Is this how it all ends?

As is evident from my posts, I love... or rather, loved to ride. But strangely, of lately, the exhilaration that accompanied the acceleration has disappeared. I no longer enjoy riding fast, I just ride fast out of habit, in fact, sometimes the speeds make me uncomfortable. Near misses had never unnerved me before, but now each time I have a near miss, my heart starts pounding. I had always known that someday, I'd grow out of it, but I had no idea it'd be this soon. So the other day, I was riding, and there was this turn which at one point in my life I used to take at 80km/hr, because that was the speed you had to be at to scrape your footpegs on the road. But because of this vow that I'd taken to not to abuse my footpegs, I had slowed down considerably at corners. So like I was saying the other day, at this very corner, I was going pretty slowly, and there was other vehicle which came to a stop in the middle of the turn, so I had to take a deeper turn. Now the line which I took had some liquid spilled all along the bend, and I was praying that it doesn't turn out to be oil. Turns out it was oil, and I drifted about two feet sideways, before I could fully control my bike again. It was only because of the thrill that I used to from sliding around did I have experience in controlling a bike which only wants to go sideways, and that probably saved my life, because there was this car on the other side of the road, and there was no way the driver of the car could have avoided me had I slipped. And had I slipped, the only place I would have gone would have been under the car, and that wouldn't have been pleasant. It is ironic that only when I ride slow do I have these near misses. But this little incident fazed me, and I rode for over a kilometer with my heart in my mouth. I had always wanted to own a 500cc bullet, and it even topped my objects of desire list, well not anymore. I look back at the list now and apart from the items that I have acquired (which includes all the computer components) I don't want any of the other items anymore. Also, I found this wonderful little butterfly picture, on the festival of colours, as a wallpaper to this theme on my phone, and I googled for it n finally found it. I made it a bit duller to set it as the background of my blog, replacing the on the road again image. Here's the original image if anybody would like to have it.It is probably photoshopped, but I like this image a lot n now it is the wallpaper on my phone, my desktop, and my blog. Oh n in case you haven't noticed, childish or not, Wolfestine is back, because the Weaver has to go.

Dreams, desires and failure

Dreams, Desires & Failure

I wish, I wish, for a million things.

But in my mind, this question springs.

For which of these wishes, do I yearn?

In my mind starts, this fray in turn.

I know they all cannot come true.

And that this shouldn't turn my world to blue.

But for some reason, it pushes me under.

And once again, I begin to wonder.

Which of these wishes do I earn?

I guess with time, the answer I'll learn.

Meanwhile, I won't let, my failures sting.

As the most out of life, I shall try and wring.

Book v/s movie

Every time a movie based on a book is released, I go in for the book first followed by movie, unless of course it has a fantasy story. Then in that case, the order is reversed. However, today I have a little fray going on in my head because of the movie Slumdog Millionaire based on the book Q & A by Arun Swarup. Slumdog Millionaire has made it to the headlines of today's newspaper, by getting 10 nominations at the Oscars, which supports the review I'd gotten from my friends. The thing which goes against the book is that it's by an Indian author, and frankly speaking, I have neither read not heard of an exceptional book written by an Indian author. I wonder what I should do first, read the book, or watch the movie. Speaking of movies based on books, the other day I watched this movie called Into the wild (I know, it's an old movie but I just watched it... big deal!), which was a strange movie. Strange I say, cause it wasn't that I liked the movie, but I didn't dislike it either, still if asked, I'd say it is a must-see kind of a movie. Though I wish I'd know the movie was based on a book, which was in fact inspired by a true story, then I'd have read the book first. I guess this true story bit was the one that makes it a must-watch. It's also got an awesome soundtrack (which I'm listening to right now) which is the debut solo album of Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam guy. Speaking of music, Mettalica's Death Magnetic is driving me crazy. I can neither get the songs out of my head, nor stop listening to them. I inevitably end up purging my playlist of all other songs. Woooha... I'm getting late... Gotta go.

Adieu from Wolfestine

I'd like to wish all those people who happen to stumble upon this blog a very happy 2009. As is evident, I haven't been posting that often, off lately. The reason for this is not that I have stopped writing, it's just that I don't publish what I write. I know it sounds a bit eccentric, but 2008 hasn't been kind to me, and all this was reflected in my writing. Some posts were a bit too profane, while others a bit too profound, but most of them were left incomplete. Even the funny little poems that I wrote exhibited similar trends. 2008 was an year which made me lose my appetite and my sleep. Just to elaborate what I mean, I have made a little graph that shows the measure of happiness and sorrow on a scale of one to ten. Oh and I made a little mistake, which would be too much of an effort to mend. The name of the month appears at where the month ends. Also this is my last post as Wolfestine, as it now sounds a bit too childish to me. I am for the time being using the alias of 'The Weaver', because of the way I habitually weave through traffic. I am thinking of more cooler name, so if you have any suggestions, please go ahead and post me a comment.

Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twin Spark Initial Review

I know, the thunderbird twin spark has been out since ages. But until recently, I hadn't had the pleasure to check it out. So a couple of weeks ago, I managed to trade my bike for a t-bird twin spark for a few kilometres, so that I could see how it performed. Though I couldn't quite check out it's performance, because my reputation preceded me, and the only condition the bike came with was that I would ride slow, so lets just call it my first impression. The very first thing you notice when you ride a TB is that it's awfully quick off the line. Unlike it's predecessor, it is no longer as sluggish as it used to be, owing mostly to the new unit construction engine, with it's in built gear box, which not only helps in providing power to the wheels more efficiently, it also reduces the weight a lot. In fact the bike was so jumpy, that even in the third and fourth gear, popping the clutch would cause you to lurch back. I don't think this TB is gonna have any problems popping it's front wheel up, especially because of the way the clutch feels. If I am not mistaken, they have managed to squeeze out an extra BHP from the engine too, which only adds to the fun. Apart from this, the engine too was rather smooth, and it's silent purr, did have a slight thump to it, if you cared to listen for it. Enfields have always been a little slow off the mark, but this machine is here to vitiate such beliefs, and from what I hear, even the 500 Lean Burn Bullet Machismo struggles to keep up with it's initial acceleration. The ride itself is quite comfortable too, if you set the shock absorbers to be a little softer than the default company setting. Though I didn't lean much at corners, later on when I was scraping my own bikes foot pegs, the TB riding just behind me too, I hear, was scraping it's... main stand. The bike is also quite fuel economical, giving a fuel economy of nearly 40 km to a liter. It's unit construction engine (UCE) which combines the gearbox and the engine into one single unit, does look cute too. A wonderful bike indeed. If you own a TB, or have already ordered one, I suggest you stop reading this post right here. As for the others, do please keep reading. The drivetrain on this thing is no doubt awesome, but it does have it's faults too. The mechanical clatter due to the tappets is surprisingly loud, and is may be even amplified due to the absence of a sonorous exhaust note. Next comes the low range power. At extremely low revs, the bike is rather jerky, and it does not seem to have the power to pull through. Oh! and I am comparing it to the older TB. If I compare it to my bike, when the two of us were riding along, I was in my 4th gear (the final gear of my bike, an electra) while the TB had to be in it's 3rd (out of 5 gears) and was still struggling with the low speed. Now I could have been in any of my 4 gears at that speed, the TB though had just 2 gears for that speed, 2nd n 3rd. Remember the jumpy clutch I was talking about? Well if u were riding fast, the jumpy clutch would have been nice, but riding slowly, who wants a jerky ride? One problem I have always had with thunderbirds is the handle. Now I don't mind the sissy handlebar, but there is something wrong about it, at least for me. When you are seated comfortably in it's seat, and you put your hand on the handle, I have to get my elbows together and then turn my wrists outwards, in order to hold the handle bar properly. Even without the bike if you try to position your hands in that manner, you would know how uncomfortable it is. After barely 5kms, my wrists were hurting, and I swapped the bike for my own at a red light. Now I would like to clarify, that my arms are in proportion to my body, and nor am I excessively tall. But the only condition under which I can hold the handle properly is when I am seated in the pillion's seat. Coming to the gearbox, firstly it's on the wrong side, or rather the right side for you non-bulleteers, not a major problem here. But I seriously wonder what the hype was all about. I'd heard that the shifts were silky smooth, but I wonder what they were comparing it to. My six year old electra has a softer, smoother gearbox and with far less false neutrals. I wonder why they have put in a tachometer in the T-Bird. It's not like one of those hairdryer on wheels that you can get excited by the revs it attains. It's an enfield man, the best you can get is probably is a 6K on the tacho, how exciting is that? One thing that cannot possibly miss your eye is the length of the silencer. I mean it ends about 3-4 inches behind the rest of the bike. I hear that if you get rear-ended, the bend pipe (the pipe connecting the silencer to the engine) tends to come out of he exhaust manifold. The overall build quality is also quite... well enfield-like. The alignment of the front mud-guard of the bike I saw for example didn't quite match up with the front wheel. The paint quality isn't the same that it used to be till five years ago, when the paint seemed to have depth. There were even some clearance issues somewhere in the rear of the bike, where there was the sound of metal hitting metal each time the bike went into a pothole. Remember I called the new UCE cute? Well if I wanted a cute ride, I'd rather buy a kinetic blaze. Bullets are supposed to look mean. Now the big question, would I recommend the bike? Well if you have never ridden an enfield and would like to get a flavour of what it is like to almost be a bulleteer, this is a bike for you. I know this bike isn't perfect, but then neither is any other bike in the market. You are gonna enjoy riding this bike. As for the others, you'd have to be a fool to buy this bike. I mean it's as expensive as a 500cc (plus or minus a grand) and only half as fun. Isn't it obvious as to which bike you should go in for? As for me, I am happy with my slow ride, taking it easy.

