Need advice: Facing reliability issues with my preowned RE Classic 500

Earlier I was able to cruise comfortably a 70-80 with a pillion whereas now it needs much more revs to even cross 60 while riding solo.

BHPian Lasagna59 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello there, I am Ekam from Punjab and I've been a reader of this forum for quite sometime. And now I have come here seeking help.

I own a 2014 BS3 Classic 500. It was bought used and the previous owner has had it converted from EFI to a carb. Ownership of this has been a hit and miss from me, although it has never let me stranded, but reliability has been somewhat bad.

The problem I am now facing is, I feel the bike feels stressed, like it needs more rpms for not that much speed. Earlier I was able to cruise comfortably a 70-80 with a pillion whereas now it needs much more revs to even cross 60 while riding solo. I have had spark plugs changed, carb cleaned, service done on 12th Jan 23, the air filter is cleaned, the carb tuned by my local mech (I am not quite sure if this was properly tuned or not). I know this isn't a sports bike by any means but it takes a lot out of the engine to get till 30kmph in 2nd gear, which it earlier didn't. There is also a ticking noise coming from the timing gear which my mech says will go away after a few kms and it hasn't. The decompressor sound in the morning has increased during cold starts despite the weather having warmed up and it takes a lot many kicks to start, the self start also doesn't help much (the battery was replaced last month).

There is an air leakage at the bend-exhaust join due to terrible fitment by the previous owner which is to be solved as i will be replacing it with a slash cut from RE itself. I will also be replacing the rubber piece between the carb and the engine head as it has also developed cracks like what happened with @Aniruddha_Ch.

I really need this issue solved and would appreciate any advice. If it is of any help, I am a 6'4" 88kg solo rider which I thought I should mention as its not the average and i dont think my weight is slowing the bike down but you never know. Thanks!

Here's what BHPian Gordon had to say on the matter:

When you accelerate do you see loss in performance or does the bike sound okay but doesn't move as quick? If the rubber manifold between the engine and carb has a leak, you'd have terrible performance with misfiring and the feeling of starvation.

If the bike sounds fine, but doesn't move as fast as it sounds, then probably could be the clutch.

BHPian Lasagna59 replied:

The bike is sounding fine, there is no acceleration in the lower rpms and feels rough, but does accelerate decently in the mid-high range. Sometimes when i try to kick start the bike in the morning i can hear air escaping near the carb. During the last service mechanic said the clutch plates were fine and didnt need replacing yet, but i noticed the springs were rusted.

Upon some further digging, i did find some potential other culprits:

Clutch cable is not properly adjusted which causes slipping.

Something might be wrong with the timing point

Also any idea how much should the fuel/air mixture screw be opened? I don't think my mech tuned it right.

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