Sony Arouje

Last couple of months my Royal Enfield was in Kerala with my friend Shibin, a highly creative Mechanic. I better call him an Artist, his eye for details is highly remarkable. Also he is very passionate about his job.

The restoration was a lengthy process. Almost all the parts has been replaced. The major modifications are.

Crank Weight: Added 6kg more, now the crank weight is around 11.7kg. The increased crank weight allow me to ride slow speed in higher gear without knocking. Now the riding is smooth without much gear shifting. Also the kind of beat the machine produce is awesome. I need to get accustomed to a new riding habit. Increased weight also need a good bearing, I used SKF bearing. The cost of the bearing is higher but I don’t want to sacrifice quality over cost.

Matte Black Paint: I am a hardcore fan of Black. So I decided to paint my RE with Black. I loved the Matte colors of Harley, so asked Shibin to use the same kind of Black in my RE. He did an awesome job.

Buffing: This is the idea of Shibin to buff the Engine section. I asked to paint Engine as well, he advised me not to. So he went ahead and buffed it, after seeing the result, I realized that my idea of painting was not good.

Delco: My RE was fitted with Electronics timing system (CDI). Shibin decided to replace it with old mechanical Delco. The Engine has slot to fit it but he had to drill some holes and customize the engine to suit the Delco.

Front Suspension: From the beginning I didn’t like the design of the Suspension in my Electra. I always admire the look of old RE. So I asked Shibin to replace the front suspension with the Classic one.

Mudguards: I didn’t like Electra’s mudguards either. The mudguards are replaced with the Standard model.

Fixed some other major Issues:

I was complaining about the burning color in my silencer but no service centers could fix it. Shibin had a look and said it’s the issue with the timing system. When he dismantled the engine, he told me that Carburetor was irrecoverably damaged. I assumed this should have been captured in the prior service 3 months before that. Also a lot of issues with the timing system.

One of the Oil pump holes where closed with some Engine sealer. From the beginning I had these Engine leakage, I complained it several times as well. So they might have added the sealer more and some how it went into the oil pump. Some say that it’s not leakage, it’s marking the territory but for me it’s a mess, also I am social being no need to mark the territory :).

A Word to Eicher motors: Royal Enfield is a great machine but the major issues are with the Authorized service centers. The service persons are not at all experienced. Because of high demand service centers are employing very less skilled persons. These guys are learning from the mistakes, but unfortunately our bullets are bearing their mistakes. Every one is jumping to buy an Enfield but they are not realizing the trouble they have to face in the future from these so called Authorized centers. I am pretty sure none of the issues in your Enfield could be fixed in any Authorized service centers. Try and find a good mechanic in your area or pack your RE to Shibin :).

Happy riding…