Team-BHP - Royal Enfield Bullet 500 : "Amun-Ra"

Dear all,

Till date I have completed 5680 odd kilometers and Amun-Ra will be heading for his free servicing pretty soon. Is there anything special I should be asking the RE guys at the time of the servicing, apart from the usual things they do (like replacing the oil and filter, cleaning the plugs etc).

One thing that I have observed is that Amun-Ra sometimes looses its beat. This has happened for less than 5 times in the last 5 months of my ownership. The duration has been for less than a second, as if the B500 is going to stop but then its back alive. All this has happened within one second and in speed ranges of 60-80, wherein I have accelerated suddenly. The feeling at that time is obviously not very great, but I am not concerned as it has happened quite rarely. But is it something to be worried about? My usual crusing speed is within 60-70 kmph and mileage received is approx 35 kmpl.

This afternoon I had visited a Shell filling station and the attendant gave a slight scratch on the tank. its a hairline scratch, not usually visible unless you know the location. But offcourse, the attendant got to hear the sweetest of expletives from me because of this incident. A word of caution to all my fellow riders, once you are done with filling the petrol, make sure that the attendant "lifts" the nozzle up from the inlet hole to some distance and then slides off. Usually I keep my hands near the inlet, but as in shell one has to stand away from the vehicle, I was looking at the process and this careless attendant marked his presence :Frustrati . He just slid off the nozzle the moment petrol was in and thus the scratch. Thankfully its not that evident.

By the way, can anyone please advise that why only in Shell petrol pumps one has to stand away from his vehicle, whereas in others, one can fill petrol by seating on the two wheeler?

Best regards,

Bikramjit.

Your engine miss could be caused by the sidestand safety switch if you still have it connected.

As you know, the engine electrical systems all shut down if the switch is activated and a number of Royal Enfields have experienced a similar short loss of engine power because of this switch.

Because of the clearance in the bolt holes, the switch's location can be adjusted slightly and moving its location so it does not activate during the first movement of the sidestand seems to help.
The reason for this is because the sidestand can move slightly when the motorcycle encounters a bump in the road.

An option that I have used for over 2 years is to just disconnect the switch.
This is easily done by disconnecting the electrical connector located just behind the left rear side of the engine. The harness travels up the seat downtube and the connector is at the bottom.

A word of warning though.
If you disconnect this switch, the motorcycle will start and run with the sidestand down.
If you leave the sidestand down and begin to ride the motorcycle it is possible that the sidestand will hit the ground and cause the motorcycle to crash.

On the other hand, those of us who have ridden for years, long before the safety wizards got involved in motorcycle design have long known about the hazard of leaving the sidestand down while riding so we automatically kick it up before even thinking about engaging the transmission while the bike is running.

I can't help you with your Shell question but possibly the company has had problems with customers getting dowsed with fuel and complaining about it?

I know here in the US, some States have laws that require all fuel tanks to be filled by the service station employes only. Other States (including mine) allow the owner to use the pump himself to fill his tank.

Welcome aboard :)

I will check my Amun-Ra to see how much negative the battery indicator points to, when the lights are all ON.
By the way, are you at Pune? Which location then?
As the dates for the Servicing are approaching, my senses seem to be all geared up for catching more nitty-gitty issues. Off late I have observed below two things :-

> When I press the clutch, there is a slight sound coming at the joint where the cable is connected to the handle lever. I have touched the exposed wire (while pressed) and think that the sound might come as the cable has gone dry. Is my understanding correct? I am confident about the source but not sure about my deduction. One of my friends have told me to apply diesel in wire casings (accelerator and clutch) as it does the work of good lubricator. Can I do it?

> There is also slight sound coming from the rear section of my B500.[not the hush-phus one which comes after the shockers are pressed, but this is metallic] The other day, I looked everywhere and then deduced the source to be the rear shocks. More sound is typically emitted when the shockers try to come up to its normal position and less while being pressed down. This was not the scenario earlier. Definitely I have gone through some rough patches with good bumping around and that has caused this nuisance. But is it possible that the Shockers have gone dry and they need some fluid etc? (I have heard that Bullets have gas shock absorbers). So I am a bit confused now, how to get rid of that occasional sound and how bad is it for the overall life B500 ?

Please advise.

I would not use diesel for lubricating any cable on my motorcycle. It is not a lubricating oil and it will evaporate leaving little except a possible varnish behind.
Use any motor oil you happen to have on hand to lubricate the cables. It is best to apply the oil at the highest cable end and let gravity pull it down thru the cable.
The inner cable being of a twisted wire construction will distribute the oil to all of its surfaces.

Lubricating the clutch cable on the UCE powered motorcycles is pretty easy.
(Notice, I did not say lubricating a Iron Barrel or AVL clutch cable is easy. The method shown below is for the UCE motorcycles only.)

1. Using a open end wrench (spanner) that fits over the large end of the clutch arm (on the left sidecover), rotate the arm counterclockwise. Doing this will release the pressure on the end of the clutch cable allowing you to disengage it from the sheet metal yoke. (It is in a keyhole that will allow its enlarged end to slip out)
Once this is done go to the hand lever end and pull the outer sheath out of the stationary structure and rotate it forward. A downward pressure will cause the inner cables enlarged end to slip out of the bottom of the hand lever.

Once out, tip the end upright and pour in some oil.

Reassemble in the reverse fashion but be sure the thin plastic collar ends up between the large end of the inner cable and the hand lever. Also, push the small rubber bellows back into position.
Notice, you do not have to loosen any nuts to do this so there is no need to readjust the cable unless it has become too loose because of wear.