EDIT : Apparently the T-Bird also has a little problem with the rear brakes. The bike tends to get pulled towards one of the sides under severe braking. The bike I rode had really loose rear brakes, and on being asked, my friend replied that he couldn't handle the bike when it skidded, so he had loosened it's rear brake. Another thing is that Enfield has continued to use the ribbed front tyres (the tyre with round threads, and no lateral grooves), which to tell you the truth are pathetic and tend to loose grip even with drum brakes, so one really has to be careful while braking, with this bike.

EDIT 2: Okay, I have figured out why the bike can't pull when the revs are low. In fact it was a glance at the bike's specifications that explains it. My bike, an electra, produces 18 bhp of power @ 5000 rpm with 32.6 Nm of torque @ 3000rpm, while the old t-bird produced 18 bhp of power @ 5000 rpm with 28 Nm of torque @ 3500rpm. That is why the old t-bird wasn't that great at low revs. The new t-bird though has more power like I had mentioned ie, 19.8 bhp @ 5250 rpm with 28Nm of torque @ 4000 rpm. Like you can see here, the torque is the same as the previous t-bird, but it is now available at a higher rpm. It's like having everything to bake a cake, but all of it placed at the highest shelf in your kitchen. Now since I couldn't rev the engine that much, I couldn't quite find any of the power. Another thing is that the bike I was riding had a lot of racket from the tappets, despite not being ridden hard. I wonder what happens to the tappets when you start revving the bike like crazy. (Note for those who do not get this point: The clatter by the tappets is caused by the loose tappets and tappets have a tendency of loosening themselves if you rev a lot.)

EDIT 3: The other day I was the pillion on the same bike, the bike crossed a 100 with about 200Kgs of rider n pillion, with ease, though the one thing I realized was the exhaust note wasn't the most pleasant ones. I've heard 100 cc bikes with better exhaust notes. Even when we entered a tunnel, where I expected to hear a nice beat, there was none. I'd also like to add that the tappet sound was cured. BTW I do like the T-bird n would probably prefer one over my bike.

The butterfly killer

Hmmm... it has been a pretty long time since I put up a post, it is not that I had lost my ability to blether, but just because for some reason I simply because I couldn't complete any of the posts I started off with. So what's new? Well nothing much, life as a whole sucks, not because of some incident that happened, but well it simply does. One thing I have realized is that when the good times decide to leave me, they really go for good. So, a couple of months ago, I had a serious crash. Man I spent more than half of what my bike is worth, getting it repaired. Hell, I even got a new engine for Tres (that's Tres Cinquante, my bike). I wish my dad had bought me that 500cc I had almost convinced him to. Then one day he walks up to me and told me that because I wasn't such a decent rider, I wouldn't be getting the bike. He said he'd stand on a busy street with me, and if I could point out one rider who rode like me, he'd buy me the bike. And this was after I always slow down before I reach home. Moral of the story, I was (apparently) fast even after I slowed down. Any way, now that I have a new engine, I am forced to ride slow. Kinda breaking a horse, I would have to run in my bike. I did a maximum of 45km/hr for the first 500km, n now I am up to 80. Where was I? Oh yeah, the crash. I was doing around 75km/hr, riding in the center of the road, wondering whether I should overtake the small truck, driving more towards the right of the lane. Then all of a sudden, the truck swerved to the right into the lane for the on coming traffic. A split second later I knew why, when I noticed a pink blur in front of me. The truck was trying to avoid the lady on a pink scooterette. I registered 5 frames, and then time started back again. Frame 1: the pink blur. Frame 2: the terrible sound of the impact in my ears, my stomach on the speedo console. Frame 3: head on the ground (I went over, god bless the helmet), the sound of a screeching tyre (who the hell applied the brakes). Frame 4: I am on my back, sliding on my back-pack , looking at the friend who was in front of me speed away, with me hoping that he'd heard me crash and would stop to help me up, the familiar sound of metal on asphalt (after all, I am a frequent crasher). Frame 5: I am still on my back but facing the opposite side, the bike still sliding behind me, bleeding oil, all over the road (I am sorry Tres). No offence, but lady riders (and drivers to for that matter) truly scare me. For one, they have absolutly no control over their vehicles, and change lanes with no regards to other people. No one but lady drivers/riders and heavy vehicles can bully me around on the road. I am one of the most stubborn riders on the roads, and I take my bike to within an inch of the car next to me and keep it there till the other driver doesn't back off, but when it comes to lady drivers, ypu don't mess with them. Secondly they have no perception of speed and are reaaaally bad at anticipation. I have seen women on scooties doing 60km/hr with their legs dangling off the sides. Coming back to the lady I crashed into, she obviously made an error judging the speed of the truck that was in front of me. I went into her full throttle, which broke my front wheel and had caused the front tyre to lock (stopping the wheel from spinning) amazingly, my bike still maintained it's course, but unfortunately the impact coupled with the extreme breaking because of the locked wheel caused me to go over the handle bar. I landed on my head and rolled over to my back where I skidded on my bag, knowing exactly how a turtle, sliding around on it's shell, would feel like. Luckly no serious injuries for me n after about a month of rest, I was back on my feet. Running in an old bike is an experience in itself, but the one thing I realized was that 45km/hr is a really bad speed if you like butterflies. For some strange reason, whenever I rode at that speed, I clipped atleast a butterfly every 8-10 km. Day or night didn't matter, neither the area where I rode. The buterflies, simply kept coming at me. Even now, when I sometimes ride at 45, I do hit a butterfly or two, but only at that particular speed. Before I say goodbye, I'd like to add, that if you ride, always wear a helmet, because of it wasn't for my helmet, I would definitly have lost a major portion of my scalp in the numerous accidents I have had. Oh n if you happen to be riding at 45 km/hr, don't forget to pull your visor down unless you want butterflies in your face :)

