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[jefrs]

Why would the motor need rebuilding in a few years?

Yes we do rebuild them if they break but the engine is actually noted for its longevity.

We do also tinker with them because we can and because they're straight forwards to tinker with. And because we like doing it, and I still haven't figured out why I like doing it. But that doesn't usually mean one pulls apart a perfectly good motor.

[papasmurf]

The engine is actually noted for its longevity, by who? Most Japanese or German motorcycle engines built after 1990 are good for 100000 miles without much trouble. I doubt any Enfield can match that.

[bernieke]

When I was living in India the general consensus there was to include a full engine strip & rebuild in the regular maintenance schedule every 50,000km



Since most people just had their one bike as transportation, I guess they figured to do the rebuild when it was convenient for them as opposed to when the engine decides to break down.



Off course, labor costs are peanuts over there, so as long as you're somewhat affluent (which, since you're driving a bullet and not a 100cc honda splendor, you most likely are), it didn't really cost you all that much to include it in your maintenance schedule.



As for tinkering, I bought the bike as much to tinker with as to ride it...



I guess I'm one of those people who enjoys taking apart and fixing things way too much... I wouldn't be surprised if it's some kind of Freudian fetish

[bernieke]

By the way, just as an aside, I've seen some talk around the forum about how economical our bullets are to ride, but did you know these honda splendors give 85km to the liter? That's about 200 miles to the gallon as you Brits say



Keep in mind the fuel costs as much in India as it does here in Europe, while the average wage is a lot lower, and you'll understand how this has come to be. A bit the same as us in Europe vs the US, where fuel costs (or used to, when I was living there in 2008) a quarter of what it does here, coinciding with people driving 6 or 8l cars versus our 1.4/2.0l cars.

[PeteF]

Jefrs, a 2004 Bullet is definitely going to have a lot of Imperial threads.
There will be Metric, BSF, BSCy and possibly Whitworth.
I have one of the last Bullets (2008) and there's more Imperial than metric on mine. I had a 2004 Sixty-five in the workshop recently and that was a fair old mixture as well.
Anything in the frame will probably be BSCy. Casing screws will probably be BSF as will engine mounts. Ancillary equipment tends to be metric.

[PeteF]

"the engine is actually noted for its longevity"
No it isn't.

[jefrs]

Handy notes on BSW/BSF/BSCy spanner sizes here http://www.bantamcub.co.uk/fasteners.htm. Btw we forgot BA (electrical) and UNC/UNF.

[PeteF]

You'll not find UNC/UNF anywhere on an Enfield. Possibly some BA on the points and certainly on magnetos of old models.

[PeteF]

Many people think there are only two spanner standards but there are three main ones. Metric, BSW/BSF/BSCy (Basically British) and AF (basically American, UNF/UNC) There is also BA but this is basically the small end of the BSW/BSF series.
Some British manufacturers changed to AF post WW2 but as far as I know RE didn't.
AF spanners do not fit BSW/BSF but some of them are so close that you can interchange them. I have to keep AF spanners as I work on lawnmowers a lot which often have Briggs and Stratton engines. The engines use AF but the rest of the mower is usually metric.

[PeteF]

So the point is, bernieke, don't buy "imperial" spanners unless you're sure they are BSW/BSF and not AF.