Got the motorcycle engine overhauled
On Saturday I finally got my motorcycle’s engine overhauled. It’s been a long time since I first felt the need to get it done, however due to financial and other constraints I had been unable to do so till last Saturday.
Initially I wanted to get it done in the official service center of Bajaj Auto, however their main mechanic who happens to be the person who has serviced my motorcycle for the majority of the time, wanted to make a quick buck. So out went the idea of getting the bike overhauled in the Bajaj Service Center and in came the prospect of getting it fixed at the road side.
This decision was made due to the fact that the service center I normally take my motorcycle to, had stopped fixing Bajaj Pulsar 180’s due to a directive from Bajaj Auto who thought it would be wise to limit the service centers for their premium bikes to a chosen few. They were willing to fix my motorcycle despite that; however they didn’t have any parts for the 180. And since I wasn’t willing to get her serviced from any other service center, due to the fact that Bagga Link had screwed her engine once.
All of the above circumstances dictated profit for the regular mechanic and while I wasn’t that willing, thinking at least my bike will be fixed properly I agreed.
So on the sunny Saturday morning I went to the place where the mechanics fixes motorcycles when he isn’t in the service center. He had already gotten most of the parts and thus began operation overhaul.
Slowly but steadily the engine bits came off:
Taking off the head
Lifting the cylinder block
Old piston attached to the crank
Head
Crank
Clutch cover opened and piston detached
After the piston was detached my doubts were cleared, my bikes engine had seized twice in June 2005 while I was coming back from Rohru. This might have happened due to the fact it was in the middle of the afternoon in the hot month of June and the fact that I was continuously ridding at over 110kmph and also the fact that one of rocker arms had some issue.
Here are couple of photos of the seized piston:
In the end we ended up changing more parts then we had thought initially, here is a list of the parts that were changed.
1. Piston and rings
2. Cylinder block
3. Timing chain
4. Timing Guide
5. Clutch Plates
6. Pressure Plates
7. Clutch hub
8. Wheel Clutch
9. Valves
10. Rocker Arms
11. Air filter
12. Spark plug
13. Engine oil
14. Head decarbed
And lots of seals and packings and few small parts and rest of the bike was serviced. Total bill came to be Rs. 4020 (roughly US $ 92), Rs. 3720 for the parts and Rs. 300 as labor. I guess the whole job did end up costing a little cheaper than what it would have been had I got it done from the service center, not to mention the mechanic would have been the same and wouldn’t have been that happier servicing my motorcycle.
Now the bike is feeling peppy and rev happy, although I haven’t yet started ripping her. Right now I am trying to keep the speed at 50kmph – 65kmph (3000-4500rpm) in the fifth gear. And will do so until the trip in May.
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Dear Yogesh,
You should have mentioned the model and the odometer reading of your bike in this…which will help people to understand when the bike comes for overhaul.
[...] around 30k kms and two trips to Ladakh on the seized engine, you can view the photographs here, Got the motorcycle engine overhauled | Yogesh Sarkar’s Blog Personally I believe that piston and cylinder block should be changed, instead of going for [...]
hi Yogesh, i am naveen from bangalore,recently got my bike seized, i had some jerk from engine while riding,and i directly took the bike to bajaj service centre,but im still able to start it and also ride,now i have taken it to bajaj service centre,there they r asking 10k for engine overhaul,as u have done ur engine overhaul for 4020,plz guide me,i cant trust the service centre guys,
i have a Bajaj Pulsar 150 dtsi–alloy wheels(i think its semi seized)
i told the service centre guys tat i cant pay 10k,as i dont have money,they said they would do some alternative buy changing piston rings,so tat i can drive for another 2 months—now they said tat it would cost around 1800/-,
also they said tat the new bore would cost 5000/-
and 9000/- for engine overhaul(including bore)
plz help me
Naveen new bore and piston costs around Rs. 2000 these days in Delhi, there is no way in hell it costs Rs. 5000 in Bangalore.
Do one thing, fill out this form, http://www.bajajauto.com/customercomplaint.aspx and tell the entire story to Bajaj Auto. Keep in mind to mention the quote you have received and the name and address of the service center which has given you this ridiculous quote and ask them whether or not this is the case. Most likely someone will contact you in a day or two over the phone and try and resort this issue.
