[roswellj]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. I've always had a love of old enfields, BSA's, Triumphs etc so it isn't surprising that I love the look of the new enfields.
I am currently in the process of organising a motorcycle ride around Australia to raise money for the Leukaemia foundation in memory of my step brother who passed away earlier this year from the disease.
Currently I ride a Yamaha XT660Z, the new Tenere. I was planning on using this bike to complete the ride but then an idea struck me that perhaps I could make it a bit more of a challenge and use a new enfield instead.
So here are my questions.
1) Will the new enfield survive the trip? It is 15,000km in 21 days which includes 2 rest days. We are going to try to average about 800km a day. It will be nearly all highway driving (in australia thats just single lane highway but mostly dead straight)
2) What kind of speed can I expect to be able to reasonably hold for an extended period of time? I will need to AVERAGE about 100km/hr to maintain my expected distance to travel.
3) If I decide to take an enfield what are the MUST TAKE spares (apart from the obvious of cables, chain, etc)
4) What kind of waranty do Enfield give with their bikes these days
and lastly is there any difference in engine between the G5, C5 or B5

The more I think about it the more excited I get about the prospect of taking an enfield on the journey.

[Ice]

Welcome aboard roswellj,

 The answers you get will vary from yes    to oh no  !!

 About the only way many of us will ever ride in AUS is vicariously through the threads of others. You just have to keep us posted about this epic ride. ,, please.

[barenekd]

1. It should easily survive the trip, but put a couple of thousand miles on it first if you can. It need a decent breakin.
2. Averaging 100 kph is doable. Don't try to keep up when the rest is doing 80 or 90 or so mph. I wouldn't run it for any long distances above 110 kph, even if those roads are stone boring. I've seen "Walkabout." The bikes are pretty comfortable for the long haul, though.
3. Probably nothing out of the ordinary.
4. In the US, The warranty is 2 years, unlimited mileage. Don't know if it's the same in Oz.
The engines on the 2011 bikes are the same internally. The earlier C5s don't have kick starters but come on the 2011s. The cases are different on the C5s.

Bare

[Ducati Scotty]

+1 on #1, make sure you get a few thousand on it before you leave.  Any teething problems should shake out in that time.

Check with your local dealer for details on the Oz warranty.

Scott

[Maturin]

Hi roswellj,

1) It´ll survive. All maintenance work isn´t very complicated, although you´d have to change oil every 3000 kms. As Scotty mentioned, maintenance in the beginning is a little more intense and there is a running-in-period that´ll change the bike to the better, so it would be nice if you could start with ca. 1500 kms or more on the clock. 800 kms/day is pretty heavy though, on any bike.

2) Well, 100 km/h average is very amitious for a 28 hp ride, I´d even would say that for a bike twice the power. A Bullet´s top speed is about 130, but acceleration becomes train-like over 120. I guess that´s not enough, if you need 100 average it´s necessary to do a good amount of distance with 140 or more, as you have to eat or pee once in a while.

3) An amperemeter. There is is tendence for cables for chaffing and the connectors...sometimes don´t like to connect, so a meter could be helpfull. A battery is nice aswell, as these injection bike don´t utter another word without a working battery.

4) The warranty is dependent on the laws in your country, so there are big differences. You should ask the Australian importer.
The UCE engines differ in details, the only main difference is the kick starter. C5 has none, E5, G5, B5 & C5 Chrome do have one.

I´d like to show my respect for your ambitious endeavour, and wish you all the best and good luck. Please announce the data of the Leukaemia foundation you mentioned, maybe some folks here would like to contribute. As cancer is a well known disease in my family I will certainly be among them. Best regards
Maturin

[hocko]

Roswellj, hi

When and where is everything happening from, perhaps some of us here in Oz can assist with sponsership etc. Catch up with you on the ride. Spread the word on the aussie Enfield site. BTY, the Enfield will do the trip, spares needed as has been mentioned already. I have a 2009 G5 with which I commute about 50 km's per day mostly highway, I can hold 100-110 kph till the choocks come home, average fuel consumption is 30 km /l. PM if you wish.

