[wildbill]

when I was a kid I tried getting a buckle out of a wheel with a spoke tightener I think they called them then- no luck at all and ended up with an even bigger buckle!....LOL never tried it since.
looks like whatever you bought has the task well under control

[wildbill]

forgot to mention - now we are talking oil changes looking under the bike and over to where the two small bolts hold the cage type filter in place...... towards the muffler runs the master cylinder for the braking system. lucky this is not an off roader...LOL
you may also notice that the long full threaded bolt which ran east west is no longer there.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

Another UK MOT passed.

loose chain and rear brake linings as advisory. Chain travel within spec so no drama there and the rear brake only because during the floating drum modification test I had put the arm at 6 o'clock at rest, so quite a lot of rear pedal arm thread on show which would make it look like it was low. As there does not seem to be a wear limit indicator on B5 models like one would expect, I've moved the lever back on the splines a bit. Last time the wheel was off  a couple of months ago there is more than enough pad.

Also the local dealer called to day they have the Himalayan demo now in. Couldn't make it today and next week looks flippin' freezing. At least they called so mentioned my thanks for getting back to me and I'll be in touch to arrange a test

[Fragman]

Managed to get in a decent ride today after a week of wet crap. I lubed the speedo cable & checked tire pressures before heading out. Temp was 11 C.

[High On Octane]

Fitted a new K70 to rear wheel, and got my butt kicked.  Couldn't for the life of me get the right side axle torque flush to the swingarm.  So disassembled it again, looked it over, nothing missing.  Looked at the parts diagram and decided the only possible issue was that the threaded bush that presses into the left wheel bearing had to have moved.  Took a punch and beat the crap out of it until it moved about 3/8" and that seemed to do the trick.  But, of course, while beating on it, the spacer between the drum and brake assembly plate fell out, and the wheel wasn't spinning freely.  Saw the missing spacer, took the wheel off a 3rd time, and now all is good in the hood!  Always an adventure wrenching on these old beasts.  Will go back in later today to fit the new front tire and rebuild the forks.

[AmBraCol]

Dropped by and visited her in the hospital.  She looks weird with her heart gone.  The heart (engine) was laying all over the work table.  They showed me the rub marks inside the cylinder, not sure why the piston and connecting rod weren't there as they're to be replaced completely in the rebuild.  Anyway, the rest of the engine looks great.  Can't wait to get her back and start the run in process again.  It should be much better than the first one, as all the Indian gunk should be gone from the first run in process.  With just under 10,000 miles (17,500 km) on the odometer, the rest of the engine/transmission looks great. 

[Fragman]

Got in another nice ride today after doin' a slight chain adjustment and the weather was like fookin' March temps of 16+C. Beauty! 

[AmBraCol]

Picked the Rumbler 500 up from the dealer.  They did a warranty rebuild on the engine due to a faulty connecting rod.  They replaced the cylinder, piston, connecting rod, seals, bearings. When I looked over the pile of parts Saturday the most of them were in immaculate condition.  The cylinder was a bit scuffed (not badly) from the effects of the bad connecting rod.  Didn't get to see the piston or connecting rod.  Anywho, when I picked her up this evening she was rumbling nicely again.  Rode the 8 or 9 km home and she's shifting cleaner than prior to the rebuild.  Not sure why, but I like it.  And she's back to her old rumble with no trace of the knocking from the connecting rod.  Tomorrow we head back to get a couple other things taken care of (led "fog" lights and a cell phone charger), and then to start the 500 km initial run in period.  Hope to get that out of the way ASAP so she'll be ready for upcoming trips.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

[AmBraCol]

Yesterday took the Rumbler rambling around the outskirts of town.  Installed a cell phone mount which works well with my current cell phone, includes a charger and give me access to the Waze app, which surprisingly enough shows a lot of the tiny roads around here.  Most maps (including Google maps) miss a lot of them. 

