[Elk Grove Don]

I'm getting ready to purchase a "Military " Enfield but you guy's are starting to scare me.  I've had just about every bike possible from my mini bike when I was 12yrs old to a Big Dog with a fire breathing S&S V-Twin.  At 62 years old I've decided to scale back and take life slower and I surely don't mind working on a scooter, but ouch have I done the right thing?  I believe in maintenance and love wrenching on a bike but wrenching on the road is not appealing to me, or is this like the old flat head Ford that always got me home?

[cochi]

Elk, I had the same thoughts before I bought my Bullet. That was 5 years ago. I use the bike on a daily basis she has let me down twice. Both times were essentially my fault. The first time was when my ignition coil died. I had upgraded to the Boyer Branson  electronic ignition and did not upgrade the coil, not sure , but this may have caused it to expire. The second time she failed me was definitely my fault. Compression was lost. The motor had about 8000 miles on it and I did not decarbonize the head and piston at the recommended 6000 miles. A piece of carbon had come loose and wedged itself between the intake valve and seat. It was an easy fix. The motor is a joy to work on and tinker with. Like you, I have had my share of powerful bikes. However, this wonderful anachronism has stolen my heart. I have no regrets over purchasing the Bullet and gotten to know some incredible "gearheads" in this forum. Good luck cochi 
 
 P.S. If you decide to buy the Military, break her in slowly.
  , 

[cyrusb]

We are not trying to scare you, but if it seems scary to you ,don't buy it.

[Elk Grove Don]

Na, I'm hooked, I've already talked to the dealer and doing the test ride on Wednesday, can't wait, I've been reading the forum and it sounds like nothing but nice people with a common love of motorcycles.  I'm looking forward to the continued relationship.
Elk

[mrunderhill1975a]

I have 13000 miles on my bike and have never been left out on the road.  Most of the failure stories you hear about are a result of adding high compression pistons, big carbs, then taking out on the interstate and trying to  keep up with the flow of traffic.  After long periods at 70 mph the bullet can overheat and seize a piston. Or if you idle in stalled traffic it can also overheat.  Some people like to hold the clutch in at stop lights, not a good idea on a bullet. the clutch rod has a single ball bearing and not a rollers like the Japanese bikes.

Ride on the back roads and keep it under 60mph, check for any bolts that may have vibrated loose, keep a tube of lock tite handy, keep oil  motor and the bullet is as reliable as any bike.

[Slider]

How do you decarbonize the engine?

[Billy B.]

   Hi Mr. Don,  I can relate to your apprehension in purchasing an Enfield. I spent a lot of time and a few dollars literally researching these bikes. I read books, articles anything to do with the Bullet. I talked to current and previous owners. My results were mixed.  So many people told me that I would not be satisfied with the performance, the need of regular maintenance and many other reasons why they thought I would not like it. Mainly reasons why they did not like the Enfield.
   Through the years I have owned many motorcycles. Some were good some were bad, others were really bad. You know the rest. You have been there too. I remember when I bought a 76 H-D 1000 back in the early eighties. Everybody told me how it was a big mistake. The bike was too heavy, too slow, needed to much maintenance. How it was not a Honda or a Yamaha. Many years later I heard these same reasons why I shouldn't buy an Enfield. Hey this sounds vaguely familiar
I went into this purchase with the same mindset as then. Time will tell. But if things work out like they did those twenty plus years ago. Well lets say this. I still have that Harley.  Don't be afraid to trust your gut !

[mrunderhill1975a]

How do you decarbonize the engine?...................one way is to follow the link below.

http://workshopmanual.tripod.com/

Another way is that described below by bullet owner "Wild Bill":

First. Take the bike for a hard run, long enough to get it good
and hot.
Second. Pull into your drive and while reving it to about 3 grand
spritz water into carb inlet
Third. Let it cool down completely.
Fourth. Replace plug.
Fifth. Take it for another hard run and blow all the carbon out.
Guarenteed.
According to "Wild Bill", this works is the water soaks into the hot porous carbon
on top of piston. When you take it for the second hard run is
when it turns to steam and blows the carbon loose from the
piston.

I'm not sure I want to try Bill's method on my bike.

Another method is to get a pint of some stuff called "Sea Foam" and run it through the carburettor (I think that the secret formula for "Sea Foam" is diesel fuel, so you could try a bit of diesel instead).

As for me, the fuel I have been using for 13000 miles seems to be clean and I haven't really noticed any coke inside the cylinder or on the head, so I just leave it alone.

[birdmove]

    Elk, read up here about shifting these Bullets a little bit before you take the test ride. My 2007 Classic shifts way better than I thought it would from what I had read, but they require a slower, more deliberate shift than many bikes. You will get a false neutral or two more than likely. Don't be discouraged, as they get better with some miles and as you get used to the shifting. Read up about the break in period etc. I'm at about 1200 miles, and mines running great. I just got 88 miles per gallon on the last tank too!

