[Raymond]

Hello Everybody, just to introduce myself to the forum.

I am the proud new owner of a 2003 Bullet 500 Deluxe. Have attempted to attach a picture but not sure of the procedure on here. Other forums let you place pictures in line?

So I am new to the world of Royal Enfields but not new to motorbikes. Grew up on the back of me Mum's succession of BSA Bantams - she took me all over Britain and Ireland. Since the age of eighteen I have never been without at least one bike. Must have owned about thirty bikes down the years and they have been a very eclectic set.

The Bullet joins a 2014 Kawasaki W800, Polly to friends, Pretty Little Polly Perkins on Sundays. Also a 1978 Yamaha XS650, Miss November, a title she gained after being elected by popular vote for inclusion in the XS650.com calendar for 2020.

EDIT - the attachment has worked. Please ignore the date - I don't know how to change it on the camera 

[AzCal Retred]

Welcome to the Hoard of the Archaic! Your '03 looks well taken care of. Lots of us old dinosaur riders here, we all enjoy the 1940's motorcycle experience.

What do you have for manuals yet? Where are you sourcing parts? Do you know about Hitchcock's yet?

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/

[Willbrunei]

I like the rear mudguard stay - is that a custom part?

[Bilgemaster]

Welcome aboard! My hunch is you did very well coming by that lovely Bullet. It seems really well kept and has a lot of desirable features (lacking others, which is also desirable). Not least of its virtues is that right-hand shift, just the way The Lord and Redditch intended. Someone appears to have gone through a lot of effort to make her "just so." Well chosen, Sir!

I see from your profile you're in the Borders. I lived there in a farmhouse near Eddleston in Peebleshire for about a year long ago. Those are just the roads thereabouts for a well-kept Bullet. I expect you'll also discover she'll acquit herself well enough on unpaved surfaces too as required, since this very model really made its name back in the '50s as an indomitable trials machine. So, fear not the odd wee sheep track laddie!

I'm not sure about that rear tire, but the front appears like it very well could be the original nearly 2 decades old Avon Speedmaster II. Seeing as it's now just about old enough to vote or have a pint, you might do well to replace it and whatever tube is in there. If OEM, both would be well crusty by now. I personally favor the Dunlop K70s for my Bullet "Military", which do tolerably well on the road or off, don't cost much, and really look the part. But there is much guidance on tap in the Forum Archive on alternatives.

[Raymond]

Gentlemen, thank you all for the kind welcome.

I wanted the old-style engine and r/h gear change but I don't really know what I have yet. According to MCN, electric starting didn't arrive until 2004 and they were all five-speed l/h shift bay then. Ha, shows all they know. They also gave the suspension as 'none'.

Sent the VIN and engine number to Graham Scarth, who was able to confirm manufacture in July 2002 and that it is an export bike. It's a Bullet 500 Deluxe but I don't know any more about sub-model? Speedo and odometer are in KPH and kilometres so I have no idea which market it was intended for or sent to. Don't have the V5 yet so waiting to see what that says about first registration in the UK.

The Bullet came to live with me a week ago (was delivered sounds a bit impersonal). After checking there was oil in the engine and air in the tyres, I started engine and went for a very brief run on the lane outside the house. So I know the engine works and the gears select. A lot better after I adjusted the clutch at the mechanism.  I know the tappets are noisy once the engine warms up a bit. Have started the engine five or six times but haven't used the e-start yet.

Since then, Scottish Borders Cooncil has been out and dumped salt all over the roads so I think I will SORN the bike and not go out until Spring. Bilgemaster, I know Eddleston well, about 28 miles from us, near Melrose.

I love the sight of the traditional, tall, - am I allowed to say British? - single cylinder engine. One person has suggested that the exhaust is 'wrong'. Don't know and I can't answer Willbrunei's question about the mudguard stay.

The only aspects of the bike's appearance I am less happy with are the handlebar switches and the colour of the saddle. It was a pale tan, so have obtained leather dye and isopropyl alcohol and having a go at changing to a much more mellow chestnut.

