First ride on Royal Enfield 350 bullet *updated*

[stinkwheel]

I'm going to take a sabbatical next summer with the intention of doing the complete Round Britain Rally in a oner. This being a good way to see all of the UK.

I decided that if I used my VFR, it would be too tempting to blast along the motorways so I decided to look out for a Brit bike so I'll take my time and go the long way.

I considered getting a proper old brit but decided it would be too difficult to source parts in case of the inevitable breakdowns/bits falling off etc.

Next best thing seemed to be a Royal Enfield. Essentially an old brit bike still being made in India. Still likely to break down and have bits fall off but there is an extensive dealer network and the parts you get are new, not someone elses worn out castoffs or shonky reproductions for show bikes.

Went to look at some. The current model is a 500 Electra EFI. It is still in an older style but has fuel injection, electric start and a unit construction engine.

Last year was the last time they imported the 350 bullet. It's considerably slower and had a 4-speed pre-unit gearbox, right hand gearshift, carburettor, points ignition and kick start. Altogether more authentic to my mind.

In one dealers I saw a second hand bullet. 3,000 miles on it, 07 plate going for £1700. I decided to buy it now because the price is right, I had been looking at new, old stock going for £3,500.

Had my first go on it today. Starting is a piece of piss, up to compression, knock it over compression on the valve lifter, swing it over once and away it goes. Less effort to start than my Jawa 2-stroke.

Riding position is bolt upright, thighs and forearms paralell to the ground. An extremely comfortable way to sit over long distances.

It pulls away cleanly but in an unhurried manner, you don't really feel like thrashing it, it's too civilised for that. Gear shifting will take a bit of getting used to. It's on the right hand side, one up and three down with the handy addition of a seperate "neutral finder" lever. If you're in 2nd, 3rd or 4th, press this lever and you're back in neutral.

The gearbox is very basic and clunky, you have to get the revs right to shift cleanly and you have to pull the clutch in all the way. No snicking up through the box, every change has to be done as a seperate action with decisiveness or you hit one of the many false neutrals.

Handling is actually pretty good, especially considering it is on avon Speedmaster tyres, the rear of which has a totally square cross section. Certainly adequate for the speeds the bike will do.

The brakes are drums. Twin leading on the front. Again, nothing like you'd get on a modern bike but better than I'd been expecting. They do actually slow you down somewhat when applied.

Overall a satisfying ride. It tops out in the region of 60-65mph but pulls well up hills. You're sat up, enjoying the world go sedately by and paying attention to all the little noises of the bike, making small throttle adjustments so it sounds like it's running well.

People wave to you as you go past, it's a bit like being in a time-warp, or the intro sequence to Heartbeat.

I had a wee tinker with it as well. It is fitted with an emissions control system which lets air into the exhaust on the induction stroke, diluting the pollutants. Pointless, extra pipework and a big valve taking up half the toolbox. Simple to disconnect then fit a blanking screw on the exhaust and carb manifold .

I also changed the oil. Something of a fiddle because it has a dry sump (oil is pumped round the engine from a seperate tank). You remove three drain screws from the crankcase, timeing case and oil tank. The first two have a gauze filter that you clean. You remove another cover and winkle the oil filter out (a cloth "sock" in a metal cage). Soak the new filter in oil, refit it (with new cereal packet gasket under the cover), pour 200ml of oil down into the crankcase via the tappet cover then top up the oil tank.

That's not all, the primary drive is also a seperate compartment. You drain this by removing the cover, which forcibly reminded me I need to get a bigger tray to catch the oil in. I removed this (one bolt) to tension the primary drive chain.

The gearbox is packed with grease but you top it up with oil if necessary (strange but true).

Very easy to work on for all the carry on, all parts of the engine are readily accessable although there is a very odd assortment of bolt sizes (mix of metric and imperial). I'll need to carry a lot of different spanners in the toolkit.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. I'm resisting the temptation to tune it up (it is in a VERY low state of tune as standard) in order to maintain reliability.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/DSCN0322.png
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/DSCN0323.png
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Whosthedaddy]

Should be interesting to say the least.

What you going to do for panniers and the like to carry spares and essentials?
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[stinkwheel]

[MarJay]

Its funny, it sounds a lot like a (slow) Buell.

Imperial and Metric fasteners, Air cooled push rod engine, seperate primary drive and engine lubricant, upright riding position.

