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Back in the shop
02 July 2005
Went out to get the Bullet Friday, Canada Day. Seemed auspicious to be riding it home on our national holiday.
John had gone through most of the box of parts I had ordered from The US Enfield distributor: a couple of hundred dollars already. He fixed and cleaned the carb, replaced both carb manifolds, changed the air filter, adjusted the clutch and adjusted the pushrods. But there was a problem with one pushrod being loose and it needed replacing. He said it was okay to ride home, though.
I got about eight kilometers before the bike lost power and died. My first thought was gas, so I switched over to reserve and started the bike. Well, it didn't want to kick over, but finally gave in. And it sounded like a coffee can full of nuts and bolts when it did run.
So I shut it down and called John again. He had to come all the way out with his trailer and take it back to the shop. Susan picked me up, forlorn on the highway, and took me home. And as soon as I got home I ordered new pushrods and rocker boxes. Sigh. Another $200 in parts and probably the better part of a day's labour to replace them. I can't afford much more. The bike isn't worth that much...
I am really disappointed, not only in not being able to ride, but in finding this bike had so many issues. I expected some - the manifolds, filters, etc. But not so many... damn. Maybe I'm not meant to ride again.
July 9: John spent five hours on the Bullet, replacing head gaskets, pushrods and rocker boxes. He said it was running beautifully, then left for the weekend at the Sportbike Rally in parry Sound. When I arrived to pick it up, the decompression lever snapped off and it took quite a while to kick it over. Didn't seem to have enough compression. I got about 1 km down the road when it backfired and died. Not even any electricity this time. I had to push it back to the shop... Damn and double damn!
John had gone through most of the box of parts I had ordered from The US Enfield distributor: a couple of hundred dollars already. He fixed and cleaned the carb, replaced both carb manifolds, changed the air filter, adjusted the clutch and adjusted the pushrods. But there was a problem with one pushrod being loose and it needed replacing. He said it was okay to ride home, though.
I got about eight kilometers before the bike lost power and died. My first thought was gas, so I switched over to reserve and started the bike. Well, it didn't want to kick over, but finally gave in. And it sounded like a coffee can full of nuts and bolts when it did run.
So I shut it down and called John again. He had to come all the way out with his trailer and take it back to the shop. Susan picked me up, forlorn on the highway, and took me home. And as soon as I got home I ordered new pushrods and rocker boxes. Sigh. Another $200 in parts and probably the better part of a day's labour to replace them. I can't afford much more. The bike isn't worth that much...
I am really disappointed, not only in not being able to ride, but in finding this bike had so many issues. I expected some - the manifolds, filters, etc. But not so many... damn. Maybe I'm not meant to ride again.
July 9: John spent five hours on the Bullet, replacing head gaskets, pushrods and rocker boxes. He said it was running beautifully, then left for the weekend at the Sportbike Rally in parry Sound. When I arrived to pick it up, the decompression lever snapped off and it took quite a while to kick it over. Didn't seem to have enough compression. I got about 1 km down the road when it backfired and died. Not even any electricity this time. I had to push it back to the shop... Damn and double damn!
