New Enfield

[guest7]

And how can a discussion about enfields bring to mind an email game about song titles?
Steffan

It was Tob's message:

for your information Simon , Midlands Royal Enfield based in Shrewsbury have...

[002]

Hmmm... I have to say, when Jethro popped up talking about fiddling with Enfields, I was sure I wasn't going to the be only person casting their mind back to many pub conversations about how this or that latest Enfield modification was or wasn't working well. 


Mind you, the Dark Beast™ seemed to run better than the shiny red 500 Bullet that preceded it. It belted along like a good 'un after that troublesome Boyer system was binned.

Well MY excuse Iiiissss !

It was bought totally knackered....yes I rebuilt it completely adding a few modifications from standard along
the way. Unfortunately quite a few to contend with all at once.
And it did take a little while to iron out the bugs !

BUT once sorted was/is quite an experiance to ride   .


Jethro

[Simon#83]

Thanks for all the info guys. I think I'll nip out lunch time to grab a copy of MSL. My nearest RE dealer seems to be in Didcot, which is just around the corner (and a lovely blat from Reading, especially on the KTM!).

The new EFI could definitely be a contender for replacing the DR. Will probably hold out until they get into the secondhand market, by which time we should also have an idea on their reliability.

Dragged the DR out of the garage from which it had stood since the Dragon and gave a quick rinse down with the hosepipe.

A few minor jobs need doing on it, but with the weather getting better plenty of time to sort them out whilst I use the KTM.

Still at least another Tauerntreffen/Dragon in her I hope!

Now, what else is out there that could be considered agood winter rally bike? ....


Simon

[Andy M]

Now, what else is out there that could be considered agood winter rally bike? ....


 

I half fancy a Bonneville Scrambler to complement the outfit. Now with EFI, so no mucking about with jets and diaphragms and all that malarky. The Bonneville as I had it was very good on snow until it got to the point where the road tyres wouldn't shift it. The Knobblies on the scrambler should solve that. Trouble is they are holding their value.

There also seem to a company doing Bullet Diesels again. Search on E-bay, they use a 400cc motor. Now that is very tempting but again too much cash.

To be honest as a pure winter rallies solo I don't think you'll beat the DR. Is throwing some cash at it the solution, or is the seat height unfixable?

Andy

[002]

Re:Diesel Enfields

There is a fella over Stroud way doing them with a Chinese copy of a Japanese Staionary engine.
Price Parts I think it is called.

MMMmmmm ! Might be something to think on now that I will once more be commuting 30-40mile a day back and forth to Cardiff.

Jethro

[robG]

You could have home brew diesel .

Rap

[guest27]

Home brew diesel


Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not again.. 



R

[themoudie]

Straight sunflower in as a 10% - 20% mix with mineral is, I am told, fine. Not to greedy, yet still saves a bob or two! 

Nice aroma

[guest7]

To be honest as a pure winter rallies solo I don't think you'll beat the DR. Is throwing some cash at it the solution, or is the seat height unfixable?

Those were my thoughts too, but Simon seems to have the solitary model of DR that uses a cast wishbone suspension linkage rather than easy-to-shorten dogbones.

There must be a way of dropping it (apart from attempting u-turns on autobahn sliproads eh simon?  )

I can see Simon getting ticked off at the lack of pace of the Enfield. This is a bloke who rode to just short of the Elefant rally in one day.

GC

[guest7]

You could have home brew diesel .

Rap

I now own a diesel van and my dad owns a greasy spoon caff. Am I missing a trick here?

GC

[Simon#83]

This is a bloke who rode to just short of the Elefant rally in one day.

That was 2007. It was dark, I had a broken headlight (didn't realise at the time) and it had started snowing on the autobahn again, so I decided to pull over on seeing an hotel sign. Bit annoying as I was so close, with around a 100 miles to go.

Last year I managed to do it door to door in a day. Left the house just after 3am and got to the rally site around 7pm (local time). 783 miles according to the sat nav. Longest day I've ever done! The weather was mild last year though.

Don't think I'll do the "Eleffant in a day" thing again though. It was mainly something I wanted to try. Much more pleasant to do it at a more leisurely pace. Perhaps on somehting like an Enfield!

As long as I can cruise around 70, I'd be happy.


Simon

[Steffan]

Well in that case forget the name Royal Enfield. I cannot speak about the new UCE but the old ones would require a great deal of money to cruise at 70 and you'd better have shares in loctite..no better still lock wire or you will be back tracking to pick up half the bike in bits. 60mph even a bit more is achievable but 70 for 15 hours - I don't think so.

If I were you, I would try a Bullet first, try several, I think GC has the measure of the situation myself...

Steffan

[Simon#83]

Well in that case forget the name Royal Enfield. I cannot speak about the new UCE but the old ones would require a great deal of money to cruise at 70 and you'd better have shares in loctite..no better still lock wire or you will be back tracking to pick up half the bike in bits. 60mph even a bit more is achievable but 70 for 15 hours - I don't think so.

If I were you, I would try a Bullet first, try several, I think GC has the measure of the situation myself...

Steffan

Thanks for that. I appreciate that the older Enfields would not be suitable, but with a claimed top speed of 80 for the new UCE Bullet, cruising at 70 seems feasible. Not stressing the engine too much by being on the stop, yet able to keep up with traffic on the motorway, were my thoughts.

I'm keen to understand the nature of the pre UCE bikes, especially with regard to built quality, comfort, etc. It seems from what you're saying though, they are a little fragile and need a lot of looking after.

I appreciate singles shake a lot, and from experience, I use copious amounts of loctite on both the DR and the KTM. I must admit, the DR with it's balancer shaft, is a very smooth engine, unlike the KTM's LC4.

Looks like I'm destined to either keep the DR indefinitely or having to replace it with another too tall Japanese machine! Or maybe start looking closer at twins 


Simon

[Mart]

"Those were my thoughts too, but Simon seems to have the solitary model of DR that uses a cast wishbone suspension linkage rather than easy-to-shorten dogbones." I don't know how to put GC's quote in a little box

I think that the wisbone is forged rather than cast. Either way I had the wishbone on Steve's old DR 750 lengthened by 10mm. a local welder just cut it in two and welded a piece in, dropped the rear end by @ 40mm. I'm thinking of  making the wishbone even longer but am concerned @ the rear wheel clearing the underside of the seat on full compression of the rear shock.

If Simon wants to see the result contact me on srxistatblueyonderdotcodotuk

[Steffan]

Sorry Simon,
It wasn't my intention to try to teach you to suck eggs 

Have you considered the 660 MZs the Baghira does well as a motard or trail and the wishbones can be lengthened - frequently on ebay.  Just a thought.

Steffan