Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Vintage Royal Enfield => Topic started by: comp3d on July 27, 2008, 04:17:37 am
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Hi folks, I recently bought a Bullet 500 from a friend of mine that is over in Iraq. He disassembled it for me and shipped it over in multiple mail crates. I have a shop full of parts and am waiting for the last shipment to get here. The frame and wheels. I was told that it is a 1965 bike, but not sure. I will get the numbers off of the engine and tranny and go from there.
Pics of the bike and the project will be on the following site:
www.panelskinz.com/bike.htm
If you have any advice or comments, please feel free to give me a shout.
Also, I started out on an Indian when I was 4 years old, grew up riding bikes. Just sold and 01 Buell Blast 500 that I rode for 3 years. I like the single cylinder "thump" and the clunky shift. Hey that set me up perfect for the Royal Enfield....
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Welcome to the forum. I look forward to following your progress, do you think you will have any problem getting the bike registered?
I've done the motorcycle by mail thing also, A friend mailed his dirt bikes from Japan to my address in Hawaii where I stored them until he arrived. The mail man wasn't too happy.. At least I didn't have to put them together.
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Thanks for the friendly reception. I really don't think I will have a problem with the tax office. The first reason is I have known the commissioner for years. If I walk in with a bill of sale and money in my hand I should walk out with a "antique" tag with no problem. We'll see... It is a fun but almost overwhelming process to import a bike that has been completely disassembled. A friend of mine works in a Dyno shop for an NHRA V-Twin bike racer. He wants to do some polishing and such... That should help some. It will probably be later in the week before I get to do much to it. Next weekend should give me some time to work also.
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Since it is a 500 it will have been made in the 1990's or early 2,000's since they didn't make them before that. In the late 1990's or early 2,000's Royal Enfielid sold a bunch of 500'd to Iraq under a world bank deal. I belive that they were for the mail service. They all came with sidecars. Since Royal Enfield did not make sidecars I hooked them up with Cozy. We get quite a few orders from GI's in Iraq who have picked these bikes up. A VIN number will get you the data you will need to buy parts.
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I don't know the vin yet. I'll email my buddy tomorrow and see if he can get it for me. I did get this number off of the tranny. It is a rh shift with the following numbers on it:
1H1587. I really can't make the numbers out on the engine. It looks like: R6QA84 I'm not sure if that is a Q or something else... maybe that will help narrow it down.
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Kevin - I searched on the site but didn't see where I could id the bike with the vin.
It is: 1B511893L
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Kevin - Unfortunately you were dead on. It is a 2001. I thought my buddy knew the bikes well enough to know. I don't know whether to part it out or try to get it together and ride it for awhile. Any suggestions?
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I have been assembling the engine and bolted the tranny up tonight. It is looking pretty good. I polished most of the carbon build up off of the piston. I need to order a set of rings and some gaskets.