So, it's been a little over 9 months with the new bike, and I've not updated this. Bad Shaggy. It had 360 miles on the clock when I picked it up, and now has just under 3000. Not bad considering I was out of action for most of the winter with a duff back.
The bike originally had a few bits changed from the original Despatch spec by the dealer before the previous owner bought it; Continental TKC80 tyres, Headlamp grill, alloy bash plate, Triumph Scrambler handlebars, short bottle silencer.
I didn't like the tyres. OK in the dry, twitchy in the wet. I might have gotten used to them given time, but 99.9% of my riding is on the road, and the dealer swapped them back to the standard OEM Avon Road Riders for free.
The headlamp grill snapped one of its legs due to vibration. I took it off.
I found the handlebars too high and close, so swapped them for a standard pair.
The alloy bash plate made the oil change fiddly. I took it off.
The bracket holding the regulator/rectifier snapped. A very common problem with the EFI Enfields. I relocated it to a slightly sturdier mounting point, and gave it a decent earth.
As I was out of action over winter, I hadn't started the bike for some time, nor did I take the battery off. I killed the battery. Replaced with a Motobatt, in all its yellow glory.
The finish on the downpipe and exhaust is poor. I wrapped the downpipe in exhaust bandage, that has a nice greeny brown finish to it, which goes well with the bike's colour scheme. I also fitted a cheap heat guard where the downpipe meets the silencer, that hides the ugly mounting clips for the original bazooka silencer (which the dealer found in with their spares, and handed over). I have a can of Wilko's finest high temperature BBQ paint for the silencer, which will get done at some point. The aftermarket silencer is slightly on the side of obnoxious - I might refit the original and see how much difference it makes to performance. Dunno.
I've got the bike booked in with the dealer to have a look at the rear brake, since it's not very good. There is a sliding pivot point so that the shoes self adjust when applied. The problem is that the Indians do the bolts up with a sledgehammer and star washers, before sending it to the paint shop to get sealed in place. This means that typically only one part of one shoe gets applied. I could do this work myself, but garage space is lacking and my back still isn't quite 100%. Bedsides, if I find something like that the shoes need replacing due to uneven wear once it's apart, I'd have to put it on hold until I can replace it; with the dealer, they have them there and the job gets done.
Putting the bike away today after coming home from work, I found the new mounting point for the reg/rec has also snapped, so the job for this weekend is to relocate it again. I'll be looking at fitting it to the rear of the left hand toolbox which, I believe, is where they are now on the latest Euro 4 models.
I've a free flow K&N filter to fit, but that may cause too lean running. This might be offset by increasing the voltage on the throttle position sensor - the range is from 0.6 to 0.8v, and standard is 0.67. This has the effect of richening the mixture across the range.
To smooth out the idle and low speed running where the O2 sensor "hunts" for the correct mixture, I've bought an eliminator, but not fitted that yet. I'll see if it's more or less noticable once the air filter is fitted.
It's a giggle to ride. Grunty, matches my riding style. The gear change is great in comparison with the Albion, and better than the Electra, which was pretty trouble free. The clutch can be a bit on/off when pulling away, and the upright riding position can make you feel like you're going to disappear off the back if you don't pay attention. I think a lower seat may alleviate that a bit, as the C5 seat almost tilts back, whereas I loved the seat on the 350 - low and cradling. Unfortunately the C5 equivalent is a rare beast. I've only seen it listed in the States and Oz, and both are sold out with no hint of when it'll next be available. It is in the UK for the B5, so it might be a case of buying one of those and fettling.
The odometer is 93% accurate, and like all the other Enfields there's still no trip counter. At least there's a low fuel light - actually better than having a reserve, since it doesn't cutout during overtakes.
Speaking of which, there's a rev lmiter at 5200RPM. This is too easy to hit when riding enthusiastically. The engine's probably good for 7k, so why they didn't put it up around 6k, I don't know.
I'm averaging 75MPG, best I got was 86 which isn't too shabby for a carrying a fat bastard. Now it's run in, I've found that the bike is more than happy to sit at 70, tops out around 80, although the vibes are too much to maintain. Back it off to 65, and it's quite happy. I'd like more, maybe to hold a true 80 (speedo over-reads by 5MPH) but that's Power Commander territory, and I'm not spending £500 for one of those. There is a Dobeck Electronic Jet Kit though, at around £180 plus whatever the customs Nazis deem a suitable bribe to let you have your goods...
