Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Post service update:

Bike refusing to start. Reason, water inside spark plug cap. Removed it. Everything works fine.






Now bike without any vibes till upto 110, speed and acceleration restored. Exhaust is not loud and acceleration is pretty good, especially in the "midrange."


Next problem, bike shutting off in idle or with sudden throttling from idle. Reason loose breather tube. Mech said to apply some glue. Instead, removed it, cut a bit, put it back.




Wondering all these days how to adjust idle rpm. No mention in manual. After extensive googling, found the idling screw. The big copper screw inside the pit. Anticlockwise increases rpm, clockwise reduces. Accessible only by removing tank.




Post 500 km, no leak at all, not even vapor leaks. Vapor leak used to form within a day or 2 after servicing or washing.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Still an eye catcher Stealing space at xBhp stall at Autobahn




Finally got rear tyre. Sports Demon 130/70-18. Paid ₹ 3,200.00. RE sells the same tyre for ₹ 12,000.00. Waiting for front tyre. Got from The Tire Club, Trivandrum.




Some subtle mods. Nippon Aerosol.




Most shittiest quality hoses available in whole India. Why the heck can't they change vendor? Third breather hose in 2 years.






Temporarily fixed with chop job.




No chance of sourcing the longer one, severely damaged.





Breather pipe not available with any of the dealers. Finally got a C500 hose. ₹ 104.00




Cut to length.




Left some extra for future chop jobs, if any.




Efficiency with new exhaust I suggest Greasehouse exhaust for anyone looking for a not-loud cast-iron like exhaust note.




Idling is still an issue. Only thing left to try is the longer breather hose. Cold start, it shuts down with a grind. On restart, it idles, but shuts off as soon as throttle is applied. Third scenario, 90% of the time it shuts down at green light, no problem waiting at red lights. Sometimes, stalls at low speeds, mostly when entering main road at slow speeds.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

First things first, those mods though subtle are really nice! How about painting the mudguards in black next? That will give it a fabulous look. I've been toying with the idea for some time but just not got around to doing it.


When it comes to the Continental GT, one good thing about RE is that they seem to be consistent. All the issues you have listed (tire wear, poor quality hoses, idling issues) are the same as what I went through earlier!


How much did your rear tire run before you finally had to change it? Rs 3,200 is a decent price for such a grippy tire. In comparison I had paid Rs 2,750 for the Ceat Vertigo Zoom 120/80-18 back in Oct 2015. I would say grip levels are 90% of the Pirelli's with no real perceptible difference in day to day use for regular riders except if you are rear braking when there's some slight gravel on the road. Of course, this is not the right technique while riding, but if you know what you're doing then it is fun to have the rear step out momentarily before you catch it.


More than the degradation of the hoses, I have a major issue with the rapid pace at which it just disintegrates. It will be fine for months and then suddenly one day you see that its starting to crack. By the time you visit the service centre in say a week's time the hose would have completely broken off. The last 20% of wear and tear on the hoses happens in less than a week which is baffling! A terrible situation to be in if you are on a long road trip.


I also had exactly the same idling issues as what you mentioned. I found this used to occur more frequently when I was stuck in traffic and the engine was really hot. I think the SVC guys adjusted the idling screw when I took it to them, they mentioned adjusting some screw but were not able to explain it to me properly. The issue didnt reappear till yesterday when I was returning from a ride to Yelagiri and the sputtering started while I was at a red light.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)


How is the idling and breather pipe even connected?

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Try unplugging them. It shuts off, at least the GT does. Don't know the rocket science. Even the mech recommended glueing it in place, the one to throttle body.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Painting mudguards in plan, but dilemma about finishing on bigger area with aerosol cans.

Rear tyre ran for 12k km, front got some 1-2k km worth left. Waiting for new stock. After another fellow xbhpian tested tarmac, did not want to go for other brands, specifically the CEAT since that was what he was having and loved the way Pirelli hold with hard braking and corners. Many times thought of getting whatever is available.

Changed all hoses and the idle was running high, now tuned back to a lower state. No issues at all now. Got original GT hose from Concept.

Next due is the front brake pad. Max 1k life left.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

The breather pipe as i know it is for maintainance of air circulation inside the engine ( venting crankcase pressure out). It basically helps engine piston rings to seal tighter against the cylinder wall.

What you explained about the idling issue is probably not really a breather pipe issue as I understand it. A clogged or plugged breather will lead to very hot engine, loss of compression and power, misfire and excess​ oil consumption.

You should probably look deeper into the issue. From my experience, if the main manifold pipe connecting the carb to the engine has cracks which leads to air leaks causes similar issues.

Also if your fuel line connection from tank to carb has crack causes similar issue.

Let me know if you get it corrected or I got it all Wong. [emoji23]

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Anyway changing 2 pipes and gluing the one to throttle body solved the issue. Rest god knows [emoji14]

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Ye throttle body matlab inside the carb?

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

The pipe connected on the rubber hose between the TB and engine in a important part of PAV system. If it is leaked then outside air is directly sucked in the engine which is not good right.
It increases the RPM in the carbed bike as well. I guess it is due to the positioning of it (after the sensor / carb).

Regards
Mandar

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

I'm nearing 25k kms & Both my tyres are still Stock! The rear has now developed a very slight "Joint Loosening" which is much known for the Stock GT Pirellis. The front is going strong.

