The new one...

Limited Edition Royal Enfield 500 Classic Despatch, number 28 of 200. Only 360 miles on the clock, just had its first service, ready for part two of its running in period :-)

Selling the 350...

...as I've put down a deposit on a Royal Enfield Classic Despatch :-)

Yak Shaving.

I only intended to replace the speedo drive unit, ended up doing the front indicators. For those who don't know what Yak Shaving is, have a quick read here.

A Yak, earlier today.

Anyhoo, whilst I was feeding the new speedo cable up, I nudged a connector for the front brake light switch, which subsequently disintegrated. In order to put a new connector on, the headlamp had to come off, so whilst I was at it I tidied up some of the wiring and put the new indicators on that have been sitting around for weeks. And swapped the toolbox locks for a set I have that only needs one key.

Disturbingly, when swapping the speedo drive, I noticed a crack in one of the axle caps - looks like a gorilla has tightened this up at some point. Good job I found it now, and not at 60mph - time to do more shopping, methinks.

Not good. Shaggy is displeased.

Pleased.

So, a nice dry weekend meant there was time to sort a couple of bits. The YBR got a new chain, ready for the MOT this week, and the Enfield had shakedown run part deux, this time NOT leaving me stranded by the side of the A508 for 5 hours. This pleases me.

Once the bike was warmed up nicely, I decided to check the air/fuel mixture with my Colortune. A bit fiddly, but simple enough to use. The default 1.5 turns out on the screw that I'd previously set it to seemed spot on - there was a nice blue burn. This pleases me too. I could have fiddled, but since it was running nicely on the outing, I figured I'd leave it alone for the time being. A plug chop session is on the cards sometime, or maybe throw some money on a dyno like I did with the Electra. We'll see.

The speedo is getting worse, and examination finds some grindy crunchy noises coming from the speedo sender unit. I'd bought a bicycle speedo some time ago, so decided now was the time to fit it.

Surprisingly accurate, an indicated 53 was 54 on the GPS. Susceptible to interference or vibration though methinks, because when stationary it jumps around. Pull off, and it settles down OK happily. This also pleases me.


I'd picked up a folding mirror at an REOC autojumble for three quid, since the existing ones have decided to act more like wind vanes. I now no longer have to do Linda Blair impressions when joining dual carriageways, and it gives me a few more precious inches width in the garage. As with all of my previous Enfields, the vibes mean that you can't tell what type of car is behind you, but you can tell whether there is one or not, and how quickly it is approaching. Enough for my needs.

This pleases me muchly.

The Culprit.

Bingo.

Since the carb was new, the fuel was reasonably fresh and there was unburnt fuel getting through, I doubted it would be a blocked jet, so went for the part that I'd last worked on - the ignition. Took the coil pickup plate off, and found that I could move the magnetic rotor around by finger pressure. Must have been OK up until the point I gave it the beans, where the vibes loosened it off.

Found TDC, realigned it, tightened it, rechecked TDC, put the pickup plate back on. Started second kick. If this becomes a problem, I'll Loctite it. Or weld it.

I won't really weld it.

Still got to tune it, get the carb setup right, and I've a long list of cosmetic jobs I want to do, but I'll settle for running at the mo. Hopefully, I'll get another shakedown ride in at the weekend, and maybe, just maybe, make it to Billing Bike Meet on Wednesday.

It's Dead!

3:30pm Take the bike for a spin

4:00pm Bike dies, refuses to restart

4:30pm Give up trying to restart it, call the RAC

5:10pm RAC attend. They can't start it either, so call for recovery, ETA 6:20pm

6:10pm RAC report ETA now 7:50pm

7:30pm RAC report ETA now 8:20pm

8:25pm Recovery arrive

9:15pm Home

9:16pm Beer

I only wanted a quick shakedown run in the sunshine yesterday :-( Bike was running fine until I took it up to WOT, and it felt like fuel starvation just before it died, so thought maybe the float height needs tweaking. Pulled over, tickled the carb, no bueno. Great time to NOT have more than a Leatherman on me - d'oh! Sparkplug was sooty (I think I need to go down a size on the main jet) so that was cleaned as best as I could and retried - still no go. Checked to see if the previous timing work had slipped at all, nope, that was in the same place I'd put it.

When the RAC arrived he checked the same things I'd already looked at, but gave the sparkplug a better clean, checked the gap, and heated it with a blowtorch before putting it back in. Still no go, so he orders a flatbed for a recovery.

4 sodding hours later, I'm home. Could have pushed it home in half that time.

