[gremlin]

On advrider someone mentioned an engine redesign for the 2012 model year. Is that correct? I haven't seen anything about that, but it might affect my thinking.

IIRC, they added another oil drain plug.  The new one being under the crankshaft.   Makes each oil change that much better.  (the pre-2012 engines tend to trap about 500 ml of un-drainable oil).

[tooseevee]

Trying to decide between a new G5 deluxe in Chrome, 2012 holdover, or a 2011 B5 in black, brand new tires, serviced, etc. Both are good prices, but the price difference is about $500. This is my first bike, I have been riding my brother's and my father's BMWs. The Enfield is absolutely up my alley, and I am stoked to get one. The question comes down to whether there is much difference between the two years and whether it makes sense to get a bike that has already been broken in, and presumably had any of the early issues shaken out.

Thoughts?

              Go with the dealer you trust.

              People with dealers close by are lucky if for nothing else but to stop by & look at the bikes once in a while & shoot the shit.  I've never needed a dealer luckily because the closest one to me is a 3 hour trip (by cage). Godknows what it would be on the Enfield.

               I bought my brand new '08 Classic from the lawyers handling the out-of-business dealer's affairs.

[lemming]

Thank you all for your thoughts, this has been super helpful.

I think both dealers are generally fine. I just know the closer one better, and feel comfortable with them. My interactions with the new dealer have been fine, and they have been pretty upfront about it all. The OTD price included all doc, reg and title fees, but not tax. That means the price differential is more substantial. The new dealer sold the used bike originally, and knows its service history, and said it has been well cared for. It did not go unnoticed by me that they did not talk down the used bike, since they know it's history and I don't, and could have told me anything.

The used dealer added some doc fees, but never represented the price they gave me as OTD, so I expected that from the start.

Any thoughts on riding experience between the B and G chassis?

[Ducati Scotty]

The B chassis is basically the old 350 chassis, with a new UCE motor in it.  The G is pretty close but technically different in some small aspects.  Some of the aesthetic differences are that the B will have struts to hold the fenders front and rear but the G will not.  They'll be pretty close to each other in how they ride, I'd ride both and see if you really prefer one or the other.

For me, I'd love a Deluxe.  All that chrome looks so cool and old school.  If they had the C5 in Deluxe when I bought mine I would have gotten it for sure.

Scott

[Arizoni]

Before they changed the front forks on the (edit)C, it had a little different angle/trail which made it a little more responsive to changing direction.   In other words, it was "faster handling" than the G.

The slower handling of the G makes it a little more stable.

Along about the end of 2012? they redesigned the front fork so the axle is in line with the center of the fork tubes rather than being out in front of it (as they have been since 1948).  They also changed the front wheel size to a 19".
These changes were designed to remove the high speed instability some of the earlier (edit) C's had.

[lemming]

By "high speed" what do you mean, exactly, relative to the Enfield? 90% of my riding will be a two lane, 40-55mph commute 36 miles each way.
The other 10% will be occasional weekend back road rides with my brother through the twisties and on forest service roads. I imagine this is sort of the sweet spot for either model. I have no real intention of ever taking it on the highway, unless I need to for a short jaunt.

[ace.cafe]

Before they changed the front forks on the B, it had a little different angle/trail which made it a little more responsive to changing direction.   In other words, it was "faster handling" than the G.

The slower handling of the G makes it a little more stable.

Along about the end of 2012? they redesigned the front fork so the axle is in line with the center of the fork tubes rather than being out in front of it (as they have been since 1948).  They also changed the front wheel size to a 19".
These changes were designed to remove the high speed instability some of the earlier B's had.

Are you referring to the C5 with those changes?
AFAIK, the B5 forks and wheel sizes remain the same as the old Iron Barrel models, which have never had any handling drama.

[mattsz]

Ace just beat me to it!

I think there's some confusion going on here between the models.  The B5 has the same 19" wheels as the G5.  The C5 has the 18" rear wheel, and had the fork switch-up, to address a stability issue.

The B5 and G5 seats are different; the B5 has more of a hump in it.  The slightly "flatter" G5 seat might be more comfortable for changing riding position, if you like to slide back in the saddle a bit.  I find the B5 seat way too hard for my liking, but others have said they like it, so let your butt decide on that score...

[ROVERMAN]

I hear tell your arse is skinny Mattsz.

[barenekd]

The G5 was worth a lot more money than the B5, about $1000 on the 2011 models. So the 2012 would even be worth still more. The seat on the G5 is far more comfortable than the B5, unless yu are quite heavy, then you might sink to the bottom easily. At 180 lbs, the G5 seat ws perfoect. The B5 ws too hard and I didn't like the shape either. I originally wanted the B5, but they weren't at the shops when I bought my G5. As it turned out, I was glad I paid the extra money.
As for the dealer dilemma, is the local one even an Enfield dealer? You could still take it to him for non- warranty work. The B5 would't have any warranty anyway. They aren't transferrable.
Bare

[mattsz]

I hear tell your arse is skinny Mattsz.

Yea, the pics are all over the internet!  Embarrassing... 

The G5 was worth a lot more money than the B5, about $1000 on the 2011 models. So the 2012 would even be worth still more. The seat on the G5 is far more comfortable than the B5, unless yu are quite heavy, then you might sink to the bottom easily. At 180 lbs, the G5 seat ws perfoect. The B5 ws too hard and I didn't like the shape either. I originally wanted the B5, but they weren't at the shops when I bought my G5. As it turned out, I was glad I paid the extra money.
As for the dealer dilemma, is the local one even an Enfield dealer? You could still take it to him for non- warranty work. The B5 would't have any warranty anyway. They aren't transferrable.
Bare

Funny, Bare - I originally wanted a G5... I had my eye on a used Green G5 that was sitting a dealer all winter long.  I finally got my budget together, and gave them a call - it had sold the day before!    Never even had a chance to sit on the thing.  But the seat sure looks better.  That B5 bump... might as well be a solo seat.

B5:





G5:

[Arizoni]

Yah.  I screwed up in my post up above.
It is the older "C" models that were sometimes 'twitchy'.  The "B" model had the larger 19" wheels and had a steering head angle similar to the "G" although I think they were using the "C" models front forks.

I think the "G" is the only RE that has the easy to change fork oil design and with the newest models I'm not sure even that is true any more.  I know changing the fork oil in my 2011 "G" is a breeze.

[Ducati Scotty]

I think the B models came with two different forks early on: some with leading axle and some with the straight legs.  Neither had any problems, just RE using up what was in the parts bin.

The C models did transition from leading axle to straight legs.  If you bought during the transitional year you could end up with either one.

Scott

[lemming]

Thanks, all, for your help, I bought the B5 this morning. I actually preferred the seat on the B5, it also had a new o-ring chain and rear rack, so between that and the price differential, I felt good going used. Looking forward to picking it up as soon as the snow clears off the roads from last night's surprise dump.

[ace.cafe]

Congrats!