Yezdi Diaries Part Two

get wallpapered people!

2012-01-23T10:18:00.003+05:30

Who said God is in the details?

2012-01-20T15:35:00.000+05:30

2012-01-19T14:10:00.003+05:30

2012-01-19T13:41:00.000+05:30

Outta tha blue since rust never sleeps

Into the black let there be more light

Innocent bystanders or future recollections of how to use a cigarette lighter to strip insulation off wires?

I bought this set of Chinese button lights for hundred bucks.

Cut out a red plastic lid to change the color and drop the intensity of the one I used as my tail lamp

Later that week, a spot in the center of the red plastic lid/lens melted (sigh)

I used some spare petrol feeder pipe hose for insulating sleeves for my wire joins. That's a regulator - the small inch sized black box under the button light. The other lamp mounted below the license plate is the kind favored by auto-rickshaws in Delhi. Oh yea, the horn came from when I went looking to buy a bicycle for my nephew. Too bad someone ripped it off two days ago while the bike was parked in Mayur Vihar Phase 3.

Wheels that steal hearts are wheels that heal hearts.

How to correctly hitch a trailer to your car

2012-01-16T13:23:00.001+05:30

Bamboo bicycles for approx $65 with carbon reinforced balsa joint lugs

2012-01-16T13:19:00.000+05:30

2011-12-24T16:02:00.000+05:30

BACK 2 BLACK

2011-12-24T15:54:00.000+05:30

BEFORE

AFTER

THERE'S A NEW BLACK RIDER IN TOWN

2011-11-23T12:20:00.001+05:30

the way my bike runs, she needs adjustment of the clutch wire at the lever adjuster; tighten slightly when there is a traffic jam up ahead and loosen slightly when I want to speed on open stretches. I've been running 30psi on both front and back wheels since i noticed the front tread was wearing out a little more on the sides than the center. I imagine, I brake at lean angles more often. Other wise, my favorite tyre pressures are 28 in the front and 30 at the back. Of course, since I weigh about 58 kg, it works for me. I actually like my tyres slightly soft and grippy instead of tight and inclined to slide on loose surfaces. Speaking of slides, with the clip on bars, I've been experiencing a nice back wheel pull to the outside of the turn. I never felt the rear slide except in uncontrollable Roadking spills. Do you know that most Roadkings that fall on the ground end up 90 degrees to the direction in which the bike was going? This is because of the additional torque on the rear wheel that causes the rotation. (suggested reading up on torque reaction and interesting things like why helicopters need that little rotor on the tail, if you need more light).

Bad news is yesterday, I dropped my headlight lens and broke it (also sliced my thumb gathering up the glass pieces before the dog stepped on them by accident. Last night when I returned from a second hand furniture shopping project for a friend, I noticed that my back stoplight's red plastic lens had also fallen off. So there I am, the Lens armstrong in si-lens planning a trip into Noida's Sector 9 bike repair hub of workshops for the glass-es. It's great fun to ride in there, firstly all the oldies know me and my bike ('...the guy does his own bikes', '...is a Yezdi ustaad' etc). From the hardware shop I buy my monthly Castrol GTX (the only SAE 20-50w oil I found and use to add to my petrol. yes i know about how car gearbox oils are gummier and all that, but all that has changed in my last 15 years of riding Yezdis is the sound. it got deeper than the 2T mixers out there, that's about all.) to the welder who helped me with the Y-chair sculpture and the forever footpeg welding to the old mechanic who no longer does bikes but is happy sitting around and lacing spokes and denting out wheels instead. It's home turf for me and my bike.

On the road...

2011-11-21T11:09:00.001+05:30

I climb on my hobby horse once again, to go into the city traffic and rescue my laptop from the wages of time. Of course, the old sensory overwhelm-er that a Roadking guarantees was there to take my hand and lead me over the toll bridge that crosses the black river into New Delhi. The clip-on bars make wind drag a thing of the past and although my helmet is not pulling my head off, at certain speeds, the wind in my face makes my eyelids flip up!

Of course, being an old open-face helmet die-hard, I only reach for driving glasses when the ubiquitous truck ahead of me carrying sand on an open bed with no covers makes life difficult. Add to that is the fact that for sand to lift off a truck that size, he has to be well over 70kph and that leaves me with no choice but to overtake the bugger and save my complexion from looking like the surface of the moon [ '...as a matter of fact, it's all dark.' :- ) ].

The Devender of Dayal Motors landed up on Saturday for a tete-a-tighten steering head nut, align rear wheel and take up chain play. I've had two great rides into town and my comfort with the riding position has been growing over the past year. Trust me, counter-steering and all that rookie theory is easier on a un-compromised bike. Almost all bikes manufactured are built to compromises between performance and reliability (in the American mag, Cycle World's review of the exported Enfield Bullets pointed out the distinction between a 'rugged' bike and a 'reliable' bike; meaning don't confuse built to last with low-maintenance).

Something about getting your head and shoulders down in that riding stance also brings out a dogged determination in me to keep rolling without reaching for the brakes and gears too much. I like to find the slight balance between overdrive and torque in the gear box and get on the angles that take me through the forest of cars, bicycles, buses and a billion idiots on two-wheelers who wouldn't know correct riding technique from their ass with a pump and a spoke thrown in.
There, I have an advantage.

My bike can be loud.
Loud enough to make people look around and give way to the urgency in the Roadking growling alongside.
Loud enough to make Enfield Bullet riders who have long decided their's is the loudest engine blat on the road realize that their phat-phat-flappa-flappa four stroke single exhaust note is not as sexy as the steady roar that emits from the Yezdi pipes and keeps on climbing in volume and rpm, until it reaches a crescendo that the poor bullet guy feels like a guy who is hanging around musicians - a drummer.

I love it, since I actually have no intentions to knock any Bullet lover from their ostentatious perch but I would like to be acknowledged as a motorcycle in my own right and deserving of peer respect.

Just to make it up to the Bull-boys out there, here is a pin-up you are not likely to see from Enfield India.

2011-11-02T23:09:00.000+05:30

Akshay says he will be in town on the 24th. Wants to borrow my bike to get to the Gautam Budh F1 race track (God! that is a mouthful, we must find a neater moniker!) the next early morning. Anyway, here's a pic from the last time we were on the Greater Noida Expressway.

L2R: Akshay, Dax, Wily (the bikes: Byrd Flu, Rob Roy, The Black Rider)

Commentz

2011-10-23T10:57:00.000+05:30

She said, 'Your blog used to be cheerful, a fun place to visit. Now it's not cheerful, its gloomy.'

2011-10-21T08:46:00.000+05:30

The wind in my face
Tells me again,
'this is my place'
Between what's left behind
On empty roads unwind
Race the fears on your mind

Till the wind dries my tears
And my skull dissolves as I bend
Around a blank curve, another turn
'This is it!' The urge that I yearn
Easing up a bit to give me time to learn

Yes; once we rode amid equals
But then life added some sequels
Change a cog, drop a sprog from a winter snog
Like your mother said, em cee square equals me
Since you ain't interested, my dreams are now free

Lift my foot off the pedal
Feel I deserve a medal
Another night, ride, anyway
All mine; Am my own hero
Running on empty if less than zero.

the wave disc engine is spinning

2011-10-19T15:38:00.001+05:30

Like the Tesla blade-less circular turbine in the past and the modern-day Wankel rotary engines used by Mazda and Norton (for British police motorcycles, things like the wave disc engine are thinking in circular patterns instead of the old reciprocating piston. i would say this is the age of the yin engine and the end of the yang engine, indeed.