I have compression, a spark and fuel comes out of the tickler. Current guess is a blocked jet, or the magnetic rotor has come loose and shifted. We'll see.

It's Alive!

Well, not at first :-)

Attempting to start had the bike kicking back, which according to the instructions is low voltage. The battery was checked, and with the headlight on full beam it was still showing 12.2V so that was OK.

The spark can be checked by disconnecting the stator, then shorting the black/yellow and black/white wires going to the black box. With the sparkplug out and resting against the head, it sparks every time you short the connection. So far, so good.

I moved the stator plate back to the position that the online PDF stated, and it started on the second kick. It wouldn't idle cleanly, revs were high, and only got higher when when releasing the air slide.

Since I'd not started the bike since putting the Amal on, I had an additional factor working against me. I checked the pilot screw, and found it was almost fully out. Pretty sure I had checked that when I put the carb on, obviously not. Screwed it all the way in, and back out 1.5 turns as a starting point, much happier, although the revs were still high.

The cable adjuster at the twist grip end had looked bodged when I put the carb on (I don't think it's the right one for either the Mikcarb nor the Amal - not even the right thread for the twist grip), and gave virtually no slack. I removed the adjusting ring which gave me about 5mm of adjustment to play with. This let me drop the idle down to something a bit more palatable, albeit not quite smooth yet.

And then the rain started.

Pretty sure that the timing will need a final tweak, and that the jetting/float height/needle height will need playing with, and the correct cable adjuster procured, but it's all back together now and running, and that makes Shaggy happy.

I'll figure out how to do a decent video one day.

Boyer Bransden Mk4 Electronic Ignition Fitting

After finding the broken autoadvance mechanism, I bit the bullet and ordered the aforementioned from Hitchocks. Nice and quick delivery. Finally nailed down a window of opportunity where there was (a) daylight and (b) distinct lack of rain, so went about fitting it. The first job was finding Top Dead Centre. Sparkplug out, TDC tool in, pop into 4th gear and rotate the rear wheel until the shaft is no longer moving up. Move it backwards and forwards a few times to make sure - I do it by feel with my eyes closed. It doesn't matter whether it's TDC on the compression or exhaust stroke, as the unit works on a wasted spark arrangement.

Since I'd already had the points and mechanical advance unit off, the next bit is to insert the magnetic rotor into the tapered hole, and loosely fit the provided bolt :-

Next the stator plate is put on, turned anticlockwise, the pillar screws tightened, then the magnetic rotor adjusted so that the magnets line up with the centre of the coils, and TDC checked again :-

Next bit has some confusion. The printed instructions supplied by Hitchcocks say to move the stator plate forward to a halfway position, whereas the PDF from Boyer's site say to rotate it fully clockwise. Halfway seems more logical, giving some room for tuning either way, so that's what I went with as a starting point. If I find it's out later, I can reposition the magnetic rotor slightly and realign with the coils.

I did take a picture of mounting the black box on the back of the left hand toolbox, but didn't come out that well. Ho hum. It's straightforward, but I found that the double sided tape supplied was pretty crap (even after "warming" as suggested) - when I tried to peel the backing off, the tape came with it, and wouldn't stay stuck to the toolbox. Yes, I cleaned it first. Luckily I had a roll of "No More Nails" double sided tape, which works a treat.

Wiring comes next, black to earth, black/yellow to black/yellow, black/white to black/white, white wire to positive side of the coil (where there is already a white wire coming from the ignition switch) and although the instructions said to put the blue wire to the wire that originally went to the points (also black) I connected this to the negative side of the coil, since that's where it ends up anyway.

I'm not overly worried about the routing of the wires as I intend to eventually move everything to the toolboxes. Once I'm happy she starts and runs, I'll tidy with zip ties.

That's the installation, now to see if it starts...

Oh dear.

Couldn't quite get the timing right, and examining the auto advance mechanism, found this.

Perfect opportunity to go electronic, methinks :-)

...a bit more work...

New Amal concentric carb fitted, old air box removed, still need to sort the twist grip adjuster though, as it's non standard and leaves no slack in the cable. Timing looked at, and whilst it's at the maximum of the contact breaker's plate adjustment, it's still not spot on. Have procured the tool from Hitchcocks to remove the cam so it can be repositioned, and the locking washer so that the timing can also be set at full advance.

