[Bert Remington]

If I donate the 2016 C5, my plan is to bundle up all the farkles together with select components (eg, fuel pump) and hardware (eg, replace rear shock fasteners with SAE bolts and non-chrome acorn metric nuts); put them in one big box; and sell it as one item on eBay.  Donating the 2016 C5 with the trashed engine means it will be sold to a parts dealer for pennies so someone else should get the good stuff.

[gashousegorilla]

Bilgemaster -- I gained the 2010 C5 through mischance (misadventure?).  Shortly after buying my 2016 I saw a GHG post on Pete's cams which were (I assume, I never installed them) an exact match to my riding profile (45-65mph 5th gear torque on surface roads) so I bought a set.  Pete and I enjoyed a dialog which included his plans for additional 500cc upgrades but he needed a UCE C5 for development and testing.  So I bought the 2010 C5 with the intent of shipping it to him in NJ; registering it in his name; D&T of upgrades; and then selling it on.  The 2010 C5 was in super lovely condition and included a PC V (not installed) which I needed for Pete's cams, etc.  Then Pete bought his own UCE C5.  And sadly the dialog ended.

I can't register the 2010 C5 in CA until 7,500 miles or 10 years (Jan 2020) for emission compliance reasons and it will cost $600+ to bring it to CA in an open trailer (closed is higher).  The seller and I have both tried to find another buyer.  Lots of nibbles but if you haven't noticed the used RE UCE market is really soft (ask CMW about their recent 2012 C5 sale experience) (the Iron Barrel market, as expected, is weird) (an exception being wildbill who seems to be single-handedly supporting both ends of the UCE market, at least in Oz).

And that's why I have a 2010 C5 who's best value to me seems to be donation to a charitable cause.  The seller is investigating that now as I am for the 2016 C5.

       That Cam thread has been DELETED.     I should have done that a while ago !     Very very sorry to hear about  this current issue , and in particular the experience you had prior to this.     

[wildbill]

i think you should fix it up and give it...one more chance...lol if you have drama again take it out to a quiet backroad and bring out a 6 iron and bash the shit out of it...lol even enfield's deserve a second chance ;)just do it and ride on in happy mode

[Bert Remington]

Thanks everyone for the support and suggestions.  After discussing them with my friends, I'm going to do the following:

(1) I will ask the 2010 C5 seller if he will keep it for another month so I can save up the $600 to ship it to San Diego (we're buying furniture so cash flow got constricted )

(2) meanwhile I will take the trashed 2016 C5 engine to my workshop in Descanso; disassemble it (I'll take pictures for you); and see what can be salvaged.

(3) when the 2010 C5 arrives, I will mix and match engine parts (eg 2016 sprag into 2010) to achieve a working engine.

(4) when I have enough money to buy the Hitchcocks stainless exhaust (est $200) I will match it with the 2010 C5 silencer and install the AT-200 UEGO to support the PC V air-fuel management and monitoring.

(5) if I get lucky and someone buys the Integra then I'll get a professional upgrade of the head assembly (eg Hitchcocks p/n 90273) and maybe even piston (eg Hitchcocks p/n 90225).  I'll check with GHG, ace.cafe, et al before taking action in these areas.

(6) while waiting for the leprechauns to drop off the pot of gold, I'm going to stop wasting my time on foreign policy news and address fine-tuning details such as resurfacing the rotor and pads per Ducati Scotty, etc etc.  Driving the Windstar is a motivator.

I understand and appreciate those who recommend keeping it stock and driving it appropriately.  But that isn't me.  The RE is like my Mustang; its tidy and "Ford-like" for the tech inspector but there isn't a single part I haven't touched.  And while I keep it to 55mph, on open roads I use full throttle to get there and I ain't changing that.

In summary, this motorcycle is such a pleasure to ride and so well matched to my needs that I'm throwing the dice again.

Thanks all.

[Guaire]

"In summary, this motorcycle is such a pleasure to ride and so well matched to my needs that I'm throwing the dice again."

As the Aussies say, 'Good on ya mate!'

[wildbill]

or they could say..i will give it one more hit!

[Bmadd34]

As we say here in the South, "Try 'er one more 'gain".

[suitcasejefferson]

A stock EFI Enfield runs ridiculously lean. My plug insulator was white. This is not necessarily the fault of RE, but the EPA. My solution was to convert my 2013 from the very poorly designed and excessively lean EFI to an Amal carb, using a kit from Hitchcock's. It runs several times better, and the plug is now a nice dark tan. I stuck a borescope in the spark plug hole and it looks ok in there. If you want to keep the crappy EFI with the failure prone $500 fuel pump, you can spend another $500 on a Power Commander and retune the EFI to make it run richer. But I wasn't about to spend $500 on more electronics I didn't want anyway. It's a motorcycle, not a computer.

You could tear the engine down and see what happened, it might be repairable.

Don't overestimate the value of a Royal Enfield. I have $7,000 invested in mine, I'd be lucky to get $1500 for it. Fortunately it is still running with 11,000+ miles on it. Never been on a freeway, oil changed very frequently, rarely ever ridden above 55 mph. I didn't buy it for transportation, I bought it for fun, as a replacement for a mid '60s Triumph I had when I was much younger, and foolishly sold. It has been babied to death, and runs and looks like new. But Royal Enfield's poor quality is well known, and nobody will pay much for a used one.