Hope you guys like the visual tweaks to the blog I've made

2011-10-19T15:23:00.002+05:30

2011-07-23T02:32:00.000+05:30

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2010-04/diy-auto-industry

thats life in the city...

2011-06-25T14:16:00.001+05:30

ammer ard on yon igh road

2011-06-25T14:12:00.000+05:30

2011-06-25T13:44:00.002+05:30

2011-06-25T13:34:00.001+05:30

My Foot (wear)

2011-04-27T14:46:00.001+05:30

On one hand, I don't like the 'infringement'
On the other hand, where else can I get Yezdi branded boots to match my motorcycle?

road kings travel back in time

2011-04-15T22:07:00.000+05:30

couldn't resist fooling around with this image
of a 1928 photograure of a south Indian temple

2011-04-09T11:00:00.003+05:30

~~Like Rust for Chocolate~~

My motorcycle art is now up on the Religare Art Gallery website

2011-04-09T10:21:00.005+05:30

'Bird' was my first artistic stab into the metal fatigued heart of darkness and Mathilda, my first 1976 motorcycle

http://religareartsinitiative.com/ArtWorkDetails.aspx?ArtWorkId=492

My motorcycle art is now on the Religare Art Gallery website.

2011-04-09T10:11:00.002+05:30

This one is a pull string switch wall lamp made out of what you can see. Kinda reminds me of the 'Nautilus' in sci fi. Oh yes, that is a 50 year old Forbes spark plug i've used.

modified yezdi project

2011-04-02T11:58:00.001+05:30

modified yezdi project

2011-04-02T11:39:00.001+05:30

modified yezdi project under the seat of the pants, tectonic plates were moving

2011-04-02T11:04:00.001+05:30

2011-03-18T09:47:00.000+05:30

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928035.100-shock-wave-puts-hybrid-engines-in-a-spin.html

Ashes to Ashes, Mud to Mud...

2011-03-12T09:18:00.000+05:30

You know how i like looking for fits across boundaries of my imagination in the Y-bike.

You have seen pistons serving as ash- trays.

I found out that the rear reflector is exactly the same dia as the yezdi cl2 piston and came up with this...

Faded Glory! modified yezdi project

2011-03-08T20:26:00.002+05:30

faded glory

Firstly, we are down to just two bikes now. The CL2 I bought just before marriage, a year ago is being ridden by a 20-something boy whom I am sure the bike will make a 'man' out of. Bought her for 5K, sold for 10K and it cost the boys around 22 to get it slightly modernized with battery and all.

yea, been feelin low

That said, I began in ernest to make the basic layout on my remaining running bike, the old grey roadking that I bought from Ace. I put on the handle bars that Akshay fabricated. He did his bike first. The idea is to go all the way up to 20 odd bhp at around 9000 rpm instead of the current 16 at 5500. Finally, I should have a beast that even I would be too scared to ride. But I as always take time to do my mods and it could be almost a year from now that I get the engine all tricked out - nylon bearings, race oil, shaved piston, extra plates on the clutch and definitely a pair of expansion chamber exhaust.

Here are some pics...

detailing (personal to akshay)

that's a map pocket i took of a pilot's overalls and velcro-ed onto the tank

well, it was rusting a bit...besides what's wrong with mature women in minis?

Devender of Dayal Motors

2011-02-13T06:46:00.000+05:30

Devender of Dayal Motors is THE oldest mechanic for Yezdi bikes in Delhi. We get along because he does not mind me getting abusive and insisting on doing my bike myself. He came home five weekends and got the CL2 running, cost the boys 22k in all. He also loves my bikes since they go where no Yezdi goes.Yes, for the sake of my hateful in-laws, that's a yezdi piston I am holding on his tum, not a glass (of booze). I like his no-hurry, clean assembly approach. Not withstanding the fact that he is another aged hippie like me. Just look at him!

Cafes are Cool, Cafe Racers better, Cafe Roadkings are a dream on steroids

2011-02-13T06:32:00.000+05:30

Sold My CL 2

2011-02-13T06:28:00.000+05:30

I sold my CL2 (bought about a year ago, before marriage - 1985 model) to two enterprising boys, varun and sarosh. Thats varun in the pic on the first day, no show, pushing the bike after assembly to get it started.

2010-12-01T21:12:00.000+05:30

Mahindra Tries To Get it’s Mojo Working

2010-10-05T22:39:00.004+05:30

The launch of the new Mahindra Mojo 300cc bike is yet another sow’s ear made up to resemble a silk purse. Let me make myself perfectly clear, since history is witness to the greed and push of Indian automobile manufacturers.

This is how it happened; way back when there was just a 350cc Enfield Bullet, a 175cc Rajdoot and a 250cc Yezdi. Mopeds were sold at around Rs 5000 and the Yezdi cost a around Rs 30,000. When the first wave of Indo-Jap bikes hit the market, they were sensibly priced in the middle. The fist Kawasaki Bajaj KB 100 was launched at the price of Rs 15,500. Things changed shortly, as the Indo-Jap bikes changed the face of the market by introducing new tech to the stodgy industry. Agreed that all these bikes were phased out variants that were set up in India as complete assembly lines, but they were not exactly the best variants. Features such as disc brakes and cast wheels were left out for the ‘cheap’ Indian market. For example, the Yamaha RX100 was a lesser version of the main Japanese model, the RSX100 which even had more HP than the Indian variant.

Meanwhile, the bigger engine size market had floundered in the background as the twin-cylinder and twin-carb Yamaha RD 350 was just too complicated for Indian markets and the twin cylinder, single-carb Yezdi 350 was just too dated in looks and tech. Similarly, the Enfield Fury that was a variant of the Zundapp KS175 made in India by Enfield had a chronic stalling problem that made it a hot potato.

So an entire generation of Indians were more than happy to move over to puny 100cc machines which sold like anything. Soon the manufacturers started spinning off variations on the same bike platform in the Indian market. I remember that at one point Ind-Suzuki (later renamed TVS-Suzuki) had 9 different versions of the same damn bike. Everything from a low-cost one without battery and indicators (Yes dear, indicators were made mandatory on bikes much later in India) to the AX100R that was the same bike with a chrome rear mudguard cosmetic change. Prices of the bikes also started inching upwards towards Rs 20,000 and more. The venerable Yezdi went bankrupt (twice!) and shut shop in the mid-90s as a result of not finding a modern technology partner. In fact, motorcycle prices kept moving upwards.