New Lithium battery has been fitted, and a new positive feed cable made up, as the other one was green and holding on by about 4 strands of copper. Redid the rear loom with permanent connectors, rather than the temporary chocblock connector I'd put on, and made up a pair of brackets, then rewired/relocated a new pair of rear indicators. This means I can now use panniers without hiding the indicators, and there's less chrome to polish. Need to paint the new bolts that replaced them - far too shiny :-)

Photo was taken before I angled both the same way, and tightened the nuts :-)

Bonus tip, Rimmel of London's "Black Cab" nail varnish is a good match for a black Enfield, to cover small scratches before the rust sets in. Don't ask how I had Rimmel of London's "Black Cab" nail varnish in my toolbox.

Not Shaggy's fingers.

And lo, there was rack.

And Shaggy saw it was good, and did grin :-)

A bit of a faff to fit though, the front legs needed spreading by about 3/4". Percussive maintenance with large persuader (number 2) and a handy concrete bollard later, sorted. I had to drill the shock absorber mount out slightly to accept the new 10mm bolt too, the old one being 3/8" (9.5mm)

Rack is part number 92541, from Hitchcocks :-

http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-frame-luggage#part_4341

Enfield MOT...

...passed, no advisories :-)

New clocks

Since the original speedo thought Enf was capable of 80mph and wobbled wildly, I treated her to a new one. Can't quite stretch to a Smiths digital jobbie, so went cheap with a refaced Indian replacement. More readable, much cleaner with bigger numbers, and reports a speed vaguely in the same ballpark as what the bike is doing. 

Only downside is that cheap comes at a price - the odometer is in Kilometres, rather than miles. Not a huge problem, just adds another step to my MPG calculation at the pump. 

Speaking of which, today's fillup comes out at 47.5 MPG. This would be horrendous, if I didn't take into consideration that I'd left the fuel tap on one night and came back to a petrol pond in a fume filled garage. God knows how much I'd lost.

Also added a small clock to the handlebar, so I know exactly how late I am for work. This may be relocated to where the light switch is on the instrument cluster, and have a simpler switch in the front of the left toolbox.

I thought she felt tight...

So, when I bought Enf she had just under 15k on the clock. I was told that she'd had a rebuild done around 10k - there was a receipt for £750 from the previous previous owner, but was just listed as "parts and labour", with no breakdown of what work was carried out.

I contacted the previous previous owner from the address on the V5 copy, and yesterday got a letter back with a phone number, so I've just had a chat. The oil pump had originally failed, so new pumps and spindles were installed, and whilst it was being done they did main bearings, big and little end and rings. He couldn't remember the mileage when this was done, but said that he'd MOT'd it at the same time.

I've just checked the MOTs, and it shows the same mileage as when I bought it, so essentially the guy I bought it from hadn't even put a mile on it since the rebuild!

This fills me with both joy and dread, since I have (a) got a freshly rebuilt engine, and (b) ridden a freshly rebuilt engine with no hint of an attempt at running it in :-)

Luckily I ride like a granny with a load in her knickers, so she hasn't been thrashed too harshly, but I now know to take it easier for the next few hundred miles until she loosens up a bit, and throw lots of fresh oil at her in the meantime.

Royal Enfield meet at CooperB Motorcycles, Easton Maudit

A couple of interesting Enfields at the CooperB meet today. Soaking wet, but there was tea and cake :-)

Why yes, the middle one IS mine :-)

Speedo is now playing up, apparently I can do 80 in second. Did a GPS run though, and it looks like she hits 55 with the valves starting to dance in 3rd, but changing to 4th doesn't pull much more. I can feel an Amal carb conversion coming on sooner than I thought.

A bit of work...

Swapped the seat, included the electrics cover, added the crash bars, adjusted the levers so that they're inline with my hands, and installed a main beam idiot light in the headlamp shell.

Couldn't do the LED indicators as the dedicated LED flasher doesn't, and couldn't do the rack as the bolts are 10mm but the holes are 3/8" (which is 9.5mm) and I don't have a small round file, a 10mm drill nor longer 3/8" bolts. Time to pop to the shops :-)

Seat is part 91475, From Hitchcocks :-

http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-frame-seats#part_4421

1998 Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc Superstar

To replace the stolen Electra, I bought a classic iron head 350 Bullet. The engine and frame numbers indicate it was made in '92, so probably sat in a crate for its first 6 years of life :-) This is how I bought it, not keen on the seat so it will be swapped for a single jobby with an accompanying rack :-

The two that were stolen...

Disappointed with the tank range and the feet forward riding position of the Savage it was sold, and a 2007 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Electra X bought. The good lady wife sat her CBT, so a 2010 Yamaha YBR 125 joined it in the garage, which I used as a daily commuter.

Until one morning I was woken by my neighbour, telling me my garage had been forced open. The Electra was found torched on next estate. The YBR was never recovered.

Bastards.