[Bert Remington]

SCJ -- the engine, and probably the transmission, is a total loss.  The exhaust valve head separated from the stem.  It fragmented into at least three pieces; broke the piston into four pieces (I believe there are more in the crankcase): bent the top end of the connecting rod both forward and leftward; damaged exhaust valve seat; damaged cylinder head combustion area especially perimeter; and took small chunk out of cylinder skirt.  The crankshaft does not move in any direction.  The transmission in Neutral does not rotate more than one-third turn without using prybar force.  While I will remove left and right side covers to retrieve salvageable parts, I will not bother separating cases.

My next step is to ship the 2010 C5 from NC to CA, remove the engine/transmission, upgrade the valve train and seats, install Pete's cams, and install it in the 2016 C5 along with PC V with AT-200.

The 2010 came with a PC V and I purchased an AT-200 a month ago.  So I'm sticking with closed loop ECU.  Amals are complicated.

One of my mistakes was not diagnosing and correcting the popping.  I blamed it on the EMGO muffler and stopped thinking about it.

You're correct about the used RE market.  Soft as a down pillow.  Ditto for used parts.  Barely worth the cost of shipping.

We need to compare farkle lists sometime and see how we both got to $7K.  Except I jumped to $10K by replacing the engine.

The motorcycle I wish I kept?  Suzuki GS750.  Light, simple, a refined version of Honda's CB750.

[wildbill]

I think its hard to beat these bikes in virually stock standard for - add sports exhaust and ejk
speaking of ejk I sold mine about 3 weeks ago because I had no intention of every buying a euro 3 again.
a week later I bought a euro 3..LOL
I asked the guy I sold it to for $200 would he like to sell it back and naturally he said NO! bike runs great with it.
so I had to shell out another $370 with postage to buy a new unit for the REDDITH
so I thought I might as well go for a new exhaust system too.

[gizzo]

The motorcycle I wish I kept?  Suzuki GS750. 

That's one I should have kept, too.

[Chilliman]

G'day mate,
Damn shame to hear your RE died.
There could be any number of things to cause the failure, but a blurry photo of an oily looking smashed up spark plug is not much help.
It never fails to amaze me the number of times I hear about owners only doing 35mph for 75miles in top gear.
All this lugging and chugging around in top gear.
ANY motor would fail driven like this.
I was VERY scared of my C5 when I got it. Very careful. Conservative.
Then I decided to do regular services and just ride it like a bike.
 I live in the NT of Australia where it is hot as hell then wet and humid as hell.
The only modifications I have done to my C5 are an 1 3/4" engine pipe with a Mostyn reverse megaphone exhaust.
Just those 2 mods made my Royal Enfield perform almost like any other 500cc single.
Fuel consumption dropped by 40% over that choking drinking straw size standard exhaust.
The bike is ridden 2 up always and regularly sees 120kmh and I have done 32000kms since I bought it aver a year ago with NO breakdowns.
Do yourself a favour and ride your Enfield like a bike and not like your were riding an old lady.
I would love to see what the inside of your motor looks like.

[Bert Remington]

Thanks Chilliman.  You're right about the plug picture being a bit inadequate for diagnosis.  Except for a few spare parts, the engine is a total loss so I didn't bother with pictures.

[Bert Remington]

Oops still not used to no Tab in posts.

So I removed left and right covers yesterday and removed rear sprocket; cams with spindles; oil pump gear; alternator with CPS; starter assembly including sprag and idlers; clutch assembly; primary chain with tensioner; and some other stuff.  Oil looked clean.  Oil filter O-ring (cover to crankcase) in place and intact.  Wear surfaces looked good.  There was a small amount of metal particles in the front of the left cover but I expect that occurred in the self-destruction phase as oil filter looked clean.  One the other hand that could be their sanctuary in RE's lubrication labyrinth.  One curiosity: five of the six cylinder studs were finger-tight in the crankcase.  It sure was easy to disassemble with the crankshaft and gearbox frozen.

Originally I thought it was piston failure due to lean burn but another possibility is I didn't properly seat the valves during break-in leading to a tiny flex in the stem every revolution until the exhaust valve head separated.  And then there's always karma.

Certainly I had a few occasions when I chose the wrong gear and lugged the engine.  And before I added the second head stay I tended to shift up to avoid vibration.  So...maybe.  With only 18hp at the rear wheel you need to be a bit aggressive with the throttle here in SoCal's SUVland.  I rarely took my chances in the fast lane.  You may have road trains but we have helicopter moms in Range Rovers.  Sluggards don't survive.

Gas is a current topic: 87 (R+M)/2 from name brand stations only.

[Bert Remington]

I'm selling for $1,000 the 2010 C5 in Wake Forest, NC so won't be using that 500cc UCE.

I just posted in Wanted for a 500cc UCE (https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php/topic,26694.0.html) so let me know if there's one available.  Thanks.