Royal Enfield 500 comments 7000 miles
 

I just came back from India where I drove over 7000 miles 2 up with luggages.
The bike is easy to drive , the kick start is the best way to start the bike as the electric starter is not reliable, the front brake ( disc) is pretty good but at 80 KM/H loaded you may want to be carefull,the bike is very confortable even two up with hard luggage we drove some days for more than 10 hours and were not really tired. The engine runn great and have enough power to pull you across mountains but don't espect more than 40 to 50KM/H.

Reliability:
The components are basic and need almost attention almost every day, check all screws loose, make sure that your valve are set ok ( every 3 to 4 days for me),change the oil frequently ( every 2000 KM ),the wheel bearing are cheap and I had to change mine on the side of the road after 3000 km , the chaine is OK but get very flexible if you are very loaded .

If you like to work on your bike I will recommand the RE but if you are like me and prefer to enjoy riding rather than fixing the RE isnot for you.

Hope this will help you guys.

Indian model
 

An interesting and useful set of comments on the RE Hendi.

Just to be clear, I imagine that you are referring to the 500cc that is sold in the Indian market (hired or bought there): I say this because the version sold in Europe is different in some aspects, including the engine, to meet the different regulations.
The European model is selling very well BTW, in the UK at least.

Cheers,

Royal Enfield
 

you were right ,I am talking about the model found in India.

Hendicaf, can I ask, was this the old 1949 engine, or teh new ( since 1992 lean burn engine) and 4 or 5 speed gearbox.. I am interested how they compare. Thanks

An interesting little thread, thanks for the usefull comments. Especially as me and a mate are riding India built 500's from the UK to Mongolia in the summer.

I hope that we have as good reliability as you did.

Royal Enfield
 

sorry for the late answer , I was away.the bike was the new generation with 5 gear and electrical starter.

Thanks... the electrical starter was fitted to the old type engine also from about 1990. Was yours a lean burn?
How was the gearbox? the special builders use and abuse the five speed sometimes with quite large diesel engines.

500 enfield
 

mine was a lean burn, regarding the gear box I had no problem and the gear were fairly well spaced. I will have enjoy a bit more power on first gear but that can be work with different sproket. The top speed 1 up was about 110KM, 2 up you could reach 100 but not very fast.

Thanks for your clarification, and useful information.

We have done around 6000 miles on our enfields. 500 lean burn electra's.
The wifes bike is still pretty vibe free, has survived a tumble and the only thing has been a snapped clutch cable at 5000 miles.seemed quite a short time to me but there you go.
Mine on the other hand is on engine number 3.The others lasted 99 and 1200
respectivly before the same thing happened.piston clip came out, destroying piston / sleeve etc.replaced motors under warranty first time and goodwill second time as outside 1 year warranty. Valve clearance closes up and needs adjusting quite frequently. 3rd motor now vibrating so bad am considering either getting crank balanced or selling the bikes - which would be a shame as hers has been no trouble. Mine however is green - so maybe there is something to unlucky green bikes.
not got alot of confidence in setting off for long distances on mine now thats for sure.
saying that they are reasonably easy to work on - even at the side of the road, which may well be important, and unbeleivably economic 80+ mpg.
There was a blog on the travellers tales, richard meyer I think - went down thru africa and then most of the way back up but needed 2 or 3 engine rebuilds along the way.You don't find many jap/other bikes needing that level of repair or maintenance...

That seems pretty poor. My 500 with the classic motor will clock in over 80mph, not that you would want to hold it there for an extended period of time.

Stephen

you got the tools thing sorted, I take it?

Strikes me that bike travel like everything is becoming overly techno-dependent, ie: based around a bike that will get you from dealer a to dealer b or complete the trip without requiring anything beyond some oil or maybe a chain (gasp). The upshot is that so called "travellers" don't have to concern themselves overly with the "how" of the bike anymore and bikes that need a little TLC like the Bullet put people off taking them. After posting the above reply with regards to speed I checked out the gallery - bloody hell! - now I am no longer surprised. In fact I am surprised it got around at all.

In the 19th century explorers used to take all sorts of things on expeditions including dining tables etc, everything they could possibly need. Could it be that the art of travelling light by motorcycle is being lost?



Stephen

Royal Endfield
 

Keep in mind that one of the side case was pretty much full of tools and spare part( which I did need in many places) I went to remote places where you don't want to have to wait for a dealer to send you some part. two up do force you to take twice more gear, I will soon post video of the ride.

So what did you take and what did you use? From your description nothing went wrong. Checking the valves every three days seems a bit OTT to me, same with the oil but if it makes you happy.

Had you owned the bike you would have had an opportunity to fettle it before you left and used loctite on the fasteners - no problems! Loctite is the new copperslip where Enfields are concerned.

Stephen
PS
On reflection I think your comment:
"If you like to work on your bike I will recommand the RE but if you are like me and prefer to enjoy riding rather than fixing the RE isnot for you."

a bit unfair to the bikes and to riders also. I like to ride as much as the next person but I enjoy it more knowing I have fettled the thing myself. In point of fact your comment goes a long way to proving the point I made above about the way so called "travelling" is headed.

