ROYAL ENFIELD MOTORCYCLES

You may call it partiality, discrimination or crazy. There is a guy who washes my car daily. But I don’t like him washing my Royal Enfield motorbike. No way. That’s one thing I would rather do myself unless it’s given for a grand service with a spray wash and a diesel spray etc.

Talking of washing, few tips to bore you ….. but you can pass me your own ideas , if good enough - I shall add it here.
N.B. It is assumed that your bike is averagely clean and has NOT come from a muddy dirt track or a very long tour. (If ‘Yes’ …psssst (give it to the service station !)

You might have seen motorbike websites telling you how to wash your bike by having 3 or 5 buckets of water with different ingredients in different buckets! Well folks …. I don’t advise that – we are washing a motorbike here – Not making colorful Indian curry with exotic spices!

You will need soft cloth/chamois cloth … still don’t get it ? Arre yaar that ‘yellow cloth’ in the service station/petrolpumps !

Hope u also have got some mild detergent !

Get a bucket of water! (Make sure the water pipe is nearby so that you can get more water!)

Splash the water with a mug so that the whole bike is wet! Some international bike dhobis….. sorry ‘bike washermen’ have told in some websites that high pressure water spray in service stations will damage the bike ! (SO wash it urself ! means “start your own service station”)

Now that the bike is wet, mix some mild detergent in a mug of water and clean the wheels thoroughly and get wheels shining! Pls throw that cloth away as it will be dirt’ful’!

Now with a new cloth dipped in mild detergent water clean the painted parts, wipe away the dirt.

You could use ur old toothbrush to reach out to nooks and crannies of your bike engine. Cleaning the greasy parts, oil leaks etc, use some cloth dipped in petrol and wipe away and clean with soft cotton waste. If you feel sad using petrol, ask someone in US/UK to get a Degreaser ( I dunno if you get one which is cheaper than a litre of petrol in India Rs.50 – a.k.a. 1$ ) Beware some strong cleaners/degreasers not only clean the bike but take some paint off too ! (Lucky they don’t ride away with the bike !)

After that you can wash those areas with mild detergent to make the bike smell and look clean!


Splash water and clean the bike so that there’s no detergent remaining on the bike. Dry ur bike with the soft yellow ‘clean fella’ chamois cloth so that its dry!

Now take your bike around for a spin so that water inside drips off due to the breeze and slowly apply brakes in pumping action incase water has got into the brakes.

I don’t recommend using wax polish for bikes as most do take some paint off, then only you get some shine.

Please do all the above in the shade !!

                                   Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark Sump Guard

The Ladakh season will kick off in a month or so and Bulleteers across India are feverishly preparing their steeds to conquer the rugged terrain that the northernmost mountains of India challenges them with.

Here’s an essential piece of Ladakh armour that Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark owners should certainly look at for their own good.

The Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark has an abysmal ground clearance of 135mm, a full 5 mm lesser than that of the Cast Iron/AVL engined Royal Enfields. This makes the Thunderbird Twinspark’s crankcase particularly susceptible to damage from rocks, flying stones and other debris.

Once your crankcase is hit with this assorted mixture of debris, you could be staring down at a distorted crankcase that suddenly starts leaking oil or worst still a cracked crankcase that will usually mean the end of you Ladakh sojourn. All this, in a desolate region where survival is the primary concern, leave alone finding someone to fix this mess. 

Kunal Bhaskaran, who owns a Royal Enfield Authorised Service Center in Pune has a solution in store that will protect your crankcase from damage. Kunal has designed a Sump Guard for the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark.

                                  Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark Sump Guard

This vital piece of equipment is made of 2mm thick steel that can withstand the brutal impact caused by the toughest rocks that you might encounter on you Ladakh trip. The Sump Guard is designed in such a way that sits 25 mm from the engine’s crankcase. This space gives the sump guard a cushion to crumple in case of an extremely hard impact, thus making sure that the crankcase doesn’t bear the brunt of the impact. In other words the sump guard will act like a crumple zone in case of hard impacts while deflecting the little rocks and stones that will usually be thrown at the crankcase while riding in the inhospitable Ladhaki terrain.

I queried Kunal about whether the Engine Sump Guard will hit large speedbreakers or potholes that our Indian urbanscape is home to. This question was raised as I had my own doubts about the sump guard hitting speedbreakers and other obstacles in the cities. Kunal made it clear that the Sump Guard will not hit any speedbreaker as it still provides sufficient ground clearance of about 108mm. The sump guard has also been tested by a few Thunderbird Twinspark riders with stellar results. Meanwhile, Kunal is also making a batch of sump guards for the Cast Iron/AVL engines and these will be ready shortly. The sump guards can be shipped across India. All in all, the Sump Guard is an extremely useful addition for Bulleteers who are planning to ride out to Ladakh.

Kunal can be contacted from Monday through Saturday at his workshop phone: 09881341144. Bulleteers in Pune can ride down directly to Kunal’s workshop at:

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