[Spudgun]

First up. Yes, I'm a refugee from the old Hitchcocks Forum. Secondly. I own and ride a 500 Lightning. Odd bikes these.

I've had my Lightning since 2010. I won't go too much into the history into how I got it (unless asked), but I have to say. It's a great bike to ride. The original seat was awful and was replaced by a leather look-alike. The high bars allow a relaxed riding position. The instruments are in easy view and best of all. There's a neutral light. That's really handy when you've got a 4-speed box. It's not all sunshine though.

Keeping a Lightning original looking isn't easy. Parts specific to the Lightning are hard to come by. It takes a bit of effort, but it's worth it. The original tail light lens had side reflectors on it. To replace it. You'll have to buy one that went on a 1970's Yamaha. The list goes on. It's a great bike!

[AzCal Retred]

Nice! You have done a fine job on the old girl. Welcome to our corner!

[Adrian II]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! The tank and instrument console are a bit of an acquired taste, though the separate headlamp with a decent set of brackets is a plus point for me. The styling sort of lived on with the 350 AVL Thunderbird models for a while after the Lightning was er... earthed.

You might be looking to Indian suppliers for some of the more esoteric bits for the Lightning, though it is basically a dressed up 500 Bullet. I think it's known as the City Bike over there. If not Henry Price might be a good source for the more obscure bits if you haven't already tried him, he had/has a 535 Lightning. Somewhere on this forum is a link to the on-line version of the "Retired Models" parts book which should list everything which varies from the basic Bullet.

A.

[Spudgun]

I've a complete spare parts catalogue for the Lightning, so part numbers, etc aren't a problem.

Although the Lightning is a dressed up Bullet. There's one difference. That's the gearbox casing. The Lightning has a hole for the neutral switch, where the Bullet item doesn't. I actually find this surprising. I would've thought (in this day and age) that having a neutral light on a bike (especially with the clunky Enfield box) would be a requirement.

Considering that the Lightning had such a short production life span. Some parts are going to be made of 'unobtainium'. That said. Other parts that would've been fitted to Bullet's seem to be equally hard to get hold of. The chrome air box on my bike is rather manky. Can I get a replacement that's the same? Nope. I've had to buy a chrome air box from an older Bullet (Possible Superstar model) which was easily available.

The only other major change I've made is the barrel. I thought the black iron barrel looked a bit out of place, so I changed it for an alloy one. In my opinion. The Lightning's engine looks right now.

One thing I did do when I bought the bike, is that I fitted a Motrax speedo converter. When the bike was delivered. It had 127KMS on the clock. The speedo now reads in MPH and Miles. Here's a picture of the Lightning, as delivered.

[Spudgun]

One thing I had completely forgotten to mention was the fork seals.

I had a leaky fork seal. I ordered the replacements as per the parts catalogue. When I came to strip the lower leg. There was only one seal in it. The parts catalogue called for two!

I have to ask myself; Was my bike a 'Friday afternoon special', or was the home market Enfield's only fitted with one seal? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has stripped a fork leg and found one seal instead of two.

[Warwick]

Nice bike!!! Lightnings rock!!!

[Spudgun]

Lightnings most certainly do!

The one thing I didn't like was the original seat. It was a two piece affair and hard as nails. After 30 minutes in the saddle, I got a bit sore. I bought the leather covered custom seat and it's way better. It looks almost the same as the original, but it's a one piece item. THe bike is now a joy to ride and I can go for miles in comfort (It's like riding a big, comfy armchair).

I do have a grumble though. The 535 Lightning has badges in the side boxes. The 500 doesn't. Why?

[Mr_84]

A very warm welcome Spudgun

Your obviously a seasoned Enfield enthusiast.

I know next to nothing about your awesome lightning model apart from it is rare

More details please on the badges on the side boxes so I can learn something about this very limited model

[Spudgun]

The only picture I can provide at the moment, is from the Illustrated Spare Parts Catalogue. These badges came in different colours, dependant on the colours of the bike. The correct colours for my bike would be; Black, red and gold.

[Spudgun]

I'm convinced that my Lightning was a 'Friday afternoon special'. OK. It was sat in a shed for 10 years (doing nothing) before I got it, but it had faults.

One fault was the tail light lens. The clear part at the bottom was missing. I used a bodge for a couple of years (with some clear plastic sheet glued in), before I replaced the lens from a 350 Thunderbird. Now I have something far better!

Quite by chance. I found that the American Market Yamaha XT500 had a rear lens that was almost the same as the Enfield item. The only difference being, the side reflectors were red and not amber. I bought a lens (It's a clone and not an original) and some 55mm amber reflectors. I removed the red reflectors and replaced them with the amber items. Result!

On the left is the original Enfield fitment. On the right is the modified Yamaha replacement.

[AzCal Retred]

Nice! "Improvise, adapt & OVERCOME!" 

[stinkwheel]

The question is, who copied whom? Or did both copy someone else?

A lot of MOT testers in the UK are very strict on there being a numberplate light but equally, there is pretty much no regulation on how big or bright it has to be other than there has to be white light hitting the numberplate. I remember failing an MOT with a little Soviet 125 for no numberplate light so I went home and drilled a 6mm hole in the bottom of the taillight lens and put a blob of clear epoxy over it then went back and it passed.

[Spudgun]

I've no idea about who copied who. That said. The Enfield item does have a brand name on the lens. It's PPI. It also has a stylised PPI logo on it. As the Yamaha XT500 pre-dates the Lightning. It wouldn't surprise me if the original maker for the Yamaha item, sold off the tooling and it ended up in India.

I'm still trying to find replacements for the original foam handlebar grips. The originals had the Harley Davidson Eagle logo on the ends (Without the Harley Davidson name). The originals wore out. I did buy a pair that were very close, but they were around 15mm longer. Sadly. One was damaged due to an accident (I forgot to undo the steering lock and rode off). I've yet to find another set.

[Adrian II]

I think there was a creeping trend towards Japanese style parts over the last 25 years or so. The common rear tail light for Indian 350 Bullets seems to be copy of the Honda 50's!. By the time we got to the Electra-X we had a Suzuki-style alternator, and handlebar switchgear/throttle which as also pure Suzuki, though in this case I think the tail light was CEV!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGy9uomagO4

A.

[anarchy]

Thank god for the lightning, it's a great source for extra length cables. Styling is very subjective. Cruisers aren't my thing, but I understand why people like them. The classic 500 doesn't need a neutral light, pretty much 50:50 odds it will be in neutral most of the time anyway