Author Topic: 1966 Bullet 500cc break in period (Read 7275 times)

Freesponge · **on:** February 08, 2012, 08:58:59 pm

Just picked up a 66 enfield 500cc bullet that has been freshly rebuilt. Any special requirements for break in periods for these bikes or is it the same as everything else?

Also anybody have wisdom about what brand of synthetic oil would be best for the bike following the break in period?

The Garbone · **Reply #1 on:** February 08, 2012, 11:24:37 pm

Same as older Iron Barrel bullets, not the same as modern motorbikes. You really need to do an old school break in on it assuming its got a new barrel and piston.

bullethead63 · **Reply #2 on:** February 09, 2012, 01:44:27 am

I'm with Br. Garbone on this one...low speeds,low rev's,frequent oil changes,to get rid of all of the swarf...take it easy for the first 1000 miles or so...gotta wear all of those sharp edges off,and get everything properly seated...don't drive it like you stole it until it has a couple thousand miles on it...for now,drive it like it's your Dad's,and you borrowed it without permission,while he was out of town on business...

...and for the love of GOD man,post some pictures!!!!

Freesponge · **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2012, 07:49:30 am

Hopefully it stays working properly through its breakin period because it will take me a long time to get to 1000 and riding season is kinda short up here.

I won't be able to take any better ones until april when the roads get cleaned off. Stupid winter. I have never had to steal my dads cars because ever since I was 16 my vehicles were always cooler

. I won't be letting him anywhere near this bike, almost every time he took my cr125 for a rip out at the cabin he dropped it.

bullethead63 · **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2012, 01:48:45 pm

Thanks for posting some pix...looks like an RE India bike,restored with all recent Chennai parts...I'd put early '60's winged plexi badges on the tank,like these...You can get them from Hitchcocks in the UK...LOVE the 350 rear fender,and the 1960's type seat,with white piping...sorry about the short riding season up there;I live in the Florida panhandle (Baja Alabama),and am lucky enough to ride year-round,even though it does get down to the teens and twenties in December and January...people think I'm crazy,but I tell them "All of my buddies up North are sitting in their garages,looking out at the snow,and WISHING that they could be riding...as long as it's not snowing here,I'm riding!" Keep us posted on your break-in,and ride safe,Brother...

Freesponge · **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2012, 11:12:49 pm

Bang on there bud. The seat was redone by the previous owner back in India as well. I feel sorry for the fellow, he put a lot of effort into getting that bike looking and running better than new. He had a hernia surgery the first year he had it in Canada and couldn't kick the bike over anymore.

Normally this time of year we have a decent amount of snow and I can take the sled out but there is barely any this year. Really pisses me off because I just rebuilt the top end on it and haven't been able to take it for a rip yet. Too much time driving a 4 door sedan takes a toll.

barenekd · **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2012, 01:21:07 am

I was kinda wondering. There was never a '66 Bullet produced. The manufacturing from '52-'62 at Redditch. The Indians didn't start production of the 500s until '89.
Bare

Freesponge · **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2012, 02:59:11 am

It could very well be a 350cc. The dealer papers say its a '66 500cc and the motor looks slightly bigger than the 350's so i'll have to do some more digging. From what I can tell it looks identical to the 1966 350 bullets but the motor looks bigger.

Where would i look to find this stuff out?

Arizoni · **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2012, 05:04:33 am

I don't know about the paperwork on your RE but I've seen some strange things happen with imported vehicles.

Long ago I once owned a used "1958 Mercedes 220 sedan".
It was obviously imported from some place in Europe because all of the dash instruments were in the Metric system.

It was only when I needed to repair some engine parts that I found that the car was not a 1958 model but was really a 1955.

It seems that when the 1955 car was brought into the USA, the paperwork was given the current years 1958 date.

The Garbone · **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2012, 02:42:11 pm

I think both the 500 and 350 both have a 90mm stroke so the only 100% sure way to check it to pull the head and measure the bore. If its a 500 it should be 84mm. i would suggest looking at the diameter of the exhaust header as the 350 has a smaller outlet but there is not telling what they cobbled together on a rebuild.

