- Sat May 23, 2020 12:10 am
#90252
I appreciate everyone's help. I really do. I knew/know very little about the Royal Enfield mechanically speaking. A brief story. I am a disabled Veteran here in the States, an aviation mechanic. I have essentially been retired (sidelined). Was a life long Gold Wing Rider, 250,000+ miles on one. I bought the Classic 500 in battle green to pay tribute to the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers). So the bike is supposed to be fun. Now I don't know about you chaps there in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, but here in the States dealers are few and far between and Royal Enfield's are generally viewed as a sideline type of motorcycle. I had to travel 8 hours just to purchase my bike. The closest dealer is 2 hours away. As you can see it is now my problem, my choice for deciding to buy a Royal Enfield. I am an old fashioned kind of guy. I hate modern electronics. All of these new safety features are just more things that can fail. I am almost convinced to use the Hitchcock 32 mm Mikuni carburetor conversion. I would absolutely love to remove the entire EFI/ECU unit and revert the bike to simplistic operation where a bit of knowledge and a few tools amount to a complete overhaul, not hundreds of dollars in electrical component costs.
Furthermore, specifically to those whom have been so kind as to reply. Here are the things that I have done. New battery just after purchase, the one from the dealer would not hold a charge. Did replace the factory spark plug and cap with the Iridium plug and cap from Hitchcock's, then reverted back to the factory stuff with no change in performance, still the same issue. I only run premium gasoline, not that it is necessary other than it is the only petrol in the area that does not have Ethanol in it. The fuel is crystal clear, I drained and checked the tank. There are no kinks in any fuel or breather lines. There are no loose connectors or plugs in the electrical system, checked those first. I already knew about the side stand issue and that sensor was removed before my first ride. I know for some of you that is a "sin", but I have been shot at and blown up by folks when I was deployed so if I die because I was forgetful and failed to put up my side stand, then it was just my time. I have seen flickering in the engine light, brief and very occasional, but nothing steady, certainly nothing prior to the sudden engine stoppage.
To some of your points, yes indeed the bike has a coil, my ignorance. Not sure if that is the problem. When the bike stops I have checked the spark and it was working, but no ignition. As stated before, when the engine stops I have full electrical power and all of the peripheral systems are functioning. The engine cut off switch turns on and off the fuel pump prime as it is supposed too. So the three best suggestions are as follows, bad coil as it has been brought up by several of you. Bad relay, it could be overheating due to a wiring issue. So both the coil and relay would re-engage after a cool down period. Lastly is the fuel pump itself. It could seem to be working when in reality it is not pumping the correct amount of fuel and then at some point just stops. Since I am still riding and therefore unable to determine if the pump is actually working.
Lastly, Mr. Diawiskers ( he asked me not to call him sir) suggested that an errant, disheveled female could be a problem. Actually he said "someone". Boy, don't I wish. Not really, got rid of the pesky wifey a year ago and it has been bachelor bliss ever since!
So now I am almost certain that I want to convert to carburetor. Do any of you know how I can go about eliminating the ECU altogether? I realize that it would mean butchering the wiring harness or just flatly replacing it. I own the bike outright so it is mine to do with as I please. Not sure having a factory warranty helps me much given my circumstance.
Very graciously,
Tony