How to Increase Mileage of Royal Enfield
Will give you some Tips which will help you increase the mileage as well give you more or less perfect air-fuel ratio at idling.(different from
tuning of the carburetor which involves adjusting the jet size etc).The carb in RE UCE is a Constant Velocity (CV) carb which meters the fuel
intake.
Pilot Screw:
The pilot screw is a small brass screw which is used to adjust the air or fuel intake into the engine.
Locating the Pilot Screw
1. Imagine that the carb is vertically divided into two sides: Engine Side and Air Filter Side.
2. Majority of the times, if the pilot screw is located on the engine side (as in this case), it meters fuel.
3. Hence, as in the image, if the pilot screw is turned clockwise -> mixture is leaner (as it will stop the flow of fuel! duh!!)
and if it is turned anti-clockwise ->mixture will become richer (more fuel in!) :).
Leaner Mixture: More Air, less fuel.
Richer Mixture: More Fuel, Less Air.
4. The effect of turning becomes opposite if the screw is located on the other side of the vertical i.e. on the air filter side.
Idling Screw:
This screw, as you can see in the image, is spring loaded and is connected to the throttle cable.
It basically controls the idling rpm. you can adjust the idling rpm by tweaking with the screw. (Generally it should be ~800rpm)
Adjusting the Pilot Screw of a Royal Enfield 350cc CV Carb:
Now that the location of both the screws is clear, we should start with the process of adjusting the pilot screw.
Disclaimer: PLEASE NOTE WHILE DOING ANY ADJUSTMENTS ON THE PILOT SCREW; IT IS A VERY FRAGILE AND DELICATE
COMPONENT. THE TIP OF THE SCREW IS VERY FINE AND IT MAY BREAK AND GET STUCK INSIDE YOUR CARB IF OVER-
TIGHTENED.
I AM JUST EXPLAINING THE STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR MILEAGE; I DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES WHILE
PERFORMING THE ADJUSTMENT.
SO PLEASE, TAKE PRECAUTION WHILE DOING THE FOLLOWING STEPS.
Step 1: War up the engine. Preferably go for a 5-6km ride and check when the engine of your royal Enfield 350cc bike is suitably warm.
Step 2: Start your bike. The Factory setting for the pilot screw is ~3 turns out from the complete shut position. It should be around that. If not,
not to worry.
Step 3: Now, turn the pilot screw slowly clockwise so that it is going inside. Count the number of turns rotated. As you are rotating, you shall
notice that the rpm of the bike is reducing and once you are near the complete shut position, the engine may die/stall. Completely shut the
pilot screw, But remember DO NOT over tighten the pilot screw as it may damage the tip of the screw. Also, Remember the no. of
turns rotated, as it is key to identifying the location of the screw for final adjustment.
Step 4: If the bike has stalled turn the pilot screw anti-clockwise for letting some fuel in (~1/4 or 1/2 turns anticlockwise) and again start the
bike.
Step 5: At this point, slowly start turning the pilot screw anti-clockwise, you shall notice that the rpm is increasing. Continue turning until
maximum rpm is reached. This is your ideal air/fuel mixture ratio at idle speed.
Also, if you keep on rotating the pilot screw anti-clockwise further, the rpm will again start to decrease. So it will be very easy for you to locate
the ideal position for the pilot screw setting.
Step 6: Count the no. of turns and remember them. It is generally lesser than what you started with before adjusting the screw, as the factory
setting is tad bit on the richer side.
Step 7: Take the motorcycle for a spin and you may notice the difference.
Richer Mixture gives low acceleration, low top speed and low mileage. It gives a smooth ride and high torque.
Leaner Mixture gives marginally higher top speed and high mileage. The ride offers low torque to play with.
Keeping your carb setting ideal gives you best of both and ultimately doesn’t put a hole in your pocket!!!
How to tune royal Enfield miscarry vm24 carburetor / bullet carburetor tuning
Basic terminology used:
carburetor : Basic functionality of the carburetor is to mix fuel with air in proper ratio and then feed it in the engine.
Lean Mixture: If Air-fuel mixture supplied by the carburetor has less amount of fuel than required it is said to be lean condition.
