The Enfield Bullet Manual

- by Pete Snidal (C)2002

Bullet: To Buy, Or Not To Buy?

That, as Hamlet might have asked, is The Question. It is also a question asked by various would-be Bullet owners, concerned about rumours surrounding the 50-year-old technology issue with the Enfield Bullets.

It's true, the machines were designed in the late '40's and early '50's of the last century. But these were in many ways the salad years of technology; just think Lougheed Constellation, GM Diesel Locomotives, and Scenecruiser highway passenger busses. Or the Cessna 185, the '56 Chev Belair, or the Sturmey-Archer 3-Speed Bicycle Hub. The days of Christmas gifts of Meccano sets, Chemistry sets, and do-it-yourself magazine subscriptions for Dad.

Motorcycles of the day were designed primarily for the enthusiast, the future owners were presumed to have some degree of mechanical savvy, but this was because they did, or they just bought a car and didn't bother with the noise, the wind, and the occasional listening to the sound of their engines. Many of the rest of us bought motorcycles as "Meccano Sets You Can Ride," and never looked back.

The Bullet, unlike the later-to-come Japanese (and "American") machines, is not a Riding Appliance. But then, even they require a certain amount of attention - not as often, perhaps, but when it is required, it is most usually much more complex, and a lot more expensive. So the two, in the eyes of many, balance out - the difference being that the older British-style machines allowed for owner maintenance, rather than the much pricier expertise available only at the educated dealer.

Parts are generally much less expensive, too - and also often much more available, since there have been so few models, and changes, produced over the past more than 50 years. This is particularly true of the Royal Enfield Bullet, since it has been manufactured, although only in India since the early '60's, the whole time. It still is.

The machine is much less complicated. Sporting a single cylinder, and pushrod valve actuation - a much simpler arrangement than the almost-ubiquitous multi-cylinder overhead-camshaft configuration of the more "modern" (and higher output) machines, it can actually be understood by the average owner. And, once it's understood, it's requirements can be anticipated and attended to in timely fashion. If this is done, the machine can be depended upon to reward its owner with many years of faithful service.

What's Involved?

For example, by doing his own maintenance, the owner learns to listen to the machine. If the ignition timing is out, or a valve (there are only two) requires adjustment, the savvy owner will hear this, and drop his plans for the next few minutes to attend to the problem - we're dealing with two valves, here, not sixteen - and the timing of one cylinder, not two, four, or six. It's a simple matter in most cases, and the stitch in time will certainly save nine. Often more.

How Does One Learn The Ropes?

This manual has been written for exactly that purpose. With this book (or CD, as the case may be) and a small investment in tools and time, anyone with the will can learn to maintain his Bullet. It will also be invaluable in understanding the more complex tasks, up to and including a complete overhaul, or at least in being capable of intelligent discussion of the details with your trusted Bulletcare Professional - in the unlikely event that such attention becomes necessary.

How Often?

The Maintenance Schedule is not particularly involved. Until the new owner learns to recognize the signs, a tuneup should be done every thousand miles or so. This involves checking ignition timing and valve adjustment, checking drive chain and control cable adjustments, and fluid levels. (Although most owners check engine oil level on a daily basis.) With a little experience, the owner learns to recognize the need for any of these as it begins to develop, thus there is no set period. Valves can come loose in an hour of riding, or stay properly adjusted for a year or more. As looseness develops in chains or cables, it becomes apparent, and the knowledgeable owner will correct these little details as routinely as washing the machine or brushing his teeth.

What About Performance Limitations?

