Author Topic: What have you done to improve your bullets reliability?  (Read 5787 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

neil

  • Bulleteer
  • ***
  • Posts: 216
  • Karma: 0
  • Neil & Buzzy the Bullet
Hi Bulleteers:
I've done a lot to get more reliability out of my bike. Broken clutch cables and failed sprags left me on the road needing recovery in order to get back home. First thing, always carry the cell phone in order to call for help. Spare clutch cable, but fortunately, mine busted when I was close to home. That trouble cured itself after some wear smoothed the notch at the top of the clutch control arm. No more broken cables since then. Change E/S system in favor of K/S only. Probably the most benefit I've received of all the changes I've made on the bike. Remove the 28 mm Micarb and replace it with the 30 mm flatslide carb. That gave a big boost in performance. Replace the exhaust system with the 50s style pipe and muffler. Remove the Avon tires because they wore too fast and didn't give good enough road handling. I ride on a lot of dirt roads and  Dunlop K 70s perform much better all-around ! I had the dealer take the stock seat off and put on a solo seat. Performance must suffer a lot when riding two-up. That means quite a bit where I ride because NH is very hilly and Riding up hill is a real chore if riding two-up. I don't mind riding alone because my riding on old back roads is not likely to appeal to most riders. I had trouble with throttle performance and got a new throttle grip and throttle when I installed bar end mirrors. I found that the original throttle grip had been installed damaged and didn't work right from the get-go. I also removed the points ignition system and installed the electronic ignition that included the bosch coil. No more fussing with points and timing issues.

I've ordered a new lite weight gel battery which I plan to install in the left hand tool box which will finalize the weight reduction when I went from E/S to K/S. The other change I've made to the bike was to remove the crankcase breather system which used the catch-can and re-breather into the Carb intake system. Now, a continuous hose goes from the vent below and to the left of the barrel up through the frame and out the back of the bike through the duck-bill. This tends to keep the crankcase pressure below atmospheric when the engine is running and seems to me to give better overall performance. The bike now seems fairly well sorted.  Neil and Buzzy the Bullet. 


The Garbone

  • Shade Tree
  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 3,978
  • Karma: 0
  • User Complaints: 22
Reply #1 on: August 29, 2013, 06:57:22 pm
Everything you have but with a few additions.

My stock coil died and I bought a cheap auto store one to replace it.  That one died and now I have a Bosch blue coil that purchased from our hosts.

Have a Triumph type trycon switch to replace the headlamp dimmer and horn switch. Put the dimmer at midway to turn off headlamp if desired.  Deleted stock pods completely.  Bike has no kill except for the on/off near the speedo.

Replaced ignition switch/key with the old school rotary.  Get the Minda, the swiss fell apart.

All bulbs but the headlamp are LED.

Right hand shift, worth it for the rear brake improvement alone.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2013, 03:46:35 am by The Garbone »
Gary
57' RE Crusader 250
67' Ford Mustang
74' Catalina 27 "Knot a Clew"
95 RE Ace Clubman 535
01 HD 1200 Custom
07 RE 5spd HaCK

* all actions described in this post are fictional *


Ice

  • Hypercafienated
  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,753
  • Karma: 0
  • Ride In Paradise Cabo, Don and Ernie
Reply #2 on: August 30, 2013, 02:22:35 am
Cleaned and serviced every electrical connection just to be sure, sealed battery, Bosch blue coil, blue loc-tite and torque checked hardware, did the clutch release and throttle twist mod, regular maintenance.

*Edited to add pic and content*

Not a mod to the bike itself but quite important imho.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2013, 03:48:50 am by Ice »
No matter where you go, there, you are.


