Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum

Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet with the UCE engine => Topic started by: Chris-G5 on July 23, 2009, 12:57:57 pm

Title: UCE speed
Post by: Chris-G5 on July 23, 2009, 12:57:57 pm
To my fellow UCE owners. How fast have you had your bike? How long have you maintained 60 mph or more? I took my G5 up to 75 mph yesterday and it still had more. It felt pretty good at that speed even with some high winds. The longest I've cruised so far is about 20 minutes at about 60-65 mph.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Rusty on July 23, 2009, 04:31:04 pm
During the running in phase I took it up to 60 briefly and it coped with that easily. Vibes became a liitle more evident but I didn't hold it there long.

I would guess that a speedo reading of 85 top wack is on the cards and real cruising a speed of 65 very possible. I hope so because that's one of the factors which swayed me to the UCE rather than a used AVL or IB.

Nobody's bought these bikes for speed but being able to hold your own on our motorways (where the speed limit is 70) on occasions will be useful.

Oh BTW my bike came back today so after a gentle running in period I'll give it a try.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on July 23, 2009, 10:32:26 pm
I pop along at 55-60 most of the time, I have on occasion ran with 65 mph traffic easily.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: ace.cafe on July 24, 2009, 02:55:28 am


Oh BTW my bike came back today so after a gentle running in period I'll give it a try.

That's great news, Rusty!
Have some fun! You've earned it!
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Geirskogul on July 24, 2009, 05:23:53 am
I pop along at 55-60 most of the time, I have on occasion ran with 65 mph traffic easily.
That's what I say about my AVL.  Except at 60 I'm at 4/5ths (maybe, maybe  5/7ths) throttle, whereas you're probably at half or 3/4 at most.  :)

At 65 I'm pretty much 5/6ths throttle, unless I have a tailwind or am behind a semi.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Chris-G5 on July 29, 2009, 10:25:04 pm
Got her up to 80 mph today. Might be able to reach 90, going down a hill. ;D
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 05, 2009, 01:11:42 am
I've posted before that my C5's sweet spot was between 55-60 mph, well now that I have 1750 miles on the clock, the sweet spot has moved up to a solid 60mph. It purrs right along at that speed nicely now
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Anon on August 05, 2009, 05:33:45 am
I've posted before that my C5's sweet spot was between 55-60 mph, well now that I have 1750 miles on the clock, the sweet spot has moved up to a solid 60mph. It purrs right along at that speed nicely now

Sounds like it's just getting better all the time!  If I was getting a new bike right now, I don't think I'd be considering anything but a C5 (except maybe a Military G5).  Yours looks real nice in the pictures as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing one of these in person.  My brother's G5 Deluxe is coming along nicely, and seems to becoming a better bike day by day.

Eamon
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: UK-Classics on August 05, 2009, 10:21:18 am
It would be interesting to pitch a 'run in' UCE bike against a de-restricted AVL - I reckon performance should be pretty similar. Although speed isn't my top priority it might be a fun race  ;D
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 05, 2009, 12:13:04 pm
I'll be glad when my upswept exhaust arrives, it's mush less restrictive and lighter according to my dealer it should give a bit of an increase.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: csbdr on August 05, 2009, 12:47:23 pm
Were you able to order the exhaust?  Last time I checked with my dealer, he couldn't access them yet, but that was a couple weeks ago.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 05, 2009, 10:23:27 pm
I ordered it the day I picked up my bike, when it's available he'll ship it to me. When that will be I don't know.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Lmundy on August 06, 2009, 10:03:27 pm
Do any of you have a notion how indicated speed on the speedo relates to real speed?  Is there a significant speedometer error? 
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: PhilJ on August 07, 2009, 03:12:51 pm
It seems they all are different, some spot on others off by 10 mph. The best is to check with a GPS.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: t120rbullet on August 07, 2009, 03:39:19 pm
Do any of you have a notion how indicated speed on the speedo relates to real speed?  Is there a significant speedometer error? 

When I got mine I checked it out on one of those speed camera trailer things.
It was off by about 10% just like all my irons.
A few weeks later it was all I could do to get 30mph out of the bike and after that the speedo just quit.
I found the screw connector on the back of the speedo had come loose so I tightened it and it's been alright since. I haven't checked it out since then so I don't know if the  cable was loose when I checked it the first time.
Never saw that before that a loose cable would read slow. Usually just work or not work.

I was riding my Triumph to work last year and looked down at the speedo and it said I was doing 90. I gave it some gas and the needle went all the way past 120 and stopped at the pin. At the next light it went back down to 0 and when I took off it was over 100 when I shifted into 4th.
On the way home it didn't work at all. My 3rd 120 dollar speedo drive in 6 years.
Yup, love my Enfields!  I can subtract percentages in my head as long as everything else is working.
CJ


Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 08, 2009, 04:43:04 am
It would be interesting to pitch a 'run in' UCE bike against a de-restricted AVL - I reckon performance should be pretty similar. Although speed isn't my top priority it might be a fun race  ;D
I had the chance to ride a run in AVL today, the UCE faster and smoother.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: UK-Classics on August 08, 2009, 10:08:27 am
I had the chance to ride a run in AVL today, the UCE faster and smoother.

