Here's my story of my nice quiet Enfield!
Bought brand new from Bob Missen's of Melksham in December 2003, my Royal Enfield 500 Bullet Sixty5 was painstakenly run-in the same way my Dad used to run-in his British bikes...if the bike is happy, do it!
After picking it up, a nice run to Frome and back ensued, not dropping below the speed limits. I was always very happy with my Bullet, untill I found out about Hitchcocks, the wonderful people who bemuse you with a vast array of accessories and kits for the humble RE.
So after the warrenty period had passed, off came the standard carb, and replaced with an Amal Monobloc with S&B performance air filter. What a difference! I was starting to see what a difference a few aftermarket parts could do to this fifty-odd year old designed engine! So I now had a new direction for my Bullet, I'm going to make it a Cafe Racer. But not using the kits you can buy to make it look like everyone else's, mix and match a few parts so I get the look I want.
Next on the list was the exhaust pipe. My standard pipe had devoloped a inch long crack and needed replacing so a very quiet, non obtrusive straight through megaphone "silencer" was ordered and put on.
Now, I did try my bit for the conservation of everyone's hearing.
Before starting for the first time with the new pipe on, we tried fluffing up a Brillo pad to stuff in the end of the pipe. First kick the bike fired, the Brillo pad fled out to the pipe, and across the otherside of the road. And as the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed; give up, bin the Brillo and make as much noise as you can (or something like that!).
The final touches for a Cafe Racer is the Ace bars and rear sets. So they were the next on my list, and after much pleading with Jen ('er indoors!) for the credit card again, "this is the last time I buy something for the bike, I swear!", they arrived and fitted straight away.
The result: a super quick, super loud RE Bullet that scares
The latest thing to happen was the piston cracked around the oil control ring and split in half. So what do we do? The barrel needs a re-bore anyway, so a 535 piston was ordered, and barrel bored out, and all fitted together. At the same time, an 18-tooth front sprocket was fitted (purely for rev-saving!). Engine back together, new piston, new sprocket...test ride time!
But not for long though. For may it be told throughout the land, blue Peugeot taxis DO NOT like Royal Enfields. I'm sure you all can work out the rest!