Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet with the UCE engine => Topic started by: MrMike on April 18, 2013, 04:53:57 am
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Recently bought a 2011 G5 with 31.5 miles on it. It came from a private party without dealer support. Have a lot of questions.
1. Do the rubber (?) spacers (?) between the cooling fins stay on or should I remove them?
2. What is the recommended break in period?
3. Will ethonal laced gas work or should I buy ethonal free?
Enough for now. More later. Thanks for any and all help.
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Good morning from the other side of the pond! :)
1. The rubber blocks between the cooling fins should stay - they're supposed to absorb vibrations and thus, noise.
2. My manual (by the importer) says a minimum of 621 miles (1000km).
3. To be on the safe side, personally I avoid fuel with ethanol, that is here, fuel with <98 Octane. We got fuel with 5% ethanol and 10% ethanol and >=98 octane which is supposed to be ethanol free. From memory, the manual says nothing about ethanol at all, I just want to be on the safe side and not get any damage on parts by ethanol. With my C5, the difference in cost, given that low consumption / good mileage, is not really big.
kind regards
Michael
p.s. fuel experts, please: due to winter, I had to stow away my C5 for 5 months. A period of complete inactivity where the fuel stays in the tank. People say that ethanol-charged fuel (we call it "Gemüsebrühe - veggie soup" here) will degenerate over time, making it less useful and even more harmful. That would even more be a reason to avoid ethanol-charged fuel unless you frequently re-fuel the tank.
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Congratulations on your new G5. If you have the same success with yours as I've had with my 2011 G5 Deluxe your going to be one happy camper!
The rubber strips are there to deaden high pitched sounds. I removed mine the first week, wanting as much cooling as possible in the hot Arizona deserts and I've had no problems with sound or cooling at all. :)
The Owners manual says to keep the speed below 40 mph and don't use over 1/2 throttle to accelerate for the first 300 miles. Short periods of 45 didn't seem to harm mine.
At 300 miles it is VERY IMPORTANT to get the oil and filter changed (or to do it yourself).
If you do it yourself, there are two drains, one large hex and one cap with two small hex bolts holding it to the bottom of the sump.
Both of these need to be removed so you can remove the debris on the pump pickup screen and the metal filings that have collected on the magnets that each drain has.
The oil filter cannot be bought at any stores in the US except for the importers supply store (known as "nfieldgear"). They sell individule filters but I recommend getting the oil filter kit that has 5 filters + some O rings if you need them).
Call them at 1-800-358-0938.
The filter kit isn't cheap but your going to need the filters anyway so go for it.
Between 300 and 600 miles, the book says you can increase the max speed to 50 mph with 3/4 throttle openings acceptable.
The next scheduled oil change is at 2000 miles but I changed the oil the second time at 1000 just to be on the safe side.
After 600 miles there is no max speed but you should know that these bikes top out at 80 mph and are happiest at around 70 max.
The engine won't be totally broken in until its passed over 1000 miles but as the milage increases so does the smoothness. Vibration seems to get less and less and it revs a little easier.
Oh. The spark plug that came in mine was a India made Bosch twin electrode style that was causing misfires. Most of us have changed that plug for a NKG BPR6ES. It makes all the difference in the world and only costs a few dollars at the local auto supply.
The book recommends using a 15-50 wt semi-synthetic oil that meets JASO MA requirements. This JASO requirement assures the engine oil (that lubes the engine, primary drive and transmission) won't screw up the wet clutch the motorcycle uses.
Almost all motorcycle specific oils meet this but many regular auto oils don't.
I've been using Mobil-1, V Twin 20-50 wt oil and its working great. I've got over 9700 miles on the bike with no oil related problems. :)
The book says the front tire pressure should be 18 psi and the rear should be 24 psi for solo riding. Riding two up raise the pressure to 20 front & 28 rear.
The bike runs fine on 87 octane gas and I've been using the alcohol blended stuff for almost 2 years without a problem.
Have fun. :)
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Welcome aboard MrMike and congrats on your Bullet.
Rubber fin dampeners are optional
Break in thread http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,16229.msg176676.html#msg176676 (http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,16229.msg176676.html#msg176676)
Ethanol free is undeniably the better gasoline but yours will run on the other stuff. Fuel economy will be down but it will run on it.
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Hi MrMike! Welcome to the forum. You're going to love your new bike, and any questions you have about it can be answered here. :)
Scottie
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Thanks all for the prompt response.