In the bigger bikes, Enfield managed to wangle an export deal to the UK, with their Machismo model. Back then, they just had the standard version Bullet and a gilded chrome tank variant of a Machismo that was being exported. Hero Honda was one of the first companies to realize that in the backward, rural (in other words, ignorant) markets, each new sticker job was mistaken for a new model by my fellow countrymen. So began the body panel cosmetic changes trend and their Sleek and Splendour variants offered little change in the basic engine and platform, but with a whole lot more plastic added to the seat and tank regions to make the bike look ostentiously bigger.

In the mid-1990s, the blokes at Enfield took notice of the fact that the North-Indian market was fixated with Harley Davidson and bullets were being outfitted with high ape-hanger handlebars by owners. They came up with the cruiser styled Lightening and subsequently, the Thunderbird. Personally, I could never understand why North India wanted to take a bike which was essentially a WW2 period trials scrambler and make it into a chopper, or what was so bloody fantastic about Harley Davidson which were not even selling well in America and are known for their under-powered, fat-ass, and generally boring engines. But America protects its own with incredibly high tariff rates on all imported Japanese bikes and this undoubtedly kept Harley going as much as the Harley Owners Group (HOG).

Funny thing is, the new Enfield bikes were priced much higher than any others in the market. The company revamped its image from a rural workhorse into a bike hired by 90% of foreign tourists in India. Selling in the 70,000 range, Enfield was among the first manufacturers to push the price envelope higher than ever. They touted (and still do) their bikes as lifestyle bikes and the presence of other similarly styled bikes like the hardly worth mentioning Yamaha Enticer and the actually ugly Kawasaki-Bajaj Eliminator helped the industry and media to start using the phrase ‘Cruiser’ to describe these bikes.

However, the quest for power and bigger engines had been clearly forgotten. Guys like me who find the RD 350 and the Yezdi Roadking to be a fix for our speed kicks had nothing to look forward to. Watching the new Bajaj Pulsar inch its way up the cubic capacity ladder with first the 150cc, then the 175cc, the 200cc and the 220cc engine was just hilarious. More so because my Roadking still outperforms the 220 Pulsar in top speed and pick-up. The only other 250cc bike was the Hero Honda Karisma. Which was another plodder of a under-powered variant selected for India and sold for around 70,000.

Just what were we Indians getting for our money? Those uncles who were looking to upgrade from their scooters just wouldn’t touch anything else outside of their limited 100-150cc imaginations while we rebel brats were waiting for a decent 250cc multi-cylinder bike. The Comet and Aquila imports were also priced well over a lakh. For a brief while, Yamaha was supposed to release a 250cc Fazer but they ended up giving us the FZ 150cc again, gilded with a monoshock rear and a tubeless rear tyre. So much for the adulation of magazines such as Bike India that projected a lot of hopes that Yamaha would introduce a proper sports bike and carry on it’s Indian legacy that began with the mighty RD 350. Their R15 is also just a 150cc bike when all is said, done and parked in the garage.

Now, the pumpkins at Mahindra have launched the Mojo and frankly it dont work for me. The Mojo’s 300cc power plant puts out 26 bhp and I am supposed to be impressed enough to fork out 1.70 lakh for features such as disc brakes on all wheels, LED lamps, inverted front forks, fuel injection and liquid cooling. The Mojo is just 6 bhp more than the Enfield which gets 19.8 out of its ancient air-cooled 350cc mill. For a top speed in the region of 150 kmph, that’s not exactly mindblowing, is it? Till the idiots in the Indian automobile industry can get their price and value points right and give us sensible suggestions based on sensible technological assumptions instead of just featuritis (that's when they tout the features of the thing as if it was just invented and you are the first recipient), I would rather spend my time hanging around Akshay whose Yezdi Café Racer project is just as likely to cover 160 kmph. After all on Yezdi's frills like numberplates, speedometers, mudguards, mirrors, tail lamps and even seats have been known to drop off. So who needs the glitz? Not me, that's for sure. My personal mojo still works after all these years and I am still crazy after all these years.

Cafe Rage

2010-10-02T14:15:00.001+05:30

2010-09-28T23:21:00.000+05:30

http://solifdesign.blogspot.com/
"period"

http://solifdesign.blogspot.com/

2010-09-20T02:08:00.000+05:30

No Matter What!

http://romanticrider.blogspot.com/

Meet James Corbett

2010-09-11T19:33:00.000+05:30

fabricated from junked 1950 and 1960 automobile parts by a gentleman in Argentina . James Corbett uses remnants of old cars of the 1950s and ' 60s. This is the man that converts parts of cars scrapped sculptures worth thousands of dollars. The Australian artist James Corbett, 46-year-old creates these sculptures using salvaged old car parts. One of the pieces, a ram of spark plug, sold for a $23,000. Corbett lives in Ningi , Queensland , Australia with his wife Jodie. The sculptor is exhibiting his work in the John Davies Gallery in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire , England , until December 19.

No Wildlife Conservation in 'On Any Sunday' the Biking Movie

2010-07-12T22:27:00.000+05:30

Got my hands on On Any Sunday - the classic documentary film on  motorcycle racing. Deleted it halfway in anger at a popular rider who  was grinning when he described how he was slipping and sliding on  crushed turtle bodies which were all over the path. Definitely not my  style. (Gentlemen ride Yezdis!)

Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Jawa CZ 353s Bathroom Scenes with motorcycle

2010-07-04T21:29:00.000+05:30

Just took a shower with the bathroom door open, and in the darkened bedroom, I could see a Jawa, nay, a CZ 353 two stroke, Czechoslovakian motorcycle made in 1955, twenty feet away. I don't know by what gauge we Yezdi and Jawa fanatics are supposed to measure our metier by but I would like to include taking a shower with the bathroom door open and staring at your 57 year old Jawa motorcycle. Of course, this is the 'naked truth.' I didn't abandon my soap to walk over and caress it. [It's okay to love your Jawa, but it's not okay to LOVE your Jawa- My second thoughts 'pun-quote' in the back of my head] Not like I haven't seen anything a Jawa CZ 353 250cc two stroke 1955 motorcycle [Shameless SEO attempt - My Second thoughts are acting Ed!] has to hide! All credit to my wife who did not object. Not that I am leaving oil stains on the floor either!

Actually, there was this one droplet that had escaped the engine and was tapering off the frame at this one point. Well, I stared at that droplet for two weeks and it did not fall. It swelled in volume and by that time I had gauged its landing point and had a plastic bottle cap positioned juustt right!

Why this deeply autobiographical *and graphical post is another story, but I just wondered about bikers out there who have performed their morning or whatever ebullition out on the highway, in the open, by their bike in the midst of a desolate expanse. Here I am, eccentric (by most means and testimonies) Yezdi lover, fighting a loosing battle against time, handicapped by budget, not attention. If that makes any sense...I prefer to wear out my bikes on a daily basis, commuting to work and doing the local shopping rounds. I am, literally, a guy who has this rebellious streak that makes me go automatically against what my fellow hobbyists might be getting their low-brow jollies from. Anyway, I choose inner space. Instead of wearing my engine out on a 800 km round trip back from Ladakh, I prefer to just toodle to work and back.

Frankly, I know the Yezdi is the ultimate highway bike, but I had a Tamil mom...{TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEAK]

Hubless motorcycles, bycycles, wheelchairs!

