Zen and the art of starting a bullet

Starting a bullet is an art. I remember that my uncle, at one time, had a diesel bullet. This was supposed to be so difficult to start that it didn't have a handle lock or ignition lock. If you had it in you to start it, you were welcome to take it away.

The petrol driven bullet is a lot easier. In fact, when I'd broken my foot, but had recuperated enough to ride my mean machine, Tum used to start my bike. This had been particularly embarassing for one of the well meaning bullet club members who'd happened past us just as she was just about to start the bike up. The story of my broken leg had spread far and wide, and he made an obviously noble gesture by stopping to help us along, just to discover that Tum was equally well equipped to start the big bike.

So what does it take to start a bullet. Three words: decompress, TDC, swing. The first step is to decompress the engine. The bullet has a big combustion chamber, and so is liable to develop a pressure on the wrong side of the piston. To remedy this situation, the engineers at the Chennai factory have provided the bull with a little lever that can be depressed so that the piston can be brought to TDC, and air be driven out of the wrong side of the piston.

The second step is to ensure that the piston is TDC. This is usually a natural outcome of decompressing. TDC stands for Top Dead Centre. It means that the piston is at its highest point in the cycle, and can compress the maximum about of fuel-air mixture in the next compression cycle. This is necessary because of the unusually long bore that the bullet has, so it achieves only a couple of cycles in one kick instead of the usual 5-6 that a 100cc bike will achieve.

The third step is to swing. One doesn't kick the 'kickstart' lever. For a bullet, one has to swing it in order to take the piston through 2-3 revolutions. Swinging implies a constant rather than an impulsive force. The engine offers little resistance.

And that, my dear friends is how to start a bullet. The zen part of it is ofcourse the fact that the purpose of the kick is to start the bullet. If all your being is behind the endeavour of starting the holy bike, it will have no option but to roar to life.