the trial phase after the restore, but just couldn't resist!). This boosts my confidence in the machine that at a slower pace she will do the distance. So will get her new shoes next week - Michelin Siracs 3.25 X 19 in front and 3.5 X 19 rear.

Started off at ~5.30 am and with ample stops here and there returned home by 10 am. This was my first highway ride after the engine seizure incident in 2014. So intentionally I kept the bike @70-75 kph so as not to give it a heart attack after so many years. Near Mulbagal I took a random left through some village roads which spit me out on the highway again after 10-15 km.

Just before Mulbagal, I encountered dense fog with mist forming and a faulty speedometer the needle getting stuck at a fixed value even when the engine is off or the speed is higher than what is indicated (the odometer was working fine though, suspecting an issue with the magnet/electrical component of the speedometer due to encountering wet mist?). Due to this I just made a U-turn as I suspected some sort of electrical issues, and didn't want to take a risk in dense fog with electrical issues.

Notable observations

Bike engine is stable at 70-75 kmph, at 80 kmph it is not giving much confidence (maybe psychologically due to the history of an engine seizure), either way, I don't need that extra 10 kmph for now. So will have to wait for longer rides ~500 km till I plan my second bike (KTM 390 Adv/Himalayan 450/Interceptor 650), the CI is good to do 350 - 400 km trips for now.
Rynox gears are excellent, tested the storm evo 3 gloves and the advento pants (only grouch with the pants is that my knee will get bruised on longer ride days).
Neck pain mostly due to the lack of riding longer, also as my exercise routine is suffering due to some issues in my feet so basically a wake-up call for restarting at least non-running exercises.
Stopping for food needs to be planned with visibility (not an issue with cars). Carried all tools and puncture repair kit, tyre irons, air pump etc, so taking a break where I can't see the bike was not possible so skipped any breakfast. Didn't want to overload on sugar in CCD outlets today.
Stuck to the left lane in contrast to middle/right lane driving when in the car. This was a new realization as previously I didn't drive when I used to ride. This was an interesting observation as I was rarely irritated by any trucks (all were in the right lane), but yes had to put constant vigil for fast cars on the left, a role reversal of sorts.

Enough talk now the pics Btw I really like the cockpit view in my photos so pardon me for that.