    Jon

[woodboats]

I have just over 4000 km on my Enfield and never had a road side problem.
I really am not much of a mechanic either, I happly tinker away for the fun of it and once a year I take a 2 1/2 hour drive down to see a retired chap who knows every thing about Enfields and he usuall undoes some of my tinkering.

My motto
"If it isn't broken, then fix it until it is."

[Spitting Bull]

I'm at about 7,000 miles with my 350 and have had only one roadside stoppage when a connection between two wires came loose - a known problem though I didn't know that at the time.  It took about 5 minutes to locate the problem.

I lost oil through the breather system on long runs at one time but that was due to putting too much oil in!

I have had to stop once and let the gearbox cool after a too-long spell of heavy stop-start traffic.  That never happened again because I then knew how to avoid the problem.

In my 7,000 miles I've had to adjust the chain once.  I've checked the valves several times but only had to actually adjust them twice. I've adjusted the clutch three times.  I've had one puncture.

I haven't done any modifications to the bike except for removing the big silencer and fitting a shorter one, with re-jetting to suit.

I've never decarbonised the engine and don't really expect to have to.

I'm confident that I could go to the bike, start it first kick and go anywhere.

Tom

[Slider]

...have had only one roadside stoppage when a connection between two wires came loose...

Which wires?

I have had to stop once and let the gearbox cool after a too-long spell of heavy stop-start traffic.  That never happened again because I then knew how to avoid the problem.

How do you avoid the problem? Just avoid heavy traffic?

I've never decarbonised the engine and don't really expect to have to.

Why would you not have to do it? Is it not necessary with the 350?

[Spitting Bull]

Slider - to answer your questions as best I can - but these are only my thoughts/observations:

Which wires?

There's a wire which comes from under the points cover and runs up behind the battery, where it connects to the coil.  Half-way along this run, behind the battery, the wire connects to another wire by a simple straight connector.  The connector isn't a very good one and can vibrate loose.  When it does, the engine stops.  I fitted a better connector when I found out the problem, and many owners here have done this before the problem occurs.


How do you avoid the problem? Just avoid heavy traffic?

Partly I try to avoid heavy traffic, but I just got better at getting into neutral.  If I can see I'm going to have to stop in a few yards, I try to get into neutal right away, without waiting to stop.  The idea is to be in neutral for as much of the time as possible.  Constant stopping and starting and holding in the clutch causes clutch drag in a very short time.


Why would you not have to do it? Is it not necessary with the 350?

Not specifically talking about the 350 -  but I reckon that if the mixture is set up correctly and using modern fuel, the engine should be OK, without any serious build-up of carbon.  I'm basing this belief on the fact that I can't remember the last time I had to decarbonise a car.  My last one did over 120,000 miles without having to be decarbonised.

But I admit that this is just a theory.  I'm here to learn just as much as anyone else and would welcome other owners' opinions on this subject.

Tom

[Slider]

Thanks for the replies.

I have to admit I've never heard of decarbonizing an engine until I started reading this forum. I've never heard of it for cars, either. I've got 160,000 miles on my current daily driver, and had over 270,000 on my last one. Is this problem just unique to REs, or singles, or all motorcycles, or...? Never heard of this before.

[birdmove]

    Also, note the comment above about not leaving the bike in gear at stops with the clutch in. These clutches tend to drag just a bit, and if you pull up to a stop in gear, and then try to find neutral, you will have a problem. Just do like I do and shift into neutral just before stopping. I do that on any motorcycle though and have done it for years.

    jon

[Spitting Bull]

Hi slider - these are just thoughts - I'm not speaking as an expert here!  

Nowadays most of us are leisure motorcyclists who take a great pride in their bikes.  We have much more time for maintenance and I think that's part of the fun.  If my rear brakes squeal a little I'll remove the wheel to find out why. But years ago, people who needed their bikes every day to ride to work wouldn't have done that until the brakes squealed a lot.

If my bike begins taking five kicks to start it instead of one, I'll be looking at the carburetter, the plug, the points etc. etc.  The all-weather, every day riders would have just come out of the house a little earlier.  

(Of course this is a generalisation.  Not every rider is a leisure-rider, and there will be modern riders for whom the bike is an essental means of transport, and they can't leave it in pieces overnight as they will need it next day.  But years ago, more people were in that position).

If your bike was running too rich, or especially if it was burning oil, you could get away with it for a long time by taking off the head every now and again and scraping off the excess carbon.  It was quicker and cheaper than fitting a new piston and rings, and the bike stayed on the road ready for work.

We tend not to let faults get worse and worse until they become serious.  As long as our ordinary maintenance means that our bikes aren't running too rich and aren't burning oil, then I'd think there shouldn't be enough carbon build-up to require scraping off.

Of course, if you need to take the head off for any other reason (valves, gasket) it makes sense to look at carbon-build-up while you're at it.  But I do think that it probably needn't be a regular part of motorcycle ownership these days - mostly due to the way we use our bikes.

Tom