[RabidBull]

Originally Posted by cogentr

After nearly an year long wait (couple of months due to me) I got my C5 on the 18th this month.. The brand new bike has its share of niggles which hopefully should get sorted in the first service.
I have a question, is there a way to adjust the headlight beam, it seems to be focusing a little on the higher side..

Hi Cogentr,
Were you able to headlight issue resolved. Me too facing the same problem and the service centre guys say they can't fix it, it would require RE mechs for this.
I dont want to open the headlight and then not know how to put it back again (DIY not my strongest trait ). Any advice would be good.

[siddharth_menon]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

For UCE 500;
Only idling RPM and auto de-compressor needs to be in sync for a longer sprag life. Timing is permanent unless pulsar coils packs up or some DIYer claims to win over the TPS on throttle body.

New sprag
Attachment 826073

Okay this looks like my problem. I had 2 sprag clutch failures 1st with old model & again with new improved one. Currently I have not replaced the faulty one & using kick start for quite sometime. Before I get it replaced I wanted to be sure what is causing the problem, lot of reading did pointed out a possible problem with auto decomp. I am still not sure why auto decomp usually fails in the 1st place.

Now I will have the decomp checked first & hopefully these guys detect the defect & then get a new sprag.
Currently it costs 3.8k or so.

[Randhawa]

Seriously I doubt that you got the new sprag. I have not seen a single failure with the new sprag. Post the picture when you get it replaced. If you get lot of tick tick noise while riding then the spring in the auto de comp is tight if not then it's a bit loose. It's all the fault of incorrect tension of the little spring. If your bike makes that loud tick tick on cold start for longer duration then 15 seconds then you need to sort out the de comp. Also get the plugs checked. Does the bike starts at first crank?

[reswaran]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Seriously I doubt that you got the new sprag. I have not seen a single failure with the new sprag. Post the picture when you get it replaced. If you get lot of tick tick noise while riding then the spring in the auto de comp is tight if not then it's a bit loose. It's all the fault of incorrect tension of the little spring. If your bike makes that loud tick tick on cold start for longer duration then 15 seconds then you need to sort out the de comp. Also get the plugs checked. Does the bike starts at first crank?

Hi Randhawa,

My C5 does the tick tick for quite some time on cold start. So the spring has to be loosened?

[aussigreg]

Hi Team BHP C5 owners,

I am in Australia and I have recently bought a Feb 11 maufactured C5 with O2 sensor, 18" front, 110 rear, single original bosch plug, (not twin spark) and had first service today. I've owned a lot of bikes and have some new opinions about the common problems running through this thread.

The first one I'd like to throw in the ring for you lions to chew is the hi-speed stability. There are probably a number of factors contributing to this but the obvious one I can see from a dozen paces is the short wheelbase and steep rake. No doubt wheel diameter and all the other factors mentioned are at work here, but I would suggest that this bike never had mega-dollar "Kawasaki type" R&D to catch the problem. In short it simply isn't fit for 3digit speed purpose, just as many custom made choppers suffer handling gremlins at low speed from the opposite condition.

Cure: keep it under the metric tonne, or buy a speed intended well engineered bike. Tough call but RE's are about classic old school style, and that is why I bought mine.

[Sutripta]

Hi,
Not really a Bulleteer. Not really familiar with either the CI or the UCE. But I'm sure these follow general engineering guidelines.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Don't mix the AVL/LB sprag issue with UCE. Although they shared the basic fundamental of sprag failure but reasons behind the failure are a bit different.

The sprag will fail if it is consistently made to handle torques beyond its design values. (Or if it has manufacturing defects). Question then becomes what is causing these out of bound values.

What sprag does is to stop the anti-clockwise rotation of the crank(to stop the rebound)

Confused.

A few questions regarding the ignition of the various models.

UCE 500: Is the ignition handled by the ECU?

UCE350: How does the ignition map differ from that of the UCE 500? In fact can someone post the relevant maps.

AVL 500: What exactly did the delay circuit do? What effect did it have on the sprag clutch?

What would be the pros and cons of retarding the ignition during startup?

Regards
Sutripta

[Randhawa]

Originally Posted by reswaran

Hi Randhawa,

My C5 does the tick tick for quite some time on cold start. So the spring has to be loosened?

Not always necessarily, first get the idle set at 1050 RPM with a tachometer. When oil gets thicker then again it will make it stick longer.

Originally Posted by aussigreg

Hi Team BHP C5 owners,

I am in Australia and I have recently bought a Feb 11 maufactured C5 with O2 sensor, 18" front, 110 rear, single original bosch plug, (not twin spark) and had first service today. I've owned a lot of bikes and have some new opinions about the common problems running through this thread.

