Saturday, December 22, 2007

Coming Soon - My Review of (Uncle: ) Somender Singh's Groovy Head Mod

Coming Soon!!!+!

My Review of (Uncle: ) Somender Singh's Groovy Head Mod

http://www.somender-singh.com/

For those of you who came in late - first look up earlier post on Somender Singh's very Indian and therefore our very own inventor and ace Yezdi (and not just Yezdi's)tuner who made waves with his groove tech and currently has a patent for the same and is battling for proper attention from big auto manufacturers.

Well, I did the groove thing on one of my Roadkings - which had just come back from a block and piston job. So results were delayed till I could subtract the running-in from the actual modification while the bike was under observation (yeah, yew smart alecs out there, I got eyes at the seat of my pants).

Well, i got the groove and actually have started to rave about it a bit, and i don't think i am going to stop soon (pun incidental). First, I must mail the Main Man Mr Sing and tell him muy happiness. Then, deah peeps, I shall tell all in this space.

Oh yes, I got so exuberant with one groove in my roadking that i opened up my stock (!) roadking - the black rider who has a standard block and piston, original gearbox and no replacements except for gear selector cartridge springs which control the gear lever play and return- and put three grooves in there exhaustwards, so to speak...

Well, like it says right at the very beginning...
Coming Soon!!!!+!

Thursday, December 20, 2007































comes a time...
when we must choose.

everywhere are 'friendly' folks willing to help you.

sometimes they take more than they give.

then you must sell to survive.

still i hang on to my pride (as in 'a bunch of feral cats')

we'll see what lasts - will to power or the world as usual —

which contains me, my yezdis and the reason why I re entered this field.

i used to think the bikes would outlast my troubles in life.
dunno bout rent, still I take it all as it impacts.

perpetually
the way it is with maintainence.

By the way, people - I just spent four full days on my Rk's front suspension.
So if you want any info on the process, just ask.

ended up making tools at the local lathe and weld shop for the same.
dunno why, I just take to the bikes when idle (which i have been a lot lately with unemployment and such)

a change is gonna come. actually it is upon me already.
so don't be surprised if you see me in your part of the country.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Friday, December 14, 2007

A poem:

Strife-Cycle?

I.
A lot
of people
hate what they loved.

Too many
of them
elbowed the shoved.

Whatever.
Whatever you'd be
tonight; forgotten me?
Why must it be.
Why must I be?

Praving for your absent pity
You've had enough of me.
Fuckin' typical, you quipped
Been so long since I tripped.

II.
Now I puke blood in your drink
tonight, drain plug worldwide kitchen sink.
Now is that the best place
to find Music From The Big Pink?
Or a maroon sump-thing and
eight engines, two wheeled magic wands -
Do they run in shifting winds or sifting sand
or just lie there mensurating rust and memories,
bleached bones, faded ink blood diaries.


III.
Who cares!?!
I know what's between my thighs.
It'll get me home.
I don't like lifts from intellectual guys.

I'd rather be stranded on some road,
Trying everything to push out the overflow.
Feeling my life-breath narrow
and my strength implode.

Then I push some more
and get back on the road.

If you've felt it then
you'd know it, Lord!

— Arunesh Dogra

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

First I thought Manual Labour was a mexican immigrant, then I learnt that my labour was always free (had to be, i would be too expensive for myself)


What's Your Point?

I never try and explain how points should be set.

Mathilda had more than half a cm of play on the cam caused by cracks radiating outwards from the bearing housing in the main crankcase itself.

So I ended up learning points the wrong way around. I learnt about how the clutch, points, and carb systems overlap instead of starting properly by distinguishing these systems seperately. Nobody believes me that i can adust any one of these systems to compensate for what might be lacking in either of the other two systems.