Cheers Ernie

[Arizoni]

roswellj
To elaborate a bit on breaking in a brand new RE, although the engine on the UCE is basically a new design with a high pressure oil pump and roller/ball bearings throughout the lower end they do require some real slow riding at first.

The first 500 kms they recommend 50-60 kmph and then an oil and filter change.  From 500-1000 km they recommend a 80-90 kmph limit.
After 1000 km there is no limit but they say you should slow down every so often to allow the engine to cool a bit.

The wiring harness seems to be a weak point but I think this is mainly due to their using plastic electrical tape on much of it.  There are several places where the harness is right next to sharp metal edges and without added protection they will soon wear thru and short out.
I slit short lengths of rubber/plastic tubing to cover the harness in these areas and so far it's worked well.

Whichever bike you finally take, good luck to you and have fun.
It's things like this that you will remember for your lifetime with fondness.

[GlennF]

Agreed on the run it in first bit.

If you are heading outback change the tyres after its run in to something more suited to dirt, maybe some K70's. Take tubes.

Also ... join RECOA the Aussie Enfield owners club. Great bunch of guys and it will give you an Australia wide source of advise on local points of interest, people to have  a beer with, workshops to borrow and friendly advise.

[Lwt Big Cheese]

We are going to try to average about 800km a day.

Sounds like a great trip. But for me that's the wrong way to do it. I would hate to be watching the miles pass and having to get somewhere or get to a certain mileage.

For me, the way to do it would be at a leasurly pace and enjoying the ride. Meeting people and having a good time.

It just won't be enjoyable, so why do it. Why not go to the gym and using a running machine for 14 hours a day. It's a challenge. But what do you get out of it except to say you've done it?

[P. Schraub]

Hello RoswellJ,
        If you plan on cruising all day at a higher speed, I would highly recommend switching from the 17 tooth to the 18 tooth counter shaft sprocket. This will give a higher gear ratio so the engine doesn't work so hard. My G5 Deluxe is good foe 80 mph tops, but is very comfortable for all day cruising at 65 mph. Just my opinion, but the Enfield is a " back roads " bike and not really intended for high speed all day cruising.

[wokka]

Mate,

Along with RECOA, Check out AussieEnfields.com  There's a fairly active board and these guys will be able to give you more country specific advice.

Totally agree on the breaking in bit too

[roswellj]

Thanks for the replies, it's been very helpful.
I think that the enfield is the bike we are going to go with after reading all of this. I should point out that we only expect to travel at the average speed while we are on the road. There will be days where we only do 4-500km and a couple of days in the middle of the desert where we will do 1300km over a 12-15hour day.
I know that the enfield is more of a backroad bike to take at leisure speed and I fully intend to use it as that before and after this ride. However for the ride we are doing a challenge to raise what will hopefully be a lot of money for a good cause. I've already ridden around Australia twice, one time I took 6 months to do it so I've seen everything I want to see, this time it is about me, a motorcycle and the challenge of doing 15,000km in 21 days.
More about the ride;
It is called Corey's Cruise for a Cure.
It will start on July 1st next year, exactly a year and a day from the day that Corey passed away from leukaemia. We will be starting in Melbourne and heading up the east coast, then across the top end, down the west and then heading back east home. The two main people doing the ride are myself and Corey's father. Corey was essentially my stepbrother though we didn't know each other till we were in our 20's and while he was sick we discussed doing this ride once he got better. So now we are doing it in his name.
One of Corey's close friends is also coming riding Corey's bike, a kawasaki 250 ninja that I highly doubt will make the distance but we'll give it a red hot shot anyway.
We have started to set up a website but it's still being constructed at coreyscruise.org if you want to keep track of the ride.

In the meantime I'm going to try to find a bike to testride this weekend at a dealer here in Victoria and make my decision from there... though I think I've already made up my mind.