Was it a de-restricted avl with carb & pipe, sprocket upgrades? I've rode both & agree the uce is a great bike but didn't have a chance to push it much. I don't think there will be much difference in the top end for both bikes.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 08, 2009, 12:07:10 pm
No, both bikes were stock, perhaps an AVL with all those mods would equal a UCE. It would be interesting to see.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Rusty on August 08, 2009, 06:24:39 pm
I'm sure the AVL could be as fast as the UCE, I've riden both and the difference for me is that the UCE seems designed to cope with slightly higher speed. It feels more comfortable throughout the speed range which is what you'd expect I suppose.

I know emission legislation was behind the UCE development but you might as well make one that's a bit faster while you're at it, new technology and all that.

I've done 900 miles now and for what it's worth mine will cruise at 60/65 all day, I've seen 80 on the speedo before I felt guilty and backed off.....and it's returning 78mpg :o
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 08, 2009, 06:32:59 pm
I rode 300 miles on mine yesterday, 60-65mph all the way. I  filled up this morning and checked the mileage again,  I got 78mpg too, not bad at all.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Marrtyn on August 12, 2009, 02:25:48 pm
If I have calculated this right, (and please correct me if I am wrong):-
If a C5 is doing 70 MPH, then a G5 will be doing 3.88 mph more. This being due to the difference in wheel sizes, (18" & 19" resp.) and all other things being equal.
Am I right or am I wrong!!
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Rusty on August 12, 2009, 06:41:03 pm
If I have calculated this right, (and please correct me if I am wrong):-
If a C5 is doing 70 MPH, then a G5 will be doing 3.88 mph more. This being due to the difference in wheel sizes, (18" & 19" resp.) and all other things being equal.
Am I right or am I wrong!!

Don't think you're right, I'm pretty sure the C5 has an extra tooth on the gearbox sprocket to compensate for the smaller wheels.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Marrtyn on August 12, 2009, 08:40:53 pm
You may be right --the G5 gearbox sprocket has 17 teeth.Don't know what  the C5 has though. I did say all (other) things being equal.
Regards
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: t120rbullet on August 12, 2009, 08:54:54 pm
You may be right --the G5 gearbox sprocket has 17 teeth.Don't know what  the C5 has though. I did say all (other) things being equal.
Regards

The G5 has a 17 tooth sprocket.
The C5 has a 18 tooth sprocket.
The 18 tooth sprocket will fit on the G5.
At least it did on mine! I'd like to go up to a 19 or a 20 but there isn't enough room for anything bigger than a 18 in there.
CJ
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: Chris-G5 on August 13, 2009, 03:08:32 am
The G5 has a 17 tooth sprocket.
The C5 has a 18 tooth sprocket.
The 18 tooth sprocket will fit on the G5.
At least it did on mine! I'd like to go up to a 19 or a 20 but there isn't enough room for anything bigger than a 18 in there.
CJ
Can you tell much difference with the 18 compared to the 17?
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: t120rbullet on August 13, 2009, 04:06:20 am
Can you tell much difference with the 18 compared to the 17?

There was a month and a half that I didn't ride the bike (REcall) and it had the 17 on before and the 18 after so it would be hard to give a side by side report of the performance.
The motor didn't notice it at all, it still has all the pep it had before and less vibes at the 60/65 cruising range. Gives each one of the gears a bit more "legs" than they had before. I'd recommend it to anyone that has a G5.

I'm used to the 4 speeds and big sprockets (19's & 20s) on my older Bullets.
You seem to get a lot more out of each gear on a 4 speed.
It seems to me that I'm always shifting that 5 speed. No sooner than you let the clutch out it's time to shift again.
A bud of mine has a 97 iron bike with a 5 speed and a 19 tooth sprocket and it doesn't give me that impression. Must be the larger sprocket.
CJ




Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: UK-Classics on August 13, 2009, 09:35:58 am
There's only one way to sort all this debate out ....... FIGHT!!  ;D
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 16, 2009, 10:24:22 pm
I can't go up a tooth on my C5's front sprocket, but when it's time to change ther rear tire I'll try a 90 series instead of the stock 80 series. A taller tire should give me a bit higher ratio, we'll see.
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: t120rbullet on August 16, 2009, 10:53:06 pm
I can't go up a tooth on my C5's front sprocket, but when it's time to change ther rear tire I'll try a 90 series instead of the stock 80 series. A taller tire should give me a bit higher ratio, we'll see.

I installed a set of Avon Road Riders on my G5 early on and could notice the difference in size right away. Only problem it was the wrong way for my kinda riding.

Next set of tires is going to be a 3.25 x 19 Avon Speedmaster on the front and a 4.00 x 19 Avon Safety Mileage on the rear.
The OD of the 4.00 x 19 Safety Mileage is over 1" larger than the 100/90 x 19 Road Rider that I have now.
 
I know that the Road Rider is being hailed as the greatest tire ever made but I'm just not seeing it. I have just a bit over 1,200 miles on the rear and half the tread is gone already. Looks like it's going to be a 3K mi tire.
If I had it to do all over I just would have left the stock Speedmaster/Safety Mileage combo on it. Got 10K out of em and then get the larger rear.
I got the roadriders dirt cheep and just couldn't bear to see em on my old iron's. So the stock G5 tires are on my 01 now.
CJ



 
Title: Re: UCE speed
Post by: r80rt on August 16, 2009, 11:17:56 pm
Yeah I think the stock Avons won't last long on mine, showing wear already. But to their credit they handle great and ride smooth.