Royal Enfield
 

I had few punctures 5 or 6 ,1 wheel bearing ,one bearing from the gear box,the chaine broke, the bike drank oil like a fish drink water,1 cable clutch started to fail,few electrical repairs, ton of loctite,grease, spare tubes and my oil pumpe start to fail so I replace it before its too late.I am like most of us and prefer to ride my bike rather than swaiting bullet on the side of the road hoping to fix it before dark. But I wanted to live the myth and ride arround India on an RE, I do most of my trip arround the world with very reliable bike (most of the time)

different strokes and all that.some people want to travel on a bike and enjoy the trip, not be grovelling in the dirt at the side of the road working on bikes.
some people aren't mechanically minded...others are, some people like to take stuff others don't. doesn't make you more of an adventure rider coz you can fix a broken crank in the jungle with a shifter and a pen knife, like sleeping on rocks and can survive on half a dog biscuit a day.
if they are out there riding - good for them however they choose.

Thanks Mate,
You just confirmed everything I was saying.

Hi Hendi, interesting read!. What made you use the RE and not another bike?. What bike are you currently riding? and how many miles riding do you do a year on average?. Oh one other, if the valve clearances are closing up so frequently is it due to poor hardening of the valve seats? atb Floyd

"A denial of progress" is music to my ears.

I have no idea why I like sitting out in the middle of the heat thinking, "Damn, I wish I was a mechanic" while I fettle with bits until the bike runs again. It's fun.

Move to where? I'm not in a hurry to see anything. My time is open. Using, not just collecting, an old bike or car is an open invitation to meet other similar minded kooks.

Sadly, I couldn't get my 1965 Ducati into India, so I bought a RE 350. Almost all of the cars and bikes I've owned have been from the 1960s. This one, a 1996, is by far the newest vehicle I've ever owned but it has nothing to do with a 1996 vehicle one can buy in the USA.

My next bike, with some luck, will be a girder forked Norton single. I'll update my 1960s outlook with a bit of pre-war. It'd be a nice bike to ride from Alaska to Argentina.

""""My next bike, with some luck, will be a girder forked Norton single. I'll update my 1960s outlook with a bit of pre-war. It'd be a nice bike to ride from Alaska to Argentina """


Now you're talking !!!!!!!!!
My dream ride .
But on an Ariel Red Hunter !
But an ES2 would be fine as well [ good enough for Che ]

Sometimes it's nice to be able to hurry to the destination in a hassle free quick manner so that you have more time to explore/enjoy there rather than admire a boring highway leading to your destination.

The Enfield may be one manufactured in '96, but technologically, it is probably a lot older than the rest of the stuff you have used!

Oh yeah, if I lived in India, I'd want something more reliable. That's why I have a 1978 Yamaha SR500 (close to a big Brit single with quality control).

It was almost "flip a coin" to figure out if I'd get a Baja/Vespa scooter, a Honda Hero, an Enfield, an XR185, or an auto rickshaw (tuk tuk). But the Enfield came up first.

"No matter how may Corn Flakes packets I used" is what got me around Australia and New Zealand, but I couldn't figure out the right amount of corn flake packets to use to make a new piston.

An ES2 or even a 16H would be good. I got to ride a Brough Superior once which was wonderful. So was the 1990s Honda Dream 50 that's based off the 1960s CR110 race bike. My two favorite bikes I've ridden.

-Dave

Royal Enfield
 

Hi Floyd,
Sorry for the late reply , you ask why I choose to ride a RE in India . I like to ride local motorbike when I travel and the mistic of the RE attracted me for this reason, as far as what I ride at home , I have a R1200GS, a KTM450SXF and an XR650R tagged for dual sport. I ride about 30.000 a year more or less and usually change bike every few years ,just for the fun of it. I am now preparing for RTW 2 up and still looking for the bike to pick (Vstroom look like the right one at this time. I am part of these guy which cannot be entirely satisfied with one bike?

New bike to me
 

I finally bought myself an Enfield, had it about two months and have done just under 2,000 miles on it. That includes a 900 mile trip back to the UK two weeks ago.
I rode it around lh shift for three weeks before i fitted the RH shift kit I bought with the bike. I have to say I now realise that my dislike of the BMW was as much to do with bMW being too big, too heavy and too unergonomic for me. Sadly I had blamed all my woes on the left shift. I actually was at home on the Enfield with a left shift, but now gearchanges just happen as does braking, I dont have to think about it anymore. I really feel at home and as one with what I think of as 'my little bike'.
The trip to teh uk consisted of 400 miles in the French hot dry summer and 500 miles of winter rainstorms in the UK. During that time my (original) rear chain went from usable to worn. The 14.5 litre tank gives a good range.
For the 894 miles I used 43.1 litres of fuel. I make that to be about 94 mpg :) So an 18 litre tank would give me a good touring range. On teh good french roads I was poodling along at around 60mph, which is aboutthe same as I would do on the BMW. The BM of course could cruise much faster when i wished. The Enfield had plenty in reserve, it just seemed to want to run at that speed. I think it may be just a bit overgeared as it needs noticeably more throttle to maintain 60 up hill than down it. Generally it slows going up, and speeds up coming down. When I got it at 6800 miles I did a full service on it..and checked and adjusted the tappets. Now at 8200 miles it has not used any oil, and I havent looked at the tappets. ( starts easily on the kickstart) I noticed the chain when I went to clean the bike.
The bike does not leak oil. Yet.
which is a pity, as an engine breather blowing on the chain would be an improvement.
I think, when it comes to changing out the sprockets, I may reduce the gearbox sprocket by one tooth to make slow speed riding smoother and gradients easier. After all, I only have 25hp to play with :)