[Beardo]

But my God, that thumping torque....

[Arschloch]

But my God, that thumping torque....

You may have seen nothing yet. Having a fireballed RE in mind. 

When I got the RE all I had in mind was a big thumper racer like one of those Manxes but just with streetable manners and good reliability. I realized the UCE will give me a better opportunity to achive this goal at a lower buck as I would not need to do major upgrades to the bottom end.

I agree it has still too much of modern features like the EFI and electric start, separate gearbox would also be desired, but one can't everything.

[Beardo]

The way ie always approached motor builds, is reliability, first and foremost.  If gains are made in power, terrific. But not at the sacrifice of reliability. That's the way I always treated my old Harleys. And this IB should prove no different.

I definitely hear you about the UCE, but I'm willing to go without, for what I really want.

[Stanley]

My LH shift worked much better after fitting precise bronze bushings to the two sloppy plastic pivots. I turned the parts on my lathe and spent lots of time but still ended up converting to reduce shifting effort with that long throw. It was a bit cheaper to buy the parts separately instead of the kit package. The key is to get a quality inner cover to assure proper bores for the spinning parts. The final adjusting is a little fiddly, almost like a clock escapement.

[Beardo]

Stanley, I appreciate the information. That confirms my suspicions that I'm better off just doing the conversion. Being that I'm new to RE, I was just going to buy the kit, as I'm not versed enough in the nuances to fly piecemeal.

[Bilgemaster]

Bilgemaster, it's funny you mention the word tourer, as that is exactly what is planned for next year. My cousin and I are, taking a trip, in 2020. Which will leave me with plenty of time to do a shake down on this bike. The stunning thing for me is, this is a low mileage bike having only 2,486 miles when I took delivery. What is up with these bikes just sitting around??

I'm in the Pittsburgh/western Pa area. Lots of good roads around the tri state area. It's too bad winter craps on our fun.

I'm just wondering: That cousin you'll be touring with, will he or she be riding one of your former Enfields? 'Cause that might be a fine match for yours cruising-speed-wise. I don't think I'd want to flog my own 2005 "Iron Belly" hard enough to keep pace with some Beemerkawazuki for very long. Yours will very likely sing its own song, but mine likes to chuff along between 50 and 60 mph, with "sweet spots", depending on terrain, at just about 54 and again at 59 where she's clearly happiest: vibes round down and the whole plot purrs. But like I said, yours will surely have its own comfy zones. For one thing, mine has the later 5-speed box, and perhaps the only accurate speedo that ever left the factory at Chennai, at least with the worn out and likely original Avons I just replaced with a glistening pair of phat new Dunlop K70s on Friday. That explains why most everyone hereabouts usually tosses a parenthetical "(indicated)" after given speeds.

As for why so many of these bikes have such low mileages, I expect it may be because lots of them are second or third bikes used solely for the odd Sunday pleasure cruising. When I got mine about a year ago, it only had about 4,200 miles on the clock...after 12 years! I've more than doubled that.

If you worked in a Harley dealership, then you're probably all geared up for touring, and then some. But I still think you'll find these Forums useful for the odd needful gimcrack. Certainly it's a great spot to pick up a host of little tips unique to the breed. Mine certainly wouldn't be nearly as fine and fettled without the advice of the good folks here.

[Beardo]

No are correct in thinking he will be on one of my formers. He is buying the 2013 from me. And depending on weather breaks, will be delivering some time next week, fingers crossed.

We have already set in stone, there will be NO interstate traveling. This is to be a leisurely, sight seeing trip. Not an Ironbutt 1000. I've been there and done those 1,000 mile days. Terrific, I got somewhere far away, relatively quickly. In the end, who cares. I no longer do. No, I want to finally slow down and enjoy myself.

Depending on how these bikes do, and I'm expecting them both to hold their own, the IB will be my last long standing bike. I'll have my (last) Harley for no more than five years. And at that point, I will go down to one motorcycle. Which, if all goes according to plan, will be the Bullet.

[Bilgemaster]

Hell, If you're around Pittsburgh, you don't need no stinkin' Interstate. You've got the Lincoln Highway right on your doorstep--US Route 30. They may call Route 66 "The Mother Road". Well, if that's so, then the Lincoln's its weird old Grandpappy. Where the hell else are you gonna find the "Shoe House" on your way to Intercourse and Amish flapjacks? Not a lot of twisties, but a long friendly tasty coast-to-coast stretch of the baroque American subconscious.

