[Curt Dawson]

For the last 35 years I have wanted a "Thumper".As such I have decided to try and put together the finances to purchase a Royal Enfield 500. This will be my everything bike. Commute to and from work,week end rides and make some cross country runs. The alternative is to find an easily restorable british(or restored)thumper. Just needed to vent.  Happy Holidays to all.

[UncleErnie]

Hello again.
The long-distance tourer part may be a little slow because you don't want to be running even the AVL for long stretches at 65mph.  By long, I mean looong.

Otherwise -assuming you're getting an AVL- I love my bike.  Keep notes on everything (maintenance records) and pat it on the tank now and then. 

[DavidMeermans]

I have an '09 AVL with a bit over 5000 miles, which I accumulated commuting to and from work over the past 18 months.  I ride most days--in Dallas the weather is mild enough for year-round use.

I do find that the less I futz with it, the better it runs.

Regards,

Dave M

[UncleErnie]

You're not supposed to tell that secret!  There should be some kind of fine, or somthing...

11K here.  Miles- not kilometers.   When you first get the bike, you're doing a full service every week out of paranoia.   After a while, I began to realize my valve lifters always spin at the same rate, the carb never seems to need messing with, the oil level is usally right wjere I left it..  What's going on here, anyway?!
At least my tires lose pressure after a while.

[GreenMachine]

8 k here and pretty much the same story as Uncle Ernie...I check on the tire as I don't want to get a flat while riding..

[Curt Dawson]

I have heard changing the rear sprocket allows one to cruise at 65mph at moderate rpm's.

[enfield freddy]

no not the rear sprocket the front one !

[23hp]

IMO it doesn`t really make it cruise faster, just more relaxed at the higher speeds.  In fact more relaxed in every gear, so much so that my AVL basically lost the feel good acceleration low down so after 3 months I changed back to the standard sprocket again and have never looked back.
 
Some people love the higher gearing but I personally think that it just kills the fun bit of this bike, however if you combined it with a performance kit then you might not notice that low down loss so much, although with that said the bigger carb kits really only help you at higher revs and the extra wear and tear of  pulling that extra cog so......  I will just leave this to the pros to comment... 

[UncleErnie]

I imagine it also depends on where you live.  Here in the mountains, I couldn't imagine raising my gear ratios.  The bike does just fine at 60-65.

[GreenMachine]

I was wondering if the changing the gearing would gain me anything significant...I'm in the foothills of the skyline drive and have the standard setup/sprocket...Looks like u answer my question..

[Ice]

What I really want is a wide ratio gear set for the 5 Speed box.

 It would be nice to bump up a tooth or two on the front sprocket and keep the low first gear ratio.

[23hp]

All we need is the same set up and ratios as just now but a 6th gear to change into would be perfect!

[PhilJ]

Every bike I've ever had has always needed one more gear. 

[t120rbullet]

Every bike I've ever had has always needed one more gear. 

No matter how many gears it has!

[robbw]

Did you ever purchase the "thumper"?  If so, how's it going?

[enfield freddy]

What I really want is a wide ratio gear set for the 5 Speed box.

 It would be nice to bump up a tooth or two on the front sprocket and keep the low first gear ratio.

wide ratio gears?

man , you should try riding a 350 (iron barrel) bike in hilly country , CANT get 4th till on the level , slightest hill droping to 3rd and revving like hell.

when I was using a 350 lump a set of CLOSE ratio gears helped a lot

this raised 1st second and third a bit , but a hell of a less gap between 3rd and 4th ,