I see the appeal!
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[The Original Muzza]

I've been tempted by these for the past 2 years
One at local dealers '02 with 5k (kms) on it for £1400. Think I'd look like a berk riding with a full face (caberg v2r) on it though. What head-pot do you adorn when straddling your new toy?
How many ponies do you reckon it would kick out when tuned a decent amount?
____________________
Current Bikes: Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 (2020)
Former Bikes: Honda MSX125 (2014), BMW Funduro (1996), Honda VT500 (1983), Yamaha FZR250 (1989), Suzuki GZ125 Marauder(2005),:Triumph TT600 (2002) (stolen)
From then on, I and the bicycle feelings deeper.

[stinkwheel]

One thing I forgot to mention is it's also supposed to do in the region of 80mpg. That should give me a tank range of 240 miles to reserve.

The oil needs to be changed every 1,500 miles but it uses super cheap 20w-50 oil. Filters are £3.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Whosthedaddy]

I was going to ask about mpg., 80 that's pretty damn sweet.
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Mystery]

but its slower than a cg and cg does about the same mpg as well
____________________
Carbon knuckles assure you maximum protect against debris and unfortunate accidents or if someone cuts you off, their side mirror.Mopeds are like chubby chicks.. they are really fun to ride until you're friends catch you on one

[stinkwheel]

[stinkwheel]

[-Ali-]

They're brillant bikes, before you go just have a sit down and run through the bike, they're not unreliale as such just need a constant stream of fettling, mine never left me stranded anywhere nice simple machines. I'm on the look out for a 500 to take on my next trip

https://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p271/alistairhitchcock/DSCF0482.jpg

here's me with mine. truely are wonderful bike to ride and don't have the associated high purchase prices of other old bikes.

[-Ali-]

[Mystery]

[kingsmith]

leave it alone ...ride it and enjoy ..


SIMPLE
____________________
honda cg 125 copy cheap and crap, perfect for work..
suzuki gsxr600 srad 2000
passed 12/11/09 happy boy

[The Shaggy D.A.]

You've probably already been there, but I'd be tempted to get the large capacity tank for it too :-

https://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com

(under accessory catalogue/frame/chassis/petrol tank)
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Dr. DaveJPS]

[mr rip]

I had the 500 in trials trim with a hand gear change & a sidecar

I absolutely loved it, but it was a bag of shite

it seized up the 1st time i road it, I took it back to the dealers & they just road it round the block & said " no, there's nothing wrong with it"

I said it had seized so the top end would need looking at but they said they had phoned watsonian & they had told them not to take it apart

so I contacted watsonian & as soon as I said it had seized they said "oh has it? that'll have to come apart"

so it would seem that some dealers aren't above lying to their customers

& from that day on the dealer said they wouldn't even look at my bike unless it went bang & stopped dead

it turned out the left side crank journal was out of line which caused everything in the primary drive case to overheat

the alternator burnt out in no time & the clutch needed adjusting every 20 miles or so as the plates cooked & expanded it stuck in whatever gear I was in at the time

if I ever got stuck in traffic the clutch would just lock up & I'd have to pull over & let it cool down

the bit that pisses me off most is the guy I sold it to managed to get a new crank off wasonian under the guarantee even though they knew he was the second owner, when I couldn't get shit from them

would I have another one? fuck no!!!.
____________________
never criticise a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes, then when the muck hits the fan you'll be a mile away & you'll have his shoes

[Suitor_Stu]

***Warning - Long post and photo whoring ahead!!!***

Well I feel that I should first of all congratulate you Stink, you made a good choice! I made the step just over 2 years ago now with a 500 military (but one of the 4speed RHS shift ones) and really haven't looked back since, and have spent a fair few pennies at Hitchcocks too so I feel I should be able to offer you some advice on mods etc!

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2670/4001017884_6502dc14ee.jpg

Anyway, here goes...This doesn't really apply to you, but I bought the bike with about 70miles on the clock so run-in was very important. A few days after the post I had mysteriously 'acquired' the snidal owners manual (i suspect the same may happen to your good self ) which has proved more than invaluable given that at the start of ownership I had ZERO mechanical knowhow - well that's not entirely true, I had once changed a spark plug on a scooter...haha. Anyway, if one doesn't mysteriously float your way, give me a PM and I can sort you out, it tells you everything you need in step by step guides. I took it back to the dealer I bought it from for it's first service and was apoplectic when they tried to charge me £120 for it (even more so because they phoned me up several times during the service to ask what grades of oil they should be using for engine and 'box and how to set the valves!) so that was the last time the old gent has seen a dealer floor!

