Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: neil on August 29, 2013, 06:45:57 pm
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Hi Bulleteers:
I've done a lot to get more reliability out of my bike. Broken clutch cables and failed sprags left me on the road needing recovery in order to get back home. First thing, always carry the cell phone in order to call for help. Spare clutch cable, but fortunately, mine busted when I was close to home. That trouble cured itself after some wear smoothed the notch at the top of the clutch control arm. No more broken cables since then. Change E/S system in favor of K/S only. Probably the most benefit I've received of all the changes I've made on the bike. Remove the 28 mm Micarb and replace it with the 30 mm flatslide carb. That gave a big boost in performance. Replace the exhaust system with the 50s style pipe and muffler. Remove the Avon tires because they wore too fast and didn't give good enough road handling. I ride on a lot of dirt roads and Dunlop K 70s perform much better all-around ! I had the dealer take the stock seat off and put on a solo seat. Performance must suffer a lot when riding two-up. That means quite a bit where I ride because NH is very hilly and Riding up hill is a real chore if riding two-up. I don't mind riding alone because my riding on old back roads is not likely to appeal to most riders. I had trouble with throttle performance and got a new throttle grip and throttle when I installed bar end mirrors. I found that the original throttle grip had been installed damaged and didn't work right from the get-go. I also removed the points ignition system and installed the electronic ignition that included the bosch coil. No more fussing with points and timing issues.
I've ordered a new lite weight gel battery which I plan to install in the left hand tool box which will finalize the weight reduction when I went from E/S to K/S. The other change I've made to the bike was to remove the crankcase breather system which used the catch-can and re-breather into the Carb intake system. Now, a continuous hose goes from the vent below and to the left of the barrel up through the frame and out the back of the bike through the duck-bill. This tends to keep the crankcase pressure below atmospheric when the engine is running and seems to me to give better overall performance. The bike now seems fairly well sorted. Neil and Buzzy the Bullet.
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Everything you have but with a few additions.
My stock coil died and I bought a cheap auto store one to replace it. That one died and now I have a Bosch blue coil that purchased from our hosts.
Have a Triumph type trycon switch to replace the headlamp dimmer and horn switch. Put the dimmer at midway to turn off headlamp if desired. Deleted stock pods completely. Bike has no kill except for the on/off near the speedo.
Replaced ignition switch/key with the old school rotary. Get the Minda, the swiss fell apart.
All bulbs but the headlamp are LED.
Right hand shift, worth it for the rear brake improvement alone.
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Cleaned and serviced every electrical connection just to be sure, sealed battery, Bosch blue coil, blue loc-tite and torque checked hardware, did the clutch release and throttle twist mod, regular maintenance.
*Edited to add pic and content*
Not a mod to the bike itself but quite important imho.
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As above with the Bosch coil, wire connectors, grounds, all bolts, Mikuni flatslide carb, Iridium plug, replaced old throttle/brake/clutch cables with non-India ones, LED bulbs, Amsoil in everything but the forks, Torco Fork Oil in the forks, Tsubaki O-ring chain, GM waterproof electrical connectors in place of the open ones, Crankvent breather mod, probably other minor stuff I can't think of.
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I don't own a Bullet but I have a vintage big twin that I upgraded a few areas on. Mods include: magneto converted to electronic ignition, ALL new electrical (stator, rotor, rectifier, lights and new custom wire harness), new Amal concentric carb and new cables. My bike sat for 20 years or more, so it actually needed all of that. But I would say of all the mods, the electronic ignition is probably the best mod I've done as far as reliability goes.
Scottie
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But I would say of all the mods, the electronic ignition is probably the best mod I've done as far as reliability goes.
Scottie
Me too. Forgot to mention that, but the points diehards are going to claim our 50k+ hour MTBF electronics are a risk.
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Me too. Forgot to mention that, but the points diehards are going to claim our 50k+ hour MTBF electronics are a risk.
Yes and no.
" 'lectrickals fail there aint no fixin 'em". Which is true BUT they seldom do fail.
Yes points can be fixed on the side of the road but they are way more likely to put you there in the first place.
The point ( pun intended ) of this is have a back up plan.
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Completely rebuilt the motor.
New rod, piston, bearings, rockers, etc. See Tom, aka Ace, for the lowdown on parts.