After lubing the chain, she's purring right along.  It has, however, been raining in these here hills.  A lot.  More winter rain (yes, we're in the northern hemisphere) than I recall in ages.  Which lead to my downfall.  While putting along a backroad I came to a slicker than usual spot - and an uneven surface.  The Rumbler's a heavy bike and even though it's got a semi-off road tread on the tires, it wasn't aggressive enough for THOSE conditions.  Down we went, at around 10-15 kmh.  Not too much damage, but did scratch the paint on the tank and the headlight frame as well.  Nuts.   Got back up, waited a little bit (minute or so) and she fired back up just fine and off we went again - even more cautiously than before. 

So almost 100 km done on the 500 km run-in process.  It's good to hear the old thumping instead of the infernal whacking of the connecting rod going bad.

[Rattlebattle]

Another UK MOT passed.

loose chain and rear brake linings as advisory. Chain travel within spec so no drama there and the rear brake only because during the floating drum modification test I had put the arm at 6 o'clock at rest, so quite a lot of rear pedal arm thread on show which would make it look like it was low. As there does not seem to be a wear limit indicator on B5 models like one would expect, I've moved the lever back on the splines a bit. Last time the wheel was off  a couple of months ago there is more than enough pad.

I had the same issue when I did the mod; I repositioned the lever on the cam so that the angle is greater than 90 degrees. In this way the mechanical leverage is greater. There was no brake dust at all in my drum for the simple reason that the shoes had hardly made any contact. No wonder the rear brake did nothing. It’s not exactly brilliant after the mod; maybe when the weather improves and I can ride the bike more the shoes will bed in. I intend to put a washer on the brake pedal pivot too. Although the mod has got rid of a lot of the slop in the brake mechanism there is still some lost motion at the pivot. I’d prefer the later disc brake version, but not enough to change the bike. If I do that it won’t be for another C5. Let us know how you get on with the Himalayan. If I can find a dealer near enough to home (mine stopped selling REs) I hope to test one as well as the 650.

[wildbill]

rattlebattle
check out my video. the review starts at 12 minutes and at roughly the 18 minute mark you will see how well the duel disc ABS system works on the best C5 Enfield has made
https://youtu.be/4kHELG7C5gA
without a doubt - best C5 I have ever purchased!

[mc35803]

EXCELLENT video.  Amazing how smooth everything is at speed.   Well done.

[longstrokeclassic]

The video really shows was a nice bike you have.
Keeping this one? 

[Fragman]

Nice video wildbill & I dig the scenery round yer area.

It's been raining on an off these past few days so I did a mod to the air intake on the back of the air box. I took off the restrictive rubber air inlet & used a piece of 5/8" thick, closed cell polyurethane foam to fashion a venturi around the inlet neck.
Then I glued the ends together and used a thin strip of hockey tape to hold the form fast. I finished the job with an overlay of high performance latex caulking to seal & smooth the surface. An inexpensive & quick way to better airflow.

I wouldn't recommend this mod for folks that ride in heavy rain or on muddy or gravel roads though as the filter will foul much quicker by not having the rubber intake horn to help keep crud out of the filter. No worries fer me as I'm a guy that rides on nice days & on dry pavement.

[Rattlebattle]

rattlebattle
check out my video. the review starts at 12 minutes and at roughly the 18 minute mark you will see how well the duel disc ABS system works on the best C5 Enfield has made
https://youtu.be/4kHELG7C5gA
without a doubt - best C5 I have ever purchased!

Wildbill, I don’t doubt that the Euro IV bikes are likely to be the best yet. That said I’ve no intention of buying one just for the rear brake and ABS as I hardly use the rear brake anyway. Also, whilst I accept that you’ve bought a lot of C5s etc, you haven’t exactly done stellar mileage’s on them, have you? Your comparisons are largely based on initial impressions. Most are not run in before you move them on. A wider user experience from riders who cover large mileage’s will tell us if, as seems likely, the Euro IV bikes are truly a quantum leap forward (as I suspect the 650 will be).