cyberhippie, on Apr 10 2009, 12:03 PM, said:
Hopefully Hippie At Heart will drop by, as there are a few things you need to know about Enfields and Altitude like adjusting the timeing, mixture etc etc.
Hi Mike, Matty,
I agree with Vistet and Kullu Kid's recommendation. But with respect to Enfield as bike of choice, I wud do Manali –Leh on that bike only if there is some considerable cash reward in the end to do it in first place!! Even a lawnmower with some smart gearing can outrun this mechanized bathtub. Yes my bias rather strong against this one. But somehow it is fashionable to ride Enfield on Manali-Leh route wisely ignoring the fact that this push rod thumper is a practical ride in the plains where parts are available for dime a dozen (so is the quality of them) every grease monkey on road can or somehow, will fix them. But what does one do up there with a sack full of spare part cache with no mechanic in sight and things falling out from bike at every 50 odd kilometers? Things can get especially worse if you don’t have a passing interest in motor biking till the day you flung your leg across this exotica. I would suggest that if you are not very stuck about Enfield then pick the biggest available CC engine of modern bike available on rent or sale from Delhi. I think the maximum you can get is 220 CC. but if you must ride Enfield I can suggest few things that you can do in the least to save trouble up there.
If you are getting the bike from any Delhi dealer, I know few of them but none is favorite for simple reason that no amount of expectation on your part will make them professional enough to listen what you want to be done on the bike. They will continue to pass off shagged bikes fitted with sub standard of second hand parts, you can be sure of the gleaming paint job though!! But you must insist to sit through when they prep the bike for you and absolutely insist on following, assuming that they have done the regular service and such jazz already
1) get them to chemical flush and clean the petrol tank (look for rust)
2) reopen the carb and get it serviced in toto (rust deposits)
3) ask them if clutch plates are new or nearly worn out, do a test run if you have to and put the engine through paces under hard acceleration.
4) Do plug chops and inspect the plugs yourself. It should tell you a lot about engine health as well, on Enfield my main concern will always be if the compression is about to die and to what extent the rings have already gaped.
5) Blue band pipe near the exhaust port mean only one thing that this bike is almost done to death unless there is engine rebuild.
6) Assign a small budget and ask them to give you as much original spares that they can recommend on ‘returned unused if not consumed’ for money back.
7) Anything else to check that you can think of with the assumption that this rent bike is a lemon and will pass onto someone else after you.
There is a riding manual I have posted somewhere on 2 wheeler section, have a look at it, might be of some help. Ride Safe !!
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