[Boots]

Due to excessive heat today, I find myself trolling through the Forum for topics that apply to my riding experience. You've got to be with your Bullet, at least virtually.

Anyway, I always look into threads that are tagged with B5 and have noticed a lot of issues with that model. Hell, we all complain here and conversely learn from one another's mistakes and discoveries. There is the tank badge issue started by Mattsz and later with Gremiln. There is the front fork rub marks. The list goes on. My own bike has slightly off pinstripes on the tank which at first drove me crazy! Also, the gold embossed Royal Enfield logo on the back of my seat is heavily left adjusted, cat-e-whomp -ass to say the least. There are other issues as well.

When I discovered that the B in B5 stood for basic, I felt slighted. This entry level Bullet has perhaps less emphasis placed on the little quality details. May be.

But, I love this bike like nothing I've ever ridden before. All my other bikes were pretty cool in their own way, but this little Bullet has personality, charm, a true thump... and many little cosmetic bugaboos. It's made by hand that are subject to occasional error, just like all the rest of us.

Do yourself a favor and get all the little things fixed under your warranty while you have it. I have been for anything I consider major... a left side foot rubber that jumped off the bike and ran away one day... a right hand side metal side panel that cracked and vibrates to beat the band. But I've chosen to live with my cosmetic blemishes, embrace them, much like the condition of my 48 year old face and body. Sure, I'd look a lot better twenty pounds lighter with a full head of hair and some sweet pinstriping (?) but my thump is what really counts. And I can still thump with the best of them.

Long Live the Bullet!

[Portland Bullet]

I'll make this brief and to the point, being a fellow B5 owner. Amen!

[barenekd]

I don't think the B5 has any niggling things that the others don't have! Where did the "Basic" come from? the B5 is actually the original frame that the Indians got the tooling for when they got the contract to build the bike. It is actually the most original of all the models. That was the one I wanted when I bought mine, but the dealers didn't have that one in yet. About 3 weeks after I got my G5, the B5s showed up!
Bare

[Boots]

You know Bare...

C for Classic
G for Groovy
B for Basic?

[barenekd]

Maybe that as B for "Best"
Bare

[Royalista]

E for Elementary, dear Watson 

[wildbill]

i don't think it has any drama when compared to the c5 and the high speed wobbles  at plagued some.

now as for the "b"  i think it stands for blast! and what a ride

[Boots]

Best? Blast?

I'll take that.

[wildbill]

 it's looking right at you!
"B" is for boots. so call it the boots special.

[hillntx]

the B5 is actually the original frame that the Indians got the tooling for when they got the contract to build the bike. It is actually the most original of all the models.

I've heard this as well, but looking at a 1955 Bullet 350 the styling looks more like my C5 with a bench seat. 

[JVS]

I've heard this as well, but looking at a 1955 Bullet 350 the styling looks more like my C5 with a bench seat. 

It's just the colour!   



Haha, all other Enfield Bullets are little brothers and sisters of the B5. Just sayin'. Either way, any Enfield is great+awesome. As Bob Harris says, 'Enfield people are good people'.

[hillntx]

Actually they're little brothers and sisters of the G2, even the B5.

[JVS]

True true! But it resembles the modern B5/old indian domestic Bullet so much, that I'm just going to call it a B5 ! lol

Hitchcock's 1950s kit, almost a C5? -

[hillntx]

There's no denying the C5 is a "new" configuration, but for the sake of discussion let's compare and see which looks like the step child:

G2


C5


B5


I think the B stands for Boxy rear fender.

[JVS]

That "G2" surely resembles the C5. In this case the "G2" has a similar RH toolbox as the C5s. All other G2 pictures I've seen, the RH air filter resembles that of the traditional Bullet model. Some owners retro-fit newer parts on their models and vice-versa. I would still choose the B5 as the original Bullet. Just my opinion. No denying 50 years + domestic model. 

[Pauly]

And here i thought th "G" in my G5 stood for Green

[hillntx]

The red bike above is a 1955, the white one is a 1960; I was having trouble finding a clean side view and the 50's models.  I like the B5, with the exception of the 350 rear fender. 