How to throttle a throttle

I've said it before and I say it again, I am a speed addict. Typing my last post, I got a brainwave of limiting my throttle, in order to keep my speed under control. It's a kind of crude speed limiter, but effective, none the less. What I have basically done is that I've limited the amount that I can twist my accelerator, which is kind of like fixing a wedge under the accelerator pedal of your car, except this is not quite visible. Okay, so here's what I did :-


Remember the carburettor??? The one I had opened up in one my previous posts?

Well get it off. (Instructions in previous post, if you are new at it)


Now unscrew the top, the part where the accelerator cable goes in.

Take an small piece of plastic tube or something else that's rigid, and about an inch and a half or two long. I chopped off the back end of an old pen refill. Though I would have preferred to have used a long screw, filed off its thread, and sawed off it's head. That would have been a better thing to put inside a carb, but since the carb isn't supposed to heat up, I used the refill. Edit: The top of the carb is in fact really cold, especially during the rains. Also another thing you could put in here is one of those round PVC conduits, if you can get your hands on a small piece of it.


Now place the chopped off piece of the refill (or whatever you are using to restrict the movement) inside the spring.


Carefully put back the carb, making sure everything goes back in smoothly. Don't try to force anything in. If you are new at opening your carb, It'd be better if you went through how to open a carb explained in this older post.

Once you close your carb, you can check out how much you are restricting the bike by checking the amount you are restricting the air flow. The fuel being used is proportional to the air being allowed. This image shows the position during idling.


And this is the position with the full throttle, after adding the restrictor. Notice I have set my bike to run at 50% power (IMO that's 25% too much). Once again, you can see how much the full throttle opens up on 100% on my previous post. If the accelerater doesn't turn at all, the restrictor used it too large. If it opens up more than 50%, or the amount you want to limit it, it's too small.
Put the carb back onto the bike and you have got yourself a speed limiter. I have done extensive testing on my bike and have even had a fall in the process. At 50% restriction, the bike is still quite peppy with a solo rider, but a bit sluggish with a pillion. The initial pickup is compromised, and starting up an incline with a pillion could require more effort. The top speed attained on straight piece of road was 95km/hr (though it took really long to attain, I'd rate the crusing speed to be 75-80). Mind you my bike levels out at a 100-110 otherwise. With a pillion, the top speed drops to 85km/hr (Crusing speed of 60). Top speed with the pillion otherwise is the same, 100-110. Inclines with a pillion may require an upshift. I couldn't find a perfect dry road for the burnouts, since it has been raining. The only dry piece of land I found and the burnout left my bike 6 inchs below the ground level, which required me to take my weight off the bike to get it out. The gearwise speeds are as follows

Gear      Top speed unrestricted     Top speed restricted
1st                 45                        40
2nd                 65                        60
3rd                 90                        75
4th                110                        95

I had tuned my bike to perform, so it is doing really well despite being restricted. You get used to the amount of power you have and eventually you start shifting gears better and you forget that you have limited your accelerator. All in all, I am quite satisfied with the restriction. I will be adding the average if n when I calculate it. My bike currently has a fuel economy of 22-25 kmpl.