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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