A Return to the Manx Grand Prix

After the Royal Enfield Owners Club Rally, the next big adventure was a return to the Isle of Man for the resurrected Classic TT. I took the Crusader there in 2023 when she had about 300 miles on her after the rebuild and she behaved impeccably so I had no real fears this time, although I guess I was a little anxious about the oil consumption issue that had become worse on the last journey. 

So now with a little over 1000 miles on the clock post-rebuild we set off from Anglesey, initially heading across to Dee's in Wirral before continuing on a couple of days later to Liverpool and the new ferry terminal.

We took things slow and steady along the A55 taking in the gorgeous coastal views  along this route, breaking the journey at Bodelwyddan Services for a coffee and a cheeky Greggs pastie!

A couple of days later, we set off nice and early to rendezvous with Rob and his mate Louis coming up from Tamworth. Although I got to the meeting point in good time, Rob and Louis were somewhat "punctuality challenged" - we rolled into the check-in just as it was closing and were last bikes on board 🤨. Just to compound things, an over-zealous security guy stole my (fortunately only half full) camping gas canister.

Anyway, all was well and after a super smooth crossing, we made our way up to Peel Camping Ground and had the tents up before you could blink!

The following day was a race and practice day. We watched some practice from Ramsey and then made our way around the island via Ice Creams at Laxey to Creg ny Baa to watch the race. 

Apparently, I did an impression of melting in the sun while having 40 winks at Laxey!

The following day we took a ride out to the Calf of Mann and had an excellent lunch while watching the motorcycling world go by in the sun. 

We headed in to Douglas and then decided to go our own ways to do a customary lap of the circuit. The poor Crusader was struggling up the steepest parts in 2nd gear and I felt like I was being very mean! But we took a breather at Windy Corner, where the views across the mountains in the sunshine were simply stupendous.

Most of the racing on Wednesday was postponed due to bad weather on the course but we did manage to see a bit in the evening session. We headed back to Shearer's Wall at Braddan only to find that there was a housing development blocking access. How very rude - me and my family have been watching there for years. Hopefully it will be accessible again once construction is finished. So we headed just a little further around to Braddan Old Kirk for the lightweight Classic race and then to Braddan Church for the Sidecar parade.

Thursday started off a bit wet so we chilled in tents reading and drinking coffee, then headed out later in the day to the Manx Motor Museum at Jurby. I've been there a few times now but there's always something new and interesting to see. This time it was Rob being squeezed into and out of a Bonneville Land Speed Record car!

Suddenly it was Friday and our last day. Tents were packed away; not a trace was left and we headed down into Douglas to enjoy ice creams and last minute shopping before trying to catch the Classic Senior race before we needed to check in for the ferry. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and it was postponed twice before ultimately being cancelled due to rain. A real shame as it was the one race that Louis really wanted to see - well really he just wanted to see the Norton Rotary on full chat down Bray Hill, but it was not to be.

What it did mean was that we only just made check in and were pretty much last on again!

So the lads headed back to the Midlands and I headed back to Wirral after what had been a really lovely break. We didn't watch much racing but we'd all agreed that wasn't really what we were there for - it was all about being on the Island with lots of other like minded people.

A couple of days later, I headed back for home again along the A55, dodging most of the showers but fighting gusty winds for the second half of the journey. This beautiful rainbow pretty much summed up how I felt about the whole week.

And so we arrived back on Anglesey, with more souvenirs on the flyscreen after just less than 500 miles. I am so impressed with how the Crusader has dealt with the last couple of weeks, clocking up almost 800 miles. She has now been "de-oiled", cleaned and put into hibernation for winter; with some well earned maintenance and improvements planned ready for more fun in 2026.

Royal Enfield Owners Club International Rally

The weekend of the International Rally finally arrived. This was to be the Crusader's longest journey yet at just about 160 miles each way and I was really looking forward to seeing how she dealt with it. I waited for an enormous rainstorm to pass before setting off - so much for the heatwave we'd been promised!

