Forum

[Beezabryan]

Good on yer Stinky
Bikes are for riding.

Who buys a bike that they are convinced is fit only for the occasional tootle round the block, sphincter twitching on the rare occasion they get on it, worried it well grenade if they go any further.

We took off for a ride one time.

Shipped to Piladelphia


Did a few miles (rather more than 30)

Went for a ride in the Blue Ridge with some friends
https://vimeo.com/35089513

Did a few more miles



Did a few more miles

After six weeks, nine states, 3600 miles
We came home

[windmill john]

Interesting forum this......

I bought my 2002 350 Bullet last year. Enjoyed reading the forum, lots of knowledge.
I enjoyed reading Gordon’s Made in India and his trip to India books.

So, a couple of months ago, I bought a 2017 500 Classic. Was meant to be a new one with a PX against my Transalp... let’s not talk about the dealer!

So... you read the XRV forum... lot of swearing but a lot of guys who ride all over the World. But...on this forum, a lot of guys criticise the Royal Enfields, yet have them!! They seem to criticise older Bullets too... so why buy newer ones!!!

I’m not personally criticising anyone, I just find it interesting. I’m waiting for pannier frames to arrive and even with all the threads ripping the heart out of the EFI, the vibration, the build quality, the oil seals etc..... you haven’t scared me yet

I’m a very experienced rider. Commuted for many years, been abroad a number of times on my bike, rebuilt bikes, ridden off road a few times, do all my own servicing/maintenance... why have I bought a 350 bullet and a Classic 500?....... well because I have a weird illness... I got sick of removing 900 pieces of fairing to get to something. 75 years to change the clutch in an Oilhead BM... not that I’m prone to exaggerating....

I’ve sacrificed speed and power to get accessibility...

So, we all have our issues I guess.

Actually haven’t been abroad for seven years... but if only Western Europe, at this moment in time wouldn’t question taking my 500..... I hope nothing happens to change my mind.

[Noodles]

Thanks for the responses.

I don't live by the sea.

The bike lives under a car port, so there is British sun on it.
But Pair system is pretty well covered between the engine and bash plate, so it doesn't get much exposure.
The Himi was designed by the same team as the twins.
I'm going to get the rubbers looked at under warranty. Because while the pipes themselves are easy enough to replace with stuff from the local shop, the custom moulded bits aren't.

RE owners know they aren't getting a BMW, but I have a 20 year old Suzuki 125 running original rubbers everywhere and the the chrome exhaust looks in better condition.

I'm curious if anyone else has seen the rubber issue, or if I do have a bad batch.

The easiert tell tale is the Battery drain pipe by the look of it.

[Wheaters]

I have an iron engine Bullet, from 2004, rather than a Himalayan. When I bought it, almost every piece of rubber on it was perished. Not too surprising, bearing in mind it was 13 years old, so I replaced stuff and discarded some of it, breather pipes etc were replaced with different items. This bike model (Electra) doesn’t come with fork gaiters but I bought a pair (Royal Enfield branded packet) to protect the chrome. They perished in less than a year. I realised it was UV light causing the damage so I bought a second set and asked my wife to make me a pair of “gaiter gaiters” in black ripstop nylon to protect the rubber from UV light. So far, so good!

I think modern rubber is generally of very poor quality. I’ve fitted stuff such as lower ball joints to cars and a year later the rubber has split, causing an MOT fail.

[Andy C]

Noddles - your posting encouraged me to go an look over my 1 year and 1 month Old Himalayan and just over 3000 miles.

No evidence of any perishing on mine that I can see........yet.

Bike is kept in a garage, and is used in all winds and weathers.

[Usabikes]

I've only had my 2017 model for a couple of months but reading the forums and scanning Youtube convinced me to pull the front and back ends down and make sure everything was ok (8500 kms on the clock). It wasn't. The build quality is poor (improved, though not greatly, on later models it seems). The lower steering head bearing needs replacing soon and I noticed some rubbers were splitting. The needle rollers in the back weren't adequately greased and the seals on all the bearings had canted and were ineffective. The speedo has condensation and rattles. I will fix both soon. Their is no dust cover for the clutch lever pivot - got one from Hitchcocks. The air intake is too low, even in the 70's trail bike had their intakes at seat level. Why is this so hard to replicate nearly 50 years on?

For the Rubbers I found this product: AT-205 Reseal which is designed to stop fluid leaks in engines and trannies. If you put it in a spray bottle and apply it to the rubbers it's supposed to do an excellent job of preserving them. Also useful for under car rubber bushings etc. - wish I'd known about this a couple of years ago it would have saved me a few hundred bucks on a failed WoF (MoT). I've no experience that it does what I've been told but I'm optimistic.

Rant on:
I like that I can do lots of work on this bike myself. Unfortunately spares prices over here in New Zealand are atrocious. An oil filter that costs $4 in India cost $28 here when I can get 5 from India via ebay for 50 bucks. A pair of sprocket is $310 or again from ebay $86. Why are spares for such a cheap bike priced like I have a Panigale? I don't mind the work I must do to maintain it - I even enjoy it - but RE here are in the process of making a bike that could take a large market share into something of a boutique item. They are killing their market. Furthermore, as Noodle says, as a manufacturer RE continually ignore inexpensive & easily rectifiable jobs that could make a huge difference to their bikes' reputation and sales. Why?
Rant off.

Still a very enjoyable bike to ride, but could be so much better with only a little more effort.

[Nitrowing]

I'm quite curious as to why the rubber is perishing.
My 2005 Electra-X has been sitting in a shed for 5 years with only spiders touching it. The previous owner hadn't touched it and definitely hadn't the mechanical ability to swap over lots of bits like gaiters!
All the rubber on the bike is fine, the only replacement I needed was for the front tyre.
Yes, UV does degrade everything but not in a year

[Wheaters]

I had read elsewhere that the general quality of the “recipe” for rubber has been reduced over the years. That explains why things don’t last as long as they used to.

[Duke of Wybourne.]

Interesting, mine is heading the same way re rubber gaiters straps etc, and will have all replaced before winter. It's not UV light that causes the problem, it's rotten quality rubber in the first place. I managed 50k plus miles on my UCE bike, and the rubber lasted less than a year, the replacements I got from Hitchcock are still on the bike with its new owner. The rest of that bike was trouble free, only service parts you would normally expect to deal with. Maybe I was lucky, but after a few decades of running Indian Enfields as my main/only transport, the only roadside breakdown I encountered was an OEM clutch cable breaking at the gearbox end when changing down going up Glencoe. The gaiters on my forks were showing signs of cracking around the base at 6 months which is totally unacceptable, but like this and my failed battery at 5 months, the dealer managed to make it so difficult, that it wasn't worth bothering with the hassle. What I have found in recent years is if you buy a new Enfield, any warranty is really a joke.

[Usabikes]

I forgot to mention I'm also using liberal amounts of Bosch Rubber Grease which should extend the life of many of the rubber fittings.