If you still face any problem, let me know and I’ll check with my contacts in Bangalore.
hello Yogesh sarkar,today i got my bike from service center,i had told them earlier,that im not in a position to do engine overhaul,so they just made a general paid service and did some settings(crank,valve etc) in the engine,later while i went to get my bike,i asked the mechanic over there,who is very known and friendly to me,about the engine status ,he said like there were lines is the clyinder block,and also crank was a little bit in ply(maybe wobbly)and also said tat from now on check the engine oil level every 10-15 days,as there might be some engine oil burn,also said me to drive at 40-50 kmph,i asked him personally about why they r quoting so much for engine overhaul,he replied tat the labour cost r more,and it would be best if i did my engine overhaul outside service centre,and now he also said tat the new bore and piston costs 1800/-,
also he suggested me tat reboring would not be suited for pulsar,tat costs 1k,instead go for new boe for 1800/-
also said me one more thing tat if u need power and a mileage of around 40kmpl
changing my pulsar bore to the one with karizma ,with all alterations for 7k(he gave me the mechs no,who would do it),and would get some additional power roughly 198.2cc,and also some alterations to head,valves,and crnk
wat r ur opinions
im planin to go for the karizma bore,and also i have a friend who has done tis earlier and have tested his bike also it works great,he had done tis 1 year ago
plz help me
Naveen, talk to the service center people again and ask them to give you a proper quote with respect to cost of spares (what all they intend to change) and labor. Mechanics will always tell you to get it done outside because then the money goes in their pockets, while at times it can work out quite well, it can end up costing you more or end up with a bike which isn’t as good as it ought to have been.
As for “fixing” Karizma’s bore on a 150cc pulsar, I find it hard to digest! I mean how can any one “fix” a bore from a 223cc motorbike on to a 149cc motorcycle and that too when engine construction is different?
It would have made some sense if there was a talk of replacing the 150’s bore with that of 180 or even 200, as they have same basic engine with varying capacity and even then you will need to change the head and few other parts along with the CDI to get everything working properly!
Hi Yogesh
I have a Pulsar 150 (classic model 2003) which has done about 43000 Kms. It has been regularly serviced every 2500-300 Kms.. A few days back after receiving my bike from the service centre, they reported that my engine was ‘Smocky’.. I am assuming they mean it is emitting white smoke (they told me this).. and the engine is rusty is and consuming alot of Oil. He suggests my bike doesnt have more than 5-6000 kms more to run.
Now on asking him for a rough quote, he said an overhaul would cost me 10-12 thousand. This is an insane amount!. I live in Pune and was wondering if you knew any reliable mechanic who i could go to, to get my bike overhauled.
Also a few of my friends say that once a bike is overhauled, it ends up giving even more problems and they suggest i should sell my baby off… (no way.. my 1st bike bought with my own hard earned cash)
Please help!!
Vijay first off, keep an eye on the oil level and see if it is drastically dropping in 1000kms. If yes then you have to get the kit changed. Now unless they are going to be changing the crank along with the piston+bore kit, there is no way it would end up at 10-12k. Even if they charge 2-3k for labor, it should end up costing you around 6-8k depending on what all parts get changed beside the kit.
As for finding a reliable mechanic in Pune, well I have no idea, however you can post at http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/ and I am sure members from Pune will help you in this regard.
Hey,
Am from Bangalore and i recently got my bike passion 2001 model serviced from the showroom. The mech who did the service kept on pestering that the bike had to be overhauled. He gave me a quote of 8 to 10 thousand which is completely mind blasting.
My bike has run for 50000kms so i am thinking of overhauling it but the service centre is completely out of the scene. Since you were also saying that you had some here i would like to know how i could contact them and get it done at a cheaper price.
Another thing is that the mech told me that even after overhauling it would give problem and selling it was the best possible remedy which i can’t do. Please tell me what kind of problems could happen.
thanks a lot ….
and by the way the post was really informative….
Rishikanth sorry can’t help with that, I know the owner of one of the authorized Bajaj service center in Bangalore.
Btw is your motorcycle drinking a lot of engine oil?
Once you completely change to bore and piston, there is no issues as long as it is done with care and you run in the vehicle for 500-1000kms.