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[jefrs]

Following on from what Thack said perhaps, I can't really speak of earlier models except for a 60's 350 rat-bike a long time ago that leaked oil, a lot.


My 2015 C5 EFi has been given a K&N, free-flow exhaust and Power Commander, this has got rid of the lumpy bottom end.
Horses supposedly improved to ca.34 ponies, in other words same as a standard Venom, similar vibe. 70mph is achieved easily at around 4000rpm. The Smiths tacho does work except the supplied housing won't fit to the top of the yoke because they've changed the forks; handlebar clamp. The upright riding position means I get quite a battering at motorway speeds. So far as I can work our the C5 has a 1-tooth smaller engine cog than the B5.


The clutch cable has taken to adjusting itself. Unless there is a little slack the clutch slips (obviously) but the cable can go tight all by itself. Unless the clutch gets freed off with the clutch lever, I can't get neutral. Properly adjusted it works fine but I'm having to check and adjust each ride. I'm hoping it will settle down. Any ideas ???


I've got duck's disease (short legs) so I've had to lower the single seat springs. The springs are only there for appearance but imo they make the ride soggy, with the springs dropped (Dremel off the 'tang', central rubber bush still in place) I can feel the road better, the rear shocks do a perfectly good job on their own.


Various nuts and bolts loosen, which is fairly normal and why they invented Loctite.


The indian wiring loom is a bit of a shambles, it works well enough but they could have used more wire, sticky tape that sticks and should have followed their own colour-coding, it swaps colours in a few places to confuse the unwary. The inside of the casquette is a mare's nest. The MIL and fuel lamp both blew and their illumination lamp went open circuit. There's me thinking wiring fault until I threw the Fluke on it and found poor quality blown bulbs.

[jefrs]

corrections & update - "one tooth larger" (not smaller) The current C5 has an 18T driving 18-in wheel, the B5 has a 17T driving a 19-in wheel. A 19T is possible without modifying the crankcase. Imo due to the way I usually try to change up at 60mph in top, the C5 is woefully under-geared.

I have investigated other seats but the C5 has an extra frame mount for big rubber bush that prevents traditional ones. The pilot's seat is now lowered as far as possible on steel brackets instead of springs. Not only lower but more feel of road and does not pogo, I find it far more comfortable. The bike has good rear suspension and does not need a catapult under the seat.

[ric]

Any decision yet Andy? If you're contemplating new and leave it too late you could end up with a discs all round and ABS

[Thunderdird 2]

ric, with ABS and disc's front and rear, that will put the price up, too tempting for me to look around at what else I could get for my money if I was up for a new one, indeed I just did, considered a an offer on a '15 RE, bought a good s/h Bonnie!
They would have to bring the quality and reliability up to exceptable standard surely to keep their customers happy on dearer bikes?

[CGT 535]

And here's my two penn'orth - I've got a 2013 535 GT and Scaley's old Woodsman. They're both lovely bikes with the GT having a power commander, K&N filter and Motad exhaust. The Woodsman is still as I bought it except for Dunlop TT100s and bar end mirrors.

In a straight line the GT is far quicker than the Woodsman, but on a B road the Woodsman is more fun, seemingly allowing one to carry more speed through corners; although that might have now changed after changing from the standard Pirellis to Michelin tyres on the GT, I've not had the chance to try it out properly on a dry road since making the change.

The Woodsman is a doddle to kickstart whereas the GT is an absolute bitch, better to just use the electric starter than embarass yourself kicking away with no result.

The GT seems to be much noisier mechanically than the Woodsman, which seems strange as both bikes have similar mileage on them. It seems to me that the GT is begging to be thrashed and the Woodsman is happier to pull a higher gear at lower revs. I'm starting to think about getting another GT but then doing a Woodsman/Trials style makeover in order to get the best of both worlds.

[jefrs]

CGT 535 - I find a caff racer less amenable for swirling through tight corners due to the riding position whereas the upright position better for what it was designed for, B roads. The hydraulic lifters are probably noisier than the mechanical ones on the old engine. Similar modifications to the Classic give it ballpark the same amount of poke as the CGT. The injector doesn't give the smooth lift off as with a carb, I'm still trying to smooth out the bottom end but will have to learn much more about the PVc mapping first, may need the Autotune AT200. I can get it smooth now but then the idle tick-over is too high for my liking.

I had an issue turning the CGT on a small roundabout, didn't help that two cyclists decided to pull out in front of me, I missed them but with the sit up and beg it's perhaps easier to make quick changes at slow speed by tipping the bike or pushing the bars.


