How to prepare the Bullet and yourself for long drives (e.g. Leh)

This functional article will be of particular interest to those who are preparing the Bullet for a long drive.

These are following spares to consider (for a full list, check your Enfield manual):
- Bulbs - headlight (Rs. 40), tail lamp, fuse
- Cables - accelerator, clutch (Rs. 125), front brake and decompressor
- Rear chain link lock
- Tyre puncture repair kit - cold vulcanizing type, a tube that can temporarily seal punctures (about Rs.500)
- Foot operated air pump (costs Rs. 450)
- Insulation tape (Rs. 10)
- Spark plug (Rs. 72), fuel hose (free!)

On Saturday, I went to the Enfield service center in Mahim and spent close to 3 hours with the lead mechanic Pervez and others. He started by explaining to me the basic principles. He told me in Hindi: look, just like your body needs oxygen and your stomach burns the food and gives you energy - the Bullet also requires air, petrol - these burn to give it power. The carburettor gets air supply from the filter box, fuel from the tank, spark from the spark plug and sends this to the engine box - everything catches fire there and gives the motorcycle its energy. Simple. Brilliant. Looking at all my notes and diagrams of the engine box, carburettor etc. amused him and he kept subtly smiling to himself. Before I left he told me, Inshallah, aapka safar safal hoga (God willing, your journey will be successful).

There's another enthusiastic gentleman called Gisad at the Enfield service station who's been on 21 long trips and a few times on the Leh, Khardung La stretch (he deliberately painted the national flag on his Bullet during the Kargil war because it wasn't allowed in Kashmir) - talk to him for some really good perspective and advice on the Leh trip. The best thing about the Bullet community - be it mechanics, managers, suppliers, dealers, other customers, anyone -- everyone is maha enthusiastic about the machine and is very interested in seeing you succeed in your endeavors and they come forward for the sheer pleasure of it to help you in more ways than one. It's truly a cult experience.

Below are my notes on the various parts (for Electra 5S) and some additional info. The most important ones here are: 1) clutch cable 2) carburettor tuning 3) rear chain link lock 4) Punctures.

Clutch cable. Of all the cables, the clutch cable is the most vulnerable on the Bullet. Here's what you need to do:
- Remove the kick lever
- Remove the 5-speed cap and bolt below
- The cable needs to be inserted from the bottom of the vehicle and pushed to the top - in case of problems doing so, you can always let it hang from the outside
- Unscrew the nut on the left side
- Use your fingers to feel the cable inside (behind the 5-speed cap) - the cable needs to sit in a lock
- 3mm LN key, 12 mm and 5 mm spanners are required (not available in the tool box).

An easier way would be to open the gear box but you'll need a plate to hold the gear oil that'll leak when you do this (it's a 90 # gear oil).

Accelerator cable. It's rare that this has to be replaced. But it's the cable that goes on top of the carburettor. Loosen the top of the carburettor. You'll notice a spring, clip to lock it, make sure that the cable aligns and when you replace the whole thing, it has to align as well -- to lock it.

Decompressor cable. The cable goes from the decompressor, from under the tank in between the engine chamber. This is a rare issue with Bullets and will not stop you from driving anyways.

Carburettor Tuning. On higher altitudes, it's possible that the Bullet will not get the required air as would you - it's rarefied. So the filter needs the capacity to suck in more. To do so, you'll need to tune and open the carburettor more. On the left side of the carburretor, there's a small screw like thing - that's the tuning device. To tune, rotate clockwise all the way through until it locks. After that rotate 360 degrees to complete one full circle, then rotate 180 degrees to do another half-circle -- 1.5 circles is normal tuning. For higher altitudes, you need to open it more - so make it 2 or so (turn more to left/ anti-clockwise). This is only when you are up a slope and the Bullet is not starting or not getting enough air to start.

Rear chain link lock. Knowing to change this is important - due to wear and tear this can break. It's a small piece of metal that locks the chain together. It's fairly intuitive but one needs to remember that the open end needs to point down.

Punctures. There's a gas station called the Chaganmitha petrol pump at Sion Bus Depot (Mumbai); they put a nitrogen-based mixture into your tires - this tends to cool the tires more and reduces the risk of punctures while on long drives. However, I'm also buying a temporary puncture fixing kit (it's a small pump) and a foot operated pump (recommended) -- this'll help until the time one can take the motorcycle to a proper mechanic. Once you open the hole, there's a valve (technically called Shredder Valve, commonly called Valve Die) and there's a spring. Then you'll see the hollow space, inject the solution into this hollow space and replace everything as it was before.

Tire pressure. While doing a long drive with a pillion, the front tire needs to be at 22 units and rear at 32 units. This is particularly critical while driving up the mountains because it helps in balancing the motorcycle with the heavy load at the back.

Other considerations.
- By rule, put 140ml of 2T oil for 14 litres and 100ml of 2T oil for 10 litres. Particularly important for long drives.
- Do not drive Bullets with the old engines at constant speed (e.g. don't keep driving at 70) - keep changing the speed because it is believed to seize sometimes. This issue isn't there with the AVL engines (Thunderbird, Machismo).
- There's something called 'missing' that happens on the Bullets on long drives - this is the putt, putt, putt sound -- to avoid that one needs to seal the area between the tank and carburettor (am getting it done on Thursday).
- In Manali, there's a good Enfield mechanic called Raju Mechanic (that's it!) - he won't service anyone's Bullet until it comes with a reference (so refer Ram Motors Mumbai - below).

Locations to buy Bullet stuff in Mumbai.
- The most popular place for Bullet accessories seems to be Ali Bhai Tirewalla near Minerva theater on Grant Road.
- Ram Motor Cycle Co. (authorized spares dealer) - Shop # 3/C, Ganesh Bhavan, Senapati Bapat Marg, Opp. Mahim Station, Mahim. (Prem Malik owns and runs the shop -- he's very enthusiastic, has been to Ladhakh and gives you loads and loads of advice - some of which is in this article). His phone number is 93230-25335. At his shop, I met a Thunderbird driver who had just completed Mumbai-Leh last month.
- Under Grant Road bridge (East side of Grant Road station) on the same side of Navjivan society and somewhere close to Ali Bhai is another useful shop where you can buy Bullet related accessories.
- Chaganmitha gas station, Sion Bus Depot, Sion, Mumbai - where you can get the nitrogen-mixture to reduce risk of punctures.