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                                So you wanna buy an RD eh. The first thing to ask
                                from a theoretical point of view is, what do you
                                want: a LT or an HT. Many people go for an HT just
                                because of the "High" in the name.

                                I would always recommend an LT - Because that leaves
                                room for upgrades later on; As and when you feel that
                                you need more power from the bike.

                                Now the whole point is "theoretical" if you look at
                                it from the point of view of power.

                                Because the maximum chance is that the bike one gets
                                is in such a screwedup state that LT or HT, it might
                                be putting out max say 18bhp. Note that this is just
                                the probability - Nothing is against you managing to
                                find a good RD kept in good shape, putting out some
                                thing like 28-30 bhp or more. But then that has to
                                be called incredible luck. No less.

                                Ok lets look at this situation to which i give
                                maximum probability. Please understand that im a
                                thorough pessimist; So my sense of probabity might
                                differ from yours as well as reality.

                                Assume you have gone and got yourself an RD. say
                                for 30k. Neat looking bike, say black color,
                                wonderful stickering. Take a closer
                                look at the stickering and you would realize that
                                its nowwhere close to original. To avoid that please
                                refrain from observing stickering too closely.

                                Fine so the bike looks good. The chrome is not bad.
                                You are told that the bike is an HT. So look at the
                                engine block - If its an HT, then it should just
                                be written "347cc" on the sides. But you see that
                                its written "Rajdoot 347cc". So obviously you
                                have been cheated; Its an LT, in fact.

                                Ok so you look at those silencers. There are a few
                                dents but have been tinkered back as ok as possible.
                                Chrome is somewhat ok - but then you look at the
                                silencer endpoints - an HT should end with a kind of
                                "blunt" shape; An LT should have more curved ends.
                                You notice that you are stuck with HT silencers on
                                an LT machine which you have been informed to be HT.

                                Besides you dont know much abt the mufflers fitted.
                                else you would have noticed that those are in fact
                                RX mufflers which sound real bad; And that they
                                are fitted with the wrong size nuts and within a few
                                days one of them is gonna shoot right off like
                                a missile, and you would have to park the bike in the
                                middle of traffic and run back dodging buses and
                                lorries to retrieve the fallen muffler. And burn
                                and scorch your hand in the process.

                                But you remind youself that the bike has standard
                                bores - that is, it has never been rebored and it
                                contains standard size pistons. well thats some
                                consolation. Little do you know that you are gonna
                                contemplate suicide a few months later when you
                                are broke the bad news abt your engine running shitty
                                sleeves and some horrible X oversize piston.

                                So look at the ignition. A factory RD comes with
                                a contact breaker points based ignition. You had
                                asked the previous owner abt the ignition and you
                                remember he replying "CDI, CDI..no points..so no
                                trouble". So smile with the satisfaction that your
                                new bike is converted to  CDI  and that you are
                                free from all sort of troubles which points are
                                prone to.

                                Little do you know that the CDI kit is expertly
                                crafted out of different components from at least
                                3 100cc mopeds, and ingeniously designed to put out
                                a spark which is at  Max one-third of that required
                                by your RD to generate at least decent power. How
                                are you to know that the faithful CDI kit alone
                                would ensure that the bhp wont cross 20 and that the
                                bike wont cross 120.

                                Neither do you know much abt the air-filter. Its
                                the worst possible filter which lurks inside -
                                a thoroughly bad quality paper type one. It is
                                capable of cutting down 5 bhp by its own. It
                                will strangle the bike any time it attempts to
                                revv out more than 6k.

                                But you are comfortable ignorant. So you look at the
                                carbs. You cant find anything here. Well how are you
                                to notice that the main jets are 115 size ones lifted
                                straight from an RXG. Devilish idea by some mechanic
                                to solve the mileage problem of the previous owner.

                                Of course you are not psychic - else you could have
                                predicted that the bike would sieze within three
                                months cos its running that lean.

                                So you are still blissful. You keep inspecting the
                                bike. You stray to the side stand. You cant make
                                anything out of it; rather you dont notice the
                                details; actually its a complex mishmash of design
                                and innovation and transplantation. Suffice it to
                                say that its from a kinetic honda.