2010-05-25T14:10:00.000+05:30

My bike sounds like a cutlery shop shutting up at the end of the day's business.

Still waiting for the wunderkind, I've been looking online for interesting things and found that they are still re-inventing the wheel. Check out the hubless wheels used on a chopper at
http://weblogsurf.com/hubless-wheels/

“Zero Bike” is designed by Makota Makita and Hiroshi Tsuzaki from Tokyo, Japan and uses magnets to drive the wheel. More hubless stories can be found at:
http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=21102&start=0

Then I found that there are hubless wheelchairs as well!

Finally, a damn good video on YouTube on the hubless tech that went into the motorcycle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHoHAmrEbrk&feature=player_embedded

Jawa CZ Factory Video (Not Mysore!)

2010-05-03T17:49:00.000+05:30

http://wrx-sti-blog.ru/view.php?video=j6_ey62Zcss&feature=youtube_gdata&title=jawa+cz+175

Yezdi Roadking Tyre Puncture Megadeth A Tour Le Monde baby diapers Indian Road warrior daily workday commute

2010-04-21T12:38:00.000+05:30

Last night, when I stepped out of office, I found the front tyre flat. A five minute examination by the light of a cellphone flashlight and I found no nail. This was around eight in the evening and I set off pushing her to the roadside puncture guy on the main road. The place had closed for the day but luckily I spotted another shilloute of tyre tubes hung on a wooden pole across the road.

This guy was willing. Only trouble was that the front wheel refused to come down after removing the axle and loosening the axle pinch bolt (size 13). I had jammed a thin strip of hacksaw blade between the brake drum channels on the right fork lower end. This was to stop the juddering during braking (on Akshay's suggestion). Finally, the repair guy said he could fix the tube without removing the wheel. I had to get Palash (my Ops manager) to come down to the main road and lend me thirty bucks since I was running on typically broke Yezdi charmed life mojo. (Shucks!!!)

The hole on the tube was on the inner side, towards the spokes on the rim. It was patched, the tube eased back and I rode home wondering halfway if the front end was acting slightly odd. Today morning, I finish my chores and take the dog for a walk detouring due to good sense to check the state of the tyre. Lo and behold, it was flat again. Well the quickest way out was to swap wheels, since I figured that opeining two bolts was easier than removing and carrying the wheel to the neighbourhood puncture repair shop or even pushing the bike till there.

Took me an hour, after which the wife wanted me to fetch a pack of baby diapers from the market. Me so wondering how my life includes Yezdi Roadking wheel swaps and diaper shopping all in one morning.

Well, they are all worth it and I rode to office with those feelings of odd handling still lingering. The bike seemed to pull to the right a bit and countersteering required a little more pressure on the right side handle bar grips than the left. I also got the vague feeling that the front end was not too tight in corners. Has to be the contignously leaking front forks adding to the odd clunk on negotiating bumps on the road. Another strange sound from the chain just when I open the throttle also prays on my mind. We are, thankfully as always, still rolling and here I am at work, listening to Megadeth's 'A Tour Le Monde' on my headphones and writing this post. On my way back, I have to buy some fruits for my baby girl. Such is the workday commute life of an Indian road warrior.

Oh yes, this is my baby girl:

My Sunday Feeling Is Coming On Over Me....

2010-04-12T12:28:00.001+05:30

Thank Sunday for the opportunity to think in terms of pending maintenance and meandering through the decision to go get the bike done or to do it myself before deciding to head out and do my own fixes.

Spoke to Akshay before going out to buy ball bearings for the steering head. He told me they are 6mm bearings and go in the Rajdoot and Bullet too. He also advised me to go from Castrol Shock Absorber Oil to SAE 90 grade gearbox oil as wear and tear in the front fork piston plunger rods (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you obviously need a mechanic to take care of your bike!) would have increased clearances.

So there was I on a bike with a cloth sling bag out shopping for parts. Stopped by a friendly spare parts shop (Lakshmi Auto Spares, Sector 9, Noida) and picked up bearings, a cheap bottle of gear box oil by the Waxpol wax polish manufacturer who seems to have added to their product range, strangely named 'Licious', a half litre bottle of Castrol GTX too and a bottle of liquid silicone wax polish.

Went to the hardware shop and asked for a 42 size spanner for the steering head nut. I have a 32-38 spanner that fits the top nuts of the front shock absorbers (and the chain sprocket nut) but no 42. The shop guy measured the nut with his vernier calipers and pronounced the size to truly be 42 but could not give me a spanner since they apparently do not make them in size 42.

Well, i knew it was back to the pipe wrench for the job and moved on to pick up a couple of cans of beer (with the wife's permission of course) and some tomatoes and onions. Stopped on the way to find out if I could get the two litre cold drink bottle filled with kerosene oil for cleaning the greasy underparts of the bike but the shop had shut down. There I was, negotiating a crowded bazaar street with jams and a bag full of stuff and a plastic bag of tomatoes in my lap when I hear (and see) a man holler at me. I look in the mirror and he's trotting to catch up with me in the traffic. He comes abreast and asks me if I knew of any Yezdi for sale. All this in Hindi, of course.

So I tell him I have a CL2 that I need to get my engine back and fit on that I was interested in selling. He's checking my bike out meanwhile and telling me how a bike like the Yezdi would be very good back in his village for delivering milk. I ask him to write his phone number down so I could call him when I am willing to sell but he tells me he's interested in the very bike I am riding. If I could quote him a price standing there for the Roadking, he wants it. I tell him with a polite smile that I am actually not selling Yezdis but buying them and add that I own five and ride off.

Bloody dork, who does he think will sell him the horse from under them?!?!? Back home to remove the steering nut with the pipe wrench. Had to take the handlebars off first. Then it's tap-tap on the inner nut with a wheel spoke and a hammer. That went on for almost three hours. Y'see, I like working slow and take my time between numerous breaks but the tapping the nut around procedure was going like extremely slow.

I grew tired in the process and even hit my thumb full-square with the hammer accidentally. I knew then I had to pause and take stock of the situation. Besides the vibrations from the tapping had made the hand I held the spoke with, numb as hell. Then I noticed that the threads on the steering head rod were slightly squished together and things looked bad. I broke for lunch and caught a half-an-hour nap then. It was around four p.m.

So then I decide to stop and tighten the steering back. I fill the front rods with bout 120ml of SAE90 oil, change a cracked silencer rubber, open the head and clean away the carbon on the head and the top of the piston, wash, wax and wheel align the beast.

In the process I manage to get my thumb hit with the hammer again and let a slipped hacksaw blade to accidentally hack in the same area. Repeated washing made the skin of my hands dry and a blister under a callous was hurting too. I took a bath and hung around my baby who I was missing all day, even though I was right there at home working on the bike.

As a final note, here's a pic of Akshay and friends on the road somewhere in South India. It worked, b-t-w, the SAE 90 made the front end feel firm again.

