Deltran LiFePO4 battery review

Battery Tender BTL14A240C Box

It is very difficult to wipe the smug smile off my face since I have installed this battery. The bull is lighter by 5 kgs. I feel more confident pressing self start every time and finally I don’t need even a slight throttling during self start to get my Bullet going forward. The feeling is just incredible. Even when I look at the unit I know it is going to keep my battery case in its pristine condition. It is too early to comment on the 5 times longer battery life claim, however if it even gives 10 years of good life I would say it would be investment totally worth its cost.

Bull-LEDs Headlight for Royal Enfield review

Bull LEDs  headlight for 

Royal Enfield unpacking

What can be brighter than 4 LED bulbs? 13 LED bulbs!!! Or the maximum number of bulbs that can be fitted inside a 7 inch diameter of Enfield light casing. Even the slight gap on the top and bottom is filled with DRL strips. So what to expect from this 75 watt daymaker? I was quite apprehensive at first. Not because my experience with technical glitches in these LED was not quite satisfactory before (read Onella CREE headlight.) Not even because it was drawing 23 more watts than the 52 watt OEM halogen headlight, but because I was afraid it would be too bright to be driven legally. 
I need not have worried. The system is smartly designed to run only 5 bulbs along with the DRL for low beam. That still makes the headlight quite bright. However not blinding bright for the oncoming traffic. It is when you switch on the high beam that the beam gives its full blast. And then it is so bright that even during the daytime you can see the light reflected in road signs. 

As of writing this article it is the brightest LED headlight option available in India. So choose this if you want to set the road ahead on fire.

Roots megasonic horns review

Roots Megasonic Horns

There are two types of Bullet riders: a. Whose bull is a sound machine or b. Whose bull is a noise machine. I always prided myself to be the former. Regular maintenance on my part has my bull in a very sound condition and it always gives out the right notes which are music to my ears. I used to rarely if ever use horns making do with passing light function most of the times. And then I started riding in Gurgaon and had my first accident. The guy sitting in Tavera ignored my passing light signals, ignored my last ditch attempts on my standard Minda horns, even ignored the fact of his Tavera slamming into my Bull. As I lay on the road seeing the Tavera drive away I could hear the “Char botal vodka” song booming in his car. The only thing I could think at that moment was if there was a horn that I could use to blast him out of this song or maybe even his car.

I started my search on the loudest horn available for these uncouth drivers and finally landed on Megasonic horns by Roots. Within the legal limits these horns are exceedingly loud. In fact they are so loud that I started limiting my horn pressing to short beeps, so I don’t scare the people. I was also impressed by their durable quality. I have literally (and I know when to use “literally” instead of “figuratively”) taken these through water, mud and even fire on one instance. I have even had one of them getting dislodged from a moving motorcycle. It has been two years since I bought them and they have yet to fail me. Extremely good horns in case you are looking for highway presence.

Onella Cree LED headlight for Royal Enfield review

Onella Cree LED headlight for
Royal Enfield in daylight

I have never been impressed by HID lights. They put undue strain on your battery and also blind the oncoming traffic if not properly installed. Installing high beam Low beam function with HID was another game altogether. However I was not very happy with my Halogen lamps as due to their low light I would miss potholes even in city. To say nothing of the badly lit roads when I travelled outside. Anyways when I chanced upon this relatively less known product from moto95. I decided to give it a try. I knew Cree was a very well known LED manufacturer, so if everything else fails the light still would be good enough. Since the manufacturers are from Jaipur the online payment method was a bit cumbersome. The money transfer took place and the product promptly arrived. On first look the headlight looked beautiful. However installing it was not so easy. There was no DIY available and in the name of instruction there was just a wire diagram. I finally found a mechanic who was willing to experiment. After much trial and error finally he had the headlights installed. However some functions like amber glow for left indicator would not work. Also the passing light switch did not work. When I contacted the seller they informed that they are working on these changes. After some time they informed that passing light function will not work however they will correct the amber glow for left indicator problems. It has been 3 months since and I am still waiting for a solution.

I am quite impressed with the headlight brightness though. Also the angel light that lights up as soon as you switch on the ignition is very good to look at and attracts attention. Now only if their promises were equally good.