Anyway, points are set by first finding TDC. That's the highest point the piston reaches. (1) Then measuring the right point BTDC (before Top Dead Centre) for the points to start opening. The most fixed measurement I have found is 3.5cms BTDC. You could do this by removing a silencer bent pipe and probably using a permanent marker on the piston inside to figure it out. (2) Next to set the range, according to how much the points should be closing, at TDC. (3) Vary this range by rotating the entire magnet assembly and not the face plate on which the points are mounted. (4) Beyond this point, the bike's individual characterstics take over.

So there is no point :)in explaining it any further.
Oh yea, the lower pic is of the 350cc twin Jawa.

CZ-JAWA 350cc Twin Cylinder




Okeh peeps, dis is where you check your chain tension. Reach thru dem spokes and slide the 'patti' holding the round disc in place. Choose a finger you want to dirty and push up/down on the chain to guage tension.

They are lovely chain covers that really, really, really extend the life of your chain.
Two things:
ALWAYS US A DOUBLE NUT ON THE BOLT SECURING THE TWO HALVES OF YR CHAIN AT THE BACK!
Or get a bolt that will take a split pin through it to keep the nut in place.
If you do not do this, some time soooner or laaater, that nut will fall off and your chain guard will wrap itself around your sprocket which will punch holes in your chain guard and the rear wheel will lock-jam solid and you will slide. Try finding the chain lock link on a jammed chain where you cannot remove the chain cover!

How's that for wise words from a wise rider?

Rear Wheel Removal - Jawa & Yezdi

Here's an uber tip:

The genesis of this is an experience I had bout 8:30 p.m in my garrage, when I had the bike up on brix (under deh mainstand)and took the rear wheel off. At some point the old Model B tilted forward and the additional angle took her off the stand...

...do you know what an effort it is to put a Yez back on mainstand without a rear wheel!?! Your heart is till churning from the crash it made when it landed on the silencers - thank gawd for those straight rod silencer and footpeg holders that the Mod B has as memories of Jawa!

...you still haven't got my point. Let me repeat, do you know what an effort it is to put a .....especially if you are five feet six inches and weigh at most 58 kilos.

It took some time, I'll tell you that much. :)
I also got to figure out that if you want to counter balance a Y-bike against your weight you gotta lean far out of the boat like them sailors do with tall masted sailing ships (yea, the kind that do the America Cup). Well, it was bout 20 degrees off the ground.


First, remove the rear axle as shown.

Now on to the uber-tip:

























Just lean over the seat and remove the rear wheel from that position.



























I got this from looking at the pic in the Jawa Owner's manual.
(Those sure are sexed-out silencers, eh? Lemme know if you got a pair, I wants them for my preciousss CZ.)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

10 Yezdi Laws!

Here are some of my golden rules:

1. Spend some time alone with your bike.

2. Treat it like you would a horse. (Read the classic book, Black Beauty for tips on how a horse should and should not be treated. For example, a good rider always covers and tends to his horse before looking to his own comforts at the end of a hard ride. Here the least you can do is invest in a 100 buck bike cover and cover your bike every night, eh?)

3. Clean it every morning. (That way you will give the bike a through once over, moving from part to part as you clean it and spot any loose nuts and leaks before you get on the road.)

4. Collect all available literature in the form of manuals, engine cutaway diagrams, etc. Also ask questions about what this part is or what is being done at the moment, when at the mechanix.

5. Don't give up yet. We ALL die when the bike does not start. In fact the one common factor that all Yezdi owners have is the straight face when the bike suddenly dies out and your pillion wants to know what happened or what will 'we' do now? Instead step back, regain your strength in whatever time it takes to do so and approach the bike differently.
I know; sometimes all you can do is clean the plug, check the spark, turn the fuel on and off and/or push and you have already tried all these things and the bike still won't start and there you are in the middle of nowhere, too exhausted to even think what you might be doing next, breathing and sweating hard. Times like these, you wonder if there is any meaning to your entire life. In short, we have all been there.