But I'm thinking of replacing both as I'm soon to embark on a Bike-Trip of lifetime on the GT

Thankfully for me My GT & experience with it has always been different from others. I've never faced any idling issues or even fuelling issues. Yes Oil Leaks is the only thing I face which pains me a lot as I use the Expensive Motul oil. Other than that I've not faced anything of trouble. Yes I've stopped going to the RE SVC which has made my life a lot easier

Would really like to have a link of where you got the Tyres from, as I'd like to get a set too. & would not like to go anything other than Pirellis.

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Bought them locally. They are available on Amazon.

Pirelli Sport Demon 100/90 -18 M/C 56H Tubeless Bike Tyre, Front (Home Delivery): Amazon.in: Car & Motorbike


Pirelli Sport Demon 130/70 R18 M/C 63H Tubeless Bike Tyre, Rear (Home Delivery): Amazon.in: Car & Motorbike

I wanted to buy RE Continental GT but this thread killed my desire for one. I wanted to buy a RE Himalayan too but reading this article killed my desire:

Then my heart was onto Continental GT but after reading this thread, I had to ask myself if I am really looking for more problems in life. We got enough to deal in life anyway, so why add more problems ? Actually I felt my Bajaj 100B is way better than Continental GT for a Mango Man (Aam Aadmi). Then I searched on net and after reading those articles my desire to own anything that is coming from the house of RE has totally died down. I read lot of articles and here are some which made me change my decision. Total U-Turn. In Punjab, I have seen only Classic Bullets, that is what most people buy there and people have written songs on Bullet . they call it "Bult" in Punjabi accent. But of course I have seen them spending here and there all the time on the maintenance costs. Whether there are:

• The Cons of buying RE or ,
• On RE Forum. ,
• consumer complaints ,
• Facebook Page about RE problems,
• People Complaining about RE

Well, Now I feel like I better buy Apache RTR 2004V or wait for some upcoming 200cc+ bikes by the year end (like SWM). It is better to wait for 6 months than to own one from RE. Just like one guy wrote: You don't buy any R.E. bike if you're thinking with your brain. That decision is made for you only and only by Your Thumping Heart Beat

10 reason not to buy Royal Enfield

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

On internet you will find people writing for their issue mostly.
Very few people write about success stories.
Use your brain and just don't go by articles.
Your 100 cc bike will not give you problems but then it has limited usage. If your are looking for bike to city use only then just stick to 100 to 150 cc bikes only. They are great for this purpose.
But no point in defaming other bikes if you don't own them.

Regards
Mandar

Re: RE Continental GT (Cafe Racer)

Can we expect life without problem ? Absolutely no, we cannot even skip those problem. But only in biking most of them want to skip those problems ! of course it's not possible.
If we have bikes, we have to consider it as one of the family member, we have to to take care everyday, we have to check Everytime while we took it for long rides. If we consider it's just a machine, then it will show all the characteristics of Machine.
If anyone in our family is sick or stuck into some problem then we will immediately guide them to cure them by taking as much of risk that we can take.
But people nowadays get frustrated once they unable to solve the problem on bikes. There are lots of service centre in our country, if one is not solving then we can try somebody who can solve the problem.
In my case, My father had RX135 bought on Dec 1998. For 14years my father doesn't face any major problem in his bike.before 4years my relation who doesn't know about RX bike bought bike from my father, he don't know the gear pattern and ride the bike in 1st gear for long time. And then simply he gave back the bike. After when my father took it for a ride , the piston,kicker,gear everything in engine gets locked. When we took it to a mechanic, he told engine ceased, we have to change the piston and some other parts. We spent 5K and then bike works well.
After completion of 15years , we have to repaint the bike and we have to change some spare parts that are not working well. So we leave the bike in the nearest Yamaha service centre (Yasotha Yamaha,Theni). They told it will take 40days to complete the work. We spent around Rs.15K for full service + Repaint+ FC.Once we get back the bike, there was sound coming out from engine slightly. When I asked to supervisor, he told it was just painted, once it run for some Km it will be solved.

But when days goes sound increases as speed increases, there I found it was clutch plate problem. They didn't assemble clutch assembly properly, immediately​ I went to SVC and asked them, they don't know how to answer me and saying something. Then I found its our mistake to select the worst service centre to service our bike.

So we started searching for a good service. After one year we planned to leave the bike where we bought the same in 1998. Madurai Alagendran Yamaha Service centre. We leave there by saying as full service, after riding they exactly say what I thought and something unknown to me.

The previous service centre mechanics replaced duplicate spare parts in the bike, and the major thing is they haven't assembled properly. As a result again I have to change all the major parts that cost around RS.18K. Total cost we spent is 38K. Actual bike cost is 55K. But all the problems in my bike was rectified and its looking new. Now it was two years since we did the service, even now we take it for 70kms everyday commuting.

It might sounds mad. But I want the same bike in good working condition, for that I can able to buy a new 100cc bike by adding the service cost and 20k extra. But that doesn't give me a experience that RX135 gives.

Of course RX is totally different than RE. But the experience we have with the bike is too peculiar. I offen found issues of RE bikes in online and mostly on YouTube ! Love your bike, it still loves you and please don't let it down if you unable to solve the problem. There are 1000 s of mechanics are there, leave the bike to the trusted mechanic and Enjoy your ride .

Believe . . Believe . . Believe on what you have . . . .

Have a safe and happy ride. !