Three! That’s how many monsoons it had been since these two went snarling down the roads together. Since then, life had taken its toll and there was precious little that could have been done. Attempts were made to keep them running, with the last ride being nearly a monsoon ago astride one of the siblings. The other one though had been mothballed for a long time.

Speed up to present day, where they’d been standing forlorn – their covers in tatters and cobwebs galore. A chance chat with the mech ’round the corner and a plan was hatched. Basic dust-down revealed surface deterioration, in-line with the hibernation in the saline coastal air.

Turning the ignition on, with a small prayer to the moto-Gods resulted in a faint flicker from the younger one. Controlled kicking resulted in a gruff awakening on the fourth attempt. Hurray, the Phoenix had risen again.

All this was in neutral though. The attempt to shift into gear was met with an abrupt shut-down, reminding me of the year of neglect. So she was pushed all the way to the mech to be worked upon.

All that this pupper ended up needing was a fresh load of oil and thorough cleaning of the brakes, carburetor & 2T pump. Apart from this, the regular greasing/oiling + bolt tightening all around was done. Some air in the tires and that was it. A few days later, the throttle grip was replaced. Meter bulbs + control cables are next on the replacement chart, but the bike is snarling along just fine.

The other RX was, well, a bit of a task. Not only had she been hibernating for longer, she also had this trait of taking her own sweet time to start. Moody to the core, she’d run rings around others on some days and then, suddenly throw tantrums that’d contributed to my balding. Like a first born though, she’s been love every step of the way.

Returning to her revival – a spot check revealed a wiring sort, jammed brakes and sluggish-to-rotate wheels. Push-dragged her to the Mech. A wash got the mood better, as she looked to be in far better condition than what had appeared. There was no shying away from the fact that this one needed far more attention than her younger sibling. Over the next couple of days, the usual routine ensued. The carburetor was cleaned of all the gummed up fuel, clogged jets were freed and all the fluids were replenished.

The process to wake her up was with some trepidation as I didn’t quite know how the CDI would behave. But she fired up after a bit of efforts and settled into an unsteady idle. All checks seemed okay – and decided to ride her around the neighbourhood for a bit. Next up was the changing of the snapped RPM cable and the cracked oil-flow pipes. Wheeled her in at the mech and asked him to check the 2T pump as a precaution.

Had a chill run down the spine when we realized that the oil-pump was functional but there had been no oil flowing through. A big-big tragedy had been averted by sheer chance! The habit of adding oil to the tank, keeping the revs to a minimum on that short spin around the block and coming in to replace the oil-pipes immediately had saved the day.

Troubleshooting the problem revealed the pump to be working perfectly fine and the pipes weren’t leaking either. Oil too was flowing from the tank, or so it seemed. Closer inspection revealed a sizeable amount of gunk in the 2T tank. The oil was drained and the tank flushed with petrol until everything was clear again. The moto-Gods had been watching over for sure.

More is needed to bring them up to level, but there’s no rush. The RX’s are functional again and that’s good enough to smile a little on the supply runs.