re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 Owners Experiences

The great day has dawned for me, the day i become a Thunderbird rider, today I take the delivery of my passion, Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350

issue with choke

Guys, i have been having some issues/doubts regarding carb settings of my tbts. please go through this post and offer your suggestions.

my bike would not start with choke in 'on' position even after 20 or more kicks. bike also does not need choke to start, even during early mornings. my bike usually returns ~36kmpl with mix of city and highway riding. since bike does not start with choke, i began to suspect that maybe carb is running a bit rich. A.S.C. attempted to fix choke problem and now it just barely starts with choke in 'on' position.

Some of you have posted here that with choke activated, engine runs at 2k rpm. i have tested this recently by pulling choke after bike has been started (it is difficult to start with choke on) and the rpm is going upto 3k rpm. i have read somewhere that bullet choke just swamps the carb with more petrol. is this so? since i am a novice to tuning carb, i am thinking of adjusting carb screw to set idling to 2k rpm while choke is on. would this be a good solution to set optimum fuel-air mixture? please advise.

I have been facing this exact same problem. After reading an earlier post on this forum, I tried adjusting the carb tuning setting by turning the carb screw a little bit. Basically, my intention was to slightly increase the engine's idling RPM. Now, with the choke in ON position, my RPM still is at 2K.

This adjustment seems to have sorted out my starting problem for the time being at least.. Try it out and see if it works for you

Can you tell me whether idling RPM is 2K with choke on after warming the engine or before warming the engine? Mine shows 2.5K on cold start and 3K with warmed up engine. Can you compare mileage before and after adjusting the carb?

You can check out previous thread on this subject. it will give you some knowledge.

3K Engine idle speed is too high, let it be cold or hot. If you run your engine at this level, it will over heat, kill your mileage and eventually reduce engine life in the long run. I always set/adjust engine idle speed after cold starting engine and riding for 1 or 2 kms. Set the idle speed as per the manual. I do not know about the new models. I have issues starting the bull in winter. Infact I am hating to take my bull out in winter because I have to kick it like a horse. This was not the case last winter, so I am going to take my bull for service. Sometimes in winter you just need to change engine oil a little earlier than you normally do.

So yesterday morning I took out my bull and left it in the sun to warm up and then kicked it in one go. LOL, how stupid does that sound

Using Valvoline 20 W50 is a mistake I regret, should not have done this during winter. So I am switching back to Motul 15 W50. Hyderabad is very cold in winter, I suggest folks to go for Shell/Castrol 5W 40, same that I used in Ladakh. You wont have these engine starting problems, and once winter is over, switch back to stock Motul 15W 50. 20W 50 is torture anytime.

Ultimate decision is yours, dont follow the above if your vehicle is under warrantly. Deviating from recommended engine oil will void warranty. Do this only if you know what you are doing.

turned the fuel screw about 3/4 rotation in clockwise direction. might be just my imagination, but bike seems to respond better than before. have complained about this to asc before, but all they do is set the idle rpm to rock bottom. last time around, they managed to fiddle around with it and bike would ocassionally start with choke on, was still not satisfied and approached service manager. Unfortunately, it chose only that moment to start with choke on! lolzi will be taking up this with asc since odo is nearing the 12000km mark anyway.

lol! doesnt get funnier than that !

which thread? i did not find anything using search in xbhp

which thread? i did not find anything using search in xbhp[/QUOTE]

Chotu-r, what I mean to say is previous post in the same thread. Sorry for sending you for a wild goose chase!!!

The first thing I tell service center is not to fiddle around with the Engine Idle speed. Each person have their own riding style. I set the Engine idle speed to suite how I like it. First 2 service they messed up the idle speed. Each service guys has their own theory or comfort spot. So I tell them, hands off on the Engine Idle screw.

Ive given my bull for service at the Royal Enfield Workshop in Uppal. As promised earlier, I'm giving them a chance to correct all the bad experience in the past. Lets see, today I will get my Bull and will post my experience on Royal Enfield A$$. Mind you, I have given them 5 full days and a reminder call yesterday to see how things are going on to service my bull. Lets see if it is worth it.

21000 KM Report

So - Just recieved my bull from service after 5 days in the workshop. I should say I am impressed by the service and courtesy of staff at Royal Engineers in Uppal, Hyderabad. There is a million mile leap from what they used to offer 2 years ago when I wanted to service my in-warranty bull. The shed is now completly renovated and looks professional and official with the Royal Enfield Logo and stuff. Well, if you went to this place 2 years back it looked like a chop shop to be honest and so did the service.

