Enfield photos and story!!!!

I wasn't exactly looking for a change, but this bike really caught my eye...and when I rode it it seemed like a good idea to make a change :)


These are the bikes we are riding now...we are looking good :)


When we left the bike shop with the new baby it had a fresh sprocket on the back. After that long day in the saddle it was acting up a bit as we got into Amritsar, but I thought it was just me being tired and all the clutch work I had to do to get through the traffic as we got into town. The next day, when I had given A a backie to the border and parked up, I could tell there was something going on so I checked it out...yup, there is a problem - I don't have any teeth on my rear sprocket!!!!


We asked around for a shop and they sent us back to town, to this shop...


They said they could slap a new chain and sprockets on the Enfield, no problem (well...it sort of sounded like that, but they were speaking Punjabi and a bit of English - we had to write in the dirt to fix a price :)

They pulled the worn sprocket...


and then they had to pull the clutch case off to get to the front cog!




But they got it all back together and sent the big guy out on a test ride...he said it was good to go :)


So off we went the next day, ripping it up. A (as trip photographer :) got her camera out and I rode where she told me to :)





Well it was just after that last shot that the Enfield stalled and we went to find a mechanic. We found Rana's shop and he asked a few questions and started fiddling.

First he adjusted the tappets...


and then the ignition timing...


and he went on a test ride...


and then he sent me off for a test ride...


When I came back from that (I was happy with the change, but he obviously wasn't) he broke the bad news. Here is Rana explaining to me that he thinks that the piston rings need replacing :(


So again we start to take the Enfield apart...a different bit this time, though :)


and when we get to the important bit it is not looking good!



When he finally had a look at the guts, the piston rings were fine but he found a leak in the exhaust valve, so he removed them so he could replace them. You can see the exhaust valve looking crispy on the right...


Rana then headed the 30kms into Mandi for parts and machining, leaving the rest of the bike behind...waiting.



After a couple of hours Arun appeared and we were entertained for the evening. Rana had returned and worked on the bike until the wee hours, including boiling the piston! and then in the morning we ran the engine for 2 hours to seat the gaskets and get it all bedded in. After some more fiddling with the tappets and the ignition timing we were on our way by midday. The bike had more power and it was a good thing!

I soon realized that the Enfield was having a bit of a self confidence problem and needed to see the mechanic on a daily basis! When we were all set to leave for the Spiti Valley it started misbehaving again. It had just had the piston changed and we had only ridden 150kms on the fresh work and now, after sitting for a few days, the bike refused to start. It blew a cloud of black smoke out the exhaust when it finally got started and was leaving black spittle on the wall behind the tail pipe (this is not a good thing). When I checked the plug it was black on one side...it's running rich on one side of the engine??? I waited until a civilized hour (we were ready to go at 7am, but it was a Sunday morning :) and I called Rana - he said it just needed a new plug...excellent, if that was all it was. So off we went to the Enfield repair shop in old Manali (every town has at least one motorbike repair shop :) and visited yet another mechanic. Yup, it needed a new plug and we were on our way.


The next day of riding, when we were heading for the Jalori Pass, of course the Enfield had to come up with yet another fault - the kickstart lever was moving towards the ground as I rode the bike! So back we went to the Old Manali Enfield mechanic (same as the plug replacement) and he said that no, it wasn't supposed to do that and I probably needed some oil in the gear box. The Enfield has 3 separate lubrication systems - the engine oil, the clutch case (with pink transmission fluid) and the gearbox which has some very thick grease in it and now some engine oil.

So off we went to the Jalori Pass, the gearbox running smoother than it had ever done (more on the Jalori pass experience later - stay tuned!!! :) but later, when we were heading back to McLeod Ganj for the Dalai Lama's birthday, it started to do that kickstart lever thing again so we popped in to see Rana and he checked it out and said it's a minor problem, just the return spring for the lever is weak. So we will head back to Delhi in a couple of days and I wonder what problem the Enfield will think up (can there be another problem with all the work that it's had in the last 2 weeks????) so that it can get taken in to see a mechanic...I will let you know :)

Later!!!!