Photos attached. Cheers, Raymond

[Bilgemaster]

First and foremost, as a quick search of this Forum section's Archive of the term "sprag" should quickly reveal, you would do well to NEVER use that electric start. I mean, don't even look at it! Learn to kickstart it only, and both you and she will be MUCH happier in the long run.

My own "sprag fragging" is described here: https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=26991.0;all

[Paul W]

Raymond, welcome to this forum.

I’m also in U.K., in North Nottinghamshire but right on the three way border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.

Your bike looks very well kept!

My own bike is a 2004, Indian home market 350 Bullet Electra (now modified quite a lot) which is kickstart only. Everyone says to be very cautious of the sprag clutch for the electric start, which is very vulnerable if the engine kicks back. The usual advice, if you must use it, is to keep the battery well charged and to ensure that the ignition timing is set correctly. It would be beneficial to kick over the engine a few times first anyway, or at least use the decompressor and kick start to take the piston “over the top” before you press the “self destruct” button.

[ddavidv]

The electric start is about as necessary as lipstick on a pig. These bikes are so easy to kick over I never understood the need for the recalcitrant, hand-grenade arrangement they saddled these with. The good news is the starter is easily removed and the wiring sub-harness for it just unplugs. Hitchcocks makes a handy aluminum plug for the case where the starter drive goes.



Mine is a 2007 that suffered heavily with a previous owner. I found it hilariously easy to work on and the parts refreshingly affordable. Mine is blessed with the more useful 5 speed but otherwise retains the character of 1955. I agree, the switchgear does not fit the rest of the bike. Your silencer does appear to be different from original, which I'd offer is a good thing. The factory ones were too long, too heavy and too restrictive.

[Bilgemaster]

Ha! "Self-Destruct Button"! Truer words were never written. But here's a pleasant alternative option for that button and relay: https://youtu.be/Xcfo30h-0N0

By the way, your saddle looks great.

[Paul W]

Does the klaxon not get clouted by the front mudguard/fender on lock, when the forks compress?

[Bilgemaster]

Does the klaxon not get clouted by the front mudguard/fender on lock, when the forks compress?

Nope.

[Adrian II]

May I add my welcome from a good deal further south in the UK?

I love the sight of the traditional, tall, - am I allowed to say British? - single cylinder engine. One person has suggested that the exhaust is 'wrong'. Don't know and I can't answer Willbrunei's question about the mudguard stay.

The only aspects of the bike's appearance I am less happy with are the handlebar switches and the colour of the saddle. It was a pale tan, so have obtained leather dye and isopropyl alcohol and having a go at changing to a much more mellow chestnut.

The exhaust design on the classic or iron barrel Bullet changed quite noticeably over the years. The Indian factory started off with a longish exhaust pipe and the superb-sounding "short bottle" silencer/muffler, which mirrors the old Redditch Bullet set up. But, of course, the powers that be, anti-noise campaigners, etc, always want quieter exhausts, so the factory felt they had to comply, hence the increasingly longer silencers/mufflers over the years with shorter downpipes to keep the overall exhaust length within reason. By the time they got to the EFI models where they also had to incorporate catalytic converts, it looked like they'd failed on that point!

The good news is that the longer pipes and short bottle thingies are still available (if that's your thing, you might be happy with what's on there now). Get a good one and it will still sound great without being loud enough to get you into trouble, once the salt has washed off the roads.

The E/S models switch gear might be part of the strong Suzuki influence that seemed to be creeping in to RE electrics in the naughties. That came in handy when I converted my Electra-X to a twin-cable carburettor and found that the twin pull twist-grip off a Suzuki was compatible with the right-hand switches. You can always re-wire for traditional British handlebar switches, particularly if you decide not to use the electric start, though the AC headlight running straight off the alternator complicated things - a little bit.

A.

[Raymond]

Thank you for the klaxon idea but I'll give that a miss.