The run-in period of about 1000miles took me the best part of a year to achieve (well if you've got an average speed of 40-50 to maintain, it's hard to do lots of miles!) by which time I had put a serious number of hours in on the saddle, and as a consiquence a fair few on my garage floor with spanners! I am the first to admit that it was curiosity more than anything that made me tinker as much as I did - I enjoyed the challenge of setting everything, playing about with everything, but it does need much more regular maintenance than you would probably imagine. For example, because of it's low power output you do start to notice a bit more if there is any drop/change in the power delivery. In my experience I found that the tappets needed to be tinkered with at the end of most 'big' (2hr ish) rides to keep things in complete order. I too just use good old supermarket 20-50, but do change the oil every 700-1000ish miles - NB mine does tend to like a wee drink every now and again so I always carry a 1lt container with me, and if you fill the tank to the 'max' marker things seem to drop much quicker - best bet is to fill to between the markers for a more stable level.

Mods;
After break-in I decided to treat the old gent to some trinkets - this was the beginning of my obscession with Hitchcocks. First off, let me just say that Hitchcocks single-handedly MADE the enfield experience for me, they have everything you need and could possibly want for your bullet all on one site or catalogue, from their exploded diagrams which will tell you exactly what size nut, bolt, washer arrangement the horn bolts on with, to all different sizes of jets for both Mikuni (MiKarb) and Amal carbs. There was genuinely NOTHING I was not able to order for the bike from there (and if you can't find anything an email explaining what you need will be answered within the day telling you part number and price) and 90% is delivered next day. Truly excellent service!

Anyway, I digress, most of my mods are what I would refer to as being retro-sensible - ie they were there with the intention on retro-fitting the bike to 1950's spec, so here's my list and what I thought of them;
1) Pancake airfilter/Bell mouth air filter - excellent. Makes carb adjustment/removal so much easier, removes the old shitty, prone to crack rubber from the 'tea caddy' filter/side air box arrangement with the added bonuses of increasing air flow, freeing up your RHS tool box and looking farking cool!
2) '50s 'British Made' shorty exhaust system - the more expensive one on the hitchcocks website. From a performance and feel point of view, excellent - totally transforms the bike (with the relevant carb jets I mite add). For me it just gave it that little more oomph it needed, was able to hold lines in corners with the throttle rather than just having to hope. With the baffle out it was pretty damn loud, but no one seemed to care - Even though windows would shake at full throttle, I only ever got thumbs up from people! It also allowed me to junk the PAV system, simplifying things and also more or less freeing up the LHS toolbox! From a quality point of view, I had gone for the more expensive ones because I heard the cheaper indian ones rotted within a year through a good Scottish winter. I lost the use of the garage I had last winter, and so my bike was sitting out under a cover, and it has now got spots of rust all over it - was quite disappointed with that, but hey, was only £130 for the full system!
3) Bar end mirrors - well for pure tart value tbh, although they also didn't stand up too well to the Scottish winter, but for just over a tenner a pop I didn't really expect them to.
4) Hagon covered rear shocks - were an ebay purchase, I found a pair which has only about 1000miles on them for less than half price and so i pounced. V. good purchase, stock suspension was way too stiff for me (only 12stone) and the hagon units have really helped iron bumps in the road out. Taking a pillion is much nicer too, feels almost like a modern bike now!
5) I did toy with the idea of fitting new tyres to it (Avon roadrunners) but given that I can get both pegs to ground out on the speedmasters (and on a bike with rigid pegs this is not as fun as you may think!) I figured i don't really need the extra confidence!

Riding 'long' trips;
I now feel qualified to speak about this too as this summer I have put about another 1000miles on the old gent relatively non stop. I suspect you will realise this already, but take a full tool kit with you, things WILL break, with the best will in the world. In this 1000miles, I traveled from Dundee-Aviemore (via the Tomintul pass) twice, aswell as heading to Inverness, across to applecross, Skye, through the great Glen then back to Inverness again (was quite a nice way to bookend my life in Dundee and arrive at my new one in Inverness!). Anyway, along this way the old gent did tend to shake himself apart, this was despite a thorough going over beforehand. I suspect the main problem came when the main centre-stand bolt decided to shake itself out and being that this is also one of the bolts which holds the downpipe this was where problems started, but by the end of the trip I had lost 3 of the 4 stand bolts, the downpipe bracket has broken and when we stopped for lunch at Glencoe (just at the bottom of the Scotsburgring) realised that the primary/grearbox mounting bolts had started to make a break for it too!

