[GreaseMonk]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Is this RE foible corrected by the UCE construction, and does the dip stick now give the correct reading even after leaving the bike alone and out of use for a few days?

There is no dip stick, only the sight glass.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by GreaseMonk

There is no dip stick, only the sight glass.

Ah, ok. But the questions still remains, if the oil is draining back into a separate sump as it does in the older models, the level in the glass will fall.

[ArizonaJim]

There is no separate oil sump on the UCE powered models. Only the main sump in the crankcase. There is no dip stick however there is a sight guage on the right sidecover with a upper and lower limit line on the window.

When rested on the side stand, some of the oil will drain from the main sump into the left engine sidecover thru an internal hole but when the bike is straightened up on the center stand, or for riding, the excess oil in the left sidecover drains back into the main oil sump. This seems to take less than a minute on my RE.

I do agree that the owners manual urges owners to overfill their engine with oil when they do an oil change. Of course, my statement is based on the sight gauge being where it is supposed to be.

My Owners Manual says the engine holds "2.75 Litre". (2.906 quarts US).

Giving RE the benefit of doubt, the enginemight hold that much if it was a totally dry, newly built engine, however in every oil and filter change that I've done on my bike, I've found that 1.7 to 1.8 Liters (1.8 to 1.9 quarts US) of oil will bring the level in the sight guage up to the middle of the window.

This is after I have leaned the motorcycle to the left to drain the oil out of the right engine sidecover and then to the right to drain the oil out of the left engine sidecover. The 1.7 to 1.8 Liter depends on how much oil I manage to get out of the side covers.

There is absolutely no way I could put 2.75 liters of oil into the engine without grossly overfilling it. I strongly suspect that the 2.75 should have been 1.75 in the Owners Manual.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

There is no separate oil sump on the UCE powered models. Only the main sump in the crankcase.

My Owners Manual says the engine holds "2.75 Litre". (2.906 quarts US).

Giving RE the benefit of doubt, the enginemight hold that much if it was a totally dry, newly built engine, however in every oil and filter change that I've done on my bike, I've found that 1.7 to 1.8 Liters (1.8 to 1.9 quarts US) of oil will bring the level in the sight guage up to the middle of the window.

There is absolutely no way I could put 2.75 liters of oil into the engine without grossly overfilling it. I strongly suspect that the 2.75 should have been 1.75 in the Owners Manual.

Ok, then the false no oil reading problem ought to have been fixed. On my AVL 500, if I don't use it for a week, I will get a dry dip stick that shows no oil in the bike! Because it has all drained into the sump, while the stick is in the oil tank.
One reasons why RE's leak so much is because of overfilling. The excess oil just blows past everything.
And most people - I am guilty too, if I don't watch out - tend to add a little extra for luck

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

I know the riders in India like the rear brake but if the road is dry and not sandy, practice using the front brake.

Agreed. During my recent test ride of RE Desert Storm, the salesman who accompanied me, suggested using the rear brake only and cautioned me against using the front brake! But, I didn't care and tested the front brake alone and both front+rear brakes in combination and found the brakes very sharp.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by rajanvash

Thanks for your note Jay.

Its correct...I loosened the screw and could rotate the rear wheel freely. Now the question is, why rear brake is not biting enough...may be this is how it is on RE. I will check it on other C5s tomorrow when I go to Brandstore.

Oh, the rear drum of the Bullet will never feel as good as the Indo-Japs even after tightening although you can feel some improvement. Both the front and the rear needs to be used in unison for best braking. But be cautious with the front, it's very easy to lock your front wheel as the front brake is quite grabby. Soon, you'll be able to order a twin piston rear disc bolt on kit for the UCEs as a friend of mine is developing one. Testing will begin soon!

Cheers,

Jay

[bradhey]

I have come across this video on improving the rear brakes on the C5 /C3.5. Although I have not had the time to do it myself before recommending, but I am hoping that with so many people having this problem, somebody will give it a try and report the forum.....................I think this should work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHRm_t_8DYE

[aussigreg]

Rear brake not up to the job?

Try this google search royal enfield rear brake mod youtube

The English guy in the clip is right about the cause but I think his cure has one little fault: replace the original nuts with nylock nuts because simply running the OEM nuts less tight will mean they could come undone and you won't know it until your brakes fall apart. Nylock nuts won't come undone even if they are not fully tight.

I wanted one of those curved front number plates that fit onto the front mudguard like the vintage bikes had. I've seen them on C5's here and there on the net so I ordered what I thought was one. What turned up in the post was a great lump of a cast alloy name plate. It was so poorly made that I am reluctant to drill my front guard to fit it. I believe it was made by RE but I can't find it on any accessory list worldwide. If I get bored over Xmas I'll reshape it and see if it can be made worthy.

[ArizonaJim]

I agree with you aussigreg: Leaving those two bolts loosely tightened as was suggested is asking for disaster.