Byrd Blues

2010-03-24T12:27:00.000+05:30

Still pushing the bike to work and back without replacing the steering head bearings. The front end is loading lighter into turns and I am sitting further back on the straight flat seat than before to deal with any sudden twitches that might manifest on turns. The front shock legs are also covered with oil and dust as the fork seals are letting oil out. The front edges of the tank are also sprayed with a slight mist of oil from the fork air bleed nuts on the top of the fork legs.

The chain has started making clacking noises when I open up the throttle a little above cruising speeds. The power increase is making the chain slap sideways on the sprocket a little. Yes, the sprocket teeth are 'hooking' (wear and tear making the teeth pointy like) but when I opened up the front magneto cover, I discovered (as it happens ever so often) that my clutch cable was hanging on by just a couple of threads. So I prodded the chain a few times to assess the freeplay in it and replaced the clutch cable.

Another thing I noticed was that even in neutral, when I turned the back wheel, the magneto moves round as well. Not continous, just for a couple of turns. Which means that the clutch plates or the gearshift is not behaving effectively enough. Also for the last six months, the kick action has been getting stuck at the top of the kicking movement. When it happens, I have to put the kick back in gear position, shift gears a couple of times, pull the lever back up and kick.
The kick quadrant needs the top two teeth which are worn down to be ground off as they are not meshing with the clutch sprocket too well.

Worries....obviously I can't afford to fix her right now!

Baby Stuff!

2010-03-19T01:04:00.000+05:30

Baby Stuff!

2010-03-19T01:01:00.000+05:30

Baby Stuff

2010-03-19T00:57:00.000+05:30

2010-03-17T16:32:00.000+05:30

Yezdi Jawa Art

2010-03-08T17:21:00.000+05:30

Check out my profile at Art Slant....

http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/96308-arunesh-dogra

Feels nice to be Yezdi Jawa Artist, even though no one seems interested.

Sideslip Redemption

2010-03-08T14:40:00.001+05:30

It happened this morning. As I took a turn, banking about 20 degrees into it, around slightly after mid-turn, I applied a little countersteer (you know, when you stiffen the elbow you would actually bend into the turn and play with little weight adjustments on the outer ends of the handlebars) and found the steering head twist just a little bit. Enough for me to pull out of the turn slightly and straighten the angle at which the bike was leaning in to avoid the soft shift of wieght. If I didn't, I would be risking falling.

It's not surprising, considering that I am three weeks overdue for a steering head bearing change. It started with a slight clunk sound while the handle was turned and the bike still on mainstand. Take the bike off the stand and turn the handle this way and that, and in the middle of the movement when the handle is pointing straight ahead, there was this little bump and grind in the movement (play). The fact that it was more pronounced when the bike was taken off stand pointed at the lower circle (correct term: bearing 'race' because its like a channel in which the bearings -Balls- race around) of bearings had a broken or 'cut' bearing in it.

If the bump was more pronounced when the bike has it's weight off the front wheel, it would have pointed at the upper ring of ball bearings, since it is this one that takes most of the weight of the wheel suspended off the ground.

Well, next month we shall have to cross the dreaded desert of maintainance with low liquid reserves so I am hoping the old camel has a few more trips under it's hump. Till then, will have to take it easy on turns.

2010-02-18T19:42:00.000+05:30

Driving Nowhere (Lyrics) - Paul Weller

Driving nowhere - going no place
I'm just drifting - I've got low faith
I'm just waiting for a tide
To take me nowhere - along for a ride
Pleasure sifting - can you keep it
And as I'm drifting - it's hard to feel it
I feel I'm floating in a time
Driving nowhere - along for a ride

I've nowhere to be - only leave some miles behind
And within me I see there's places I've yet to find

Driving nowhere - going no place
I get restless - I'm still curious
And I'm just waiting for a tide
To take me nowhere - along for a ride
I'm driving nowhere

Wish You Were Here!

2010-02-18T19:24:00.000+05:30

13 more days, Mom and you would have seen your 70th birthday.

Veena Dogra a.k.a. Beryl Bayross (19 February 1940- 2 February 2010)

Motorcycle Motivational Posters

2010-02-02T15:09:00.001+05:30

Motorcycle Motivational Posters

2010-02-02T15:08:00.000+05:30

Motorcycle Motivational Posters

2010-02-02T15:03:00.001+05:30

Motorcycle Motivational Posters

2010-02-02T15:01:00.001+05:30

Motorcyclist Motiavtional Posters

2010-02-02T14:57:00.000+05:30

Motorcycling Motiovators

2010-02-02T14:54:00.001+05:30

Why is a motorcycle referred to as She?

2010-01-31T12:28:00.000+05:30

She's beautiful.

With her flat pleated skirts spreading from a fluted waist in front, ending in steel or sober black anklet shock absorber leg warmers. Slim ankled sixteen inch wheels that can gather momentum after spending a couple of seconds gathering her skirts. Up front, similar arm warmer mudguard on her fork shock absorbers. Also twin breast curves from exhaust bent pipes curve under the colourful ribbons on her 'tank' bodice and a back that just loves to get into it. From her seat, a semi-modern trail of a mudguard completes the ensemble from the rear. A warm friendly headlight in her face.....

......Omigawd! She actually looks like Cyndi Lauper.

I miss the language used by older motorcycle enthusiasts (before the word 'awesome' was discovered)

2010-01-28T14:34:00.001+05:30

Zen and the Art of Home Repairs

2010-01-28T14:27:00.000+05:30

Wolf Whistles from Motorcyclists in the Past

2010-01-28T14:25:00.000+05:30

Your grandma was a biker but your mommy loves cars

2010-01-28T14:24:00.000+05:30

this was written during the Mathilda years, my first Yezdi

2010-01-26T12:45:00.000+05:30

In every oil leak
Is the future I seek
Bought it from an army guy for 22
How do I look and what do I do?
To put it together may I ask
Fix the engine first
I guess I have to leave
The looks for last

Where do I begin?
When will it end?
Ow! This bike is driving
Me around the bend

In every oil leak
Is the future I seek
A fin a day
Keeps sin away
And I clean my bike
When tempers fray
Just get us there and back.

2010-01-22T22:56:00.000+05:30

Hello! My name is Salvatore Aiello, I live in London and this site is a personal record of my ongoing project for the designing and construction of a DIY home built turbocharger based jet engine/gas turbine/turbojet and using this engine in a motorcycle type vehicle. I'm a keen motorcyclist so this type of vehicle was a natural choice for me! ;o) There are many personal websites ( see links below ) and a few groups devoted to building these engines where the theory and practice of how these fiery beasts work is well documented. I've always been interested in engines and things mechanical and like many others have dreamed of building my own jet engine but always thought it to be an impossibly difficult task.

Once upon a foggy night

2010-01-22T12:55:00.001+05:30

Fog is brilliant, it cuts shafts of life and sends them back at you. It's so strange to see light coming out of houses when normally you'd never see such. The accusing finger of your headlight helplessly stabs at the drifting smoke moster. Godzilla gunk gives you greed for grameen garma-garam chai. The seat is damp before you and dry behind you. It's your upright torso that picks up all the moisture and by the tyme you are home, you have to take of things and put them on the clothes-line to dry.