I'm happy that things turned around this way and looking forward for more. So coming back to my bull, never really had a real service after returning from Leh in July 2012. Apart from Engine oil change the rest of the bull was asking for a fair service. So I went ahead and replaced some parts volutarily, although some of the parts I recommended to replace still had some juice in it.

The total bill racked up to 6687/-

• Engine Oil - 720/- (Switched back to 15W 50 Motul)
• Engine Oil Filter - 78/-
• Petrol Cork - 236/- (There was fuel leak from the Petrol valve apparently damaged during transit in the train, the service center did not have spare so they sourced an aftermarket one for me.)
• Clutch Cable - 94/-
• Break Shoe & Spring - 248/- (I never asked them to do this, they replaced this on their own )
• Chain & Sproket Set - 2023/-
• Timing Compartment Packing - 61/-
• Exide Battery 1Yr warranty - 1850/-
• Fork Oil Seal - 87/-
• Fork Oil - 65/-
• Labour Charge & Paid service - 725/-
• Teflon Coating x2 - 500/-

Since my Honda Unicorn days I used to replace parts as per the service interval table in the manual. Each time the service center used to say "aur chalega". (Can do more). And the last time I listened to them I had a snapped clutch cable in the middle of the road on a very important day. Yesterday I had called the service center to to check out what was going on and they told me that the chain sproket will go for another 3000 Kms and can be replaced next service. The Mechanic at Ladakh had told me not to use a chain set for more than 2 years or 25000Kms especially after running with heavy load like the Ladakh trip. Although he did show me bulls that easily ran on Sprocket sets for 30K, it was purely his personal recommendation. In my case the chain had already become tight in some areas which resulted in increased friction or no free movement of the rear wheel. The only way to fix it was to wash the chain and soak it in engine oil for a few days which would have been worth it if I had atleast 5K more life in it. Anyway I told the service center to replace the chain and dont bother about anything else. They obliged.

Today I was at the service station 3 hours before my scheduled delivery to do a pre-inspection and make sure everything was going as per plan. As soon as I reached the center they took me to my bull and explained all the work done and asked if I was satisfied thus far. So I had a chance to correct anything that I needed more attention before they messed up with anyting I did not like. While I was there I had the chance to touch and feel the new Royal Enfield Thunderbird. The 2 things I liked about the new bull was the meter console and the head lamps. Upon enquiring the cost of the new head lamps (HID) they said 5800/- excluding labour and wiring . I was in for a shock. It seems they have to change some plug in the old TBTS to replace the new HID kit.

My bull is riding in excellent condition even better than just before the trip to Leh. The pick up has improved leaps and bounds, Im sure the new chain sproket set is contributing to it. Now I have to run-in the new chain set and ensure not to repeat my previous mistake, that is not lubricating chain religiously every 500Kms. The service station fixed the long outstanding issue of the front shock absorber oil leak. I just wished they could have treated my bull the same way 2 years ago. Never too late they say.

Its an honor to ride a Royal Enfield. If you have any specific questions just shoot 'em.

45000 km done

The 550 day old RE thunderbird has just completed 45000km. Just changed the stock battery as there is a little draining. Front tyre will be changed in next 1000 km.

All the screws have been tightened in the latest service. Stock headlamp changed. Rest all are doing fine.

Beautiful picture you got there. 550days and 45K is really wow

"Wow" is your Ladakh travelogue sirjee. Please find time to go through my travelogues too.


Thump on!!

@madelikeagu very useful and detailed post! btw, why 5 days at the workshop?? cant all this work be done in a single day?

i envy you! doing nearly 30k in a year......... must be living the good life

i have received the bike after giving it for servicing a couple of days ago at Erragadda service center. Got the carb tuning fixed by mechanic after convincing him not to just tinker with the idling screw. (he went after the idling screw again later, but i fixed it myself ) mechanic further confused me by saying that the screw on carb is not fuel screw, but air screw anyway, got to know from him that the default factory settings is 3 turns from fully closed position. since bike was misfiring a bit, did the factory setting adjustment myself today.

was told that cams need to be adjusted, same mechanic also claimed that all uces cams are adjusted after 10k kms. my ears are tone deaf at recognizing noises beyond the usual clatter of uce..... plus i ride with my helmet on always, so could not detect much. i am sending the bike in for cam adjustment today afternoon, but not really sure whether its necessary. any advice in this regard?
will post a detailed 12k kms report after getting the bike back in one piece !


oh, here's a photo of the main spark plug taken today morning. wondering if its showing rich, lean or ok ??

Thanks boss. Actually I slog for month during the weekends, accumulate leaves and set on for rides. So, not a good life though, but when I set out for a long destination, I feel like a kid on his first day of summer vacation. Specifically, when its a begining to a ride to your hometown which is 2750 km far away.