The Bullet: Mysteries & Myths -
Don't just love but get to know your bullet more

- by B. R. Gurunandan


Improve Your Bullet!

As a rule of nature, all creatures come into this world semi-functional, helpless, and ignorant ( many of them remain that way, but that is another story ) and are brought up into magnificent, able and wise beings by their doting and forgiving parents or guardians. In that respect, our Bullets are " close to nature ". They are manufactured with built-in shortcomings and design-flaws. So you, the owner, can develop a stronger bond with it as you labour to overcome them and "bring up" your Bullet the way you want it to be. Maybe I'm wrong. It may be that the company was following the dictat of our erstwhile socialist govts, and "creating jobs" for the lakhs of mechanics, machinists and replacement-parts industries.
Well, that WAS our customary rewind. Now fast-forward to tech.

This time we list the problems we have often encountered with our new Bullets, and start discussing the ways to overcome them. But, sorry Newbies, don't reach for your spanners just yet, this is just another "high-level document"; we shall get to nitty-gritty practicalities when I get hold of a digital-camera or AutoCAD or something.

Noisy Engine
Let us take the manufacturer at face value, and believe the yarn about tightly maintained tolerances due to upgrade to CNC, etc. So there is no noise from valve-guides, rockers, tappet-guides, piston/crank pins, etc. But, please, no one tell me that spur-gears can be tossed on to fixed spindles with ZERO backlash and no galling either. And somebody tell the manufacturer that CNC is not a remedy for all the sorrows of mankind. That it stands for Computerised Numerical Control, not Con N Cheat.
So that is the prime cause of noise in a new Bullet engine: Backlash in the valve-train gears. The solution is as simple as replacing the original fixed camgear-spindles with adjustable ones and making the backlash zero. But a word of caution. This has to be done in the very early days of the life of the engine, before the cam-gear teeth lose their profile from repeated impact due to lash. Once the gear-flanks have collapsed, they cannot be adjusted for zero backlash without galling the other teeth. So the cam-gears have to be replaced if you have used the bike a lot before installing the adjustable spindles.

Beware of this sucker-punch: Some shops offer to reduce the cam-noise for a temptingly low amount. How do they do it? They do not change the spindles. They measure the lash with a feeler-gauge, and make new eccentric bushes to give zero lash at the time the cam-nose is passing the tappet. Naturally, the lash is plenty increased at other times. The bushes wear fast from this punishment, and soon you are worse off than when you started. OK if you want to sell the bike to a skunk.

Lubrication check
A real Bulleteer does not rely on the warranty. He knows fully well the tendency of the Indian dealers to wash off their hands once they have pocketted the money. So it makes sense to check that the lubrication is OK, because if there is a blockage at some point, extensive damage will occur, which the dealer will NOT rectify without a prolonged lawsuit!
It is not difficult to spot blockages.
You have to remove the tank (place it on the seat, etc, and connect the fuel-hose) and the rocker-covers. Then start the engine. Within a minute, you will see oil spurting from two slots on each rocker-block. Oil is being spilled on the pushrod-cups and on the valve-stem ends. Often it so happens that the four flows are of unequal volume. Increase the RPM and note where the oil-spurts land. If they are almost equal and landing in the right places, all is well. This tests the pumps, filter and lubrication of crankshaft as well, because they are "in series".
If the four spurts are of drastically different volume, or there is very little oil flow even after a long time, something is wrong! You might prefer to get it rectified by the dealer or mechanic if you are new to this, but it is not difficult.

Sitting-ducks
The Battery sits there, fastened by a single screw, inviting every passing paki-tramp to launch into a career of crime. The "accessory" industries have goofed-up on this one. You see a lot of add-ons, but they are worthless from the security point of view, being either insufficient (also single screw fitting, or generic-key) or impractical (needing a rattly padlock!)
And the original bracket is also of a very thin gauge of steel-sheet, which, to the acid-leaks is like blotting-paper to rain.
Both these glitches can be corrected by a hefty, powder-coated bracket that uses a couple of Allen-headed fasteners at the back, making it very, very difficult to dismantle.
The same idea can be used to secure the headlamp, carb ( flanged type ), and any other tempting fittings that you may be paranoid about. Amateur thieves use a coin or pen-knife as screwdriver and carry a few sundry skeleton-keys; Allen-key set is a bit out of their league.
Well, there is a slightly better way also, but it would be self-defeating to explain it here. It can be e-mailed to "registered users" maybe, so making it a better kept secret, and hence more effective. So take the trouble of "registering" with a response to this, with an unwritten gentleman's agreement not to divulge it on public any forum.

Vehicle-lock and..
When you park the bike in a "hostile" place, you risk not only the fittings, but also the whole bike itself! The standard ignition lock is a cheap, generic one which can be turned by any key or even a small screwdriver-blade. And if you don't have either of those, a jumper wire from brown/white to white wire on the back of the lock will "short" the lock and enable ignition. ALL potential thieves know this by now. AND the key tends to fall off on rough roads. Or the rattling chained-key irritatingly scratches the toolbox paint. What to do?
Buy a small but STURDY, NON-STANDARD plug and socket with ATLEAST 4 terminals. Cut the battery wire, the ignition wire, (etc) and solder the ends to the socket, the back of which should not be easily dismantlable. Wire the plug to short the breaks. You can also wire the socket so shorting a particular combination will blow the horn. The gist of this is: Make the wiring non-standard! That by itself will deter many thieves. They will move over to easier prey. You can keep the lock turned to "On" position permanently, and pull out the plug to disable the bike. A good place for the plug & socket is below the seat. It should be difficult to reach the wires, and ideally you should change them to non-standard colours.
Another advantage of this system is, you can wire another plug to a charger, which can be plugged to the bike in a jiffy without messing with crocodile-clips at the battery-terminals.