Rich Mixture: If Air-fuel mixture supplied by the carburetor has more amount of fuel than required it is said to be rich condition.
Tools: Only one screwdriver will be enough for the job.
Pre-requisites to the tuning: Take your bike for a short ride of 3 to 5 kilometers so that engine can warm up a little.
Warning/Disclaimer: Work with soft hands, Do not over tight any screw otherwise you may damage the threads. I have taken full care while writing
but I will not be responsible for any damage to your bike done during the steps. Follow at your own risk.
Locating the carburetor on bike, I have marked in red color in the image below.
Understanding the different screws on the carburetor
there are three main screws in the carburetor (explained from left to right in image below):
1. Mixture adjustment screw: This is the main screw for adjustment of Air-Fuel ratio.
2. Idle adjustment screw: This is to control the engine RPM at idle condition.
3. Auxiliary Air screw: this is part of emission controlling unit, to my greatest surprise most of the mechanics keep it close always.
Click on the image above to see the exact location of screws.
Effect of these screws on Air-Fuel ratio and engine RPM.
1. Mixture adjustment screw: Rotating this screw clockwise makes Air-Fuel mixture leaner and rotating it anti-clockwise makes Air-Fuel mixture
Rich.
2. Idle adjustment screw: Rotating this screw clockwise increases the engine RPM and rotating it anti-clockwise decreases the Engine RPM.
3. Auxiliary Air screw: Rotating this screw anti-clockwise increases the engine RPM.
There are two methods for tuning:
1. With no role of auxiliary air screw [Followed by me and most mechanics also]
2. With auxiliary air screw [as per book]
1. Tuning with no role of auxiliary screw:
Step : Start the bike and let it idle for some time (~40 seconds) to warm up .
Step 2: Tighten the auxiliary air screw fully clockwise.
Step 3: Increase the engine idle RPM by 20 to 30 % of normal idling. Say around 1500 RPM. This can be achieved by slowly rotating idle screw
clockwise i.e. closing it. Here you will have to use your senses like ears and feel the vibrations of bike since this particular method does not have
tachometer.
Step 4: Fully tight the mixture adjustment screw clockwise. It will make the mixture leanest possible and decrease the engine RPM to the lowest
level. You will feel that bike vibrations are also decreasing.
Step 5: Slowly start rotating mixture adjustment screw anti-clockwise (1/8 turn at a time). This will keep on increasing the engine RPM’s slowly and
steadily, keep it opening until a point where engine RPM will become constant. Stop at this point, this is the idle mixture point. The bike is
vibrating and humming well.
Hint: In my case this is between 1.5 turn to 2 turn.
[You have reached the optimum mixture of Air-fuel, if you will keep it rotating anticlockwise then it will make mixture richer and richer , and after
4 ,5 rotations you will find the RPM decreasing.]
Step 6: Making the bike idle normal, rotate the idle adjustment screw anticlockwise slowly until bike RPM becomes normal say 1000 RPM.
Your tuning is complete. Test the throttle response now, it will be better. If you still feel some hesitation then repeat steps 1-6 again.
2. Tuning with role of auxiliary screw [as per royal Enfield Electra 5s
service manual]:
Although I don’t use this method by one can follow and share the feedback with me.
In this method step 1 to 6 are same as explained above. Only following 2 are additional steps:
Step 7: Loosen the auxiliary screw by 1/2 turn (anticlockwise), it will increase the RPM.
Step 8: Loosen the idle adjustment screw to make RPM back to normal 1000 RPM.
Keep on doing this exercise (step 7 and 8) until turning out auxiliary screw does not increase the engine RPM.
Identifying the optimum mixture by reading the spark plug insulator color
1. This is how a new spark plug looks like:
2. spark plug color with optimum mixture: [Light brown to chocolate brown] , both are OK. First one is little bit lean.
3. Spark plug color with rich mixture : [Black with lot of carbon deposit]
4. Following is the image from internet in case of lean mixture:[metallic white with metallic particles deposits ]
Hidden secret: Although everyone calls it tuning. If we speak technically then it is called setting up engine idling. Tuning is bit complicated process
which involves upgrading jets. Watch this space for more....