Pulling the head is not that hard, just depends on how much you really want to know.

mikail gransee · **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2012, 03:23:27 pm

If I was to re-build an 350...i'd put a 500 in it.

Personnally i would stay away from syntec oil. put in "mineral" tried syntc in my '99 and it seemed to not like it. (just my opinion)

cool looking bike though. Congrats.!!

Freesponge · **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2012, 05:54:30 pm

I don't need to know bad enough to pull the head off. Its freshly rebuilt so I'll wait till later to pull the head. Sounds a tad deeper than my yamaha 450 so I'm inclined to think its a 500. Muffler has a lot to do with that though.

For break in periods I always run a conventional oil, synthetic oil can cause glazing during break in. However after break in I've noticed better performance from synthetic oil from small engines to my old diesels.

baird4444 · **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2012, 07:03:49 pm

looks like you've got a 500...
info below from my files - Mike

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only way i could ever tell em apart was that if you have eight fins on
the barrel its a 500, if it's seven its a 350.
500 = 1 ¾ pipe
350 = 1 ½ pipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the 500 will have vertical fins above the exhaust port on the head

t120rbullet · **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2012, 11:01:03 pm

Looks like a 500 top end and a older 350 bottom end. The fins around the breather on the left side of the motor were long gone before the the 500's came out.
Scarey.

barenekd · **Reply #14 on:** February 11, 2012, 01:28:56 am

In '66, the Indian Enfields, all 350s, were used by the police and military. They didn't even start selling them to the public until the '70s when the government orders dried up. There are apparently a lot of "Grey market" Enfields that were gotten in by getting fraudulent papers. I guess since they didn't get caught coming into the country, I wouldn't worry about it. However I wouldn't get into any heated arguments with anyone who knows about Enfields.
Bare

Freesponge · **Reply #15 on:** February 13, 2012, 06:06:08 pm

I guess I have to do some digging on this bike then. How does the Vin work with older enfields?

rotorwrench · **Reply #16 on:** February 15, 2012, 12:33:30 am

The Madras/Chennai built machines are a mystery to most folks in the USA. I don't know how good the record for production were kept if they were kept at all. It would be interesting to know though. A lot of folks ask about dating on the bikes manufactured in India and a lot of folks misrepresent them as Redditch, UK built machines too.

Freesponge · **Reply #17 on:** February 16, 2012, 01:48:59 am

I did some research on my motorcycle and the results may be interesting.

It is true that there is no such thing as a 1966 Royal enfield bullet since production stopped in 62. However many extra British parts were shipped to India and assembled there until 1968. Turns out my bike was built before 62 and but was assembled in 66 by Madras Motors. The motor and chassis #'s match too which is a bonus.

mikail gransee · **Reply #18 on:** February 16, 2012, 03:27:54 pm

That is kinda the story behind my '99. Suppose to of been built in early 90's and sat "around" until it was vin. in the US in '99. It says '99 on the regestration but Progressive said it is a '95

?.

barenekd · **Reply #19 on:** February 16, 2012, 09:50:42 pm

Did you check the date in the VIN? It's coded in there. It's the last two letters (or number) before the serial number.
Bare

Freesponge · **Reply #20 on:** February 21, 2012, 08:01:04 am

Serial number is g2/66767. There is no VIN on this bike from what I can tell.

rotorwrench · **Reply #21 on:** February 21, 2012, 08:24:30 pm

The REOC/UK can date the engine if it is a G2 prefix as far as the UK production lasted. Production in India continued the G2 even after the UK stopped. They just started putting EI numbers along side. Somewhere in there they started adding a "B" prefix along side the EI numbers for a short time. They then used a "B" prefix only.

In 1982 they added the year designator number in front of the B. 2 for 1982 and so on. The only problem with that was they still used a 2B prefix in 1992 and 2002 so you have to look at the numbers and an Alpha suffix that was added to designate the month of manufacture in 1990. It still leaves a lot to ? right up to the later type models.

geichal · **Reply #22 on:** February 21, 2012, 10:08:09 pm

The VIN on my bike was screwy as well title says "95" but engine doesn't match. I don't even have a # plate, VIN is just stamped on the neck~very crudely I might add. Some of my bike is metric, some imperial, and some SAE.
geichal