Royal Enfield Diesel

Man And Machine - Top gear

Advocate M.T. Arunan had his 1982 and 1986 Enfield bikes fitted with Greaves Cotton diesel engines so that he was not at the mercy of batteries to start them (a diesel motorcycle requires a battery for lights and horn, but its engine can be started without one).

The older motorcycle was permanently kept at Arunan's ancestral house in Mangavilai, a village in Kanyakumari district, and the other — bought for his use in Chennai — was frequently ridden to the village and brought back only after a long period of time. It, therefore, required someone to constantly start the bikes. Arunan was not comfortable with the thought of his machines being handled by others.

In 1999,he procured Greaves Cotton (Lombardini) engines — primarily meant for industrial use and used by Enfield for its diesel Taurus bikes — and commissioned the conversion work to Rajesh, a mechanic from Nagercoil who Bullet owners swear by. Ever since, nobody — except for his son M.A. Aruneshe — has been allowed to take out any of these bikes.

Once in 30 days, Arunan makes the trip to Mangavilai to give the older bike a bit of running time; the 1986 diesel Enfield is now permanently in Chennai. “These diesel engines are sturdy; changing engine oil every 5,000 km is all it takes to keep them humming happily,” explains Arunan. “And when you factor in the low fuel bills, there is absolutely nothing to complain about.”

Back in those days, when diesel was much cheaper, such diesel conversions of Bullet bikes were common. Noticing their popularity, Royal Enfield brought out Taurus, fitted with the 6.5hp diesel Lombardini engine. Diesel conversions are not the only major expenditure Arunan incurred for these bikes: he had alloy wheels installed in both and also had them painted in flamboyant colours — sky-blue for the 1982 model and fern-green for the 1986 model — through ‘Nagercoil'David. “There is a long list of people waiting to have their vehicles painted by David,” says Arunan.

When a friend of his is baffled by his unusual attachment to these machines, Arunan tells him how they are an intrinsic part of his life. Says he, “The 1982 Enfield, a gift from my father, is the first Bullet to be ridden around Mangavilai. And, the 1986 Bullet marks the time he shifted his practice from Nagercoil to Chennai.

VegiBike, vegetable oil fueled diesel engine, Royal Enfield ...

I had let the battery run down by having the lap top on charge for too long,  although great to be able to have caught up on matters communications,  a bit of a pain bump starting Batty. Luckily we were on a hill and it was not a problem, but that fear of it not starting is quite intense. A few miles down the road and short on fuel, I stopped to buy 8 liters of veg oil at the Penny store, a chain of supermarkets, now I am pretty blind to the odd looks I get when that is all that is in the basket. I had parked Batty at the entrance, which was also a garage forecourt. It takes a bit of a time to empty the bottles into the tank and I have learnt to take the fiddly tops off in advance which does speed things up a bit. Anyway it does attract attention and the pump attendant, yes they still have them here, came over to see what was what. He laughed and laughed, which got only louder when I could not start her. Eventually the kick start worked and all was well. To give him his due, he did offer to push the bike to bump start her. An old lesson re-learnt, don't stop the engine for at least 30 mins when the battery has been flat. One thing I have noticed is the proliferation of solar panel farms here. There are a lot and it would be interesting what proportion of their energy comes that way. UK is way behind. This resonated with a discussion Humphrey and I had at the weekend, he has a long proven and successful track record of investing early on in all matters technology and the like, he is of the view that Sun energy will win out over all other energy forms  as the panels become more efficient, from the current 15% to 40% and even 60% over the next 5-10 years. Which combined with an annual 20% drop in production costs, makes it compelling. The holy grail is storage of energy, and that is what the boffins are intensely working to crack. There is promise that mass and efficient storage is not far away. He  imagined a world with hardly any power cables scaring our landscapes as most energy needs are created locally. Having sat outside the DHL office from 2 till 4pm in Foggia, waiting for it to open after the very generous length of lunchs they have here ( in fact had a long lunch myself... and devoured a few more Neville Shute pages). When it didn't, I translated the rest of the message on the window, with my iPhone app, which said that they were closed all Thursday  afternoons. So plans had to be changed a bit.

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