Performance requirements differed in the '50's. Freeways and Motorways, as we know them today, were pretty well nonexistent. 50mph/80Kph was a perfecty adequate cruising speed, with a short-term capability of 70/110 being a handy thing for passing/overtaking. The Bullets out-performed, or at least stayed with most of the passenger cars of the day - even the faster ones, but today are hopelessly outdone, in terms of speed and acceleration at any rate, even by many of today's economy cars - and certainly by the performance motorcycles to be found in the showrooms (and wrecking yards) of the present period. It is certainly true that if you want to "stay with the big boys," the Bullet is not your cup of tea. It is also true that its performance may be improved with a few speed tricks, such as higher compression piston, overbored cylinder, and cam, port, and valve work, but all these will exact a cost on reliability, and your 500 (or 535) Bullet will still be beatable by the kid down the street with the hot 250. But he'll never experience the satisfying thump or the step back in time which is part of the daily routine of the happy Bullet owner.

So a choice must be made. (Or must it? - their Bullet is not the only motorcycle of many owners!) The Enfield is a machine which allows a totally different kind of motorcycling experience for the rider who has the time and space to stick to the 50mph back roads, to take a little extra time learning to understand his machine, and the will to develop a little mechanical expertise to keep it maintained. In the eyes of many happy owners, the rewards are many, and the sacrifices few.

After-Purchase Modifications

There are a number of after-purchase modifications which have become popular, particularly in the so-called "First World."

First of these is in engine breathing. The stock muffler and air cleaner, striving to be well within EPA guidelines, seriously restrict the engine's breathing. Single-cylinder engines, exhausting as they do in one gigantic pulse every second engine revolution, are difficult to impossible to silence completely if they are to run properly. Consequently, the popular choice is to use a considerably less restrictive muffler. This, coupled with common sense - avoiding high-throttle work in congested areas (especially those congested with law enforcement professionals - congestion being more than 0) and a little respect for the neighbours, particularly at night, will yield great benefits in smoother and more powerful running. Dan Holmes, at DRS Cycle, a prominent US dealer, has found with dynamometer testing that a 20% increase in power is gained simply by fitting a high-flow muffler and air filter. The factory air filter was also designed for dusty and dirty third-world conditions, using low throttle to save fuel. Here in the Land Of The Crazies, a high-flow air filter - or, in cases of low dust (all paved roads) no filter at all, is the preferred setup. Fuel economy, although not nearly so much a consideration here, is still not particularly compromised by these changes.

Simultaneous with that is the headlight. To satisfy EPA requirements for a setscrew-aimable headlight, the factory was forced to ship the machines with an undersized headlamp, set in an adapter ring providing such adjustment. The regular 7-inch headlamp is also adjustable, but in another way not as apparent to those who bestow EPA approval. One would guess. At any rate, the knowledgeable Bullet enthusiast wastes little time in replacing the factory-modded Sillylight with the regular 7-inch ring, and usually a Halogen light as well. This brings about a serious increase in nightime light performance, and is recommended soonest.

Another EPA-dictated disaster was the Left-Foot Gearchange. In order to comply with this requirement (right-shift being the norm for British machines of the original design period), the factory came up with a bodge involving an external cross-over linkage fitted behind and under the gearbox. It was, to put it mildly, a disaster. Many owners have discovered that the extra time required to re-learn to change gears with their right foot - and to use the left for the rear brake - pays for itself many times over with a very much improved feel and utility with respect to gear changing. There is a kit available through the distributor/dealer network to effect this change, and its installation is thoroughly covered in this manual. An intermediate step, reported to be satisfactory by many owners, is the bushing kit designed by DRS Cycle, which eliminates some of the slop inherent in the necessarily over- complicated external mechanism.

(Update - The Model 65)

In response to the home market (by far the majority of Enfield sales are within India) interest in Left-foot shifting, the factory has produced a new variation of the Bullet - the 65 - which incorporates a new 5-speed gearbox with integral left-shift. This is considerably more than a modified right-shifter, with an extra gear and much more even spaces between the gears. The machine also incorporates Electric Start - as do all the imports into the US at least, since mid 2003 - and conversion to right-shift is neither possible, nor, it would seem, desirable. It would appear at this writing that the problem has been solved. The 65 is, however, considerably more expensive than the Bullet, and, in the eyes of many, (this writer included) has of course dispensed with much of the Bullet's 50-year old tradition. But there it is.

