[ArizonaJim]

I wouldn't use a vacuum cleaner to blow out the remaining oil.
The hose on my vacuum cleaner is lined with dust so if it is blowing into my crankcase there is an excellent likelihood that the dust will become dislodged and be blown into my engine.
In my opinion, that would be much worse than allowing small quantities of old oil to remain in the crankcase.

About an hour ago I did my oil and filter change on my Royal Enfield 500cc G5 (UCE powered).
After removing both the drain plug and the filter screen plug and tipping the motorcycle to the left and right, when I refilled it it took 1.9 quarts (1.8 liters) of oil to bring the oil level up to just below the top of the sight window.

I've found after 5 oil and filter changes this amount is fairly constant and I suspect that if you measure the amount of oil that is drained you will find the same amount as I have.

The UCE powered Royal Enfields do not use the same oil filter as the older iron barrel or AVL models. Keven Mahoney, the owner of the company that imports RE's to the US sells the oil filters and as I recall, there is a company in India that is on the Web that also sells them. You might try doing a web search for them but remember, the filter must be for the UCE engines.

[epvineesh]

Originally Posted by anupkrverma

@epvineesh : have u noticed any sign of metal friction spots inside the drum. It its metal to metal then there should be some highly polished friction spots.
And BTW u should use front brakes more often.

Thanks

When I brake on high speeds that is when i get the noise as if the leather pads on the brake liners are not there at all,but the last time i got it checked did not see any friction spots inside the drum..

The problem with using front brakes to often is that the fork (bolts) seems to give a sort of a play,and as its disc brakes i really dont use it on steep turns as if applied hard it tends to skid,all you need is a bit of sand,water or gravel on the road which u find almost every where in Bangalore roads.

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

@ epvineesh:

A totally faulty swingarm on your new bike and why am i not surprised. RE is stopped surprising me anymore. so much for PDIs and Quality checks.

w.r.t the rear brake making noise, In my case, the the brake shoe springs were touching the hub. We had to take the rear wheel hub on to a lathe, and remove some material. Just check for that, as its been seen on other bikes as well.

You are right ,I had that problem too,the brake shoe spring cut off 2 times for me,but i got that fixed 2-3 months back.

[adrian]

@ San, Arizonajim : Thanks for the advice. I have decided not to use the vacuum cleaner. Really didn't think about the dust posibility

Regards Adrian

[siddharth_menon]

The most exciting part about new Thunderbird 500 is the new rear disk brakes!

Hope its not very difficult to port it to my C500.
It looks like following needs to be changed.

1. New rear brake paddle (hope it fits easy)
2. Tyre axle or what ever its called with disc
3. Swing arm with disc brake assembly

[anupkrverma]

The swing arm of the new TBTS 500 is the thing we all Classic owners are waiting eagerly for. As for the rear disc brakes, it is available in the aftermarket.

[aussigreg]

Sold my c5 with 4300km on the dial. Im sorry RE fans but I felt that if I didn't offload it while it was young it would become worthless. I'm afraid RE's design, engineering, component quality and assembly were just too poor for my peace of mind. I hope you all find contentment with your bullets and they prove to be reliable. For the record it's replacement is a Kawasaki W650.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by aussigreg

Sold my c5 with 4300km on the dial. Im sorry RE fans but I felt that if I didn't offload it while it was young it would become worthless. I'm afraid RE's design, engineering, component quality and assembly were just too poor for my peace of mind. I hope you all find contentment with your bullets and they prove to be reliable. For the record it's replacement is a Kawasaki W650.

Sorry to know that Greg that you decided to sell your C-500 in such a short period of time.

Can you please highlight the issues that you faced for benefit of other members that made you take such a drastic decision?

[aussigreg]

@mobike,

Most of the mechanical issues mentioned throughout this thread, and there are too many for one model, come down to a design that is still in the teething stage. RE has been using a bike design it bought in another millenia and the c5 is their first real attempt at an all new bike design. There are geometry problems, metallergy issues. In this thread every part of the bike has been found at fault and worse, it's actually unsafe. How it managed to sneak past ADR compliance in this country is a bit of a mystery to me looking at its wobbly hammer forged wheel rims. (I know they couldn't be but how do you explain their untrue shape)

Everything I touched on the bike since I bought it in September I found an assembly problem with, like cross-threaded seat bolts etc.

I guess my brother hit the nail right on the head in December when he looked at it and said, "it looks like a $2 Chinese capgun". I felt he was right and I decided I would price it cheap to sell and chalk it up to experience.

Having said that I understand that other people will see it differently;- quaint old world engineering, rugged charm, rustic style etc, and like Jay Leno says "if it's what you like then it's not a waste of money no matter how much it cost."

[anupkrverma]

@aussigreg : Thanks a lot for being true in the face. If u dont like then u don't like. No need to apologize for it. As for the product being a hit in India, the causes are that we don't have much choice when it comes to choosing a good bike with such power (read cc).
The bikes which are available cost a lot and the general lot can not afford it. Thats where the RE fits in. And not to mention the retro styling which is a hit across the world. We have only RE classic for the sake of it.
Further , being a slow traffic country we don't have to face such great reallife dangers with such poor design. And the labour is way too cheap compared to other countries.
So u see, almost everything fits in for the RE.

