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Bajaj breakdown part 1
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Plug pulled to cool... everything looked OK
A few weeks back I was out early in the morning on the Bajaj. It was a beautiful early fall day, with the sun beating down on southeastern Michigan. I was on the way to the annual Battle of the Brits, a British car and motorcycle show. This year the show moved from Freedom Hill to the campus of St. Mary's in Orchard Lake. Everything was perfect, and then...
Did my hi-vis vest save me from a rear-ender?
I was cruising happily along, about 15 miles into a 20 mile ride, when I felt a loss of power. "What was that?" I said to myself. As I was wearing my ear plugs, I began to listen to the engine note, and indeed, it was faltering. I signaled for a right turn, cut the power and pulled over to the side of the road. I kept it going by blipping the throttle, and had the clutch pulled in "just in case". I tried the clutch out, but the scoot would not accelerate. As I trickled down a hill I saw a side street and pulled over. The engine was still running, so I switched to reserve (the gauge said that I had over half a tank) and gave it a little throttle. The result was just an increase in noise from the engine, not any additional speed. It was still running at idle, but I quickly pulled over and cut the engine. It seemed very warm, so I let it cool for a few minutes as I ran through my mental checklist. I had fuel, air and could check for spark. I pulled the plug (hot!) and it looked fine, with a coffee and cream color around the electrode. I grounded the plug against the engine and gave a half-hearted push of the kick start and was rewarded with a nice spark off the plug. So I had air, gas and spark, everything should have been fine. I replaced the plug, started it up and gave it some gas, more clanking from the engine and no power. Odd, I thought. I had one more thing to try and that was the cell phone. I called my clubmate Jack who has a ton of experience with his Chetak, and luckily got him on the phone. He was as puzzled as I was with the problem, but generously offered to come and get me with his truck. He got me and the Bajaj home safely and I thanked him a lot!
At least it chose a pretty spot to quit!
The scoot sat for a week due to work requirements. When I started looking at the scoot, I pulled the flywheel and quickly found my problem. The Woodruff key that locates the flywheel to the crank had sheared, thus losing the crank/flywheel/ignition timing that is so critical to efficient engine running. I had probably either lost or gained 10 degrees of timing and it was little enough to allow the engine to start, but too much to allow it to produce much power. This is not an easy roadside fix!
I'm working on a solution, but I learned a few things from this experience. First, if you have trouble, get off the road as soon as you can. Second, always be prepared - have the knowledge and tools to attempt a roadside repair. And third, a cell phone with the number of a helpful, truck-owning clubmate is an amazing thing.
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