[olhogrider]

I loved my 2010 C5. The looks, the sound, everything but especially the riding experience. Unfortunately, there were some reliability problems. I won't go into it here but I keep hearing that they are better now. Is that true? Since my RE I have had two Triumphs, two Yamahas, a Stella and a SYM. All good bikes and as reliable as a hammer but... I miss my RE. With the new lower prices, I am sorely tempted. I am not expecting Japanese style perfection, but I need to know, is it marketing hype or are they really better? Any differences between the '12 and the '13 or '14?
On a side note, I just filed for divorce this week so I won't know my financial situation for a few months so there's no rush.
Thanks

Dan

[GSS]

Dan,
The C5 is the same bike, but with improved handling due to the new front end, and the wiring is a bit cleaner and better protected.

Knowing your history, you will have the weak spots sorted out in no time!

GSS

[Arizoni]

I'm not sure but I think the 2010 was still using the weaker sprag clutch.
They did change it for a more robust design and I haven't heard of many problems with the 2011 and on up motorcycles.

Then, there is the way Royal Enfield does business.  It seems they are constantly improving things and incorporating the improvements into the latest production.
They don't wait for "next years production" to put changes in place.

For instance, they've replaced the old glass tube fuses with modern plug in fuses.
Same for the small light bulbs.  They got rid of the old metal push and turn bases and are using the push in style used on modern cars.

These little things may not make much of a difference but over time, they add up.

[suitcasejefferson]

A Royal Enfield will never be a Japanese bike (at least I hope not) I have gotten bored to death with newer Japanese bikes. I have a 2013 B5, bought new, and have a little over 700 miles on it. So far the only problem has been a loose wire that got chewed up by the rear tire. I repaired it, and rerouted it to prevent that from happening again. The fit and finish is far from being Japanese quality, but to me that gives it character, as does the sound and feel. I expect it to be fairly reliable if not abused. I do not intend to ride mine over 60 mph, or take long trips on it.

They still come with an old fashioned flooded battery and a non O-ring chain, which I am keeping, at least for now. I am old enough to remember when all bikes came that way, and it is not an issue for me.

I also have a Genuine Stella, an '09 2 stroke. I fried the top end at just over 300 miles, the starter switch fell apart on the way home from the dealer, and I had a $200 stator fail. I have since removed the electric start, it is now kick only. I have a little over 10,000 miles on it. I love riding it, for much the same reasons as the RE. It's a brand new old bike.

[Ducati Scotty]

It seems to me there have been very few reports of problems with new bikes that keep them off the road.  Four years ago when I joined there were more.  I'm going to say that quality and reliability have gone up. 

Who else has been here a few years and agrees?

Scott

[caricabasso]

A Royal Enfield will never be a Japanese bike (at least I hope not) I have gotten bored to death with newer Japanese bikes. I have a 2013 B5, bought new, and have a little over 700 miles on it. So far the only problem has been a loose wire that got chewed up by the rear tire. I repaired it, and rerouted it to prevent that from happening again. The fit and finish is far from being Japanese quality, but to me that gives it character, as does the sound and feel. I expect it to be fairly reliable if not abused. I do not intend to ride mine over 60 mph, or take long trips on it.

They still come with an old fashioned flooded battery and a non O-ring chain, which I am keeping, at least for now. I am old enough to remember when all bikes came that way, and it is not an issue for me.

I also have a Genuine Stella, an '09 2 stroke. I fried the top end at just over 300 miles, the starter switch fell apart on the way home from the dealer, and I had a $200 stator fail. I have since removed the electric start, it is now kick only. I have a little over 10,000 miles on it. I love riding it, for much the same reasons as the RE. It's a brand new old bike.

The quality of these bikes can tell you my experience.
I bought a B5 in 2012 and March 30 was the second anniversary.
I have traveled so far 30,000 km without any major damage.
I removed the automatic decompressor because it seemed noisy at about 12,000 kilometers and I replaced the starter solenoid.
The chain does not have the o-rings but until now did not need to be adjusted.
I must say that I put the grease spray booby chain every 500-600 miles and every 5000 km unmount it and wash it with kerosene.
I think the traditional chain lasts much longer than with the O-rings as long as you care for him periodically lubrication and cleaning.

[mattsz]

I have traveled so far 30,000 km without any major damage.
I removed the automatic decompressor because it seemed noisy at about 12,000 kilometers and I replaced the starter solenoid.
The chain does not have the o-rings but until now did not need to be adjusted.

Wow - 30,000 km (almost 20,000 miles) in two years!  And without a chain adjustment?!?  That is something!

I'm curious, did you replace the automatic decompressor with a manual one?  If not, is the engine difficult to start without one, and are you worried about damage to the starter?