Boyer bransen powerbox (PBOX00105) review

Boyer bransen powerbox

One of the reasons I bought Bullet Enfield was because I thought it was completely mechanical machine and could run even without a battery. Imagine my dismay when I found out this wasn't true. The fact that this realization dawned on me when I was 20 kms from anywhere made the experience even more bitter. The battery just died on me and so did my engine. It was not until I hitch-hiked and replaced the old battery with a new one did my bullet
come to life again. 

Since that day the biggest question plaguing me has been how to convert my bullet so that even in case my battery dies my bull should at least be able to take me to nearest mechanic. The answer came to me in the form of this very compact unit from Hitchcock motorcycles. The best thing about this unit is that it can be installed with your existing battery. In case the battery fails this system takes over. Even though you have to kickstart the engine, once the engine starts running all your electrical and system will work normally. I was wrong in thinking it was the only benefit of this unit. Kickstarting my bike since has become so much easier that mostly I don’t have to kick more than once, even on a cold morning, before the engine comes to life. 

This mod is a must have for people who do not want to drag their bullet because their battery decided to die middle of nowhere.

BMC air filter review

BMC air filter UCE standard 500

Air filters are strictly a personal choice. Some prefer foam, some prefer fabric and others say there is nothing like paper element. Cost wise paper element is the cheapest. In fact, you’ll end up spending more just in the maintenance of the fabric air filter than in buying a new paper element filter. However there’s a catch. Paper element filters are notoriously unreliable.
If somebody sprays water on it, it is as good as dead. If it is sitting too long in humid conditions it will not function properly. Additionally these paper elements are quite restrictive and block free flow of air. So I switched to fabric air filter. Now I had two choices K&N and BMC. I chose BMC mostly because it was recommended by red rooster. Moreover I had read somewhere that due to the less restrictive nature of K&N it tends to let in a lot of dirt in dusty climate. While BMC claims to filter even better than paper element. Then there was the thing about carb jetting. Almost everywhere I had asked before they had recommended carb jetting to be done along with K&N filters. This was also not required for BMC. Anyways since I have only run BMC along with Red rooster exhaust I can only comment that I saw a boost in pickup and performance. I can’t say if it was partly due to RRP and partly due to BMC or wholly due to either. What I can say is that it installed with least amount of hassles. I have since checked the space inside the air filter and not seen a speck of dust. So it seems to be doing its job well.

Red rooster performance exhaust review

Red rooster performance exhaust back

This is one of the costliest exhaust available in the market for your bullet, surpassed only by Khalidaro. Khalidaro exhausts though have a distinctive modern look which is something I would rather avoid on a classic machine. So the big question is whether RRP is worth its cost. And the short answer is
yes. It is amazingly good to look at. Made from a single piece of stainless steel this jointless designed exhaust is one of a kind. Once you hold it in your hands you can immediately feel the weight, the finish and the high quality work that has gone into it. The sound is god awesome. Again it is not very booming like a wildboar but just the right mix between the boom and the rat–a-tat of an automatic gun. It is a stock replacement that does not need any carburetor tuning. When I installed it along with BMC air filter (which completes the free flow exhaust system) and rode it, I almost felt as if I had left the “choke on” in my bullet. The bull just raced forward even at the slightest throttling.
After installation I have been asked so many times where I got this silencer that I feel I should keep the visiting card of RRP printed for distribution.

Sans inc. Short bottle exhaust review

Sans inc. Short bottle glasswool exhaust

This is the first exhaust I tried on my bullet whose sound I actually liked. The note is not as booming as a wildboar and not rattling and noisy as some of the cheaper aftermarket exhaust. Over time the boom in the sound matures and gives nice rich thump on all levels. I have also found that on replacement from an OEM silencer you’ll definitely notice less vibration in your Bull and improved pickup.

NGK Iridium spark plugs review

NGK Iridium Spark 

Plug Enfield bullet 500 BPR5EIX-11

NGK Iridium Spark 

Plug Enfield bullet 

500 CPR7EAIX-9

The claims for these spark plugs touch the sky, with it providing everything from improved throttle response to Fuel efficiency and though many of these claims were not apparent at first, I noticed that after installation of these plugs, kick starting my Bullet was much easier. After a time I also noticed a marginal increase in mileage. These spark plugs are extremely reliable and I have never once had any issues with them. Since my Bullet is UCE 500 twinspark I am using BPR5EIX-11 and CPR7EAIX-9.

Pros or advantages of NGK Iridium spark plugs

Extremely dependable, Marginal increase in fuel efficiency, Improved Kick starting