Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: leafman60 on July 17, 2015, 07:13:57 AM
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A very magnanimous take on the gentle, Indian-made, Royal Enfield. They look a lot like my 1953 Matchless.
Some of these comments may apply to Guzzi models....
This was on the MSN Home Page today!
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/research/the-coolest-motorcycle-in-the-world-has-come-to-america/ar-AAd4Hcr?ocid=HPDHP
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I think this is my favorite model of RE-
(http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc462/leafman60/Miscellaneous/royal-enfield-gt-india-launch-pics-price-.jpg) (http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/leafman60/media/Miscellaneous/royal-enfield-gt-india-launch-pics-price-.jpg.html)
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I'd look good on that. Will you maintain it for me? :smiley:
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Over the last few years I have rented modern Royal Enfields to ride in Britain. This June's RealClassic magazine (http://www.realclassic.co.uk/subscribe/) (to which I heartily recommend you subscribe) published my review of the bikes based on about 3500 miles of riding, mostly in inclement conditions.
Click the image for the PDF of the article
(http://www.adamsheritage.info/images/page.jpg) (http://www.adamsheritage.info/images/enfield article RC134.pdf)
Nick
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Nick, Chuck insinuated terrible maintenance issues with the new R-Enfields. What's you take on that? Are they reliable? I'm sure things like valve adjustments etc are easy but how do the bikes hold up?
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Nick, Chuck insinuated terrible maintenance issues with the new R-Enfields. What's you take on that? Are they reliable? I'm sure things like valve adjustments etc are easy but how do the bikes hold up?
I only have the experience of my two rental tours to go from. Other than the chains, which were crap, I had no problems at all with the bikes.
They are not well suited to long hours of droning along on North American highways and a definitely unsuited to the Interstates. For trips where the roads are slowish and twisty, nobody is breathing down your neck willing you to go faster, and enjoyment of the scenery is more important that making distance, they are fine and positively pleasant.
A modern day Nuovo Falcone - if you like. Charming, enjoyable, pleasant - but with limitations.
Nick
PS If you check the on line forums, they don't seem to be plagued by any more issues than any other bike - including Japanese ones.
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Whenever possible, I hope you will allow us to post, on our ADV NF thread, your R Enfield tour report that was published.
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The persistent reports of persistent stalling with the Continental GT are discouraging... I'm not sure I'd pay $3500 for one... but what a neat looking bike.
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Nick, Chuck insinuated terrible maintenance issues with the new R-Enfields. What's you take on that? Are they reliable? I'm sure things like valve adjustments etc are easy but how do the bikes hold up?
I had the "new" Royal Enfield with the UCE motor, it was the 500cc version called the C5.
It was one problem waiting to happen while I was sorting out another. Wiring gremlins, stuck brake calipers, Sprag clutch disintegration, wobbly above 55mph, fractured/fatigued cheap metal from the vibrations, including the ground wire plate on the battery terminal, fuel sensor failure, fouling plug if idled too long, and I could go on.
I sold it 20 months are buying it new. It looked a whole lot better than it ran.
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I don't get it. I know folks that have them.
If I wanted a little nostalgia single I might consider an SR400. If I was going to buy a single, I'd more likley look at the Super Duke which has no nostalgia value. :evil:
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I don't get it. I know folks that have them.
If I wanted a little nostalgia single I might consider an SR400. If I was going to buy a single, I'd more likley look at the Super Duke which has no nostalgia value. :evil:
Absolutely! I looked in the the RE because it looked cool. Now, I've never ridden one, but I read many reviews about the vibration.
Other rides that I'd go with first would be the SR400, GB500, and Honda 400four (which has almost 10 more hp).
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Whats in your basement?
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/X75_01_zpsmnlbexzz.jpg)
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/new-nortons-in-crates_zpssqihlopf.jpg)
:azn:
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Whats in your basement?
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/X75_01_zpsmnlbexzz.jpg)
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/new-nortons-in-crates_zpssqihlopf.jpg)
:azn:
The old Triumph Hurricane didnt really work for Triumph in Australia...
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damn. No one is going to ever take that Hurricane out it's crate.
that's sad.
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I had the "new" Royal Enfield with the UCE motor, it was the 500cc version called the C5.
It was one problem waiting to happen while I was sorting out another. Wiring gremlins, stuck brake calipers, Sprag clutch disintegration, wobbly above 55mph, fractured/fatigued cheap metal from the vibrations, including the ground wire plate on the battery terminal, fuel sensor failure, fouling plug if idled too long, and I could go on.
I sold it 20 months are buying it new. It looked a whole lot better than it ran.
Wow, I didn't know they were that horrible!
Ground wire problems, fuel sensors and fouling plugs are the sorts of things that frequent this and many other bike forum sites but the fractured/fatigued metal is something to worry more about.
I know several who have the recent models and they don't report such terrible issues with them.
Nick, how in the world did you make your way through Scotland without that RE crumbling beneath you!?
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I wouldn't mind having one of these
(http://g4.img-dpreview.com/98CA85D553884DD78E0F2784B780613E.jpg)
(http://g4.img-dpreview.com/5A84F0FC21C742789DD21A628CF06D3B.jpg)
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I wouldn't mind having one of these
(http://g4.img-dpreview.com/98CA85D553884DD78E0F2784B780613E.jpg)
(http://g4.img-dpreview.com/5A84F0FC21C742789DD21A628CF06D3B.jpg)
For about $60K you can have one built from new parts . Of course it won't be the real thing , and at the race track , some guy with an overbored and stroked 305 Drixton Honda will make you feel bad :grin:
Dusty
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There's just one thing I don't like about the Royal Enfields: The Price.