You guys have certainly got me thinking. Had already heard that the starter, uhm, system is a bit unreliable which is why I've been kicking instead. Now wondering if I should go ahead and remove. Following Bilgemaster's link, I see one suggestion is to remove the sprag clutch and simply leave the motor in situ. Or as ddavidv suggests, buy the blanking plug from Hitchcocks and remove the motor too. I suppose if one ain't going to use it, might as well save the weight . . .

Was wondering on the electrics side. Been having a look around the bike and it would seem that a lot of wiring could be saved. My Bullet has been fitted with a Boyer Power Box which as I understand it replaces the rectifier and regulator. But it looks as though a lot of wiring might have been duplicated. Also, removing the engine cutout would save a whole bunch. And I don't need a clutch cutout - don't actually know what it's there for yet. So maybe I should spend some time this Winter and take out the starter motor, associated wiring and some of the other non-essential cables?

AzCal Retred asked about manuals - have been shopping and bought a couple, then the seller gave me another. Photo attached. Will donate one to anybody who needs a manual.

Because I'm not too sure what model I have, not too sure which wiring diagram applies. A very helpful gentleman on the XS650.com forum gave me this one for a 2004 and it seems to match the bike better than any in the workshop manual. Except that the wiring has been changed by PO's anyway.

[Karl Childers]

Welcome! You have found the right forum when it comes to good technical support for your Bullet. I have only been here since July but the information contained within and the knowledgeable members Have been invaluable to me in keeping my project moving ahead and making it a good experience as opposed to a big headache. Wonderful old world motorbikes, Iron Barrel Bullets have more than a few idiosyncrasies, better to learn from the old hands when it comes owning one of these than to learn the hard way. Yours is a very good looking machine and performance and visual wise has the better exhaust IMHO, I also agree with your choice to dye the seat black. My suggestion here would be to buy Pete Snidal's Bullet service manual, it is really worth owning if you plan on keeping the bike long term, it is a good compliment to the factory service manual and has many practical insights into the subsystems of the motorcycle.

[Karl Childers]

Thank you for the klaxon idea but I'll give that a miss.

You guys have certainly got me thinking. Had already heard that the starter, uhm, system is a bit unreliable which is why I've been kicking instead. Now wondering if I should go ahead and remove. Following Bilgemaster's link, I see one suggestion is to remove the sprag clutch and simply leave the motor in situ. Or as ddavidv suggests, buy the blanking plug from Hitchcocks and remove the motor too. I suppose if one ain't going to use it, might as well save the weight . . .

Was wondering on the electrics side. Been having a look around the bike and it would seem that a lot of wiring could be saved. My Bullet has been fitted with a Boyer Power Box which as I understand it replaces the rectifier and regulator. But it looks as though a lot of wiring might have been duplicated. Also, removing the engine cutout would save a whole bunch. And I don't need a clutch cutout - don't actually know what it's there for yet. So maybe I should spend some time this Winter and take out the starter motor, associated wiring and some of the other non-essential cables?

AzCal Retred asked about manuals - have been shopping and bought a couple, then the seller gave me another. Photo attached. Will donate one to anybody who needs a manual.

Because I'm not too sure what model I have, not too sure which wiring diagram applies. A very helpful gentleman on the XS650.com forum gave me this one for a 2004 and it seems to match the bike better than any in the workshop manual. Except that the wiring has been changed by PO's anyway.

The wiring could be pared down to next to nothing, say something you'd find on an old BSA or Triumph, I used to make entire harnesses for those in the past. I have resisted doing that with my Enfield as I feel more comfortable in modern traffic with turn signals and a front brake lever actuated stop light, etc.. I have removed my starter, solenoid and wiring harness, a quick and easy job with the gas tank off. Instead of a plug for the starter hole I took it one step further and replaced the entire inner primary with the earlier non electric start version sourced From Hitchcock's. I have a new unused blanking plug I would gladly give you except the postage would be more than price of you buying one from H's.