Looking for a shakedown cruise in June? Take the Lincoln east, and then up to Oley, near Reading, for the Triumph National Rally. It's actually far more of a British Bike bash than just a Triumph shindig. In fact, every other year the mostly Canadian fellows of the Royal Enfield Owners Club of North America (REOCNA) hold their own rally there too at the same time in our own little sheltered ghetto manger. Don't even really need to pitch a tent. Sadly, 2019 isn't one of those years. Their main shindig will be somewhere up near Hamilton, Ontario this year in July, I'm told. Still, some Enfielders are likely to show up this June 21st-23rd, including myself if the forecasts call for anything but monsoons. That's a real fine ride coming up from Virginia. A good chunk of it's through sparsely trafficked Amish backroads, where an Enfield's the fastest thing on wheels--a rare experience. My own report on last year's rally is found here. As my first longish tour, it's mostly a run down on the various bits of cheapo touring gear from the Far East that I found useful. As an aficionado of Milwaukee-based V-twins, perhaps the beast shown below from pre-War Redditch that attended last year may spark your interest:

Damned thing sounded like the Archangel Gabriel's very own scoot. Patina? Oh hell yes! It had "patina" to spare.

[tooseevee]

Yeah tooseevee, I'm not too technologically savvy to understand how to drag or resize on a cell phone. Afterall, that's why I'm here with an antiquated machine.

      I know nothing from cell phones; don't have one, never had one. I'm on a 2010 Acer laptop. I'm a dinosaur

[Beardo]

A laptop?? Holy crap. I could only dream of having a laptop! 

[Beardo]

Bilgemaster, yep, I know all about 30. I know of 66, but never been. That may actually change next year. As for this year, Oley would probably be my only possibility of any tripping. I've been out of work, and have some catching up to do. Nothing major. Just don't want to fall completely behind.

On a side note, I had completely forgotten about the neutral finder on my short jaunt. And was only reminded when watching videos. That is going to be a very helpful feature that I really need to fully integrate into my subconscious when riding this bike.

[Bilgemaster]

Yeah, that neutral finder is a swell convenience. One might also say it's pretty much a signature feature of the Royal Enfield brand, which makes it a little bit odd that they didn't try to squeeze one somehow into the later 5-speed boxes, like mine has. Don't get me wrong: I've been perfectly content with my 5-speed. Being my first "lefty", it took a while to get used to, but it's just fine and dandy. Having been designed from the get-go as a lefty, there aren't a lot of sloppy Rube Goldbergesque workarounds to get the shifter over onto the left. I'm still not entirely clear as to exactly how or why that left side was Federally mandated. I'd been perfectly safe and happy shifting on the right most of my life. In fact, I've still got two old rides I'm working on that are righties, a ratty '67 Norton N15CS 750cc "Desert Sled" and a '57 198cc Zuendapp Bella R201 scooter. The scooter even has a sort of see-saw shifter, so that it can be easily operated wearing a pair of pumps with big stiletto heels...which is a good look for me that I think I can pull off without looking "trashy".

I'm led to understand, never having actually ridden an Enfield 4-speed, that there's not a lot of difference in top gear between it and the 5-speed, but that the jump between 3rd and top gear in the 4-speed is quite a leap. Still, that might well be a sort of virtue and part of their charm, perhaps giving them a more "luggy" visceral feel. If yours is sloppy, then I believe you may have chosen well to go back to its original righthand configuration instead of trying to tighten up some silly-ass mysteriously mandated nonsense.

[Beardo]

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a couple of photos of the Norton.

Respectfully, I'll pass on photos of the Zundapp. I'm not much one for stilettos...

[Bilgemaster]

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a couple of photos of the Norton.

Respectfully, I'll pass on photos of the Zundapp. I'm not much one for stilettos...

I think you're selling the Zuendapp short--especially when I've got on my little black sequined spaghetti strap number with the shocking red feather boa. Seriously though, with its happy cruising speed of about 50-55 mph, it's actually a real good match for my Enfield. Thing was my daily driver in Berlin back in the '80s, and got me through Commieland and over the Alps FOUR times for vacations in Italy. Two stroke, big cantilever forks, huge cast wheels compared to other scooters that make it handle like a real motorcycle and not some fidgety skateboard, an electric start in 1957...It's a formidable vehicle. That's why it's first up on the resurrection list. I'm hoping my wife will take a liking to it, and we can chug around a bit together once the youngest is packed off to school. Thanks to "Tooseevee" and his kind gift of an old OEM rear light and signal stalks that he'd upgraded on his gorgeous AVM Bullet, Spring should find the Bella back on the road and street legal with Antique plates. The Norton "Desert Sled" is still hibernating peacefully in its shed, really needing a proper rebuild. Hell, it needed one when it was my daily driver back in the '90s in Texas and later here in DC. Next time I'm in the shed, I'll see if I can get off a shot or three amidst the debris.

[Dennisgb]

I have a Norton 

And a couple of Triumph's...and a bunch of other bikes.

the norton by dennisgb, on Flickr