6. Bring back everything that has been replaced. You never know when you will run out of parts available in the market and have to make your own (Oh yes, that day is coming!) This also puts the brakes on mechanix who might be swapping bad parts for the better ones on your bike. Who knows if the mechie has a richer, older patron who is demanding a part that can no longer be found in spare part shop stocks. For example, guard your bike monograms, foot pegs, tank rubber pads and carburettor covers. Increasingly, these bits can only be found on other bikes. To me it's a little like not leaving behind anyone on the battle field.

7. Do not steal. Let your bike be a collection of clean energies and tell your self you and your bike will always be righteous. (This includes the rare parts mentioned in the previous law - #6)

8. Performance comes second to basic function. If your bike starts and runs, that is most of the problem solved. Most road bikes are creatures of compromise on numerous fronts. Manufacturers have to cater to the main midstream of buyers and do not sacrifice drivability for performance unless they have a range of models on offer.
In case of our own Ideal Jawa, the Roadking is the performance engine. It makes you ignore the bit in the owner's manual that suggests you don't give in to 'the impulse to be the first off at a red light.' Well, given the brakes and the fact that all Y-bikes hate traffic, I end up ahead of the pack at a red light and let rip so I don't have to deal with idiots in front of me. They are all behind me!
In short:
  • Wanna preserve - get a Jawa.
  • Wanna commute - get a Yezdi.
  • Wanna rip - get a Roadking.

Modify a yezdi and you must be idle, rich or an impromptu engineer. Who cares, obviously you have yet to experience the thrill of a Roadking.

Which brings me to the next law...

9. Modify a jawa (!) and me and my mates will kill you. Period. We appreciate the jawa for what it is and we dont screw around with heritage bikes.

10. Change your road attitude. On an old bike like a Yezdi, you are sure to be noticed. Some will comment, only the real dudes will stop and politely engage you in a conversation. Stick your chest out, lounge on the bike at red lights and look around kingly-like. Try doing it on a modern 100-220cc motorcycle stepped-seat and you are going to wonder why your arse is sticking out in that undignified manner. You got a yezdi and she fills up your senses like Annie's s(hl)ong.

Stop cursing everybody on the road and smile instead. Hey! your bike is different, so why have the same cruddy attitude as everybody!?!

Face it, you are in a different world on a Y-bike.

Monday, December 10, 2007


bikes dont break hearts, they break bones.
bikes don't leave people, people leave bikes.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

1929-30 Jawa OHV 500 Wanderer
1930-32 Jawa OHV 500 Wanderer (new frame)
1932-47 Jawa 175
1934-37 Jawa SV 350
1935-40 Jawa OHV 350
1937-40 Jawa 250 Duplex
1937-40 Jawa 98cc 100 Robot
1939-45 World War II
1946-53 Jawa type 11 250cc Perak “Feather”
1948-54 Jawa type 12 & 18 350cc -Ogar 350
1952-62 Jawa type OHV 500 -
type 15/01 500cc - redigned as type 15/02 in 1953
1954-58 Jawa 50cc typ 50 Pionyr “Treestump” (Manet)
1954-57 Jawa/CZ 125cc type 351 Kyvacka or “Swinger”
1954-57 Jawa/CZ type 352 150cc
1954 Jawa 250cc type 353 - Ammeter in gas tank
1955 Jawa 250cc type 353/02 - combined kick &gear lever
1956 Jawa 250cc type 353/03 - with full size hubs
1957-62 Jawa 250cc type 353/04 - with long exhausts & headlight ingition location
1955-62 Jawa 250cc type 553 ISDT
1955-62 Jawa 350cc type 554 ISDT
1955-58 Jawa 50cc type 550 (Manet)
1960 Jawa 50cc type 551 - moped
1957-62 Jawa 50cc type 552 Stadion
1962-65 Jawa type 353/07 Supersport - fitted with 557 Motocross engine)
1954-66 Jawa 350cc type 354 - same as 353
1955 Jawa type 354/02 - combined kick &gear lever
1957 Jawa type 354/03 - with full size hubs
1957-62 Jawa 350cc type 557 Motocross
1957-62 Jawa 350cc type 558 Motocross
1958-63 Jawa type 354/04 - with long exhausts & headlight ingition location.
1956-61 Jawa/CZ 125cc type 355
1956-61 Jawa/CZ 175cc type 356
1962-66 Jawa 50cc type 05 (Manet)
1963 Jawa type 559/03 Automatic
1964-74 Jawa 250cc type 559
1963-65 Jawa 250cc type 579/01 Motocross
1962-65 Jawa 250cc type 579/02 ISDT
1963-65 Jawa typ 575/01 350cc Motocross - 344cc single
1962-65 Jawa 350cc type 575/02 ISDT -344cc single
1964-70 Jawa 350cc type 360
1965-70 Jawa 250cc type 590
1965-70 Jawa 350cc type 361
1965-85 Jawa 250cc type 652 ISDT
1965-85 Jawa 350cc type 653 ISDT
1966-80 Jawa 50cc type 20 (Manet)
1967-77 Jawa 50cc type 21 (Manet)
1967-75 250cc Jawa type 590/591 Californian - 1968 and later model had upturned pipes.

