[Richard230]

I have a relatively low tolerance for vibration so I was thinking about how to reduce the vibration felt through the handlebars of my Royal Enfield.  One thing I tried was to install a reinforced rubber washer between the engine head-brace and the frame at the front seat bolt. While torquing the bolt to 25 NM does squish the washer quite a bit, at least it didn't pop out and it may have made a slight reduction in vibration.  I really don't know because at the same time I installed a set of Original Grip Puppies on my handlebar grips. That made a noticeable reduction in handlebar vibration.

The Original Grip Buddies are 1/8” thick foam grip wraps that help cushion the grips, reduce vibration noticeably and increase the diameter of the grips which makes it easier to turn the throttle.  They have a rough non-slip surface that helps your gloves provide a more secure grip on the handlebars and have a sticky backing that sticks to the rubber grips. You install them by wrapping the material around your grips and stretching it slightly. The ends are connected by a Velcro strip that provides a secure attachment by holding the stretched material in place.  The Grip Buddies can be removed at any time and relocated to another motorcycle, or their position can be readjusted should you want to move the seam to a different spot.  Ideally, you want the seam to be in a location that can not be felt by your fingers when griping the throttle or left bar and I found that locating the seam at the bottom of the grips, about 20 degrees toward the rear, seemed to work for me. The Puppies that I used on the Enfield were in place on my BMW for the previous 5 years.  I just peeled them off the BMW and installed them on the RE.  The entire process took about 2 minutes.

The Original Grip Buddies are relatively expensive for what you get. They cost $25 a pair, but are well made, were designed to fit BMW grips, but work just fine on the Enfield.  You can learn more about this product at: info@originalgripbuddies.com. The company is located in Saratoga Springs, NY. I bought my pair from Adventure Designs (www.AdvDesigns.com), which is located not far from where I live.  No doubt they are available from other motorcycle accessory stores, also.  If the hard grips and/or vibration are an irritation to you, I can recommend this product as a solution that works well and beats trying to add another cylinder.   

[Blltrdr]

You own a UCE Bullet and you think it vibrates a lot? I don't even think my '03 iron barrel vibrates all that much. Now if you want to talk vibration, check out the old 60's British twins. I rode one of the first UCE bikes and didn't notice much vibration at all. Maybe there is an issue with your bike.

[AmBraCol]

You own a UCE Bullet and you think it vibrates a lot? I don't even think my '03 iron barrel vibrates all that much. Now if you want to talk vibration, check out the old 60's British twins. I rode one of the first UCE bikes and didn't notice much vibration at all. Maybe there is an issue with your bike.

Vibration sensitivity tends to be quite subjective.  Years ago my dad purchased a CB400 twin in Brazil.  He was quite happy with it and thought it the grandest bike possible.  My ride at the time was a CB500Four.  The first time I took his twin for a ride it felt VERY buzzy.  That straight four of the CB500 had spoiled me for the experience of riding his bike.  After a few weeks, however, it didn't bother me at all. Back home, however, the CB500Four felt even silkier than before!  Now I'm astride an XL200 and it doesn't buzz at all.    Yeah, right!  But I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me.  The RE bikes I rode last month on a test ride were no where near as buzzy as I'd been lead to believe, although the Classic did vibrate more than the Rumbler did. 

All this tends to be quite subjective as different bikes of the same model are reported to have different characteristics in feel.  And each rider tends to feel each bike differently too.  Much like seat height, what feels "just right" to one rider will be objectionable to another.

Back on the subject of the Grip Buddies - an interesting idea.  I like the idea of bulking up the grip a bit as skinny grips cramp my (XL sized) hands after a while on long jaunts.  Any vibration dampening would be a welcome side effect.

[Blltrdr]

Grip Buddies might be just the ticket.

[Richard230]

The worst vibrating motorcycle that I have ever ridden was my brother's Yamaha 1977 XS650.  That thing was so bad that I could barely hang on to the bars over 4000 rpm.  The next worse was my 1971 Triumph Bonneville. (Note that both were twins.)  I also owned a 1977 Yamaha SR500 which was very smooth, much smoother than any twin that I have owned.  My 1997 BMW Funduro 650cc single wasn't too bad either, unless I was riding around 80 mph in hot, dry weather.

Regarding vibration, keep in mind that my daily rider is my Zero electric motorcycle. Not much vibration there, other from than bumps in the road.     Granted, it is all subjective, but I figure that less vibration is always better than more when you are dealing with either people or mechanical devices.   

[mc35803]

Someone said it best earlier.....if you have a Harley the REs dont vibrate at all.   Found that to be very true with my 2015 RE C5.   I am just saying it again because before I read that response I had been lurking for a long time and overly concerned the reports of vibration.   

[Mike_D]

The worst vibrating motorcycle that I have ever ridden was my brother's Yamaha 1977 XS650.  That thing was so bad that I could barely hang on to the bars over 4000 rpm. 

You said it.  I had an XS650 -- above 4k RPM was nearly intolerable.  I didn't think of a Bullet as having problems with vibrations until I started reading this forum.  I've ridden 6 different Bullets -- all Iron Barrels -- and only one had enough vibrations to take issue with.

[single]

OR you can do what I did and buy a Harley FXR.You will no longer notice Enfield vibration.Trust me.