The first one I'd like to throw in the ring for you lions to chew is the hi-speed stability. There are probably a number of factors contributing to this but the obvious one I can see from a dozen paces is the short wheelbase and steep rake. No doubt wheel diameter and all the other factors mentioned are at work here, but I would suggest that this bike never had mega-dollar "Kawasaki type" R&D to catch the problem. In short it simply isn't fit for 3digit speed purpose, just as many custom made choppers suffer handling gremlins at low speed from the opposite condition.

Cure: keep it under the metric tonne, or buy a speed intended well engineered bike. Tough call but RE's are about classic old school style, and that is why I bought mine.

Welcome abord Team-Bhp and congrats on your C5.

RE messed up with the trail and we all suffered due to it. It all started with the 1 inch longer swing arm and then it was the flimsy swing arm bushes. They even blamed it on the crank which was producing the oscillation to shake the bike and rebalanced the crank in newer models.

I agree with you that RE bikes are nothing to be compared to Japanese bikes but with little effort you can make it stable at 100+.

RE tried to change the bushes with not much positive effect to the instability issue. Then they got a 19 front which again had no effect on instability. Now the new upgrade is the reduced trail by removing the offset on the front forks. It will take some time before we can say if this new mod will help.

But meanwhile you can upgrade the swing arm bushes from a cast iron bullet and I can assure you a happy grin at the end of it. Hitchcock UK have listed it as a upgrade to cure instability and you can get the CI bushes from them. Mine is rock solid at 140 with the CI bushes. Only thing you need to keep in mind if you go with the CI bushes is that you tighten up the swing arm pivot bolt at regular intervals of 2k.

[adrian]

@ Randhawa : Please help me out with this problem. Ever since I bought my machine, it was diving to the right when I let go off the handle bars. The bike was delivered with the cam gears adjusted to 11 in the right and 10 in the left. On my complaint about the lack of stability, the cams were adjusted to 11 on both sides with no effect. They also said that the wheel alignment had been checked and all was well. So I had let go off the problem and started to live with it till I noticed that the chain was biting a bit on to the left side of the rear sprocket and the chain was also heating up a bit. So I loosened up the axle nuts and adjusted the cam gears to 12 in the right and 11 in the left. The chain biting into the sprocket has ceased but even now the bike dives to the right and when viewed from the rear the rear wheel is for sure facing 11 O’clock instead of 12. Now my question is should I further increment the right cam gears and bring the difference to more than 2 notches among the two sides ? Please advice .

[hexanerax]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Not really a Bulleteer. Not really familiar with either the CI or the UCE. But I'm sure these follow general engineering guidelines.


The sprag will fail if it is consistently made to handle torques beyond its design values. (Or if it has manufacturing defects). Question then becomes what is causing these out of bound values.


Confused.

A few questions regarding the ignition of the various models.

UCE 500: Is the ignition handled by the ECU?

UCE350: How does the ignition map differ from that of the UCE 500? In fact can someone post the relevant maps.

AVL 500: What exactly did the delay circuit do? What effect did it have on the sprag clutch?

What would be the pros and cons of retarding the ignition during startup?

Regards
Sutripta

The main function of the sprag clutch is that it is a one way freewheel clutch similar to that found in a bicycle rear hub. Torque from the starter motor is transmitted to the crank through the gears but not vice versa. A running engine will not spin the starter motor since the sprag clutch will slip. The problem occurs when the engine turns in the reverse direction as happens when there is a back kick. The reversed rotation will cause the sprag clutch to lock , trying to transmit torque back into the starter motor. This , if repeated a few times will damage either the sprag clutch or the starter motor.

Advanced timing on a cold engine is bound to occasionally cause back-kicks or rather reverse rotation of the crank. This happens because advance spark timing means that the plug fires well before Top dead centre position of the piston. A slow moving piston does not have the inertia to continue to compress the now ignited mixture, which forces the piston back down , reversing rotation and eventually blowing smoke / flames back through the carb. The ecu on the C5 / CL 500 calculates crankshaft speed and the timing / mixture is adjusted to prevent full advance on a cold / low speed condition.

The LB 500 and the electra 5s Es had issues not just due to the advanced timing but also because switching off the engine by means of the key or the kill switch traps compressed air in the combustion chamber which causes the piston to move down on an upstroke , causing reverse rotation for a few degrees. The common solution was to open the decompressor before cutting the ignition so the hi pressure air in the cylinder would release , allowing the piston to come to a smooth stop without reversing. This issue was one of the main reasons why the auto decompressor was designed into this bike. Another is to reduce load on the starter motor, allowing the crank to build up speed before the decompressor closes, starting the engine without extreme variations in the torque required on full compression.