1967-75 Jawa 350cc type 362/363 Californian - with oil pump: Oilmaster. North American models had oil pumps after 1970; upturned pipes after 1968.

1968-73 Jawa 90cc type 30&31 Cross 90 Offroad -hi-pipe
Manet model type 5330 & type 5331

1967-73 Jawa 90cc type 36&37 Cross 90 Roadster - lo-pipe Manet model type 5336 & type 5337

1968- Jawa 50cc type 23 (Manet)- Mustang/Golden Sport
1970-73 Jawa 250cc type 623 Bison
1970-73 Jawa 350cc type 633 Bison
1970-74 Jawa 50cc type 208 Babetta (Manet) - moped
1971–75 Jawa 500cctype 692 Speedway
1974- Jawa 50cc type 207,210,213,215,225,300 (Manet)- moped 1974-81 Jawa 350cc type 634
1974- Jawa typ 638/639 350cc -Type 639 is a cruiser still in production.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Be All..

By general standards, I must be a sucker but I can't shake this feeling that there is a judgement coming and it shall be bigger than my paltry thoughts and feelings. That's what makes me shake and pray for all my transgressors. Somewhere in the vast background scheme of things, I feel something begin to turn. And I feel like drawing him, her and them close to me to protect them. But I cannot. I can only tend to my little garden. They can all take their chances without me to misdirect them.

_______________________________



266 days ago Nursed a butterfly. Picked him up from the road while walking my dog. He sat quitely in my palm for the rest of the walk. He would stir and move his wings when i blew softly at him. I put him on a flower tree in my bike yard. Few hours of sun and he flew off to a nearby tree. An hour later, I was standing around and he came to visit me. I tried to see if he’ll come onto my finger but he avoided me.

____________________________________

Ever tuned your bike to butterflies!!!>??!!!?!!!??!?!?!?!?????????


I have butterflies in my bikeyard, on my helmets and my bikes.


Call me an aging hippie if you will (anyone seen pink floyd's live at pompie concert? all bell bottoms, bare feet and butterfly t-shirts. still i tune a roadking by the roadside and ai see a butterfly!


So i know i must be tuning right. I see a couple of smaller yellows fly by in twenny seconds an I know must make delicate adujstments to the two screws. Then I see a bumble bee and know I have gone too far on the idling screw. Then I see a few teeny white small ones (bout half a cm) go by and I know I must make a few small adjustments and ai am hoem free.



Now tell me --- whatever you might have in your mind regarding dudes who tune roadkings to butterflies and I shall ask you somewhat politely to regard the pic in this post.




[Apologies to my audience of the feminine persuasion, which might just come down to the number two, but V. pls xcs the lingua franca since all us nice guys lead double lives at the mechie's shop.]




In case yew still need placating, heres a nice one to boot: