Huge improvement, IMHO.
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2003 Royal Enfield 500 Deluxe
- Thread starter Raymond
- Start date
Haha, always makes Brits snigger when Americans say pants for trousers 'coz to us that's underpants or shorts. And it never gets warm enough enough in Scotland to go for a ride in me pants.
But seriously, thank you for the kind sentiments, I'm quite pleased with how the saddle turned out.
Next job is to fabricate better brackets to mount the saddle - the ones there are too short so you need to hold the saddle, bend a spring forward to meet the bracket, use your third hand to put a bolt in place and your fourth hand to get a spanner on it. Not going to ask the Willing Assistant on this one which would all too rapidly descend into swearing . . .
Wow Raymond! That looks amazing! Maybe throw an old hand towel over it for a few break in rides? I know I slathered mink oil on my favorite riding gloves a year ago, and still, every time I go riding I have to clean the greasy smears off of my helmet face shield. That stuff has some hang time!
Well not an expert but I have used Blacking ?? Dont know the English word
It is a special Chemical used to put color on leather Comes in different colors
After that the advice was to put on Leather Grease ( Perhaps not the right word either )
It is a grease used for making leather softer not cracking and also is good for better water resistance
Service men here on forum most likely have used it on gun straps saddles boots and so on
The grease helps at keeping the Blacking in the leather and not ending at the pants
Not saying that it prevents it completely but that was the advice I got
the one I use now looks like that there are better brands
It keeps leather jackets in good shape.
It is a special Chemical used to put color on leather Comes in different colors
After that the advice was to put on Leather Grease ( Perhaps not the right word either )
It is a grease used for making leather softer not cracking and also is good for better water resistance
Service men here on forum most likely have used it on gun straps saddles boots and so on
The grease helps at keeping the Blacking in the leather and not ending at the pants
Not saying that it prevents it completely but that was the advice I got
the one I use now looks like that there are better brands
It keeps leather jackets in good shape.
Thank you, Jan. I think the nearest products to this which we have at home are saddle soap/conditioner and beeswax.
As said above, I have Resolene but just a bit hesitant to use it in case I mess it up. Supposed to give a durable and waterproof finish and would also prevent colour transfer. So for now, have just used neutral shoe polish which gives a clear shine.
But next my attention is moving towards the electrics. Taking a quick look under the saddle, I think PO has spliced in the Boyer Power box with a lot of additional wiring. Jim's wiring diagram - thank's again, Jim - shows purple and yellow wires coming from the alternator. On my Bullet, these disappear into the harness up under the tank. There are also purple and yellow wires coming out of the harness to the Power box and I'm kinda thinking where do they all go? They must meet up someplace, maybe the local roller derby? But maybe they could go straight from the alternator to the Power box?
And then there's the starter cutout. Lot of wires from all over the place. And then there's the stories one hears about self-destructing sprag clutches on Bullets. So far I have only kick-started the bike, avoided the e-start. On GLJ's recommendation, have now joined the Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum and the suggestion there is that to avoid problems with the sprag clutch you should avoid using e-start.
Hmm. Remove the sprag clutch? Remove the starter motor? Remove all associated wiring including the cutout?
Unlike having to re-wire a Triumph TR6 or XS650, the job here would appear to be just going through a basically sound wiring system removing unneeded bits and pieces.
Will have a think.
As said above, I have Resolene but just a bit hesitant to use it in case I mess it up. Supposed to give a durable and waterproof finish and would also prevent colour transfer. So for now, have just used neutral shoe polish which gives a clear shine.
But next my attention is moving towards the electrics. Taking a quick look under the saddle, I think PO has spliced in the Boyer Power box with a lot of additional wiring. Jim's wiring diagram - thank's again, Jim - shows purple and yellow wires coming from the alternator. On my Bullet, these disappear into the harness up under the tank. There are also purple and yellow wires coming out of the harness to the Power box and I'm kinda thinking where do they all go? They must meet up someplace, maybe the local roller derby? But maybe they could go straight from the alternator to the Power box?
And then there's the starter cutout. Lot of wires from all over the place. And then there's the stories one hears about self-destructing sprag clutches on Bullets. So far I have only kick-started the bike, avoided the e-start. On GLJ's recommendation, have now joined the Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum and the suggestion there is that to avoid problems with the sprag clutch you should avoid using e-start.
Hmm. Remove the sprag clutch? Remove the starter motor? Remove all associated wiring including the cutout?
Unlike having to re-wire a Triumph TR6 or XS650, the job here would appear to be just going through a basically sound wiring system removing unneeded bits and pieces.
Will have a think.
Further to last:
This morning, tough combination of plastic sleeve and layers of insulating tape puts up valiant resistance:
But you gotta let the dog see the rabbit.
But you gotta let the dog see the rabbit.
BTDT, Raymond. Especially fun when the sleeve is as hard as a mother-in-law's heart.
I find it odd that brits say trousers when referring to pants (American) BUT they also say underpants when referring to well… underpants.
where would one expect to find a pair of underpants??? … under PANTS! Haha.
Ah well, at least I'm starting out with an electrical system that pretty much everything works. Tomorrow, can start tracing out what goes where, thinking about what I can do without, pulling bits out. Bit of snipping here, cutting there, maybe some new connections. Then we'll see if everything works . . .
I find that very interesting that the headlight does not have a traditional bucket, just the front part of a shell.
Bob, it's a kinda old-fashioned arrangement. No surprise there? Back in the forties and fifties of the last century, a lot of bikes had a nacelle or shroud which surrounded the headlamp and upper forks and provided a mounting for the headlamp and ignition switch. I'll put a couple of the dealer's pictures of the bike which perhaps show this more clearly than any of mine:
Or you could Google Royal Enfield headlamp shroud?
The shroud gives a nicely finished look to the front end - almost art deco? But certainly in the case of the bullet is a lot more open at the back between the forks. I think the new Bullets have adopted a headlamp shell - bucket in US - and at least one American correspondent has suffered melted wires in that area which he puts down to everything being stuffed in too tight.
I may be wrong, but I think that stuff is called "dubbin"....
Yes, fairly common in the early days. Think Triumph and Honda as well as Royal Enfield. I really like the look... as well as the ease of maintenance.
Agreed - in fact, there are a lot of nice (albeit pretty straight and flat) roads around here and I find the relatively light and low-powered XS650 to be absolutely ideal for puttering around.
I sure like the looks of that nifty Royal Enfield 500 Raymond - and the seat is coming along great!
Pete
I sure like the looks of that nifty Royal Enfield 500 Raymond - and the seat is coming along great!
Pete
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Yep we used to use dubbin on our rugger boots back in the day when men were men.....and the sheep were frightened!