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[nigelphoto]

Actually Jeff there's a bit more to this than I first posted up . . . The whole sorry tale is that in April I fell into temptation (forgive me Sally, Mother of our children for I have sinned and spent some of our savings on a new bike I didn't need!) and chopped in my maroon Classic 500 (which appeared in an article in Real Classic 140) for a brand spanking new Conti GT. Only it was veritably an crocka crap. It vibrated like a hammer drill (MotoGB's comment 'Oh they all do that, Sir') and started using oil just after the first 300m service. And what a lot of oil it used - about 250cc for 50 miles!! So at 900 miles I took it back to RE Stafford Dealer Jones and Alcock on Monday (where I'd bought it) and Jim Wilson contacted MotoGB who said it would take 12 weeks to get the spare parts and repair it under warranty (tossers). They should have gone to Hitchcocks!

Now that we have the Consumer Rights Act and seeing that I have booked a five day m'cycle tour with my mate Al when he comes back from Oz on 19th July and I need a m'cycle fit for purpose, Jim Wilson very kindly cut me a deal in which I now have a brand new Marsh Grey B5 Bullet but with suffered an unfortunate 'teething problem' as detailed in my first post.

As related at the start of this thread, Jim had it fixed by mid-afternoon and when I arrived to collect my new B5 for the second time that day, he was on the 'phone to MotoGB. As well as asking him to take a snap of the outside of a faulty relay, Jim also told me that he had asked MotoGB for the dims for the bore/piston size of the 535 so he could check the engine on my ex-Conti to determine the reason for the excessive oil consumption. MotoGB's response was that they don't have any specs for the 535 engine! Err, I might have mentioned this before but MotoGB are TOSSERS.

In all this Jim Wilson has bent over backwards to help me and I know he has lost not a little cash on sorting out my problems - the Conti is now, of course, secondhand. He is a true enthusiast Royal Enfield dealer, just like our hosts, without both of whom it would be impossible for us to run this horrid/lovely machines! I now have a much greater understanding of MotoGB's woeful lack of product knowledge, unprofessionalism and absence of support to their dealers (did I mention MotoGB are tossers?). In the middle of all this, the Sales Dept happened to ring Jim to see if they could get him to push some of the slower moving models - just lets say I wouldn't have liked to have been the poor unfortunate the other end of the dog and bone who copped Jim's response!

I'm now thinking perhaps I should have bought a 400 Duke scrambler or the new SWM single . . . . no, on second thoughts, now my new B5 is working properly it is rather lovely!!

[Rattlebattle]

Ah, so you've come back from the dark side then. I must say the Athena Grey Bullet does look nice. In terms of VFM the Bullet is the best IMHO even though I bought a C5, albeit an LE despatch one. For the extra cost you can add a lot of goodies. Stafford is my old stamping ground though Jones and Alcock did not exist back then when I was a young tearaway (rather than an old one); it was either Cyril Chell (still there, though Cyril must be knocking on a bit if he's still around),Motorcycle Mecca or Phil Bright, both of whom have long since gone.

[nigelphoto]

Hi Rattlebattle, Jones and Alcock took over the RE dealership when Watsonian were replaced by MotoTossersGB three years ago. Cyril Chell used to have the dealership and he does the Chinese twist 'n Go scooters from M-GB, as well as 'Benelli' (what travesty; what was once a fine Italian m'cycle now with a bamboo frame!) Cyril's still going strong and is in the shop most days. Sometimes I go in just to have a natter with him as he's an encyclopaedia of knowledge about the motorcycle industry.

[Rattlebattle]

Nigelphoto,

Thanks for the update. I remember Cyril when he used to work for (E A?) Boults, who I think went bust before Cyril set up shop. We still have a relative who lives in Stafford so I occasionally manage to have a nosey in Chells. I recall two or three years ago he had a brand new 350cc classic type RE for not much more than £2k. Knowing what I know now I wish I'd bought it. (My brother has owned a 500 classic Bullet from new since 1992. He had to rebuild the bottom end at around 10,000 miles which put me off Indian REs somewhat).

[Barryefi]

I love my enfield and agree they would be good value if they were assembled well and with parts that don't fail within a few miles. In 2200 miles the paint on the tank went blotchy, chrome peeled off the rear wheel, both rear wheel bearings failed one of them spectacularly, the rectifier bracket broke in two and the fuel overflow pipe has perished. That's pretty poor and I'm kind of wishing I'd gone for a Kawasaki W800. But, I love the enfield and I can fix things as the warranty isn't worth a jot. Got quoted £200 for an annual service too, that's ridiculous!

[papasmurf]

Barryefi £200 for a major service is NOT ridiculous. I suggest looking in the owners manual to see what is involved.
Try doing that lot for yourself and see how long it takes you.
It is when a mechanic charges £200 and does not do all the designated work I would get upset. (and have done when I found out that a friend's HD despite being "serviced" by five different Hardly Dangerous dealerships since 1998 it was VERY obvious no-one had ever put a spanner on the bike since 1998.)

[jefrs]

Nigel, hope you enjoy the new bike - Third time lucky!



Is it Marsh Grey or Athena Grey, they look very adjacent on screen from RE websites (or RE webmaster got it wrong in their usual fashion). I did consider the Bullet myself but I have duck's disease and anyway my wife picked the bike colour/style, I think the Bullet seat is a good inch higher due to its 19-in rear wheel.

[nigelphoto]

Thanks Jeff - certainly am enjoying it. Its Marsh Grey - I think Athena Grey was the last of the 350's which came in in 2007. The seat is a bit higher than on my old Classic 500 but its wider, better padded and a lot more comfortable although I've put my Airhawk on it because I've got one! It doesn't use oil, the riding position is great and the only thing which is going in the recycle bin is the horn which sounds like an emasculated hamster - oh, and I've had to lower the tickover speed a bit. Did an 80 mile round trip to Buxton yesterday - Peak District landscape was phenomenal in the glorious sunshine although I think I may have peed off quite a few car drivers at the 40mph running in speed!

[Scalyback]

So, pinning down that colour seems to be a bit of a grey area then?

[apparently lucky eddie]

Following the comment about Benelli, I had a look at their website. I'm no fan of modern bikes, I really hate all the weird jaggy angles and transformers like designs, but Benelli must surely take the prize for the most grotesque new bikes ever. I hope RE are not so foolish as to go down that route, heaven knows the Himalayan is ugly enough.