Navigation along the way happens mostlly by memory, but strangely I don't need to focus twice as much on traffic and idiots. The amount of caution doesn't double or triple but just goes up a fourth or so.

On a foggye nacht

2010-01-22T12:54:00.000+05:30

On A Foggy Night - Tom Waits

on a foggy night, an abandoned road
in a twilight mirror mirage
with no indication of a service station
or an all night garage, I was misinformed
I was misdirected cause the interchange
never intersected leaving me marooned
beneath a bloodshot moon
all upon a foggy night, on a foggy night
an abandoned road, in a blurred brocade
collage, is that a road motel?
I can't really tell, is that what you
might call some kind of a vacancy lodge
cause there's no consolation, what
kind of situation to be aimlessly skewed
amidst a powder blue?
no tell tail light clue
spun like the spell you spin
this precarious pandemonium
I'm stranded, all upon a foggy night
all upon a foggy night
on a foggy night

2010-01-09T12:34:00.001+05:30

Bizon Your Horizons

2010-01-09T12:33:00.001+05:30

Learner's License Made Easy By CZ Motorcycles

2010-01-09T12:30:00.000+05:30

Dark Star Kustoms - Jawa Custom Chopper

2010-01-04T16:23:00.000+05:30

http://www.darkstarkustoms.nl/projects/jawa.php

Previously seen at the Big Twin Bikeshow in The Netherlands and featured in Big Twin Magazine. This little bastard is probably one of the very few chopped Jawa's around.

This bike is for sale! Comes with Dutch title (1974 JAWA) | Price € 4000,-

2009-12-31T23:20:00.001+05:30

Try the Los Pericos version on Retatta Mondatta, a reggae tribute album to The Police, not surprising since the Police's Regatta De Blanc album title became the universal handle for 'white reggae' in the UK. Which is also why I hate Them Clones; for flattening out all of StewarCopeland's flips and twists-of-the-wrist inflections and building a rep on a flattened, de-gassed, LPG version on the IITs circuit and releasing an album with an abomination of a album pic with their ACTUAL joint family on it. A single called 'It's My Life' is doing the rounds influencing pubescent kids that they have a right too. Frankly, the only thing that is/was cool about the band was the NE lead guitar player who pulled off U2 long enough for the band to win it's rep.

Sorry about that triade; from great reggae to bad indian cover junk to the good reggae for the evening that I cannot help listening to every winter evening: Coming In From The Cold - from Bob Marley's Exodus.

2009-12-31T23:17:00.001+05:30

Written by Stewart Copeland

I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws 'til I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring

I could make a mark if it weren't so dark
I could be replaced by any bright spark
But darkness makes me fumble
For a key, to a door that's wide open

Instead of worrying about my clothes
I could be someone that nobody knows
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring

I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws 'til I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring

Feel like cryin?

2009-12-25T01:18:00.000+05:30

This Wheel's On Fire - Bob Dylan

If your mem'ry serves you well
We were goin' to meet again and wait
So I'm goin' to unpack all my things
And sit before it gets too late
No man alive will come to you
With another tale to tell
And you know that we shall meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode !

If your mem'ry serves you well
I was goin' to confiscate your lace
And wrap it up in a sailor's knot
And hide it in your case
If I knew for sure that it was yours ...
But it was oh so hard to tell
And you knew that we would meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode !

If your mem'ry serves you well
You'll remember you're the one
That called on me to call on them
To get you your favors done
And after ev'ry plan had failed
And there was nothing more to tell
You knew that we would meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode !

Forever Value

2009-12-25T00:10:00.000+05:30

Keep me rolling

Rolling on down them hills

Just keep me rolling

I’ve had my share of thrills

I don’t care who you are

Just go ahead or stay away

We don’t race strangers

I don’t care what you say

So go ahead and stare

Me and my bike, we’re outta time,

Moving memories in her engine.

Takes more than your motoring maturity

To understand that previous line

Meanwhile here’s a smile

Obviously you recognize the bike

Maybe your daddy had one

I simply earned mine

It didn’t stop me

Becoming a collector

Of a specific time

Average age increasing

Especially those of my kind

Well kid, I stick my chest out

In pride but all I can see

Is you sticking out your behind

Take it away; take it away

That’s all I can say.

Let’s meet in another five years

And count your parts that rot away

New things are hardly built to last

Unless you know the questions to ask

Another Yezdi will always come my way

But I’d keep just one and buy a Jawa any day

Look! I gotta admit it

I’ve got decades of my life

Now behind this handlebar

My pillion even became my wife

But everyone wants me to buy a car

Here we go again, staring ahead

Through dust, traffic and rain

I will always defend what I love

Life is Gods maintenance bill

For the heart’s an engine we cannot kill

If you love your bike, it’ll last

Don’t forget; headlights and brakes don’t last

Not my will but Yezdi’s be done

Now excuse me, I gotta run.

YEZDIS BRING BABIES

2009-12-25T00:07:00.000+05:30

Are you under the impression that storks bring babies?

Well boys, it’s Yezdis that bring babies; just as they bring the babes. Well, not really for the second part, but the babies bit is absolutely true. Something about reciprocating mass (piston) and the healthy grinding vibration under the dual seat don’t just affect the proverbial ‘seat-of-the-pants’ but also the occiput of exotic feelings – just like playground swings gave you a tingle in your crotch when you were a wee little kid. Akin to the same tingly crotch feeling while watching Helen in Sholay for the first time in your pre-teen pubescence.

Frugal Musings

2009-12-24T13:06:00.000+05:30

6th Oct

Don't get me wrong, it's not to say that this 250cc two-stroke bike isn't frugal. It's quite possible to get consumption figures in the mid-40s. Trouble is, if you are on a Roadking, there is the urge to let her rip and show the world that you can be gone from their stares.

To get mileage, you got to ride with the same conscious awareness like you need while riding in mud. You have to keep everything steady. A spurt of acceleration or a (slightly) sudden brake application can make the engine ask for more fuel. Similarly, you have to keep the increments in speed through the gears meagre. The idea is to arrive at your bike’s minimum cruising speed in top gear.

By minimum cruising speed, I mean the lowest speed at which you can go in fourth gear without the chain movement showing signs of ‘snatching’ or the engine faltering because you are not giving it enough juice to over come the load; or if your engine four-strokes (misses every alternate beat --- usually caused by way-too-lean fuel mixtures and ignition timing set to match the stingy fuel setting on the carb), or if your whirring and spinning engine sounds get too noisy. If the latter sounds are from the rotating parts of the engine such as, bearings, gears and the primary or clutch chain that causes the odd clack or click sounds that can be heard from time to time. Another phantom sound is when the bore gets slightly oval with wear and the piston skirt slaps the cylinder wall on either end of the stroke.

In short, you go as slow as possible a speed that your bike is comfortable at. My current Roadking (currently: -) settles at about 42kph. After which, I can bring it down by dragging the brakes slightly or steadily backing off the throttle over a period of time/distance. Although these bikes sound happier on a slightly rising note than when you reduce throttle and the motor fires easier. You can also cheat by rising the throttle slightly while applying slight drag with braking pressure.

