Re tbird queries

Hello all,
Ive just booked a thunderbird 350.it was a mind vs heart vs heart decision( honda unicorn/ktm/tbird) and the other side of heart triumphed.i would like to ask few of my queries and hope to get them answered as always.thanx in advance.
1)tbird is the only model which doesnt come with a saree guard.confirmded ths in 2 showrooms.i WANT the saree guard as it has the wide footrest from which my mother( who on seeing ktm said that leave me, u cant even take out any girl on it) can alight the bike.is it possible to have the saree guard from company itself or do i have to retrofit?
2)what are the tyres like? Imean on potholed roads and also how is the suspension?bcoz my weekly ride would be to my native place(2-3 kms of badly potholed roads)
Plz reply.

Answers in Bold

Thanx jayant.one more thing, do they have to drill holes in the mudguard to do so??
And does anybody know anything about new re tbird 350 being launched?coz in an article i had read that after launching tbird 500, they are going to incorporate few changes in 350 also.any solid news on this? And would it be worth the wait if at all tgese changes happen?

Nope they dont drill holes or anything . Actually i dont remember how the svc guys did it. No Idea about the new 350 but the TBTS500 should be comming in july according to the RE showroom guys. I would say go with the current Thunderbird its just awsome.

RE TBTS newbie owner experience

Hey guys,
my first post in xbhp. Bought my RE TBTS 350 cc three months ago. In bangalore the wait time is 4 months.

I went on a small road trip of 150 kms other day and loved every bit of it. I am not a speed junkie but wanted to test at what speed does the bull wobble. At 110kmph too it was pretty stable. I myself went back to 95kmph as I did not want to test the limits on a new bike. From what I gather in the short trip, 90-95kmph seems like a comfy speed on TBTS. bike is steady and I could feel I was in total control. Ofcourse this was on NICE expressway. on Mysore road I could cruise at 80-85 on a relatively traffic free morning.

I am newbie biker and have a few questions.

1) Unfortunately I had a flat tire yesterday while driving on city road did nt cross 1K kms yet...Now I am not sure if I can take that bike for another road trip. Should I change to a new tube? I am planning to do a 300km road trip in another two weeks. Are tubeless tires available for TBTS? How much do they typically cost

2) Whenever I have pillion on bike, I hear a strange noise while crossing speed-breaker. It makes me pretty nervous as I could not quite figure out if its because of shox or any other serious problem? ever heard of such problem?

3) I want to do BLR-HYD-BLR trip sometime. Let me know if someone is interested..

thx,
ibn

i enquired at a bike modification shop in ramkote, they said it wil cost around 6-7000 /- for the job and wil take two days to finish. shop name is "Poona Accessories" , below jagruthi degree college, ramkote.

Thanks a lot for this info buddy. Did you ask them specifically about Thunderbird ? I mean do they have previous experience of this kind of job of enfields ?

Whoa man, you don't seem to be following the running in procedures. I waited til the 2000 km mark to reach 80kmph.

ur welcome , yeah i mentioned "Thunderbird" in particular and they said they'll do it.. sorry buddy, i dint ask them abt previous experience..

I just do not want some person experienced with pulsars to mess up my beloved Blackbird. Once you touch her for the first time during your delivery you'll understand exactly what I mean.

well, i can understand that no one wants their bike to be messed up...
forgot to add that my mechanic said its better not to go for such mods as they r not factory made and has ample chance for errors.. y dont u consult a good bullet mechanic ? do u know someone..?

I stay right beside my work. So, I barely get a chance to ride the beast. After 2.5 months and 1 round of servicing, I guess my impatience got the best out of me..and I took it for the ride. definitely not a great thing to do..but it will be another 3 months if I have to wait for 2K mark :-(

how is your ownership experience? lot of people are complaining abt the rattling noise which even i felt. When I took to workshop, I told the mechanic abt this. he applied oil on chain and it was pretty calm there after.

One complaint I had was, it would go dead when I stopped at signal and then after self-start would nt work. the mechanic suggested not raising accelerator much while using self-start (a bad habit from my old pulsar) and that pretty much fixed the problem.

any tips and tricks that newbies should know about? I barely know anything about bikes :-) bought the beast for the comfort and looks.

I am very sorry to inform you that I do not know any bullet mechanics. But I have heard that old cast iron engined bulleteers service their bike from Ranigunj,Secunderabad. Let me ask around my friends. And regarding the disks, you have a point that those things are not factory made. I have a hope that now the Thunderbird 500 is available with rear disk brake, RE service centers might be able to retrofit the TBTS 500 disk onto the 350. But it will take atleast 1 more year before TBTS 500 parts become widely available.

Running in is required because the friction between the close fitting new engine parts grind them to optimum levels of clearence. If the running in is gradual and slow, clearences will be just right and you'll have a butter smooth engine which will give you excellent service (with regular maintenance) for years to come. But if you want quick results, the harshness encountered by the new engine at unusually high rpms will create clearences too large. You might not have any problems now, but after 5-6 years your bike will start having chronic troubles. Imagine two people who are each given a small piece of stone and a file and told to carve out a statue. But the first person has a week and the second one a day. Who do you think will produce a better quality and finish ? Anyway as whatever could happen has probably happened, try to take it slow. Enfields are not pulsars, they are not meant to win traffic signal drag races. You won't believe how much annoying and irritating issues the older cast iron bullets had. Present UCE engines are far more reliable, but still.. Do not expect pulsar like acceleration from a longstroke push rod big bore engine. I don't know about you but generally people who buy enfields tend to keep riding their machines for a very long time. So I would like to say that don't abuse her, love her and give her care, she'll love you back.


About your problems, try to locate the source of the rattling sound if it seems too loud. The problem might be some loose nuts or fittings. I once started a 500 km ride with my bike in excellent condition, and came back with a irritatingly thumping one cause the vibes loosened the bendpipe nuts. Generally enfields are a bit vibes happy, so if everything is running fine and a checkup doesn't return any results, don't let it bother you. And for the engine dying out at signal, check the carb setting and set the idle rpm at around 1000 RPM.

thanks for the nice explanation dude. That sure drives the point home. Can some one suggest a good book on bikes, DIY stuff and general motor cycle maintenance. I dont mind joining any class if there is one.
tia,
ibn