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That's why I like my E.I. set up I have, 1 coil, 1 trigger, 1 switch, 1 fuse, 4 wires. A 10 year with plastic hand tools could figure it out if it had a problem. Honestly, I only have a total of maybe 8 or 9 wires on the entire bike and 2 fuses. I like it that way. :)
Scottie
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That's why I like my E.I. set up I have, 1 coil, 1 trigger, 1 switch, 1 fuse, 4 wires. A 10 year with plastic hand tools could figure it out if it had a problem. Honestly, I only have a total of maybe 8 or 9 wires on the entire bike and 2 fuses. I like it that way. :)
Scottie
You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. If the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them.
EI is great if you don't have any problems with the system. It is complete overkill for a Bullet. Like Ice suggested, if you run EI you should have a backup plan like carrying the original points setup that you could throw in in case you're far from home and that expensive EI takes a crap. You don't want to call someone on their day off to pick you and your bike up do you! I guess you could buy an extra EI to carry just in case.
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You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. What if the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them......
ANYways....
EI is great if you don't have any problems with the system. It is complete overkill for a Bullet. Like Ice suggested, if you run EI you should have a backup plan like carrying the original points setup that you could throw in in case you're far from home and that expensive EI takes a crap. You don't want to call someone on their day off to pick you and your bike up do you! I guess you could buy an extra EI to carry just in case.
What good is keeping the original points when I have a magneto that only fires on 1 cylinder ONCE in a while??? Triggers RARLEY fail, EVER, magnets on the rotor don't go bad, and I have a 2 lead 12V coil. How do you figure I'll ever be up shit creek? That's WHY I converted to EI, because I wasn't about to spend $300+ to have my magneto rebuilt only to have to constantly worry about when the magneto is going to fail again with it's brushes, points, and armature windings. PLUS it literally takes me two minutes to change my timing and no points gaps to adjust. I keep my shit old school hot rod, minimal wires and fuses and simple technology. If I break down on the side of the road, it can only be 1 of 3 things, fuel, spark/timing or electrical. All 3 of which I can diagnose and correct in minutes with a simple set of tools ,extra fuses and electrical tape.
Scottie
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Among the contents of my Bullets tool kit is a spare set of points, plugs and condenser. My shovelheads (E.I) kit contains the points fired ignition system including the coil.
My back up to those back ups is a cell phone, a phone card, and four dollars in quarters to call my buddy with a truck and trailer and the back up to that back up is another buddy with a truck in case the first buddy is un reachable.
Both bikes wiring harness contain on board spare wire in the form of non essential circuits I.E. turn signals etc.
Sorry to prattle on like that. Time to go. Can't be late for the pre rehearsal meeting of the Department of Redundancy Department.
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I started working on the Enfield myself in an effort to know more about the bike and keep it running well and reliably.
Did the US have any Enfields with the CDI system? I have it on my Electra and it's more reliable than a Honda CT90. Beats the points hands down.
Okay i'll put my flame suit on....
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You are making fun out of more than half the members of this forum with the crack about the 10 yo. What if the 10 yo could figure his ass from his head, he's not going to pull out a coil, trigger, switch, fuse or wires out of one of them.
Scottie was not making fun of members of this forum, he was pointing out how simple his system is. He didn't say any members of this forum aren't capable of fixing it. Nor did he say any members of this forum aren't as smart as a 10 year old. Take a chill pill man! You owe him an apology.
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Scottie was not making fun of members of this forum, he was pointing out how simple his system is. He didn't say any members of this forum aren't capable of fixing it. Nor did he say any members of this forum aren't as smart as a 10 year old. Take a chill pill man! You owe him an apology.
Not going to happen MAN!
He is making reference to his RE twin which is considerably different from an India made Bullet. If members want to chime in on the Classic Bullet forum then they should be making reference to Bullets so other members don't get confused. Look at the subject of this post man, I think it explains my view.
