[AJY]

Well, it seems the gearheads are comming out today.  I thank everybody for their sugestions.  And I do really apprieciate the words of wisdom in regard to these bikes, breakin, and just plain enjoying them.  They dont look like they are ment for speed.

Also let me say that I agree with most and am not looking to be racing around on these bikes > Drum brakes, I am just looking to get a little extra out of it. 

I also ride my HD dyna FXDX, with carb, pipes, ignition, cam, upgrades, all day long at 95 plus MPHand really enjoy it.  But nobody who rides 2 wheels > wether fast of slow enjoys the interstate for long periods of time.  Maybe just one exit to the next and get off.   When ever I get on the interstate or any highway I do try to find a space to go over 100MPH, and I usauly do with my FXDX, BUT LETS BE SERIOUS HERE THESE RE'S ARE NOT MADE FOR THAT AND YOU CAN SEE IT BEFORE YOU GET ON ONE. 

OH BY THE WAY MY FXDX WILL EASILY GO 120MPH WITH THE STAGE ONE MODS FROM SCREAMING EAGLE AND IS THE MOST RELAIBLE BIKE I HAVE EVER OWNED 28000 MILES ON IT > TWO RIDES OUT TO STURGIS, LACONIA 5 TIMES, AND COUNTLESS OTHER HIGHWAY ADVENTURES.

THIS WOULD NOT BE INTENDED FOR MY BULLET.  JUST KEEPEN COOL AROUND HOME WOULD BE GREAT.

Cant wait to get it.

[fun2drum]

I know it'll seem like I'm going off topic here, but go with me for a minute...  In a band, the young dudes mainly in high school will get the biggest amp and speaker combination with the most power so they can say they're the loudest, and the immature drummers will get the huge double bass drum sets with 15 cymbals and a gong behind them because that makes them "good".  Then eventually they grow up... 

When they grow up they realize it's not fun carrying around a thousand lbs of gear when they could be carrying around 75 lbs and getting the same job done just as well.  It's actually a lot more fun playing the instruments and rocking out if you're not worn out carrying around the gear. 

The same holds true with motorcycles.  I have had more conversations than I can count over this past year with people in parking lots who told me my RE is just what they need. Why? Because their motorcycles are just too big and heavy to have fun with on the back roads they want to ride on.  I had one guy just this week who told me he doesn't ride but a couple times a summer because it's such an effort getting his huge bike out in town.  He's going to the dealer I bought my RE from and try to work out a trade.  That's what happens when you grow up.

[The Garbone]

Word,  a guy I work with has a Yamaha cruiser (1600 me thinks)  I have never seen him ride it.  He says its to big and it bothers him in traffic.   

[AJY]

Another interesting day in my neighbor hood,  My local ford dealer closed thier doors today.   But most important I have learned that when my motorcycle becomes to heavy for me to pull out of the garage and flip a leg over it > I HAVE OFFICIALY GRONE UP.   
Well I prefer to look at life this way > My motorcyle keeps me young at heart which keeps me going even in times like this when the true reality is that our nation as we know it has hit a major low, our ecconomoy has had its number called only to find out that we are holding a bag of sh-t that stinks, and nobody else is willing to pay for.

the american dream " Mortager youself and your famlily and or your business to oblivinion and let the next geration payfor it."

Think I will take a ride on my bike to clear my mind, OH NO I JUST REALIZED " I'AM ALL GRONE UP, Guess I will have to settle for a round of golf, oh shit I just remembered, I cant aford the country club anymore > they are foreclosing on my house.  Boy that skate bopard looks like fun, but I might break a bone. 

In all good humor > plkease go back and read your last two posts.  I guess I will have to wait until I retire to get my bullet.  YEH AND I will opt for the side car so I dont have to balance the sucker.
I AM HOOKED ON THESE BIKES BEFORE ONE EVEN GETS INTO MY GARAGE, ALL I DO ALL DAY IS THINK ABOUT HOW MANY i WILL HAVE TO OWN BECUASE i CANT DECIDE WHICH STYLE I LKE BEST. 
HOPE YOU GUYS CAN TAKE A JOKE > BUT REALLY I AM 49 AND I HOPE TO BE LIFTING MY LEG OVER BIKES FOR AT LEAST 20 MORE YEARS. 
HE ANIT HAEVY HE'S MY BROTHER, OH NO ITS NOT MY BROTHER ITS THE HEAVY MOTORCYLCE THAT I CANT GET OUT OF THE GARAGE,  WELL WHOS THE IDIOT THE GUY WHO SOLD IT TO YOU OR THE JERK THAT BOUGHT IT.

