Hitchcocks Forum

Hello , Managed to get the bike out to try out the new 20 tooth sprocket. No problems at all with the bike pulling in 5th. As I am prepared to use the gears the higher gearing solo has given me the 60mph cruising speed I have been looking for outside the vibration period on my Electra X.

For others moving from the original 18 tooth to 19 tooth sprocket this is a worthwhile mod. If moving to the 20 tooth sprocket check out the clearance of the chain to the engine crankcase stud which needs to be cut off down to the retaining nut or it will(perhaps) catch the drive chain. MINE DID!

Although many bad reports of this bike has been aired on this site I can only say my machine has performed without fault even being out in the worst weathers while touring the outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.

Sad to say but my local Enfield dealer Newcastle Motorcycles are giving up Enfields. I am told the fitters do not like working on them.
Perhaps the plug in the computer to sort out any problem is the easy way for them and as many young and some old motorcyclists think that street cred is all important the Enfield is at the bottom of the cred list.
A group of us spent 4 days touring around the Fort William area and even rode up over the Pass of cattle to Applecross which was a round trip of just over 200 miles from our base at Fort William.
The Enfield returned just over 100mpg and the others 55mpg. Average age was 73. That is worth a lot more than street cred.
Keep the faith and smile at the petrol stations.

Dennis, the reason your dealer is giving up on Enfields is simple, it is too difficult to try explaining to a customer that it took an hour to fit a bracket that on a Japper would have taken 10 mins. Enfield bits just don't bolt straight on, it's not the fitters fault, why continue struggling to fit things when you can get the same money doing easier stuff

hi dennis what a superd story of riding around scotland on your electra x i would like to do scotland myself and i must get on with it ,i don,t think i,ll go on my electra though it will be done on my trusty diesel at a nice sedate pace for viewing the excellent scenery ,wild camping too it will happen but it might be 2014 as my calendar is filling up nicely for this year atb paul.

-------me too, matey !! But I'm not up to the camping game anymore--strictly B&B with HOT showers !!..Meantime take a look at this to see what we're missing}---- http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=applec ... &ei=WbPxUO -------------- My apologies to DENNIS O but it IS a lovely part of the country and I'm G_R_E_E_N with envy right now !! LoL !!

Hi Dennis. I bought my Electra X at the same place in Newcastle in 2008. Their head mechanic, if he is still there, is very capable of working on Enfields. He rides to work on this 600cc Norton single, specifically designed to lug a side car. At 45£'s an hour labour however, I was forced to learn to fix stuff myself. Happy to say my bike is up and running, and getting me about after the engine rebuild. I would think they are probably just not selling enough Enfields to make it feasible to stock them any more.