[scott]

Hello again,
    I went back and took the bike out for a nice ride and just fell in love with it! I have a BMW R1200 and a Yamaha Roadliner and have not smiled as much as this mornings ride on the RE! I am going to get one, but I'm not sure about this particular bike. After closer inspection, it's just not as clean as I would expect after only 1300 miles. Plus the loud pipe, and some rubber is dry-rotting, and.........I discovered that it is aluminium not cast iron, and the price of $4200.00. So I have a few questions. I am in the U.S., St. Louis to be exact. When did they stop making, or at least stop importing the cast iron bikes to the U.S? And when did they add the 5th gear? I think I would prefer iron, but if I can't find one, what does everyone think about iron vs. aluminium? Also, it is a Bullet ES, what does th ES mean? I would appreciate any advice or opinions. Thank you!
Scott

[LJRead]

I can answer some of this - the iron engines were discontinued just recently and ES stands for electric start.  If you go through the threads here you will find a lot on both the iron and aluminum (AVL) with pros and cons on both sides.

[geoffbaker]

I believe Kevin just announced that the very last cast iron bikes had arrived in his warehouse... so they have now officially stopped producing them.

[t120rbullet]

There never was a all iron Bullet engine. The older Bullets had all aluminum cases and head and a cast iron cylinder. The one you looked at was one of them.
The newer AVL engine has aluminum cases, cylinder and head.
The last of the cast iron cylinder Bullets came off the line a few months ago. You can read more about that here,
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,1139.0.html
Being in St Louis you are sorta near a great dealer to get in touch with. Bill (Slam) Dunkus
down by Rolla.
http://www.interstatemotorcycles.com/
I see on his website he is selling his hot-rod Clubman.
You also might want to come to the Rally on the River/REunion he puts on to get your mind packed with all things Enfield.
CJ 

[birdmove]

    I Know what you mean about riding a RE Bullet. I bought a brand new 2007 500 Classic last December.I'm at about 700 miles right now and still breaking it in. I took my longest ride last weekend. It was a meandering 50 mile ride on back roads through some very scenic country roads.I never went faster than maybe 45 mph and it was still an amazingly satisfying ride.The bike ran and sounded great.
    You could probably still find a new 500 Classic if thats what you want over the AVL (lean-burn engine). I specially wanted the older "iron" engine for myself and have not regreated that decision yet. This forum will be a gold mine of info for you. Also yahoo.com has several yahoo groups you could join and read more.

    jon

[greenolive]

The Enfields do bring on a BIG SMILE . There's just something about going back to a simpler time when 45 mph was pretty fast. Happy Day's...

[scott]

I guess I was misinformed. I was told that the only REs imported into the U.S. were AVLs, while you could still get cast  iron overseas. When did they add the 5th gear? Thanks to all of you for your help!
Scott

[birdmove]

The iron engine is being replaced by the AVL/lean burn engine, which is going to be replaced by the newer unit construction EFI engine later.The last of the iron engined Bullets were recently built at the factory for the US market. I'm sure, if you want the iron engined Bullet, that you could still find a new one at one of the dealers. I wanted the older iron engined Bullet because its been in continous production for like 50 years or something-though its had changes such as a 12 volt electrical system5 speed trans,switch to all metric fasteners (from the previous hodge podge/mixture of metric/fractional/Whitworth). Just depends on what you want.

    jon

[deejay]

I guess I was misinformed. I was told that the only REs imported into the U.S. were AVLs, while you could still get cast  iron overseas. When did they add the 5th gear? Thanks to all of you for your help!
Scott

2008 is the last year for the iron barrels. I believe the 5th gear started showing up in the U.S. in 2004.

[scott]

Thanks again,
  I think I'll just try to find a cast iron 4 speed that I like and switch it back to right hand shift. That would do it for me!
Scott

[abe]

Keep an eye on Ebay there always something out there to bid on.  Iron Bore is the only way to go for me and I have owned every kind of bike out there, as I get older so are my bikes, but this is new old, and that doesn't happen very often. 

good luck!   

abe

[jonapplegate]

From the couple of people I have talked to who have owned both. The 5-speed is the way to go unless you really want authenticity. That extra gear is not really an overdrive, it is an extra gear. With the not so massive power of the mighty 500 single, extra gearing is a blessing. You can always upgrade the 5-speed to r.h. shift, sounds like it has the same benefit as converting back on the 4-speed.
   That said, I am looking forward to some day getting a older 4-speed and changing it to as far back as I can, even if it is not "correct".