[AJY]

Maybe I will be grwon up When I learn to use spell check before posting my childish coments. 
Just trying to build up those posts.  You gota know that some of this is just going to be plain stupid.
another post soon I will be a ??

[birdmove]

    Hey, AJY,check out this at youtube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-gxBFBp9g4

   Its a beauty. Bullet 65. If you stick with it he takes it for a spin. The bad news is this gent had a bunch of problems, and they may have been caused by him trying to increase horsepower. He ended up selling it (correct me if I'm wrong). By the way, mine starts super easy with the kick start. I only use the electric if I stall it in traffic.

   Hers kind of a fun one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XjfH7VZfco

  And you must watch this one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSTK9UfiSSM&feature=related

    Hope you enjot these.

    Jon

[Adrian]

AJY,
having read your last postings and your original post, it boils down to this:

in these troubled times, if you think a lightly tuned 500 four stoke single motorcycle is still what you need to give you a blast (whatever other motorcycles you might own), then a hopped-up Electra-X or AVL Classic Royal Enfield is ONE of the machines that could do it for you! 

However, don't forget that a stock AVL Bullet gives very good gas mileage, this might now be an important consideration. You could still fit a sportier exhaust and retune the stock CV carb to work with it.

If you want to see what I did with mine, there's a picture here: http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/gallery/412_06_11_07_2_18_21.JPG

A.

[fun2drum]

Wow, AJY, I didn't really mean that post as a personal attack on your maturity, so sorry you seem to have taken it that way.   I was making a general observation that a lot of people think they've got to have a big powerhouse on wheels to have fun, when a lighter and less powerful bike will be even better for their particular needs.  I've got a friend in his 40's who takes his stock Triumph down to Road Atlanta and rides 160+ mph for fun, and he's grown up, but has a bike that fits his individual taste.  My personal needs involve carving twisty roads through the Appalachian Mountains and riding to my work-related appointments having fun and saving gas.  The RE is way better for that than my friend's Triumph.  You can't assign maturity labels to people based on the amount of weight and power they have, and if that's what you got from my earlier post, then you missed the point I was trying to make.  If you've got to have that big power house on wheels for your needs, then it would be better to stick with a bike that's closer to your expectations as it comes stock.  I just wanted to call attention to the fact that a lot of people have a mentality that bigger and more powerful is somehow a necessity to be a "real biker", and they end up buying a bike that's really too cumbersome to be effective for them.   These RE's are light and nimble and can out-perform a thousand pound bike in some areas in the same way a compact car can out-perform a big and cumbersome SUV in city traffic.  That being said, slowing down and enjoying the ride is what a RE is really good for.  Oh, well... Maybe "growing up" was a poor choice of words on my part, but I think you know what I meant anyway.

[AJY]

Birdmove > thank you > thank you > thank you > I loved the you tube videos, If they cant sell you on one of these nothing will.

And by the way gentlemen > please do check out the video's from Birdmoves links and watch the "Bullets stunts" >  Those guys in India are Wheeling the hell out of these bikes, and burn outs galore,  That is a video that will prove you all wrong.  Just a bunch of childish boys haven some fun.

PS > if I could figure out how to attach a quote from another page or add in a picture I could make this a lot more fun

And Fun2drum you have been insightful, no I was not offended actually just the contrary I am enjoying every minute of my airtime.   

[t120rbullet]

I AM HOOKED ON THESE BIKES BEFORE ONE EVEN GETS INTO MY GARAGE, ALL I DO ALL DAY IS THINK ABOUT HOW MANY i WILL HAVE TO OWN BECUASE i CANT DECIDE WHICH STYLE I LKE BEST. 
HOPE YOU GUYS CAN TAKE A JOKE > BUT REALLY I AM 49 AND I HOPE TO BE LIFTING MY LEG OVER BIKES FOR AT LEAST 20 MORE YEARS. 
HE ANIT HAEVY HE'S MY BROTHER, OH NO ITS NOT MY BROTHER ITS THE HEAVY MOTORCYLCE THAT I CANT GET OUT OF THE GARAGE,  WELL WHOS THE IDIOT THE GUY WHO SOLD IT TO YOU OR THE JERK THAT BOUGHT IT.