[High On Octane]

I'm curious, did you replace the automatic decompressor with a manual one?  If not, is the engine difficult to start without one, and are you worried about damage to the starter?

I can't speak for the Bullet, but I get a good chuckle every time the decomp is brought up.  I have a 700cc twin with NO decomp whatsoever, I can still kick it over on the first try most days.  I have to admit tho, if I don't have it just past TDC and I don't kick it with an attitude, the kick will usually be a dud.  LOL   

Scottie J

[mattsz]

Scottie -

I ask because I've heard about kickback destroying sprague clutches.

My bike is almost always a 1st-kick start when warm, 2nd-kick start when cold.

That 1st cold kick is remarkably mushy.  Although I've heard it said that these engines stop just at the compression point, my bike rarely does this.  If I slowly kick it through to just after compression, I often find the lever travels quite a bit, moving the piston until I feel the sudden resistance of compression, at which it takes 3 or 4 full seconds of steady pressure of the kick lever to slowly move the piston just through TDC (more pressure will move it a bit faster, but then I usually can't stop it in time, and it wanders well past).  Turn everything on, and kick hard with a full follow through, and it feels... like mush.  Second try usually gets it in motion, just.  Once it's warm, it still feels mushy, but it jumps to life.

I wonder, with the piston just past compression TDC, how many revolutions a good sturdy kick will give it?  It doesn't feel like more than one to me.  Anyway, maybe I'm wrong, but it also feels like if I really jump on the kick lever with the resistance of full compression in place, it's just gonna break right off.

[High On Octane]

mattz - When approaching TDC.......  I usually will turn the motor fully over a couple of times slowly to get a feel where the piston is actually at and also to help prime the oil up.  Once you know where the piston is traveling bring the piston up until you feel the compression build.  When it gets to the teeter totter point, give the kicker a few love taps until you feel it come just over TDC.  Then as far as the actual kick.....  If you watch in my "kick starting" videos, you will see that I actually put my right foot on the kick lever, and with my left foot I bounce myself into the air so that all of my force is directly on the kicker and stomp the kicker all the way to the ground.  This gives you a little extra "oomph" and will spin my motor a full extra revolution and almost guarantees a start.  Peoples biggest problem with kick starting is that they don't spin the motor fast enough to actually compress the fuel and ignite it.

In this video, the kick isn't as aggressive as I usually use, but you get the point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkYsOhnomE8

In this video you can see what I'm talking about.  fast forward to 50 seconds for the actual starting technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVOniuawdDY


Scottie J

[azcatfan]

That's funny, I always figured on a twin that one of the cylinders would be falling opposite the other cylinder in compression, meaning the rotational mass of the the freer moving parts helps to overcome the compression on the other cylinder.  In other words, I thought kick starting a twin was easier than a single, especially if the single doesn't have a decomp...

BTW Scottie, that bike sounds freaking awesome, in every video that's the first thing I think...

[High On Octane]

That's funny, I always figured on a twin that one of the cylinders would be falling opposite the other cylinder in compression, meaning the rotational mass of the the freer moving parts helps to overcome the compression on the other cylinder.  In other words, I thought kick starting a twin was easier than a single, especially if the single doesn't have a decomp...

BTW Scottie, that bike sounds freaking awesome, in every video that's the first thing I think...

Thanks bro!  You might not realize it, as a lot of people don't, but on a British parallel twin both pistons travel up and down at the same time.  So essentially, I'm trying to start 2 - 350s at the same time. 

[ace.cafe]

The UCE has an auto-decompressor that automatically opens the valve when the engine is building compression, so that no compression really builds at very low rpms, or for kickstarting. This is what saves the sprag clutch from being destroyed when the engine stops, because there is no significant roll back caused on the compression stroke.

You can just bring it up to somewhere around TDC as best you can, and give it a go. It only needs one good swift kick thru the full cycle, and it will catch, or not. If not, then do it again.

[Ducati Scotty]

Kicking the UCE all the way through to the bottom is critical.  Kevin has mentioned this several times.

Scott

[mattsz]

Thanks bro!  You might not realize it, as a lot of people don't, but on a British parallel twin both pistons travel up and down at the same time.  So essentially, I'm trying to start 2 - 350s at the same time. 

But, do they fire on the same stroke? If not, when one is under compression, the other is venting, yes?  One 350 at a time - just a very short time!

Wasn't intending to turn this into a kick start thread... but I've learned to fish for TDC with the kick lever near the bottom of the stroke - when I hit it, I let the lever return just a couple clicks, then I just rest my foot with some weight on it so that when the compression finally oozes out and the lever begins to move, I'm at the bottom of the stroke and the lever stops.  No "love taps".  I can just let the lever return fully and let 'er rip...