Thanks to Uncle Somender Singh’s blessings, my Roadking will go all the way down to 26kph in fourth gear without knocking (signs of irregular firing just before the engine stalls, unless you drop a gear and pick it up. Different from chain snatch which has nothing to do with the engine’s ignition limits). Chain snatch for my grey RK usually begins at around 30% below my bike’s normal cruising speed. For other Yezdi’s, it varies. The Roadking (RK) is different from other Yezdi models, I’m sure. It has a lighter crank, flywheel and a larger bore than stroke (an ‘over-square’ engine motor derived from the Jawa motocross bikes) that’s a little closer to the Judas Priest – Freewheel Burning madness. The heaviest engine of the lot, that of the Model-B I had was more likely to keep quiet as it put it’s shoulder to the load (Sisyphus-like) before stalling.

Strange philosophical thoughts occur on Yezdis and Jawas, but before you can totally translate these principles to general and modern life, let me caution you that certain things are lost in the translation. Just because the people you love can see you love your bike, don’t expect them to see why!

2009-12-24T12:54:00.000+05:30

5 Oct.

It's a scary life when you think of a succession of engines bumping through it.

Even the old familiar bike, if ridden long enough will end up like the knife whose blade was changed and the handle replaced. Still the same knife (Yezdi), eh?

Nothing's lost forever; nothing else remains, nothing else matters; but your repainted tank, changed seat, over sized piston, replacement handlebars — you name it and if you ride long enough, it wouldn't be the same. Or is it?

Horses and humans aren't like that. The parts of a bike that have identification numbers stamped on them are usually considered the bits least likely to change.

So everything that remains while everything else is replaced must be the 'essence' of our bikes, right?

Wha's scary to me is the thought of being blown away by the strong breezes of this motor madness like a leaf dancing through time and shifting gears against a solid metal canvas. Constantly acting, reacting and yakking all over and around this bike. Constantly transfixed between the horns of the dilema. The magnetic poles of the bike's hold on you or your hold ("not willing to letting go") on your bike. Store it, sell it, suffer it or screw it.

I guess it's scary for me since I do not memorize techy stuff or maintain my bikes. I just imagine my way through. Till some day the bikes fall silent, I'm sure I'm getting ample opportunity to saturate my sensibilities. Finally I guess I'll...

Roadking Ramblings

2009-12-24T12:46:00.000+05:30

It is important to be able to inventorize your bike. Sitting, sitting (as we Indians say), you should be able to go through your bike, part-by-part, in your mind.

It takes an effort and a dedicated will to keep your mind inside the workings of an almost antiquarian, easily-gas-guzzling, minor-white-elephant maintainence demanding motorcycle.

snapshots

2009-12-24T12:32:00.000+05:30

Floating through the house weeks a go, looking for space between a wife, dog, baby and mom divided over my two-bed pad, I end up in the balcony amidst moskitoes, tools parts and flower pots.

Had a nice ride out to work in the moring. Oil pretty much covering the rear halves of the front fork down tubes. Plus the spray under the front of the tank from the air bleed nuts. Of course, the oil shall not leak evenly and when I brake the front wheel, it twists the handlebars about a couple of inches to the left.

Speaking of brakes, I also changed shoes and tightened the steering head nut, the thing seems to need tightening every 500 km. Another bugbear that appeared was the tiny ball bearing between the clutch push rods that needed replacing.

2009-11-11T22:52:00.000+05:30

In what can be sleepily described as an SEO eggerzise, i add all my bookmarks for all to see. Well, blame me for ghosting my profile or gleaming the cube, i gotta do what I can to rid my iron curtain hangs.

biker blogs

2009-11-11T22:43:00.000+05:30

name="ProgId" content="Word.Document">

Forty Years On Two Wheels

Angi the Biker Chick

Motorcycle Diaries

Joy Dutta - Motorcycling

pitted chrome

Life And Motorcycle

Blogger: User Profile: Ton Up

1970-72 YAMAHA R5

Butterfly Effect: yezdi boys POST DIS DAX

In case you thot bikers were 1 dimensional...

2009-11-11T22:41:00.000+05:30

...here is another dimension to me:

electro

Audio and Loudspeaker Links
Audio Asylum -- Audio Reviews, Audiophile Forums and Stereo Reviews
Audio.ManualsOnline.com - We found it so you don't have to!
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Starc audio Electronics-High end audio: manufacturer of valve amplifiers high end speakers and turntables,based in bangalore. Bangalore authorised dealer for dynaudio,primare,plinius,clearaudio,canton,vidabox,screen research,dream vision,music hall,nordost,DVDO
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Lyrita tube amplifier review: Lyrita tube amplifier review - Tricolour Prism
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BE3 Amplifiers - INDIA
Make - A good starter guide to vacuum tubes
Lindsay: Radio Experimenter 1

Check Out Uncle Jay Leno's Restoration Tech

2009-10-23T15:55:00.000+05:30

Jay Leno’s 3D Printer Replaces Rusty Old Parts

Jay Leno has a lot of old cars with a lot of obsolete parts. When he needs to replace these parts, he skips the error-prone machinist and goes to his rapid prototyping 3D printer. Simply scan, print and repeat.

"So, rather than have a machinist try to copy the heater and then build it, we decided to redesign the original using our NextEngine 3D scanner and Dimension 3D printer. These incredible devices allow you to make the form you need to create almost any part. The scanner can measure about 50,000 points per second at a density of 160,000 dots per inch (dpi) to create a highly detailed digital model."

More at: http:
//www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/jay_leno_garage/4320759.html?page=1

2009-10-23T15:14:00.000+05:30

'Been down so long, it seems like up to me' seems to be the refrain over my CL2, I gave the crankcases for facing three weeks ago and have to pick it up on Sunday. Then will begin a phase of endless fittings and fiddlings, copious cleanings and the debacle of the rusty tank still hanging.

Meanwhile old grey has had continous patches of oil on the front of the tank, were the weary front forks are ejecting them as a fine collection. Last weekend, she would not stop. So I switched to the black and went to work. On the way back, the black stopped. Twenty minutes of kicking, turning fuel on and off and finally pushing her got me back home.

The black - i thought - had a faulty switch. The headlamp was just too bloody dim. I suspected a short circuit in the h/bar switch. So I changed it and fiddled a bit with the wires. I had to get a 6V RX100 switch since there were no 12V ones at the parts shop. This is the reason the colors of the wires were all different and I had to sit down for an hour and painstakingly match the wires from where they were on the old switch and where they went, with the wires on the new switch. Disconnect them one by one after tracing and rejoin the wire from the new switch. By now, you must have figured out that I am not too hot on Yezdi Electricals.

In the background, the grey had not started when I left the fuel on overnight. Since it has a twin-float Pacco P47-Y carb, there is a needle jet that blocks the fuel feed. I washed out the carb, thinking that dirt happens to bikes which commute. I put it back on and the bike still would not start. So I switched carbs with my CL2 which came to me with a brand new P47Y carb. She started. Meanwhile the reason for the black bike stopping also came to light when I took her carb off. There was the old rust in the float bowl of the carb. The black runs on a Jikov and I did go through six months of hell two years back when I set out to ride the bike. The tank is rusty from inside and I know there is no real solution (besides the Yamaha emulsion kit which I have already tried - keep your bolts and diesel shaking methods to yourself, please. Been there, did that too.) to keep a tank going except to use the bike regularly.

