Sunday, July 11, 2010

In Which I Pull My Hair Out

Frustrated!

I continue to document the ongoing saga which is my motorcycle.

It's not in the budget at the moment to have the bike taken to a repair shop so I've been trying to work out some of my starter issues myself. When I first purchased my '04 Royal Enfield Bullet it had 234 miles on the odometer. I've put on 30 more with rides around the neighborhood and a quick jaunt around town - before it stalled at 25 miles an hour. I nursed it home after that ride and haven't been able to get it to start since. That was about a month ago.

I've been reading a bunch of threads on the Royal Enfield U.S. Community Forum and am working my way through some of the common problems. This morning I disassembled the carb and used a good carb cleaner. Not sure if it needed it but I can breathe easier knowing the carb is ok. I also went to remove the spark plug. The tip on the old one was black and corroded so I replaced it. Tightened down the nut on the new one until it wouldn't turn anymore, but the NGK cap doesn't fit over top properly. It wiggles around and is just sort of propped on top of the plug. This doesn't sit kosher with me and I imagine could lead to the engine not firing. I also put a few drops of a good fuel additive into the tank to correct the ethanol factor.

The bike still won't start. Neither kick nor ES will get it to go. Could be the battery.

The old spark plug nestled between the engine cooling fins. That leaking fluid has me a little worried.



Corrosion on the old spark plug. Bye bye baby!

Shiny new plug.

That's a pretty small gap.

The NGK ignition wire cap does not sit properly on top of the new plug. Currently trying to find a solution.

I have already removed the air box (sits to the left of the carb in photo).

I purchased this stuff at Wal-Mart. It works pretty well.

Inside of the carb.

The lever in the upper left is the choke.

Disassembly of the carburator.

The guts.

That says "Mikcarb India".

Carburetor cleaned and reassembled.

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