Ekatus Atimoss - You have very good points about the ethanol. Since the cost is small, why not burn clean. Break in tips are appreciated. I intend to take it easy anyway. I've owned a number of bikes over the years and this should be the last one. I'm guessing you're in Germany. The last bike I ownd I buught from a German officer. A long story.
Arizoni - Thanks for info on oil, etc. I plan to keep this one running and will watch the oil closely. I'm surprised by the long break in period. This one is running pretty smooth now. But then, I haven't even got a plate on it yet!
Scottie - Thanks for the welcome. I'm sure we are going to love this bike and I'm glad there is a place I can go to with questions.
Thanks All,
Mike
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As for breakin it will take 1500 or so miles before the engine rally comes into its own. As for breakin procedure, the regimen in the book is just copied from the old iron barrel book and has no real application with the new aluminum barrels. Just ride the bike "normally", no heavy freeway stuff, kinda try to keep the speeds down to 60ish for awhile. No long steady cruising rides, vary the speed and RPM.
Just let the speed you use start working up after 6 or 700 miles.
The 300 mile oil change is mandatory. Change it again at about 1000 miles. clean the pickup tube oil screen and filter at every oil change. After the 1000 mile oil change, you can start going by the book. Any good semi or synthetic MOTORCYCLE oil is sufficient.
These breakin instructions come straight from Kevin, the owner of CMW and our host on the forum!
The crap gas is OK.
Removing the rubber doodads is fine.
Change the spark plug as mentioned as soon as possible.
With the G5, you got the best one! (Boy, will I take a beating over that statement!) Now that they are discontinued, you will have a very nice rarity. I loved my G5, but then got run off the road and the insurance company stole it from me. Now I'm waiting for a Cafe Racer.
I guess Enfield is basically replacing the G5 with the Continental (Cafe Racer). It still leaves them with only three frames to build.
Bare
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You can keep or remove the rubber fin dampeners. No one who has removed them has reported excess noise.
I've been using ethanol gas for three years. It will make the paint inside the tank bubble but the has not caused any problems yet. Do keep an eye on the fuel line from the tank to the throttle body. It seems to crack and deteriorate quickly in the US, this may be due to ethanol. Replace with 5/16" (I think) high pressure EFI hose and good clamps, just a few dollars.
Scott
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This is very informative. I did not realize the G5 was alredy discontinued. From all the pics I saw, I liked it the best. Then I found this used/new one at what I thought was a great price. Couldn't resist even though I swore I'd never get another bike. The gas tank bubbling sounds serious. I'll stick with the not eth. whenever I can get it. It destroyed the gas tank on a pressure washer I have and I still haven't got the carb working on it.
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It's just the paint inside, they don't mask the fill hole so the color on the outside ends up inside too. Alcohol attacks the paint but lots of people have seen this and nobody has reported any serious problems from it yet. Ride more, worry less ;)
Scott
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This is the first I've heard about the G5 being discontinued.
Kevin hasn't said anything about it and enfieldmotorcycles.com ( a U.S. site) is still showing the G5 in its MODELS page
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/models/deluxe-g5.html
Likewise, the Royal Enfield company site in India is showing the 500cc Royal Enfield Electra and Electra Deluxe which are the basis for the G5
http://royalenfield.com/motorcycles/bullet-electra-deluxe
Hopefully Kevin will jump in and clarify the status of the G5 in the future?
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You can keep or remove the rubber fin dampeners. No one who has removed them has reported excess noise.............
I can hear the extra noise ...... it sounds like *TINK* *TINK* *TINK*
If your high frequency hearing is still intact, leave the fin rubbers in.
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Ah yes. Loosing ones high frequency hearing.
One of the added benefits of shooting big bore guns, playing in loud rock & roll bands and being married to a rather vocal woman for over 40 years. ;D
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With the G5, you got the best one! (Boy, will I take a beating over that statement!) Now that they are discontinued, you will have a very nice rarity. I loved my G5, but then got run off the road and the insurance company stole it from me. Now I'm waiting for a Cafe Racer.
I guess Enfield is basically replacing the G5 with the Continental (Cafe Racer). It still leaves them with only three frames to build.
Bare
:o
Holy Moly Macaroni
???
Do you have a source on that?
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Follow Bares break in procedure and you'll be fine. The factory needs to rewrite this one. I think the B5 fills the G5 hole nicely.
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Hey, I think I got the best one! :) High freq hearing - gave up on that years ago. Thirty years in Army took care of that. Now it's time to have some fun. Haven't even got the license plate on it yet but I love this bike......