In the US, the Loc-Tite company produces several different thread locking compounds.
The red colored compound is made for assemblies that are intended to be left assembled while the blue compound is intended for assemblies which can be taken apart if enough torque is applied.

To use these, a small drop is placed onto the male threads where the nut will be. Then the nut is tightened as needed.
When the compound is in a small place like there is between bolt and nut threads, it hardens. It is an excellent way of making any fastener "self locking".

The owners of big single cylinder or V-Twins in the US use the blue compound on all of the bolt/nut fasteners on their bikes to keep them from vibrating loose.
Most wouldn't be caught dead without it.

I am sure there are similar thread locking compounds in India, perhaps the same brand?

Anyway, if the bolts and nuts that hold that break shoe locator were installed with Blue Loc-Tite to keep them from loosening the fix would be much safer and it may actually improve the rear brake as the author says it does.

[vinaydas]

Sorry for kinda hijacking this thread, but this thread seems to be the best place to get your enfield queries answered

Is it possible to fit the classic tires on the Electra, the tires on the Electra are puny.

I had booked the classic chrome 500 in October but now having second thoughts about it. Frankly because the bike would look puny with me on it (pretty well built and around 6 ft 2')

[aussigreg]

second service interval

I just got back from a long ride in 40oC outdoor temps, gave the bike a quick clean and noticed some small bits of debris in the oil sight glass. I'm guessing it's silicon gasket seallant that's floating about in the oil. By RE australia's reccommendation it's not due for the second service until 4500km, (2700km on it at present). I'm goin to drop the oil next weekend and replace it without a filter change. I'll siv the old oil and find out what's going on. Moral? ..clean air, clean oil, clean fuel, that's my rule.

[bradhey]

Updates regarding the rear brake adjustment:

I have checked the rear brake boss on my old electra, and it does not move either (as in the case of my C5), and yet my electra has a solid feel to its rear brake pedal, so I can't understand where the problem is. I infact changed the brake pads on my C5 recently with the same model used on the standard and the electra, and yet the problem persists.............hell I hate it !!

[Girileo81]

Observation: C500 acting like Shakira (as posted by someone else) at triple digit speeds and how I overcame it.

Most of the C500 owners have reported stability issues at high speeds and I too have experienced it personally.

Situation: You are riding solo, the road ahead is empty, you are tempted to let all the horses loose, you twist the throttle to 3/4 of its travel and (if you have traversed the 3rd and 4th gear at appropriate speeds) you find the speedo climb rapidly towards the 100 Kmph mark, you have a wide grin on your face and all of a sudden, "Shakira Shakira!!!", there is a slight wobble, which if you do not reduce throttle and/or step on the brakes to decelerate, refuses to go away and theatens to un-saddle you.

Expert Advise provided so far: There have been several pieces of advsie provided here to address this issue and I have tried most of them. The first one being replacing the rubber bushes (not done), optimal tire pressure suggested (tried it but was not totally effective), alignment and truing the rims (not tried) to name a significant few.

Two weeks ago I made a very important observation and thought of sharing it with all fellow C500 owners:

Same Situation (with a twist): The road ahead is empty, you are tempted to let all the horses loose, you twist the throttle to 3/4 of its travel and (if you have traversed the 3rd and 4th gear at appropriate speeds) you find the speedo climb rapidly towards the 100 Kmph mark, you have a wide grin on your face, the speedo keeps climbing and climbing and climbing and manages to go past 125 and finally touches the 130 Kmph (dont beleive this is the true speed though, +/- 5% probably), the grin widens and if people can look through my full speed helmet they probably look at all my shiny white (remaining) 30 teeth.

How could this happen? Same bushes, running 30 psi on both front and rear stock tyres,

The most important difference here was that I was not riding solo and my lovely wife was riding pillion!!!

My thoughts, if you want don't want Shakira to appear at 3-digit speeds. don't ride solo, tag along your wife or girlfriend!!!

Thoughts and technical explanations from the Gurus???

[sudipta]

I was missing the 2 stickers on the Chrome model for my C500, one on the petrol tank and the other on the rear mudguard. I was told they don't come with the Chrome model but I liked them so much. So finally got it ordered from the brand showroom and have them exactly on the same place as the other models of C500. They sat comfortably over the pin stripes. Now I am happy to have a true Classic 500.

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by sudipta

I was missing the 2 stickers on the Chrome model for my C500, one on the petrol tank and the other on the rear mudguard. I was told they don't come with the Chrome model but I liked them so much. So finally got it ordered from the brand showroom and have them exactly on the same place as the other models of C500. They sat comfortably over the pin stripes. Now I am happy to have a true Classic 500.

Can you please post the pictures? I am keen to see the rear mudguard sticker and how it sits on the hand-painted colored lines. I did paste the tank one though and looks fine.