Back in the day we didn't have dual carriageways let alone motorways, and what our merikan cousins call 'twisties' we'd consider a relatively straight A road.



Thunderbird 2 - reliability, I for one have had a couple of quality issues with a few minor ancillary oem components but zero reliability issues with the 14/15 EFi.

[CGT 535]

Jefrs - the Woodsman is an EFI as well! The extra noise from the CGT might be from an overharsh running in regime. My technique is to make the engine work hard, but for short periods with plenty of time running at light load for cooling before loading it up again.


I agree the Caff Racer is less amenable on very twisty roads, but it will go round the corners if you put in the extra effort that it needs to make it turn. That said, it feels more stable at higher speeds and is less prone to "shaking it's head" in a straight line.


I have another Electra EFI in the garage which has been bored out to 560cc (the piston is from a hardly 1200 sportster - suitably modified) but I've yet to get round to assembling the bike. Damned work keeps getting in the way. Once it's all ready to go then it'll be over to Tim Blakemore Racing to get set up on the Dyno.


Reliability wise I've only had 2 problems so far - the left hand switchgear on the CGT (replaced under warranty) and the fuel low level unit on the Woodsman (still need to get round to replacing it).

[jefrs]

CGT 535 - I have nothing to compare engine noise too but I did not give my C5 full throttle until after the first service at 300 miles. I did not 'make the engine work hard' until it loosened up, and there was a period over about a week when it noticeably loosened up, around 400-500 miles. It was after that I changed the exhaust. I consider that I'm still running it in at 1000 miles i.e. not giving it full throttle for prolonged periods, otoh 70+ can be attained without doing that.



I could have got any bike, big cruiser or sports bike although I find leaning on my hands painful after a few minutes. If I park this bike in the street people queue up to look at it, not all blokes neither. One chap reckoned that if he slammed the brakes on at 70mph his HD would do precisely nothing, there's worrying. I got this bike for touring around B roads I used to be able to bicycle along, most of them are barely wide enough for a car. I don't enjoy riding a bike on a motorway, I don't much enjoy driving a car on one, not because it's scary but because they're so boring.


They changed the forks and rake with this model, 10mm less lead but 19-in front gives it more rake and it has different springs and dampers. Wind buffeting from sitting upright is not a lot of fun but it does not shake its head, rock solid if anything.

If your bike feels wayward, check the wheel alignment, mine was a notch out of true after the chain was re-tensioned at 1st service. I expect he pulled it back evenly but didn't check with a straight edge. I used a long spirit level. Don't go by counting the notches on the adjusters, mine are different L to R, by that I mean the plates are different.



One thing a bit old school, old style bikes seem to prefer their bars to be pushed not hang on them. Pulling back on them can make them go a bit squiffy, steering goes light; that hanging on happens at higher speed, push bum back and lean forwards If you push the left a mite the bike will drop to the left and happily trundle round a left bend, rather than climbing off it with the knee out.

[CGT 535]

Jefrs - The CGT had 600 miles on it when I bought it, and it had a service the day I bought it (plus two more since). Despite using occasional full throttle I'd say I was fairly gentle with it until it had about 2000 miles on it (serviced again) and since then it's been ridden "in a more spirited manner". It's meant to be a caff racer after all and my attitude to this particular bike is I'll ride it till it blows up; then I'll fix it and ride it some more!



The Woodsman is treated much more gently, but I note what you say and I'll check the wheel alignment before I take it out again, which is likely to be some time with the current bad weather. In the meantime I'll carry on flogging the CG125 to within an inch of its life.



It's interesting what you say about pushing on the bars as opposed to pulling on them. It has honestly never occurred to me that anyone would pull rather than push. As for getting your knee down, it doesn't work with my arthritic old knees. I do know, however, that the first thing to ground on the Woodsman is the brake pedal.

[jefrs]

CGT - I must have misunderstood, 2000 miles is well run in: thrash it, it's a big single and sounds like nothing else in the world.



Kick starting the EFi is a bit of a black art, it does vary from bike to bike. It has an auto decompressor. From cold on mine, ign on, bistarter (what sort of name is that?) on full, no throttle but hand ready, kickstarter at 90° and a lazy prod down and under. And under, full travel. It's not a Goldie, no lairy leap, these things can be hand cranked. Otoh these new ones are 8.5:1 not 6:1 I'll not risk my wrist. Priming was done by the fuel pump start sequence, no need to cycle the piston. The motor spins several times and should catch, catch it on the throttle to help it pick up. Hot start is no bistarter and full throttle. It can give a little kick back, keep your foot down there and the kickstarter should disengage, let your foot back and your knee will know about it; again though it's not a Goldie throwing you over a hedge.