                                Again you are not six-sensed enough to predict that
                                its gonna break off within a month.

                                You check the gear-lever; Looks damn neat. In
                                fact another beautiful duplicate. Patience, in another
                                month, its threads will give up right in the middle
                                of traffic with you stuck in a false neutral and
                                unable to change to anything else.
 
                                Your smile keeps on broadening as you take on the
                                neat parts. You move on to inspect the fuel tap;
                                doesnt mean anything to you. Had it, you would have
                                seen that its not the original one, but one from a
                                splendor. Had you been more careful, you will have
                                noticed that it didnt fit properely so there is a
                                little bit of welding to keep it glued to the tank.
 
                                How are you to know that its gonna leak like hell
                                within a few weeks.
 
                                You move on to the top of the tank and notice with
                                a lot of discomfort that the tank fuel cap doesnt
                                lock properely. Ah anyway.

                                You peer inside the tank; You fail to notice tons
                                of rust inside; Within a few weeks its gonna start
                                clogging your fuel tap and leave you stranded and
                                kicking in the middle of the road.
 
                                You look at the beautiful throttle grip. You dont
                                know that it hides one end of the most poorly
                                manufactured accelerator cable in this world. Neither
                                do you know that its gonna snap within a few days.
 
                                The same applies to the clutch cable which in fact
                                had been fitted in by a roadside mechanic when the
                                previous owner got stuck in the middle of the road
                                with a snapped cable. In fact half of it is now
                                cut through; It will last for a week more maximum.
 
                                So still bliss. Only trouble so far is the petrol
                                cap which wont lock. Thats fine for now.
 
                                You look at the speedo and the tacho. The owner had
                                told you that both of them do work, you just need to
                                spend some 5 rupees on the cables, some minor work.
 
                                In fact both are damaged beyond repair. Within a week
                                you would go and buy a speedo-tacho set which is in
                                fact a superb duplicate. You would fit that and ride
                                in utter pleasure. The speedo would indicate 40 more
                                than what you are doing. And the tacho would wave
                                all over the place. Sometime later one day an RX135
                                would overtake you while you are doing 140 and  as a
                                result of the investigations which follow that grave
                                incident, you would realize the speedos accuracy and
                                be dealt the blow of knowing that your bike wont
                                touch 120 if true speed is observed.

                                Now to the headlights. Dim light but you had been
                                told that there is some small wiring problem - just
                                a 5 min job. You dont know that it will never
                                improve. And that the Headlight bulb will keep failing
                                every two weeks, for no logical reason.

                                Indicators and horn etc. You believe the previous
                                owner when he told you that the battery needs to
                                be recharged thats all. You dont know the truth - the
                                battery is max good for a paper-weight.

                                You would realize that one day and change the
                                battery. Only to realize that none of the bulbs on
                                the whole machine works. You will change them all.

                                Now front forks; They look decent enough. Well just
                                wait, hardly a year before you gonna be spending
                                money on them.

                                You inspect the tyres - not bad condition. The rim,
                                again ok. The previous owner had told you that the
                                spokes are new - Yes they are. But they have been
                                fitted by a sleepy mechanic who never bothered to
                                cut of the spoke-ends which jut into the inner side
                                of the rim. Result - you end up having strange
                                punctures every month. You cant find a single nail,
                                but regular punctures happen.

                                You check the seat. Good condition. Though you dont
                                know that the hinges are almost rusted off fully.
                                Just a matter of time before the seat falls off.
                                It wont be a big problem though. The lock on the
                                other side will hold it and you will not bother much.

                                You look at the rear and notice with pleasure the
                                original tail lamp; Wrong - they are from the
                                bullet.

                                You have been admiring the bike from all angles for
                                the past half an hour now; You dont realize that
                                you have kept the petrol knob on; And you also
                                dont realize that your bike has a thorough hatred
                                of having the petrol knob left open and that for
                                every such minute your bike is gonna demand 100
                                extra kicks.

                                You dont know that you are gonna be busy kicking
                                trying to start the bike for the next three hours.

                                And that the kicker was a class duplicate. And
                                that at the end of three hours, it will break off
                                like a twig and you will end up pushing the
                                bike all the way 5km to your house.
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