Lubricating the throttle cables can be done by removing the two screws on the underside of the right grip housing. The upper part of the housing tends to grip the handlebars but by lightly prying it upward it will become detached.

I just poured a bit of oil into the mouths of the two cables that are attached to the lower part of the housing. Gravity pulled the oil down thru both cables.
(Trying to remove the cables to do this lubrication is too much hassle. The throttle cables must be removed from the fuel injection unit or the carb and when they are reinstalled they must be adjusted.
If you just lube it by taking the top of the throttle grip housing off you won't have to adjust anything.)

I don't know what is causing the noise but the rear shocks cannot be refilled with oil.
If you have not seen any oil leaking out of them, there is no reason to put oil into them.

The rear shocks are gas filled but the gas does not produce any real damping.
It is there to keep the oil from foaming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by krdeshmukh (Post 3402722)

When I have head light on and vehicle is on idling the battery charge shows negative sign. Is it common?

I think Kugel is showing the appropriate reading. Below is from Amun-Ra

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 : "Amun-Ra"-wp_000068.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim (Post 3404563)

I just poured a bit of oil into the mouths of the two cables that are attached to the lower part of the housing. Gravity pulled the oil down thru both cables.

Thank you very much Jim. This is a easier solution :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim (Post 3404563)

The rear shocks are gas filled but the gas does not produce any real damping.
It is there to keep the oil from foaming.

The sounds that were coming from the rear shocks are gone now, doing nothing at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by walk-the-torque (Post 3405201)

The RE dealership at Navi Mumbai told me that the waiting period for a CL 500 or STD 500 is 2-3 months:clap:

Can this be true?

The waiting period has decreased considerably these days. For Classic 350, Maroon color, the delivery time has now come down to 3 months in Pune. Hope it is the case with CL 500 as well. My suggestion would be to inquire at couple of other dealers and if all are saying the same thing, then time has reduced :)

Hi Majumdarda,

I enjoyed reading your post :).
I am soon going to book the CL5 mainly for my daily commute from home to office. 28 kms to n fro. Many suggested me to go for the 350 but yaar lena hai toh sabse achcha hi lena hai.
I took a TR of the DS and STD5 and found the DS to be extremely comfortable for my body structure (I am 6ft1 around 95 kgs stupid:) The power and pick up just blew me away. Hope its the same with CL5. Will be taking a TR of the CL5 and TBTS from the bandra showroom this saturday.

If i ever own a bike it has to be the BULL and your post has just reconfirmed by faith in the BULL as a daily commute bike as well. Of course being from the sales profession, it was very easy for me to sell the proposition of owning a BULL to my wife, hence occasional off roading trips will be welcomed.
For all those who are well aware of the streets of Mumbai, I will be riding on the freeway from wadala IMAX to Mazgaon docks. Will be part of the league soon :-)
Its name is going to be 'Django' - waiting somewhere to be unchained !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Majumdarda (Post 3405666)

I think Kugel is showing the appropriate reading. Below is from Amun-Ra Thank you very much Jim. This is a easier solution :) The sounds that were coming from the rear shocks are gone now, doing nothing at all. The waiting period has decreased considerably these days. For Classic 350, Maroon color, the delivery time has now come down to 3 months in Pune. Hope it is the case with CL 500 as well. My suggestion would be to inquire at couple of other dealers and if all are saying the same thing, then time has reduced :)

Hi all,
A couple of important observations for all aspiring RE owners.
I realized this weekend when I pulled out Kugel, that there was no oil in the front disc break chamber , there is a window where you can check the level. Mine is empty. Also oil level in the engine window was not visible. After long argument they agreed to top it up. It consumed 250 ml.
KINGS AUTO baner did not do a good pdi. I was new to a RE world and not sure on what to check, friends pl check engine oil and break oil before delivery. Also one of the rubbers between the engine fins came off and was fallen on ground yesterday.
DVDs
KD

One Ride : One Thought, One Feeling, One Love

So what's in a name or what's so special about this particular date?

No, I am not going to dig into the history books, but preparations and excitement for this particular day, did spoil my sweet cozy night sleep. The other day, I had gone to sleep at about 12 in the morning, but all I can remember is watching at the time every half to quarter hour. The excitement was so much, that I just could not sleep. And it was not just me alone. The entire 50 odd rider buddies had gone through the same experience, same thrill, same excitement. Every time one tries to sleep, out comes the beep on the Whats App, and more discussion starts.

Officially, the day had started at 6:15 am, when I along with others headed towards the Platinum Auto Royal Enfield at Fatima Nagar, for a small city ride, followed by ride to Bhuleshwar Temple. It is a temple of Shiva, situated around 45 kilometers from Pune. More information on this link
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhuleshwar_Temple)

The day was cloudy and the ride was splendid, with slight breeze hitting us every now and then. After riding the streets of Pune we had finally reached the Temple at around 11 in the morning. Riding a Royal Enfield in itself is always exciting to me, with a group towards a destination is mind blowing, and this, participation and involvement in One Ride, is probably an experience which words cannot describe. The thundering bulls in their thunderous applaud, is a feeling which only a few gets to enjoy. I am lucky to be a part of it. Be it the steep climbs or the ghats downhill, there was just one sound, the Sound of the Bullet, the feeling of the Brotherhood. While returning we had lunch at one of the roadside dhabas and the taste was good too. The ride culminated at the RE joint, from where we headed towards our respective destination.

Overall this was an experience worth sharing with you all, worth remembering for days at stretch, worth recounting in every idle moments.

Thank you Amun-Ra for being there with me. Thank you Blitzkrieg for everything.

Now for some pictures.

At the starting line