Mileage as we set off was showing just under 750 miles since the rebuild, so she's pretty well run in now and certainly will be by the time we get home.

I'd decided to try and do without the tank bag this time and took a small rucksack instead. This proved to be a bit of a mistake as the load was clearly now concentrated too far to the rear with the rack and top box, even though I'd tried to load the box fairly lightly. As I set off there was a very noticeable wobble from the bars, which fortunately stabilised as we built up some speed. But it never felt like a bit of a mini tank slapper was far from the story! I'll use the tank bag again next time to move some weight forwards.

We took a nice relaxed pace, doing around 45-50mph most of the time which seems to be her sweet spot. If we built up any traffic following, I just pulled over to let them pass and carried on; all very relaxing 😊

I stopped in Dolgellau, roughly half way, for some lunch. The oil hazing off the cylinder was noticeably worse each time I stopped, which was a minor concern.

We rolled onto the rally site at Baskerville Hall, just outside Hay-on-Wye, at around 5pm and after checking in, quickly set up camp. Total distance was 157 miles. 

When I checked the oil level it was just below minimum, which was a bit alarming! I've now realised she is leaking from the head gasket and possibly base as well. I managed to speak to a couple of the Crusader Gurus over the weekend and what I am experiencing seems to be very common. Most of the problem is the very marginal arrangement for clamping down the head around the pushrod tube. They gave me several tips to try and help her incontinence!! 

I think that she is probably running lean in the midrange as well - not much "pull" there compared to how I think it should be. That would also explain why she is running very hot and also the "blueing" of the exhaust header. So I think I need to raise the needle a notch in the carb to get more fuel through.

There were probably about half of the attendees there on the Thursday evening with the rest drifting in over Friday and Saturday.

I picked up the obligatory goodie bag with rally sticker and badge!

The Hall was pretty impressive, although inside looked like it had seen better days! It turned out to be a great setting for the rally though.

I loved this tree carving in the grounds.

On Friday morning, they had a thing where you could try an old bike. I had been really taken with this 1953 350 Bullet when I was walking around the site and was delighted to see it was one of the ones you could try. I don't know what it was about it that got under my skin - certainly wasn't pretty as it had been painted (everywhere!) a long time ago in silver hammerite and there wasn't a spot of polished chrome on it, but it just looked so RIGHT as my idea of a motorbike.

I managed to get a couple of spins around the estate roads on it and it was absoloutely gorgeous to ride. Felt right, sounded right, went right. I adored it and it was all I could do to not surf EBay afterwards trying to find one!!

Wandering around the site, I came across a couple of other interesting bikes. This 700cc Constellation (or "Connie" as he called it) is what I remember my Dad telling me was his last bike (with a sidecar).

And I just loved this 'bitsa V-Twin. Sounded great chuffing around the site and was very well used.

On the Saturday, I took out a couple of "new" Royal Enfield demonstrators for a guided ride of around 40 minutes each. First up was the Hunter 350, which had been the bike I was originally thinking of getting before I got taken in by the Classic 350. I'd never ridden one and absolutely loved it. It felt very much like a modern version of my Crusader - similar proportions and 17" wheels so very nimble handling. I couldn't get over how comfy it was.

Then in the afternoon there were some slots left to take out a 450 Himilayan, so I grabbed one of those. Can't say I particularly liked it really. It reminded me a lot of my Honda Transalp actually, but I think I've completely moved away from that type of bike.

In the afternoon, there was a bike show in front of the hall. I took my place amongst 170 or so others. 

Jacqui Furneaux was a very interesting woman, who took off at 50 and travelled through 20 countries over 7 years on a 500 Bullet. Obviously, I bought her book!

And so Sunday came around and it was time to head for home. I had a leisurely breakfast then packed up and headed for home.

I deliberately took it slightly easier on the way back, trying to cruise at 45. We took exactly the same journey and the average speed was pretty much exactly the same! Stopped halfway at a cafe for lunch but pretty much just sat it out for the 2 x 2hr stretches. That saddle definitely needs sorting! Oh, and we crossed 1000 miles just as we came past Dolgellau 😃so definitely run in now.

So, the total adventure was 314 miles at an average speed of 37 mph, which doesn't sound like much but is actually not very different from the Ireland and France tours that I did on the GPZ500.

The "touring mods" I'd made all worked well, apart from the afore-mentioned wobble at low speeds, but that was down to weight distribution and is easily fixed.

The tool bag is great and just holds the right amount of stuff neatly. The chain oiler worked well. The fly screen did (I think) make a small difference in the rain at the expense of creating a small amount of wind noise. Most importantly, it provided somewhere to put the rally sticker!!

Roll on the Classic TT adventure next weekend!!

Crusader Touring Mods

Time to get the Crusader a bit better kitted out for some light touring duties.

I've already outlined fitting the £10 rack and for now I've put the mounting plate for my enormous top box on it but longer term I'll find something more in keeping with the '60's style.

I wanted to be able to have a basic tool kit with me all the time and spotted these leather tool rolls on EBay for £25, which I thought was worth a punt. It seems to be reasonably well put together, and holds a decent amount, but time will tell how durable it is.

This next mod is probably more about aesthetics to be honest, as I only tend to cruise at 45 - 50mph on the Crusader. The wind blast doesn't exactly rip your arms off at that speed. However, I did think that a small fly screen might be enough to divert a bit of rain from my chest and possibly visor.

I came across these Stadium universal screens, being marketed for fitting to the last model of RE Classic 500 and took a chance with it as they have the same size 7" headlight and what looked like the original 50's/60's style of headlight casquette. It turned out that the mounting holes lined up perfectly. I chose to drill out the holes to take slightly larger nuts and bolts, but that was the only mod needed. I really like the style of it and hope it makes a bit of a difference.

Onto maintenance stuff, the front brake has been appalling since the rebuild. I thought this was possibly because I'd refitted the original (barely worn) shoes, and bought some new ones to see if that would improve things.

When I pulled the front wheel off, 2 things became apparent: 1) I'd ordered the wrong size shoes (6" instead of the larger 7" that the Sport model wears), and 2) the shoes have barely been making contact with the drum, with only about 15-20% of the shoes showing any signs of wear.

New 7" shoes aren't available - you have to send yours off to be relined, and I didn't have time for that. The Crusader 250 forum was helpful and I followed various suggestions to see if I can improve things using the original shoes. Firstly, I flipped the shoes around in case I'd refitted them opposite to how they had originally bedded in. And probably more significantly, I left a little float on the brake plate and then applied the brake hard while I was tightening the wheel axle clamps, so that it isn't being restricted in any way (hopefully). I went out for a half hour test round the lanes and this has all made a big improvement. I expect it will get better as the shoes bed in as well.

I'd checked over the battery and charging system after the problems on the last ride and found that charging was fine but the battery wasn't holding the charge, so I put in a new one, together with a fly lead to attach a dedicated trickle charger when she's tucked up in the shed.

I also adjusted the drive chain and steering head bearings and then replaced the gearbox oil. I have had an annoying weep of oil past the oil seal at the back of the clutch, which is a really common issue and not helped by an apparently slightly loose seal that the main RE suppliers sell. I had used 20W50 multigrade oil in the gearbox and swapped it for thicker SAE90 gear oil to see if the extra thickness helps reduce the leakage.

And finally, I fitted a LoobMan chain oiler. I've had one of these on another bike and really like the simplicity of the system. Pressing the valve for 10 secs releases a slug of oil, which then gets deposited onto the rear sprocket and sprays out onto the chain.

I couldn't resist a quick trial load up to see how she sits with that lot done. I reckon she's looking like a properly capable little tourer now and looking forward to giving her a run out to the REOC International Rally in Powys in a few days.