They overprice them here in the US because they know the hipsters will buy them so they can "be different". But for 6 grand after taxes I'd rather buy an SR400, a Honda Grom, or basically almost any used bike of any kind and have money left over.
Hell, a new TU250 is probably a better deal and looks the same part.
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Geat story. I agree that at this point how a bike "feels" is much more important than anything else.
Thanks for the treat.
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Nice article, Nick. :thumb: And you're right. Just because it has one cylinder that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a thumper. Apparently the RE *is* a proper thumper.. extra points for that.
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I worked on them at a dealership and was not impressed. The oil filter is held in place w/tin disc and an oring to stop oil escaping, junk. When the hop-up parts come from England it becomes a much nicer machine, better quality too.
If you do a search, there are many for sale at a good price.
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(http://www.stevetonkinclassics.com/Resources/tornadomastertran.png)
Brand new, 50HP and 322 lbs.
http://www.stevetonkinclassics.com/showroom.html
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Whats in your basement?
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/X75_01_zpsmnlbexzz.jpg)
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/new-nortons-in-crates_zpssqihlopf.jpg)
:azn:
WOW....tell us more. Is that a current photo? There were a lot of those for sale in MN back in the early 80's. Now you only see one at a show.
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I know several who have the recent models and they don't report such terrible issues with them.
Nick, how in the world did you make your way through Scotland without that RE crumbling beneath you!?
Do you think maybe the ones Nick rented might have been upgraded/fettled/sorted by the agent he rented them from? I'd imagine that they want their customers to be happy and safe, nothing worse than a bike broken down in the middle of nowhere to make someone unhappy. Sending out a recovery truck gets expensive too.
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Do you think maybe the ones Nick rented might have been upgraded/fettled/sorted by the agent he rented them from? I'd imagine that they want their customers to be happy and safe, nothing worse than a bike broken down in the middle of nowhere to make someone unhappy. Sending out a recovery truck gets expensive too.
I didn't get that impression Charlie. They were low mileage bikes that didn't seem to have had anything but the most basic servicing - but of course, how would I really know?
Nick
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WOW....tell us more. Is that a current photo?
If my memory is correct those bikes were auctioned off a few years ago somewhere in England. Of course, ex-dealer who had been sitting on them or some such story. They were a staple on the Norton list and may have been posted over here too.
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For what it's worth, in Enfield circles, the EFI versions have a reputation of being generally trouble-free, much more so than the previous carbureted versions. I'll be riding with the local Enfield club today; I'll canvas them & get some more feedback. It's only a day ride and it's mid-winter, so a big roll-up is not expected. Those models built in the new factory (the Continental GT) appear to have even less problems.
BTW, that Tornado looks very tasty. Pity the price puts it beyond reach.
Mal
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You know, new Retro is fine, as long as she don't leave you stranded! :angry:
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/tough%20girl_zpsdprepmtk.jpg)
Oh! all right. Its OK then. :azn:
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Had a good run with the Enfield club on Sunday, met up at Windsor, down to the Sackville ferry, then the Webb Creek ferry at Wisemans & lunch at the Settlers Arms at St Albans. A dozen bikes; 5 interlopers and 7 Enfields - a 612, an old iron barrell, an Electra, and a Carberry (all carburetted) and 3 EFIs. the EFI riders are happy with their mounts, one very much so now that he's sorted the correct spark plug, another on his new B5 is still expecting something to go wrong. The Electra has 140,000 km on it, by the way. A good ride on some good roads - a general consensus that we don't do the Webbs Creek - St Albans road often enough - 20k of bends, hills, straights through bush & farmland beside the river, with BEER at the end.
Waiting for the ferry
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2030.jpg)
a happy EFI
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2032.jpg)
The 140,000k Electra (check ouit the goofy mirrors, Nick)
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2033.jpg)
Another of the EFI's
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2034.jpg)
the 612
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2036.jpg)
the Carberry
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2037.jpg)
A couple of the interlopers
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n538/hatihati/2015-07-19%20RE%20run%20St%20Albans/IMG_2038.jpg)
A good day had by all,
Mal
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Thanks for posting that, Malik.
Are you guys having problems with the reliability of those machines??
Good to see the V-twin conversion.
An Indian-American chap here was developing what he called the "Musket," a similar effort.
http://www.musketvtwin.com/home.html
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Thanks for posting that, Malik.
Are you guys having problems with the reliability of those machines??
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Generally, no. That particular VTwin has been through 3 clutch operating arms, and mine broke one, but the others have all been fine. The Electra (2006 - 2008) had a reputation for doing in the crankshaft hardening (the hardening is only 1mm thick) on extended motorway thrashing. A new crankpin with better hardening fixes that - and it's relatively cheap. I've had more problems with the V7C than with the Electras. Of the new EFI machines, the only thing I've come across is ONE mate had moisture in the plug to the ECU which corroded the contacts. Replaced under warranty. The others seem to keep on going.
There did seem to be a lot of the older carbureted bikes that had problems, but often it turned out that the riders spent a lot of time on motorways, flat out. Those bikes weren't built for that and objected. If you avoided the motorways, the bikes were more reliable. The older ones (pre 2006) also had poor oil pumps which at times resulted in problems. But also the bikes are easy to work on and the parts often exceptionally cheap. The EFI versions don't appear to have those limitations and can do the motorways - sit on 130 kph all day. But better at 120.
But then, these are not bikes that you tend to ride hard, except in the twisties.
Mal