If it's one thing I am thoroughly pleased with it's my 2005 "Iron Belly's" clutch operation. Sure, unlike Arizoni's "Cable Sentinel of the Aeons," its original cable
bowed out at about 5,000 miles, broken at the hand lever end, as they are wont to do, and was replaced with a
FAR superior Barnett one from our hosts in Ft. Worth. Having seen both, I doubt I'd touch an OEM one with a barge pole at this point...even if it were free. There's a
reason Enfield felt obliged to provide spares with each new bike. That said, proper lubrication
would be key to nursing one of those original gurkens along. One other tip I picked up from the old British Norton Owners Club's "
Commando Service Notes" booklet was to wrap a little of that white PTFE (Teflon) thread sealing tape for plumbing and a good daubing of grease around the cable end at the handlebar lever end. It's a balm to make clutch operation smooth as silk and really helps ameliorate the twisting and jerkiness that makes that cable end fail to begin with.
If one insists on going the "shabby purist" route with those OEM cables, presumably made out of recycled cat food cans and still smelling vaguely of tuna, then at least toss a few of these
Solderless Screw-On Nipples into your tool pouch. They take up almost no room, and will have you on your way in minutes when the inevitable "Pop!" occurs:
As for a hydraulic clutch, that's on my Enfield's
To-Do List right after those interstellar pulse-drive pods and on-board urine catheter system.