You don't need to make excuses like you can't push your water balloon out of the garage to justify buying a Bullet.
All you have to do is ride one!
You'll get "more smiles per miles" out of a Bullet than just about any bike out there today.
And their so pretty when they finally die you can drain the fluids out of it, park it in your den and just stare at it.

Don't know about the sidecar thing though, being that your attaining "old fart" status you might be more interested in a Ural as they have reverse and are easier to back out of the garage.

My Electra Glide gets used 2 or 3 times a year. Long trips only and the VMD.
I use the Bullets for everything else.
Long trips on a Bullet are fun too.
If you do a 2,000 mile trip on a Bullet it's almost like a badge of honor.
Man against the odds kinda thing.
Anyway, welcome to the group.
CJ
 



 

[AJY]

Thanks for the in > (welcome) CJ
 I travel to Asia for my work, this all started about five years ago.  But some how I got sidetracked and money was a problem, I was going to send 2 bullets back from India, but I got some bull from my shipper in India, Then I was hanging out in Northen Thailand on and off for a couple of years, couldn't get a bullet their, settled for a Japanese TW225 Yamaha motard style a little different then in the states camp ground version.   
I just returned from China > missing my HD FXDX  all last month.  Had a great ride upstate NY > the weekend I got back from overseas.  I deciced it was time to go fishing.

I GOT FED UP WITH ALL THE DOOM AND GLOOM IN THE CURENT ECCONOMY AND FOUND MY way TO AN ENFILED DEALER LAST SATURDAY, WIFE SAID SHE WAS BUYEN, (WITH WHO'S MONEY)  ANYWAY THE DEALER HAD 4 BIKES , BASIC BLACK > VERY NICE, BRIT GREEN ASLO A CHARMER,  MILITARY NOT FOR ME, AND A RED DELUXE > MAYBE THE ONE.  SO THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A MOTORCYLCE MELT DOWN FOR ME.
i JUST CANT SEEM TO STOP LOOKING AT THE PICS AND TRYING TO ZERO IN ON MY CHOICE.  ANYWAY THE DEALER LET ME WHEEL ONE AROUND THE BLCOK AND THAT SEEMED TO BE THE HOOK LINE AND SINKER.

SO ENDS MY FISHING STORY  > OH then I found all of you while researching the bikes this week.

[birdmove]

    I really like this forum a lot and used to visit the old forum for years before this one was started. I should mention that there are some yahoo groups also with good information.  Then theres this one:  http://www.aussieenfields.com/yabb/forum/YaBB.pl?action=login

     The Aussie site has a higher incidence of mechanical problems. Main bearings,pistons,con rod problems. If you read only from that forum, you might think these bikes are a bad thing. But mines been great so far at 1850 miles. One thing is that its been said many times, go with the latest model you can , as they seem to be better and better (in materials, production quality,reliability etc) as time went on. Better metalurgy, design changes to improve reliability...

    Also, I've seen some Classics in silver, and they look great. There were also some very striking white ones, but I've only seen them in photos.

    Take care, Jon

[TRider]

Unless you are at least a backyard mechanic, and a very good one, leave the bike alone in its stock form.  Buy it for what it is, enjoy it, but leave it alone.  If you have a need to go 90 mph then think otherwise.  If you are into wrenching big time, and it makes you happy, then go for it. 

[AJY]

TRIDER > I don't need to go 90 BUT 70mph with out the motor spinning out of control and blowing up is pretty dam important,  Doing 50mph is a little slow for me on most roads in my area just about every road around the towns the limits are 50mph. A nice country road with a few descent bends deserves aliitle 55 to 65mph just to feel like I am on a motorized vehicle not my bicycle.   

[fun2drum]

AJY, I ride mine on two-lane highways at the speeds you're talking about (50-65)with no problems.  It's a completely stock electra and I use it daily to run in-home appointments with my clients for work, as well as riding on twisty mountain roads on the weekends for fun.  That being said, I definitely wouldn't do that with a new one being broken in.