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Sorry for pissing in your Cheerios Blltrdr but the fact is neil asked about making his bike more reliable. It's not flipping rocket science that electronic ignition is more reliable than points. How can you even argue that? And I started wrenching on bikes when I was 13, so regardless of your opinion, I've been cranking wrenches long enough to what I'm talking about. Sometimes I'm wrong, I can willingly admit that. But EI is still more reliable than points, which is why I commented on this post in the first place. But thanks for your concern. ;)
Scottie
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HI fellow Bulleteers:
I started this topic to talk about what we have done to our bikes to sort them out for reliability, not to start a war over points vs. electronic ignition. I changed from the points because my vision, bending down to try to see the inside of the distributor, was too much of a challenge. Also I wear glasses with bifocals and I could not see how the points worked or how to set them etc. I wanted to do it once and be done with it. The unit I got from CMW made it easy and I haven't had to do anything to it since. That was important to me.
Far sight, great with glasses - - - close work like inside the distributor, not so much.
Neil and Buzzy the Bullet.
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Started wrenching at 13, I would have bet it was 10. My bad! I always say it's better that someones pissin' in my Cheerios than in my tank. You guys slay me! My day is now complete. So serious you are (in voice of Yoda)!
I have read way more complaints of EI problems than I have ever read of points failure. To each is own. I bought my Bullet to tinker with it. I maybe check and adjust my points/timing a couple times a year with checks and adjustments on everything else that needs adjusting. In my opinion, relying on EI is something I would rather not do. I have a very expensive Boyer unit sitting in the parts bin. Complete junk in my opinion. The cheap India point sets have got me to point A to B with no interruptions. I would suggest spending money elsewhere to gain reliability. I would suggest going over your wiring harness from front to back checking connections and grounds and looking for cuts or scrapes through the insulation. Have read more posts on electrical problems than anything else. That is one reason I built a custom wiring harness and added a 210 watt Sparx charging system. I find that money well spent. Also a new horn is in order for all that still have the stock one. For one, it sounds like a cat coughing up fur balls. And second, most cagers can't hear worth a crap, especially the young rap aficionados. Now a Bad Boy horn will scare the living crap out of one of those trunk resonator freaks.
8) Chillin'
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And ride it regularly. Seriously.
Bullets that only see sporadic use tend to give more trouble.
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And ride it regularly. Seriously.
Bullets that only see sporadic use tend to give more trouble.
Best answer yet.
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I don't know, my points seem to be holding up quite well and I see no need to replace them for reliability purposes. Properly adjusted and "maintained" points can be as "reliable" as any electronic gizmo, maybe better?....and even more trust-worthy. Ease of/minimal maintenance or longer service intervals and prolong peak performance would be the main reason for going electronic, but not for reliability. Just my thoughts. I like simple.
I just tinker on my Bullet with the "good book" at arms reach.....seems to keep it in top running condition and reliable as any other modern bike I've owned. ;)
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Seems the OP opted for EI. Let's move on to other things, like Austrian wheel bearings or Swedish valve stem caps.
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Man. Well, I guess all I have to say is have fun next time you need to adjust your points on the side of the road, I'll just keep trucking on. :)
Scottie
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Man. Well, I guess all I have to say is have fun next time you need to adjust your points on the side of the road, I'll just keep trucking on. :)
Scottie
Swedish valve stem caps will help.
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I installed a set of chrome reverse muffler bearings just because I had some extra change laying around. Can't really claim it improves reliability, but it does get lots of looks (and for some odd reason, some strange ones too).
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I have been following this thread for a while and thinking about what I have done........and after carefull consideration I think the number one reliability fix is a clean air and fuel filter. So, regular tuneups where oil/air/fuel filter changes are performed. Keep a points file on-board seems to help in between points replacement every 5000 miles or so. One reliability improvement I just discovered was to clean out the muffler/silencer using both detergent (brand name Simple-Green) and some caustic soda mix drain cleaner (brand name "Zep"). At about 24000 miles the bike started using oil, and I assume that this unburned oil was collecting in the muffler/silencer. Anyway, after I first used the Simple Green detergent in the exhaust for 24 hrs, I then washed out the detergent. After letting carefully poured the caustic mix in muffler/silencer (first I put on a rain coat, rubber gloves, full face eye shield) and let the caustic solution sit for about an hour, a large amount of carbon was dislodged from the silencer. If you try this, please use extra caution, add the caustic to water, not water to caustic as it will boil and splash the caustic into your eyes causing blindness. The spent caustic is still dangerous after use so you need a good place to dispose of spent solution. Use of the spent caustic as a drain cleaner would probably work provided you still use the protective equipment.
To make along story short, my starting and performance improved 30% after opening up the exhaust, it now runs like a new machine.