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Published: August 6th 2013
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I had braced myself for my return to India and the being reunited with my beloved Gladys the wonder bike (Royal Enfield). When I left in January 2012, she was singing sweetly. I knew that 18 months was a long time to not have her in my care, and that there was risk involved with her not having the daily attention she was accustomed to.
My friend Prabhu had done his best to keep up with the responsibility, and in the end we had agreed to lend her out to a few people just so she would get a regular run. Perhaps one of the choices that eventuated was not as prudent as we might have thought....
Gladys was not a happy trooper.... she sounded bad, was misfiring, her self pinion was broken for one thing (the cogs that work the electric start), someone (!) had ripped the baffle out of the silencer to make her sound more macho (which is not good news for engines), and there were other things we were to discover.
On top of everything – I kept hearing reports of her being ridden the streets of Bhubaneswar as if possessed. Royal Enfields need
Emptiness between
The emptiness of the missing engine - art installation piece! to be ridden gently and with respect – not revved like a highly sprung Yamaha!
With the help of Prabhu and JagJit, we got her to a mechanic – at first just for a service (including oil, oil filter and air filter) – but she still backfired and missed. Then we got serious:
· - Replaced the silencer (Jag had a Classic spare one that I bought cheap from him)
· - Welded the kick start so that it did not flop about
· - Replaced the steering bearings
· - Tightened the back swing arm mechanism
· - Replaced the locking set (ignition and side panels and steering lock)
· - And....... proceeded to do one simple last (not) thing..... Replace the Self Pinion
Now this latter procedure was, as Jag said, to take ‘very little time’. He could do it himself. Unfortunately, the clutch rod needs to be undone to get to the thing – and .... more unfortunately the lock nut was SO tight that it snapped off. What to do? Now the whole bloody engine had to be dismantled to replace the (very expensive) clutch rod as well!
Stripping2
Let the stripping to emptiness begin! To cut a long story short, hours and days later we had:
· - Replaced the Clutch Rod
· - Replaced the chain drive sprocket (which was absolutely shot to pieces by said mad “Yamaha” riding!)
· - Replaced the self start motor
· - Replaced the oil again! This time with super expensive synthetic oil
· - Removed a piece of the frame, drilled out a broken rusted bolt, and welded the thing back again
· - Added required horn relay box
· - Replaced the battery which was not holding enough charge for the electric start to now work
This and all the bits and pieces and labour ended up costing 25,000 rupees – a veritable fortune in India. OK – only $500 Aussie dollars but enough to comfortably live for a month in India.
Gladys is singing sweetly again. We are ready for the sojourn to Himachal (if I can face the monsoons which are still sweeping across the country).
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Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0315s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Rajendra
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Good to get updates from you Paul and know your Travails & your travels !!! The bike thing is a shame but was a certainty in my mind from day one