D the D

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,174
  • Karma: 0
Reply #3 on: August 30, 2013, 02:32:20 am
As above with the Bosch coil, wire connectors, grounds, all bolts, Mikuni flatslide carb, Iridium plug, replaced old throttle/brake/clutch cables with non-India ones, LED bulbs, Amsoil in everything but the forks, Torco Fork Oil in the forks, Tsubaki O-ring chain, GM waterproof electrical connectors in place of the open ones, Crankvent breather mod, probably other minor stuff I can't think of.
'07 Iron Barrel Military (Deceased 14 September, 2013)
2014 Yamaha Bolt R Spec V-Twin
1975 XLCH


High On Octane

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,075
  • Karma: 0
Reply #4 on: August 30, 2013, 02:20:56 pm
I don't own a Bullet but I have a vintage big twin that I upgraded a few areas on.  Mods include:  magneto converted to electronic ignition, ALL new electrical (stator, rotor, rectifier, lights and new custom wire harness), new Amal concentric carb and new cables.  My bike sat for 20 years or more, so it actually needed all of that.  But I would say of all the mods, the electronic ignition is probably the best mod I've done as far as reliability goes.

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


D the D

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,174
  • Karma: 0
Reply #5 on: August 30, 2013, 03:06:21 pm
But I would say of all the mods, the electronic ignition is probably the best mod I've done as far as reliability goes.
Scottie
Me too.  Forgot to mention that, but the points diehards are going to claim our 50k+ hour MTBF electronics are a risk.
'07 Iron Barrel Military (Deceased 14 September, 2013)
2014 Yamaha Bolt R Spec V-Twin
1975 XLCH


Ice

  • Hypercafienated
  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,753
  • Karma: 0
  • Ride In Paradise Cabo, Don and Ernie
Reply #6 on: August 31, 2013, 03:34:41 am
Me too.  Forgot to mention that, but the points diehards are going to claim our 50k+ hour MTBF electronics are a risk.

Yes and no.

 " 'lectrickals fail there aint no fixin 'em".  Which is true BUT they seldom do fail.
 Yes points can be fixed on the side of the road but they are way more likely to put you there in the first place.

 The point ( pun intended ) of this is have a back up plan.
No matter where you go, there, you are.


edthetermite

  • Grease Monkey
  • ****
  • Posts: 294
  • Karma: 0
  • The Emperor has no skin.
Reply #7 on: August 31, 2013, 12:43:51 pm
Completely rebuilt the motor.

New rod, piston, bearings, rockers, etc. See Tom, aka Ace, for  the lowdown on parts.
Ed   - Long Live the Iron Barrel !!!!

2008 Military RE "535"    2006 Ural Gear Up


High On Octane

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,075
  • Karma: 0
Reply #8 on: August 31, 2013, 03:17:51 pm
That's why I like my E.I. set up I have,  1 coil, 1 trigger, 1 switch, 1 fuse, 4 wires.  A 10 year with plastic hand tools could figure it out if it had a problem.  Honestly, I only have a total of maybe 8 or 9 wires on the entire bike and 2 fuses.  I like it that way.   :)

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


Blltrdr

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,079
  • Karma: 0
  • cycle-delic music
Reply #9 on: August 31, 2013, 03:52:40 pm
That's why I like my E.I. set up I have,  1 coil, 1 trigger, 1 switch, 1 fuse, 4 wires.  A 10 year with plastic hand tools could figure it out if it had a problem.  Honestly, I only have a total of maybe 8 or 9 wires on the entire bike and 2 fuses.  I like it that way.   :)

Scottie

You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. If the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them.

 EI is great if you don't have any problems with the system. It is complete overkill for a Bullet. Like Ice suggested, if you run EI you should have a backup plan like carrying the original points setup that you could throw in in case you're far from home and that expensive EI takes a crap. You don't want to call someone on their day off to pick you and your bike up do you! I guess you could buy an extra EI to carry just in case.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2013, 01:03:25 am by Blltrdr »
2003 Classic 500 5 spd
2009 HD FLHT Police 103 6 spd
1992 Kawasaki ZG 1200 Voyager XII


High On Octane

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,075
  • Karma: 0
Reply #10 on: August 31, 2013, 06:15:00 pm
You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. What if the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them......