Running without the Battery
You don't have to have a battery stolen to experience this one: The frustration of trying to run a Bullet without the battery. The manual tells you glibly to turn the ignition-key anti-clock-wise and go on even if your battery is kaput. But try running a Bullet with a flat battery or one on its last legs; it is guaranteed to make you swear. Major-ly. Royal-ly. Briefly, when you turn the key anticlockwise, the ignition coil goes into the charging circuit and the ignition takes place off the alternator, not battery. The alternator produces pulses of current when the magnet passes by the coil, not a continuous current. You will see that the magnet is positively located on the crankshaft by a woodruff-key, so the pulses are intended to be produced at a particular position of the crankshaft, and hence the piston. Great!
A hint - do this small test first: With the key in the "emergency" position, kicking the engine should swing the ammeter momentarily into the green. If it doesn't move, use a jumper-wire to earth the wire going to the non-earthed terminal of the battery (after you remove it from the battery). Now the battery is bypassed, and it's condition or presence is immaterial. The engine will start smartly. But...try to rev, and the engine stutters and falters. Why? ...And you thought this was a simple, newbie serial! Hahaha ! The answer was in Pt 3 !!! Yes, the "advance mechanism" alters the ignition timing as the speed increases, and the pulses from the alternator no longer are in sync with the contact-breaker !
Hellsbells ! So all this is just to limp home swearing instead of standing on the road swearing, eh ? Well, not if you are prepared to spend about Rs100 (USD 2.00). What you do is substitute the jumper with a 10,000 microfarad condenser rated 65V.
What does it do ?
It "stores the pulse" from the alternator, and the coil can use it "later".
Why 10,000 microfarad ?
Standard value, marginal cost increase over 2000 or 5000 microfarad, which also work but MAY not be as effective as 10,000.
Will 20,000 be better ?
Try. I could not see any difference.
Why 65 Volts ?
Safety. If the Zener has gone open circuit, the alternator voltage will reach around this value at speed. Overvoltage ruptures condensers and spills nasty juices.
So bow to Murphy, don't use 16Volt condensers, though they are much cheaper.
And remember that these condensers are fussy about polarity.

Earthing
Try this: Clip the negative lead (positive for positive-earth circuit) of your multimeter in 3-volt range to the chassis or battery-terminal, and the positive to handlebar, or any bolt on the steering-head. Switch on the Headlamp. Do you see any voltage on the meter ? You should not. But it is common to find upto 0.6Volts. That is 10% of the 6V battery, 5% if it is 12V ! Being wasted ! I do not want to debate the ill-effects of the headlamp and horn current flowing thru bearings or cables, just the idea of considerable amounts of power being wasted is enough to get me into action  This could also be the reason for horn/ light faltering on rough roads although no wires are having loose contact.
The remedy is simple and FREE ! It only needs a thick copper wire to be bolted, from the steering head to chassis or battery-earth !

Centrestand
The axle going thru the top tube of the centre-stand is anchored by two plates bolted to the frame and casting. Problem is that the plates are very thin, and negligibly strengthened around the axle. Soon, the holes become oval, and the bike "rocks" on the stand. The remedy would have been VERY simple if the mfr had done it; it will be a bit more painful for you to do. But the sight of a bike that rocks on the stand is quite disturbing to most of us, and instead of just replacing the plates for a temperory relief, you may as well go the whole hog and repair it for ever. Like so:
Remove the plates with the bike on props or sidestand. Dismantle the centrestand. Procure a pair of 1/4inch thick 1inch dia washers from any hardware store. The inside dia is not important as long as it is smaller than the axle-rod dia. Also procure a rod about 3/4 inch longer than the original. Now bolt the plates together, inside-to-inside thru their mounting holes. Bolt the washers one on each side, thru the axle-hole. Weld the washers (one to each plate, from the "outside") Remove the bolt thru washers, and drill a hole of dia equal to the rod. Assemble the plates. Measure the distance between washer faces. Drill two small holes for splitpins thru new rod and assemble. Why go to the pain of a new rod, etc ? Why not weld the washers to the inside of the plates ? Then you have to cut/grind off half an inch from the top-tube of the stand to accomodate the welded washers. Advanced theory of static-mechanics, or elementary common-sense tells us that shortening the top-tube increases the stresses and wear by sideways forces when bike is on stand. It won't be the plates, but the tube which distorts if you do this! So don't.
What about using thinner washers, and/or drilling new holes in old rod ? Try.

Levers
You will notice one major difference in the fitting of old and new clutch/brake lever brackets. The old ones had two bolts, and split into two pieces which could be removed easily. The new ones have one bolt, and have to be slid off the ends of the handlebar. To change the brake bracket, you have to remove the throttle-grip; left-grip and switch-assy for clutch bracket. Imagine doing all this on the road in the event of a mishap!
For quick-change, you don't have to switch back to the old steel type. Just try this:
Remove the brackets and cut them into two pieces by sawing across just ahead of the mirror-boss. In fact, you don't even have to saw thru fully. Just making two notches and forcing the brackets open with a pair of tyre-levers will break them neatly ( almost ) between the notches. Now you don't have to slide them back on. Just open the single bolt and put them on/take them off within a minute! Don't worry, one bolt is quite sufficient to hold the pieces together just as firmly as the original. If your spare has been treated similarly, you can change the bracket with a single spanner within 10 minutes instead of spending an hour and many curses.
There is a further useful modification to the levers itself, that was suggested by Mr Roger Ward at REBEL list, but that requires a diagram to understand and copy. Sometime in the future.

By B. R. Gurunandan

Click here to email your queries to Nandan.