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.

A Bimble Around the North Coast

I haven't taken the Enfield out since last September! I am genuinely shocked, although it was a busy year in my defence.

I gave the tyres etc a check over and assumed she'd start second kick like normal, but she was dead. As in no tingle juice 🤯 The battery had 7v. I put the battery on charge for an hour and she fired up first kick, once she had some power to the ignition. Curious.....

Anyway, I decided to go exploring along my local coastline, down the lanes I have seen but not explored and did a delightful 31 miles, a lot of which was single track lanes. 

I took in Llanbadrig Church - So beautifully situated on the coast.

Then I rode across to Cemaes which I have visited several times but I've always gone to the harbour and never the beach.

Then I visited the foreboding structure of Wylfa Nuclear Power Station, which is in the process of being decommissioned. But nearby down a short lane is a very nice looking nature trail that I will revisit.

Onto Cemplyn Bay and Lagoon. Wow! How did I not know this was on my doorstep! I'll definitely be back there soon.

All was not totally rosy though. Each time I stopped she got a bit harder to start and then I started to detect a slight misfire, so pulled in to turn around and head for home, at which point the bike stalled. No life at all trying to kick start her and, when I checked the horn and lights, there appeared to be almost no power in the battery. Hmmm, the ammeter had been showing a charge, so maybe the battery is stuffed. The electronic ignition is dependent on there being a reasonable bit of juice in the battery to start.

I eventually managed to get her going by bump starting around a car park and once a bit of charge started coming through, she ran fine again for the journey home.

When I was back, I tested the charging system and it's sending a healthy 14+ volts to the battery, so I'll replace the battery and I've also ordered a trickle charger to keep attached to the bike.

Good that I found out these things now as I have a couple of decent trips coming up.

Total miles to date since the rebuild are now 762 - well run in.

A New Old Touring Bike?

I’ve been doing a load of thinking about what I REALLY like and don’t like in my life recently. In terms of motorcycling, I concluded that the most fun I’ve had over the last 3 or 4 years has been when I’ve done shorter distances on smaller bikes, as opposed to mile munching on the bigger bikes. 

I also have this issue about how hard it is to get bikes down the side of my house and the smaller, lighter bikes are most definitely a lot easier to do that with and therefore more likely to be ridden more.

I’d started thinking that I might get rid of all of my bikes and buy a nearly new 125 but my heart just wasn’t in that. I like old stuff 🙂

The answer is, I think, staring me in the face. My gorgeous 1962 Royal Enfield 250 Crusader has only done about 600 miles since the complete nut and bolt restoration a couple of years ago. She has never let me down (🤞) and I recently pulled her out of the shed for the first time in 8 months; tickled the carb, switched on and she started second kick. Like she almost always does. I know every nut and bolt on her. She has done a fully loaded 4 day camping trip to the Isle of Man with n’er a grumble and cruises effortlessly at 50-55 mph. 

So I have decided that she is going to be my one and only bike. After all, she was designed to be daily transport, not a rarely used toy so, accepting that she needs more maintenance than a modern bike, she should be up to light touring duties. I also like that it will force me to go at a slower pace and do shorter daily distances.

The Kawasaki GPZ500 has been sold to a neighbour, and is going next week.

Some improvements are going to be made to the Crusader to make her more suitable for what I want to do. Firstly, I’ve bought some new front brake shoes to see if that improves the pitiful braking provided by the 40+ year old linings I reinstalled. If not, I’ll have some softer linings fitted to see if that helps (at the expense of longevity but I don’t do 000’s of miles.)

I picked up an old rack locally that last saw service on a BSA A10, but fits nicely after I made a couple of new brackets.

That has allowed me to fit my enormous top box that came with the Kawasaki. I’ll use it for now but keep an eye out for a more suitably sized vintage one.

I have a LoobMan chain oiler on its way to me. I had one of those fitted to my Honda 250G5 and really liked the simplicity of it.

And I’m going to replace the seat foam, which is way too soft - you end up sitting on the metal seat pan! I have an old Honda Dream 400 seat foam that will trim down nicely to fit and I think that will make a massive improvement as the Dream was one of the most comfortable bikes I’ve ridden.

I am booked to attend the REOC International Rally in Hay on Wye in a couple of weeks, which will be a nice 300 mile round trip, followed by a week in the Isle of Man for the Classic TT so we’ll be able to test the plan out and see how things go. Can’t wait!