Multi cylinder engines donot have this problem because of the high polar moment of inertia of the crank and the fact that other pistons are offering resistance to the one that is trying to reverse on shutdown.

Cars use a Bendix starter that pulls back the spline shaft that transmits torque , totally disconnecting the starter motor from the engine once a certain flywheel speed is achieved.

Regards
Naren

[aussigreg]

Randhawa, Ive read on this thread where at least one member complained of instability after the swing arm bush change. This makes me want to look elsewhere for the problem, er go, somethine else I've noticed there seems to be too much flex in the forks. Watch your front axel on a smooth road at highway speed, tap front brake without backing off. Also try inducing a very controlled slight tank slap over 80km/h. Flex in the forks should see the back end feel as though it wants to whip but for your own sake be careful. I concur with what you say about different fork oil levels and I don't believe that the front guard does much to brace the two forks together.

Point? short wheelbase + steep rake/trail + twisty flexing forks + speed = problem.

Cure: get old and ride slower. I would look for more testimony on the one stop swing arm bush before I sing the exclusive song of its success.

[bradhey]

My C5 has no Bite in the rear brakes despite new brake shoes.
Is there anything else I can look into, to rectify this situation.

[ruchirtnt]

I have yesterday booked a CL500 but i am not getting very welcome remarks by the RE service station guys, they are telling me that the mileage lies not more than 20 kmpl in city, i have read all across the ownership threads that mileage is close to atleast 25 kmpl when we drive between 60-85, i know all the RE service guys since i own a thunderbird and they are suggesting me to go for CL350 instead of CL500

[ashroy_6]

HI, i have just purchased classic 500 desert storm on the day of its launch...trust me buddy the bike is giving me 35.1 kmpl (it ran for 320 km for 9.1 ltrs of petrol) and this is all in city driving below 50 km/hr.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by bradhey

My C5 has no Bite in the rear brakes despite new brake shoes.
Is there anything else I can look into, to rectify this situation.

Check out a YouTube video by "thra5herxb12s" named Royal Enfield Rear Brake Mods:

http://m.youtube.com/index?client=mv...?v=gHRm_t_8DYE

Hope this helps :P

[sudipta]

Hello All,

So finally I have some time for me to let you all know that I have received my Classic Chrome (Maroon) on 4th Oct. Actually what I thought will be an hours task become more than 3 hours excluding the bank stuff.

Armed with 2 DDs we (me and my friend) arrived at the RE brand showroom at 12:00 noon. Special thanks to Randhawa for the PDI checklist which I had a copy with me and started going thru each of them. It was quite a task and that to for 2 bikes. 1 bike came clean in all the stuff except for the rear brake adjustment which was very very loose. But the second bike had at least 100 rust spots (like chicken pox) all over it including the inside of silencer. The chrome was clean but the chain, sprocket, stand, nuts were all infected. They actually changed the rear brake lever rod before right in front of us and treated the chain and all the rusts with rust-off spray. I had the RM there and as they were only 2 available and we were not in the mood to go thru a waiting period of 9 months, we agreed to take the delivery with a commitment that if the rusts stays when we go for our first servicing, we will get all the parts changed free of costs. Hopefully they will live up to their commitments when we turn up.

We also got the leg guards (Rs. 1120 each) at the workshop done and ordered the gun sticker (which sits on the tank) which comes with all other models but not with chrome. We have ordered for a chrome finish Vega Boolean helmet which once we get, will put in the same pin stripe that is there on the bike. We also would like to get a fork lock and disc lock as I am not very confident of the security mechanism. Any suggestion will be more than welcome in this area. I also need a handle grip as it is very thin in my palms (maybe I am used to the thicker grips).

But I must admit, in the whole process and time all the folks were very courteous and extremely patient with us. Our first experience was very good and we would recommend to all our friends.

In the last 3 days, I have done like 80 km and I am enjoying every bit of it. It is a head turner in the road, the thump is not up to my expectation but I will wait till I cross 2000 kms run in and then change the exhaust and turn to the gurus here to get the right music from this piece of art.

I am still at work and the photos are in my camera, so will upload them over the weekend. Once again, thanks to all in this thread and forumn for helping me to take this decision and creating a wonderful experience. I am using this bike for all my regular commute unless I have to ferry more than 2 people or if it is raining. Special thanks to Ranadhwa for his endless support.