I've been wanting to Fireball my Bullet pretty much since I started reading Tom's posts. I came to Enfield via India, got hooked and bought one when I returned to the States. Well, we can all guess what happened. The bike that I fell in love with in India couldn't keep up with American SPEED. It's not like I'm the type of rider that needs SPEED, in fact I'd prefer riding country roads doing 50 mph all day.
I live in Brooklyn but was riding up in the Hudson Valley frequently and my '02 Iron Barrel, with minor upgrades would shine on those roads. But getting up there, that was a chore. FDR to the GWB to the Palisades. All right lane, no passing and feeling quite exposed. I felt like I needed just abit more power to make the bike functional for my needs, I needed the highway capability. I, like many others, I'm sure, briefly thought of buying a second bike for longer trips. But I loved that stock Enfield. It was like 90% the bike I wanted it to be.
So I toyed with the idea often. My main concerns were the cost, doing the work myself and having NO BIKE while the build was taking place. Before the Enfield I had zero mechanical ability. Zero, I assure you, never even changed oil on a car (or anything for that matter). By the time I was seriously considering the build I had put some considerable time in: dumped the hump (including drilling into the crank case and tapping the holes!), new clutch plates, 18-tooth sprocket, new pipe, new carb (plug chops and all). I felt like I had learned quite a bit in two years.
I emailed Tom, he assured me that I could pull the engine and bring it to Chumma's, he said it was pretty easy. I spoke with Chuck D, "do it!" he urged me, call Chumma. OK, I called Chumma, we spoke for about an hour and a week later I pulled the head.
That was around the end of March. After speaking with Chumma, I had decided to go the Clubman route with the bronze bush in the bottom end. I had a budget and after speaking with me, Chumma assured me that the Clubman head would meet my needs. We were hoping to have the build finished around June/July giving me a good chunk of the season for riding. I thought I could deal with not having a bike, turns out I couldn't and ended up getting a '76 XS650 in great condition to ride the meantime.
I gotta say, Tom was right, pulling an engine from an Enfield is quite easy. Mildly distressing, but pretty straight forward, you just gotta take it easy and stay organized. It took me two days, about 5-6 hours work each day.
I picked everything up from Chumma's in early August. Three days later had everything back together and ready to go. I was so stoked. The engine went in as easy as it came out. Had to cut the pushrods to get them to work with the new cams but other than that, pretty straight forward.
The thing blew me away on the first ride around the block. I was a little worried that with months of riding the XS, the Enfield, even with the new engine would feel slow. Not the case at all. It was like a sling shot, power from the first pull of the throttle and seemingly more to give.
Gotta say, breaking the bike in in NYC was hell. Constant paranoia about blowing up the new engine and finding the time to ride when there would be no traffic -- impossible. It took weeks to put on 200 miles. Plus, for whatever reason, I didn't listen to Chumma when he suggested a 5-plate Barnett clutch. I tried to have a go with a 4-plate Barnett setup and it just didn't work. The bike kept popping out of gear. Eventually, Chumma and I got the clutch to work pretty OK with the 4-plate set up but I just went to the 5-plate and I gotta say it is a must, hasn't popped out of gear since.
I've got 600 miles into the build so far and I have to say it has exceeded expectations. I'm stoked every time I throw my leg over. It is 100% the bike I want; I had no problem selling the XS last month. I already took it on a 300 mile trip to the Catskills and it ate up every hill I threw at it. This is the bike Enfield should be making.
OK, this is getting waaaay to long. Few things before I go: I kept the 4-speed box and am running with the close gear ratios and ceramic bearings, right side shift, of course. I love it, but can see the value of the 5-speed box. I have Hagon rear shocks and ceramic wheel bearings (hub too) and it handles like a dream. Blue coil, one of those fancy Shorai batteries. Probably some other stuff too that I'm forgetting.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'm pretty tired, it's late, and, though long, I'm sure I am missing some important stuff. I'd like to encourage anyone seriously thinking of a Clubman or Fireball build to just get ahold of Tom or Chumma and have a chat. Don't be put off by the work, it's not that hard. Plus, Ace proves amazing support
One last thing. Seriously, the best part about this bike is that it is the SAME BIKE. It's the bike that I fell in love with -- then WAM, 5000RPMS! It's quite a feeling.
Topic: Clubman Build (Read 3636 times)