Anyway, two carbs got cleaned and one switch replaced. The replacement switch did not make a difference, However while fiddling with the wires, I found some combination that made the headlamp brighter and the indicators worked - except they don't blink.

The whole bloody thing took two days of hard labour fuelled by beer to counteract the backache. The thing with bikes which won't start is that you have to kick them yourselves. I know why mechanics love to ask the owner to kick start the bike while they check the points or the plug. It's hard work. Anyway, the grey ran, except showing signs of tuning loss due to the carb change.

Not too bad, since I expect every old Yezdi to react to surgery and take a little time to recover.
However, the Pacco still floods. Now what remains is to check the float - which i have done. Shook it and I can hear a slight clkng sound which could be water inside. Immersing it underwater shows no air bubbles. I will have to get a new float and try it and see if the flooding stops.

Things have been fine since then. Just yesterday I saw a bike about one red light ahead which was definitely a speedster. I worked my roadking and caught up at the second red light. It was a low, compact (smallish) grey Honda CBR Fireblade. When the light turned green, I found an opening and took off smartly. Well, I do have a little experience, just enough to know where traffic gaps open up, although I do not rip in traffic. I like to get ahead of others so that I don't have to use the brakes. We all know how Yezdi Brakes can be!

Sure enough, just as I knew was going to happen; the CBR dude obviously had to react to my take off and about a minute later, he zipped by me with that characterstic high-rpm four stroke whine. I was hoping to catch up with him at the next light. Just to lean over to tell him, 'Couldn't resist, eh?' But I didn't see him again.

2009-10-15T15:43:00.000+05:30

It is important to be able to inventorize your bike. Sitting-sitting (as we Indians say) you should be able to go through your bike part-by-part in your mind.

It takes an effort and a dedicated will to keep your mind inside the workings of an almost ancient easy-gas-guzzler and minor white elephant maintenance demanding...

2009-10-15T15:37:00.000+05:30

Floating though the house looking for space between wife, dog, baby, mom divided over a two-bedroom pad, I end up in the balcony amidst mosquitoes, tools, parts and flowerpots. Had a nice ride out to work in the morning. Oil pretty much covering the rear halves of the front fork down tubes. plus the spray under the front of the tank from the air bleed nuts. Of course, fork oil never leaks equally in both legs and every time I brake the front wheel, the handlebars shrug a couple of inches to the left.

Speaking of brakes, I need new shoes and I cried till I saw a bike with no brakes. Along with the mandatory tightening of the steering head nut and grinding down the first two butchered teeth of the kick start quadrant, tightening stand springs and replacing the ball bearing between the two halves of the clutch rod with a fresh one. Plus I took my amp (my current main amp is a 1980s Aiwa Mini Compo) to get the Mad Professor (Sanjay Magee) to look at. The inverter battery drained and my amp power switch blew.

2009-09-13T12:54:00.001+05:30

2009-09-13T12:24:00.000+05:30

Yezdi Roadking Porting Map
heart work by Subramanyam N. of Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

2009-09-13T12:04:00.000+05:30

CL2 Gearbox Pix 4 Akshay - in reverse order, sigh

2009-09-13T11:53:00.000+05:30

4 Akshay!

2009-09-13T11:45:00.000+05:30

4 Akshay!

2009-09-13T11:39:00.000+05:30

2009-09-13T11:37:00.000+05:30

2009-09-13T11:26:00.000+05:30

He probably also rides a Yezdi motorcyle and smokes...

2009-09-02T19:15:00.000+05:30

Goan for the Jocular

by Cecil Pinto

--------------------

The humour column above appeared in Goa Plus the Friday Magazine section of The

Times of India on 6th December 2002.

Olga Aunty dropped in today with her daughter.

Again.

For the past two years Olga has been searching for a suitable boy for Succorine. Every few months Olga Aunty will meet me and tell me her woes. Invariably the same. The right match was found but then, at the last minute, they find some seemingly unsurmountable flaw in the boy.

"But he wears earrings",

"But he can't take his wife abroad",

"I heard he took drugs before",

"He was friendly with a married woman when he was in college"

... Wonder what it is this time?

"But he drinks!"
"What?"

"Perpet Mana told me that every weekend he goes to the club and has a few drinks"
"So what of it, Aunty. Its not like he's a raving alcoholic?"

"But..."
"Ok! What does he drink?"

"How should I know?"
"Tell Perpet Mana to find out"

"Arre! What does it matter? Drinking is drinking!"
"Very, very important to know what he drinks"

"Maybe he drinks Rum"
"White or dark? If he drinks white rum of any sort then he is ignorant.

But if he can differentiate between Old Monk from Tilamol and Lucknow Distilleries than he has a fine tongue"

"What about beer"
"Cool. But only Kingfisher, Fosters or Haywards.

If he drinks Belo beer then he's probably a poor gambler trying to win the Rs. 50,000/- prize under the cork"

"And whisky?"

"Naaah! Of course it depends on what whisky.

If he drinks anything known by its initials like AC, OC, DSP, DySP... then he's a loser who just likes the golden colour.

But if he drinks single malt or a premium whisky like Signature or even better, Black & White, then he has refined sensibilities"

"I think Perpet Mana mentioned Solan something"

"Solan No. 1, Bagpiper, Arlem beer... these are genuine signs that this guy is in his mid forties and is too old for your Succorine.

He probably also rides a Yezdi motorcyle and smokes Four Square cigarettes. Stuck in the early nineteen eighties that's what these guys are"

"Brandy?"
"Mansion House, Honeybee ok.

But if he's drinking any variety of Doctor's brandy then his stomach is probably corroded already and he won't last long"

"And Vodka & Gin?"

"Avoid him like the plague.

Specially if he has those sweet pre-mixed drinks like Shotz and Bacardi Breezer.

He's gay. Definitely gay"

"And what if he drinks the local stuff"

"What you mean local stuff"

"You know Caju, Maad, Urrack..."

"Good question.

You see Aunty here in North Goa anyone who drinks Maad or Urrack has to be a broke guy.

Urrack is only drunk during Urrack season and Maad should only be consumed in South Goa.

Caju Feni on the other hand is an excellent pointer to a person's good character.

But does he drink just any Caju?

Does he sniff the bottle before pouring a drink?

Does he enquire about the vintage and the still it came from?

You see this year's stuff from Anton in Siolim is not the same as last year's from Digamber in Sanvordem?

Does he have it with soda or with Limca or with water. Cold water or normal water?

Does he insist on mineral water? Which brand?

There are so many factors to be considered when choosing a son-in-law.

You have to very careful"

"I will ask Perpet Mana to find out more and get back to you"

"Cheers!"

TOO BAD! TOO FRIGGIN" BAD!

2009-08-27T18:36:00.000+05:30

http://bazaarshor.blogspot.com/2009/07/savita-bhabhi-lyrics.html