Newbie Questions Bajaj RE

[hasp]

Hi everyone!

i´ll be travelling to sri lanka on holiday with my girlfriend this year and we plan on exploring the island with a rented three wheeler.
it is gonna be a Bajaj RE 4stroke.

now i am a bit of a petrolhead and hobby mechanic, i like to work on my cars and my bike myself (which are all old and flimsy) so i wanna come prepared.

what are specific weaknesses of those little bajajs, what faults should i look for, what spares or tools might be useful to carry?

looking forward to your answers,
thanks a lot in advance,
alex

 

[krishna6239]

Hi hasp, Welcome aboard the T.A.I Family!

Warmest greetings to you on your trip. May you fulfill the purpose of the journey and return safe and sound.

By my best guess (I may be wrong), most of member in this forum have never drove an three wheeler (tuk-tuk) and it includes me. So I haven't encountered nor have knowledge on it. My advices are probably useless.

Since you know to work on your bike, that knowledge & skill is more than sufficient.

As an engineer who has barely observed an disassembled 3-wheeler, I can only say about few things (assuming it runs on petrol) like :

-Clutch drive plates
-Carbon brush/brush holder
-bellows & oil seals
-suspension pivot pins
-worn out or bad bearing
-loose bolts (vibration).
-Spark plug

I don't think you have to carry that many spares, probably spark plugs.
We can use same tools which are use for bike repair. A quick release ratchet with extensions and sockets will be helpful in unbolting as it saves time.

PS : better to keep a small bottle of thread locker. I don't think it's easily available in Sri Lanka.

Hope it helps,

Have a safe and awesome trip. Bon voyage!

with regards,
Krishna6239

 

[hasp]

hi krishna6239,

thanks a lot for your comprehensive answer!

yeah, once i get it from the rental company i guess i will just look over the tuktuk as if i was buying a used motorcycle,
all your suggested weak points of a threewheeler like suspension pivot points, oil leaks, etc. .. sound perfectly reasonable


i wont be able to bring too many tools on our roadtrip, as we are obviously flying over there, but i plan to bring some kind of multitool, an adjustable plier that can handle up to 24mm nuts, some wire, some tape, and your idea about the thread locker sounds very good as well as it doesnt take too much space or weight but might come in very handy!

thanks for that !

greetings from overseas,
alex