Enfielder

Hello friends,

Hope you all are doing fine.

Coming to the topic my frds, I own a Royal enfield Thunderbird Dec 2006 model.It has clocked 18000 KMs. I purchased it second hand when it had clocked around 17000 kms. i always used it on city travel but never on long trip.

But recently i undertook, a trip to Mahabaleshwar on bike. The ride was awesome but the only problem was that the engine was vibrating a lot. I could feel the vibrations under my seat. There was lot of noise too from engine.I needed to take halt every 30 mins or so due to this. Ride positon was great but riding was not at all good at all due to tremendous vibrations.

Guys just had a question , Does all AVL engines vibrate so much. Is there any thing i can do to reduce this much vibrations. i dont feel like taking long ride again even though i own a cruiser. i even wanted to go for 2nd hand Karizma due to this, but my heart is preventing me from selling RE Bike.

Your comments will be appreciated my friends.

Aryan

Query Approved.

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Enfielder

Friends and fellow bulleteers, ur comments will be appreciated.

gsferrari

Have you checked it out with a qualified mechanic? There can be many causes for vibration:

- Tires
- Sprocket / Chain
- Engine Mounts
- Crankshaft bearings etc.

Likewise...many causes for noise as well

Enfielder

Thanks Gsferrari

sukant08

@Enfielder
In one sentance, as microsoft says "its a feature, not a bug"!!!!
So get used to it !

I've ridden at least 3 bullets (including the thunderbird) in the past and just 2 days back a very good friend of mine bought a Thunderbird twin Spark (no he isnt a member of xBHP yet). I have ridden that too in the last two days and let me tell you, these bikes vibrate!!!

In fact his bike vibrates so much even at 3000 RPM that one can feel a pulsating feel in the front forks! We checked today and the rubber dampener between the engine fins had come off due to the vibes !!

But still there should be a few things you can do to minimise it. Make sure the engine is in top condition. One thing I'd say is check the engine oil. Also at idle, if you can kind of feel the piston going up and down, like it makes a 'guch guch' sound, that is an indication of low engine oil. Also since its a low revving engine anyway, you can change to a fully synthetic oil, that will help cool down the engine.

Also get the engine checked through a proper bullet mechanic. That shud smoothen things out.

Add extra coushoning to the seats.
Stiffen the rear shocks (not eniterely related to vibes, but will better the handling and you can take your mind off the vibes !! )

Cheers !!

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Enfielder

Thanks Sukant for your valuable inputs.

jayprashanth

Enfielder,

IIRC, you had some major issues with your 'bird sometime ago. Firstly have you resolved all the issues? If so, what was done? Stock RE Thunderbirds won't vibrate till 80 on the speedo. Only after that you'll feel the vibes. At 110+, life will become a blur.

Enfielder

Hi Jay, Thanks for your inputs

I did not pursue the old mechanic and went to other mechanic and got the servicing done. nothing major change has been done as the old mechanic had suggested. The problem of vibrartions existed that time too.

RideWithRamC

Hi Guys,
Just got a year ol thunderbird.. Done 15500 kms... I was researching the vibrations issue when i stumbled across this thread. I wasnt really sure how a thunderbird engine should feel...

I usually shift gears up around 2500-3200rpm, any more than that vibrations start creeping up the footpegs, by the time i cross 3500 rpm and rev up, its bone jarring.. Is this usual for a Thunderbird?

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