ANYways....

EI is great if you don't have any problems with the system. It is complete overkill for a Bullet. Like Ice suggested, if you run EI you should have a backup plan like carrying the original points setup that you could throw in in case you're far from home and that expensive EI takes a crap. You don't want to call someone on their day off to pick you and your bike up do you! I guess you could buy an extra EI to carry just in case.

What good is keeping the original points when I have a magneto that only fires on 1 cylinder ONCE in a while???  Triggers RARLEY fail, EVER, magnets on the rotor don't go bad, and I have a 2 lead 12V coil.  How do you figure I'll ever be up shit creek?  That's WHY I converted to EI, because I wasn't about to spend $300+ to have my magneto rebuilt only to have to constantly worry about when the magneto is going to fail again with it's brushes, points, and armature windings.  PLUS it literally takes me two minutes to change my timing and no points gaps to adjust.  I keep my shit old school hot rod, minimal wires and fuses and simple technology.  If I break down on the side of the road, it can only be 1 of 3 things, fuel, spark/timing or electrical.  All 3 of which I can diagnose and correct in minutes with a simple set of tools ,extra fuses and electrical tape.

Scottie
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


Ice

  • Hypercafienated
  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,753
  • Karma: 0
  • Ride In Paradise Cabo, Don and Ernie
Reply #11 on: August 31, 2013, 06:52:36 pm
 Among the contents of my Bullets tool kit is a spare set of points, plugs and condenser. My shovelheads (E.I) kit contains the points fired ignition system including the coil.
 My back up to those back ups is a cell phone, a phone card, and four dollars in quarters to call my buddy with a truck and trailer and the back up to that back up is another buddy with a truck in case the first buddy is un reachable.

 Both bikes wiring harness contain on board spare wire in the form of non essential circuits I.E. turn signals etc.

Sorry to prattle on like that. Time to go. Can't be late for the pre rehearsal meeting of the Department of Redundancy Department.

« Last Edit: August 31, 2013, 06:56:51 pm by Ice »
No matter where you go, there, you are.


02Electra

  • Scooter
  • **
  • Posts: 78
  • Karma: 0
Reply #12 on: August 31, 2013, 07:44:57 pm
I started working on the Enfield myself in an effort to know more about the bike and keep it running well and reliably.

Did the US have any Enfields with the CDI system? I have it on my Electra and it's more reliable than a Honda CT90. Beats the points hands down.

Okay i'll put my flame suit on....
2002 RE Electra CDI
India


D the D

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,174
  • Karma: 0
Reply #13 on: August 31, 2013, 09:56:32 pm
You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. What if the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them.

Scottie was not making fun of members of this forum, he was pointing out how simple his system is.  He didn't say any members of this forum aren't capable of fixing it.  Nor did he say any members of this forum aren't as smart as a 10 year old.   Take a chill pill man!  You owe him an apology. 
'07 Iron Barrel Military (Deceased 14 September, 2013)
2014 Yamaha Bolt R Spec V-Twin
1975 XLCH


Blltrdr

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,079
  • Karma: 0
  • cycle-delic music
Reply #14 on: September 01, 2013, 01:00:48 am
Scottie was not making fun of members of this forum, he was pointing out how simple his system is.  He didn't say any members of this forum aren't capable of fixing it.  Nor did he say any members of this forum aren't as smart as a 10 year old.   Take a chill pill man!  You owe him an apology.

Not going to happen MAN!

He is making reference to his RE twin which is considerably different from an India made Bullet. If members want to chime in on the Classic Bullet forum then they should be making reference to Bullets so other members don't get confused. Look at the subject of this post man, I think it explains my view.
2003 Classic 500 5 spd
2009 HD FLHT Police 103 6 spd
1992 Kawasaki ZG 1200 Voyager XII