But yes , $2 chinese thing, now u have certaiinly put ur hand in the beehive by stating thus. wait for the bullet bees to sting u hard.

[mobike008]

Appreciate the honest feedback Greg. However, stating that its a cheap chinese toy is IMO going a bit too far.

RE has a loyal fan following from over half a decade with its fan base increasing in multi-fold as each year passes. In the past, RE owners used to be mostly in 35+ age group and what is suprising albeit a plesant one to note that many youngsters are prefering an RE over sportsbikes these days in India making RE one of the most sought after bike in our country.

As Anup rightly stated the facts that make it click in India is because of its old world styling charm, cheap labour and traffic situation that does not allow you to speed makes RE a fantastic buy.

Also, a bit of niggles with an RE is always given. Its folklore that if you own an RE that doesnt have any niggles then its not an RE. For e.g :- An oil leaking RE is supposedly marking its territory, however lame it may sound but, thats a proud claim of an RE owner

All said and done, either your expectations were too high or you unfortunately got a lemon.

Enjoy your ownership on your new kwacker !!!

[nasirkaka]

For the record it's replacement is a Kawasaki W650.

Now how did u manage that? Is it an old one? or are they still producing it? i have been eying the new W800 for a while and hoping its next to follow the N250 and N650. But now that triumph is already here, is demanding all attention. Hopefully, either a bonnie or a street triple. time to start saving.


As for the C5 / bullet, a lot of people are not happy with their bikes but given the lack of available options, are still stuck to it. I do agree that its not refined enough and still has plethora of issues, but comparing it to a cheap Chinese product is a bit of exaggeration. The bike does score on looks when seen up close for the first time. Its only after we start riding, we experience the issues followed by pains.

I have decided to part ways with my 2008 machismo. Am selling it to a colleague. Immediate plans is to use that money to buy the KTM Duke200. But i am still confused as to whether to go for the duke 200 now, or wait a year for duke 350. Even if i go for the duke 200, i will do so after a couple of months, as i have learnt from the C5 experience not to jump at a product, but wait for a while to see how the product fares in real life scenario.

I have sort of started liking my C5, so shall keep it for long rides. Until i manage to save enough to get something bigger and better.

[aussigreg]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

Now how did u manage that? Is it an old one? or are they still producing it? i have been eying the new W800 for a while and hoping its next to follow the N250 and N650. But now that triumph is already here, is demanding all attention. Hopefully, either a bonnie or a street triple. time to start saving.


As for the C5 / bullet, a lot of people are not happy with their bikes but given the lack of available options, are still stuck to it. I do agree that its not refined enough and still has plethora of issues, but comparing it to a cheap Chinese product is a bit of exaggeration. The bike does score on looks when seen up close for the first time. Its only after we start riding, we experience the issues followed by pains.

I have decided to part ways with my 2008 machismo. Am selling it to a colleague. Immediate plans is to use that money to buy the KTM Duke200. But i am still confused as to whether to go for the duke 200 now, or wait a year for duke 350. Even if i go for the duke 200, i will do so after a couple of months, as i have learnt from the C5 experience not to jump at a product, but wait for a while to see how the product fares in real life scenario.

I have sort of started liking my C5, so shall keep it for long rides. Until i manage to save enough to get something bigger and better.

@nasir,
Yes it's a 2005 w650 which are very sought after in good condition, often preferred over the w800. In Japan there seems to be some rules or penalties regarding older vehicles and as a result that market is almost forced to update regularly. Bikes only a few years old are recycled and some cunning people are buying favorite models and exporting them to a hungry collector market around the world, hence I picked up a near new '05 w650 for the same price as a new c5 here.

I apolloguise for rubbishing Enfield quality and remind you all that I did not coin the $2 chinese capgun phrase myself. Let's just say it's fit and finish speaks for itself. I would however make a direct 6 of one, half dozen of the other comparison between Royal Enfield quality and that of the Jonny Pag choppers proudly made in china. They are another bike that looks so good at a glance they get people reaching for the credit card but if they get ridden in the rain even once electrics fail and corrosion begins.

I might be fussy and I might be a spendthrift with a weakness for motorcycles but this kind of quality is not good enough for anyone who has had to work for their money regardless of what continent they live on. Harley had the same problem when it was owned by a ten pin bowling company. The staff bought it out and built a better bike because they believed in the name and believed in themselves.

[Sutripta]

@aussigreg: Given your options, I think a sensible decision.
But since when were bikers sensible!

Regards
Sutripta

[adises]

Has anyone here bought a 3rd party toolkit for the classic 500? The kit I got with the bike is in pretty bad shape and most of the spanners are slipping. I currently use a friend's Taparia toolbox for any work, it has a torque wrench etc., but is too big to fit on the bike.

[ruchirtnt]

I paid the complete money for DS 500, it costed me exactly 5400 more expense than the 2011 model, currently i am driving Classic 350 of my friend and it looks bit small on me compared to my old TB, i am 6'2", is DS more comfortable for tall guys? any comments, i think the handle bar of DS is more comfortable