When we were initially looking at RE's, the dealer had B5's, G5's, C5's and a used Electra in stock.  We chose the C5 for the color, the better 18" tires and the tire availability.  If I was making the decision for personal use instead of considering the team, I would gravitate toward the B5.  The C5 just looked a little off with the smaller wheels.

[JVS]

I have nothing against any Enfield. I have the utmost respect for these machines. I do not care if anyone has negative things to say about an Enfield. For me, whether it is a C5, G5, B5, Lightning, Meteor etc, I always have and will admire them. If I had the funds, I would keep 1 set of each model  Considering the older Bullets and the newer Bullets, the one that comes very close to the older ones is the B5. The winged badges themselves carry a rich history...And the pin-striping of course. Not sure whether they had pin-striping back then in England, but they did have the winged badges. The C5 itself is very close to the Bullet. But subtle differences such as the winged badges, hand pin-striping, black paint, 820mm saddle height vs 800 on the C5 and 2200mm length vs 2170 on the C5 made me choose the B5 (And of course the similarity to older Bullets which I had in my mind)

[mattsz]

Wow, Boots, what a $hitstorm of positive vibes you've created here! 

I've chosen to live with my cosmetic blemishes, embrace them, much like the condition of my 48 year old face and body.

I agree with almost all of what you say.  While I accept my own 48-year-old blemishes, my bike was new off the showroom floor less than a year ago.  I want it to earn it's scars over time like I did, not come out of the factory bearing them.  So if I can rectify a problem that, let's face it, is actively doing damage, cosmetic or otherwise, I'll do it.  Hence my desire to fix the fender alignment.  As for the tank badges, I was prepared to let that one slide, honest I was, since it really is just a cosmetic issue... but then Kevin came dancing along dangling that free replacement tank in front of me like the child-catcher from Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang... ever see that segment?  Truly creepy!

A big part of the reason I'm going through all this trouble is to learn about my bike and how to take care of it.  It arrived with some bits broken.  I've broken some bits too.  But I'm definitely learning about my bike and how to take care of it!

Speaking of blemishes - a lot of the big electric guitar makers are now offering the extra feature on some of their new guitars of adjusting the finish to make it look like it's been gigging for 30 years - it costs extra!  Not the same thing as our bikes, I know - I'm just sayin'.  I wonder what one of those guitars would look like after 30 years of hard gigging?  It's funny, how we as a mass market (not any of us here, though, I'm sure!) will pay extra to make some old things look new, and other new things look old...

BTW, Boots, you and I are the same age.  At my job, I'm referred to by my co-workers as "young Matthew".   Scary...

[TWinOKC]

But subtle differences such as the winged badges, hand pin-striping,

I thought all the Enfields had hand painted pin stripes?
   I really like all the models.

[JVS]

I thought all the Enfields had hand painted pin stripes?
   I really like all the models.

Sorry, I was referring more to the tank  As far as I know, some models of the C5 have decals on the tank sides?..If I'm not mistaken.  The toolboxes etc are surely pin-striped. I really like all the models too. I shall leave it at that 

[Pauly]

As somebody who builds guitars for one of the big makers, one of the biggest really, even though it's the acoustic division, all we do is take them to the buffing wheel and burn through the Finnish.  The people building them think it's as stupid as you do, especially since we've just spent days putting that Finnish on

Pauly

[Ducati Scotty]

Next, Martha Stewart is going to stop by your job and decoupage them too.  Sad

Scott

[barenekd]

Blast?

Sounds too much like a Hardly! I know, it's the other guy that got screwed by Hardly.
Bare

[TWinOKC]

Sorry, I was referring more to the tank  As far as I know, some models of the C5 have decals on the tank sides?..If I'm not mistaken.  The toolboxes etc are surely pin-striped. I really like all the models too. I shall leave it at that 

You may be correct.  According to the info provided on the home page of this forum, only the G5 and C5 chrome have hand painted pin stripes.  Some bikes (C5's ?) could very well be decals.

Just my luck, I've got the only year of Enfield ever offered without a kicker.

Like em all anyway.

[Royalista]

What I like most, and what I miss most, is the sweep of the old exhaust. It makes for half of the character.

And I'd like the 18 ltr tank too.

[no bs]

b stands for bugs in teeth
c stands for catching bugs in teeth
g stands for grinning with bugs in teeth