For the regular Bullet, 5-speed gearboxes, and more even-ratio gearsets are available. The price/performance ratio is high, however, and thus few owners seem to deem either modification cost-effective, or really necessary. Still, they are there for the really interested. The Left-Foot Shift aspect cannot be retrofitted, however, since major changes to the engine castings are required - the shifter shaft passes through a passage cast into the integral oil tank, and also through th primary case.

These are the most-done modifications to the basic machine. Some owners elect to do some performance work, detailed in the last chapter of the manual under "Performance Modifications," but most owners find that, by the time they've done those mentioned above, their machine is getting close to Just Right.

The Bad Side

Bullet ownership can have its bad days. If the machine is allowed to fall out of adjustment without correction - and in some cases this must be almost immediate - it can deteriorate rapidly. A primary chain allowed to run too loose can change from making a lot of noise to coming through the primary case and doing a whole lot of damage. A slipping clutch, if undetected and/or uncorrected, can burn itself to a frazzle in a matter of a few overloaded miles. A case of overly-advanced ignition timing - instantly detectable by the unmistakable (to those in the know) "ping," or "spark knock" can blow a hole in the piston in one long pull up a bad hill. Ditto for dangerously lean mixture due to a badly-adjusted carburetor - or a descent to sea level on a machine tuned for use in the high mountains. But to the knowledgeable owner, with his ear attuned to the not-really-subtle accompanying changes, all of these would have been minor annoyances, corrected long before they became a significant problem. And it must be acknowledged that any of these and more can also happen to any of the Riding Appliances produced in later years, the major difference being that the owners of such will end up paying a lot more to fix them when they _do_ let go. But it must be acknowledged that most of them stay in tune longer between (usually) dealer attentions.

The Head-Turning Factor

Reports from Bullet owners the world over have established one inescapable fact: If you don't like talking to strangers, you don't want to be riding a Bullet!

It would appear that they appeal at some instinctive level to people who otherwise don't even notice motorcycles. The stories are many of a single Bullet parked in a block-long phalanx of shiny motorcycles, usually at some rally or another, being surrounded all day by admirers, many of whom are in fact the owners of the other motorcycles, many costing five or six times as much. There is just something about the Bullet look and sound that in themselves would appear more than to make up for any inconveniences "suffered" by actually learning something about one's machine in order to use it successfully. But if you're at all inclined to be anti-social, forget the Bullet. Stick with a UJM (Universal Japanese Multi), or the Ubiquitous H*ley. Blend in with the crowd. You won't find any "flies on the wallpaper" riding Bullets! On the other hand, if you're on the outgoing side, and especially if you prefer talking to riding, be sure to order up a few books on the development of the Royal Enfield, and be prepared for Orals every time you park the machine!

Summary

The Indian Enfield has been produced in the hundreds of thousands in India since the mid-'50's. Parts of most, if not all, of these are still in daily use there. Literally nothing still of use is thrown away - when a machine crashes or wears out, enough new or good used factory parts are added to get it back into working condition, and it soldiers on. The average Indian owner is seldom a mechanic - although there is apparently an "expert" on every streetcorner. Many Indians support their families by doing roadside repair work on motorcycles and other conveyances, and a lot of them specialize in The Bullet. This in itself says a lot about the ease of maintenance, and the simplicity of the machine. The only real way to kill them is simply to ride them too hard - although this is very difficult in the crowded streets of India, the one danger in the "First-World" countries is the Free/Motorway. A stock Bullet can be thrashed to death by being ridden too fast (cruising over 60mph) in short order. But, allowed to proceed in its sedate and almost pre-programmed speed in the low '50's, and maintained with a minimum of savvy and effort, an Enfield can last you for many years!