This was us on Day 2, just after I had noticed that the centrestand bolt had started to become loose
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/4000240173_8070795ac9.jpg

Other than that, I 'broke down' on 3 occasions, but the causes were;
1) Loose Pushrod adjuster nut made me loose compression after a steep hill X2
2) Pilot jet in the carb broke free - flooding engine
What I'm saying is that although it did break down, it was simple to fix when it did.

Didn't help we were riding roads like this!

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4000239259_75d9992361.jpg https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/4001029918_20919546e1.jpg

Most of the 'problems' I have encountered are really non events, and were really only problems because this bike was my first mechanical venture, and if I was to do things again now, I don't think there would have been as many. I love this bike, it costs me nothing to run - it's an extra £5 to insure it, 80+mpg even though I have the 'performance' mods, parts are next to FA, it's piss easy to fix myself if anything does go wrong, plus it's got charm WAY beond it's means! I've lost track of the countless numbers of times I've parked up beside bigger, more expensive bikes and they've admired the Ennie, or how many trips have been extended by 20-30mins because some old boy has come to chat about how they don't make bikes like that anymore (only to be told that they kinda do etc). My problem is that my aging Granda (who trained as a mechanic in the 50s and has a real passion for bikes but my Gran has never really had the time for one when he had the farm) spied it last year when he was over, and has been making me offers ever since and I think I may have to cave in and sell it to him just cause I know how much he'd love it. I will genuinely be sad to see it go, which is more than I can say for anything else I've ever owned...

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/4001017060_7e255a6ee2.jpg

Kinda sums it up nicely for me really; I fewking love the thing, you probably will too!
Cheers,
Stu

[Suitor_Stu]

Sorry, was going to address a few of these queries in my original post, but I kinda got carries away, so I'll do them here...

[stinkwheel]

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2670/4001017884_6502dc14ee.jpg

Are those the "military" panniers? Look nice and big.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[craigs23]

Nice write up, very insightful

I was tempted to get one myself, after my CG125 went, but couldn't live with the tinkering.

[ncrn]

I worked for watsonian, the UK importer for royal enfield over the summer. I spent my time working on the new efi models, as the gearboxes were so badly designed they needed to be replaced.

I gotta say having worked on the bikes I can't quite get my head round how bad they are compared to a Japanese bike. I think one of the worst bikes I had seen had rust inside of the crank cases, which just amazed me. Also found out some fun facts like the 350 crank is so badly built that there is a 90% rejection rate for them, even with the obscene tolerances they use. They had many stupid design errors such as the front sprocket cover being the same cover for the generator, which is bathed in oil, so you lose oil when you change the front sprocket. Or the auto adjuster for the clutch chain being on the bottom of the engine, so if you need to take it out for whatever reason then you lose oil again, there is space on the top of the engine for it..

I also rode a couple and they just made me laugh, next to no power and not too comfy either, I couldn't believe they only develop 24hp from a 500cc engine, my 125 was near that .

I can sort of see the appeal of them, but at the same time having worked on them I would never ever spend my hard earned cash on one, because I'd know I'd need to spend half my time repairing the thing.
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Past: 55 Sym Jet, 91 ZZR250, 03 NSR125R. Present: 97 ER-5.
https://www.nsr125.co.uk - NSR Owners forum.

[stinkwheel]

Today I have been mostly making brackets for fitting a luggage rack.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/DSCN0324.png

Any tips on what spares to carry for doing an extended tour?

I'm thinking clutch cable, points, sparkplug, spare inner tube, some hylomar, a handful of nuts and bolts and of course, a bottle of oil.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Clanger]

I've been the third person on an Enfield in India. It was pretty funny really, because you are used to seeing the natives piling themselves, and their wares on their mopeds, but rarely do you see three Brits sitting astride one.

Just wish someone could have taken a piccie of us as it must have been a funny sight.

My friend held onto my knee pits, to help me stay on over the bumpy roads.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[mr rip]

mine was forever snapping throttle cables
always carried a spare

the clutch pushrod & adjuster screw ground themselves into dust a few times so a spare one of each wouldn't take up too much room

apart from those, the usual bulbs plug & tubes you should be good to go
____________________
never criticise a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes, then when the muck hits the fan you'll be a mile away & you'll have his shoes