Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Update

[@felixVanDiemen]

Good on you mate! I really enjoy your videos. I have almost exactly the same model, mine is a 2005. Excellent restoration job, brilliant stuff 😀There is something very special about these Royal Enfields they really have a lot of heart. All the best from Tasmania Australia

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks for watching and you live in an amazing place! These are great bikes for sure. Not valuable like a vintage Norton or BSA, but they look and ride the same, and that’s all I care about. And the Bullet is the longest running model in motorcycle history

[@silverback3926]

Wow!!! What a great job. That bike looks fantastic. I think your right it is probably the battery. The other items are a good idea. Better to deal with them now rather then later. I am envious...makes me want to get motivated to finish the minor electrical work I have to do on my 1972 bmw r50/5. Lol.... its just that the classic 500 has completely captured my focus. I have surely become a royal Enfield fan boy. That new shotgun looks like it may be the closet thing to a updated 650 version of the bigger bullets that will be offered. It sounds like the price may be less than the interceptor and that really speaks to me. At 66 I don't have too many more years of motorcycle riding left. Plus my retirement income keeps larger expenditures in check. Find an iron barrel project like yours would be great fun.. fantastic job and content.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks! And yes, better to just replace relatively cheap items now and not worry about them later. And definitely finish your BMW 👍 I’m also a royal enfield fan (obviously), but these iron barrel bullets are by far my favorite. The longest single running motorcycle model in history (longer than the Harley Sportster, etc.). This was never an investment, just getting an awesome bike back on the road. It looks and rides like something valuable (Norton or BSA for example), so who cares if it’s not worth $30k. I definitely recommend finding one to fix up. Not a lot money at the end of the day and you’ll have a piece of history to enjoy as long as you can ride. And you’ve got 25 good riding years left 😎

[@sharandeepsingh9559]

I live in India and they never gave us this beautiful green and i envy that!

[@amuzzmuzz]

Jaha dheekho bhek mangne lag jate hai , matt dubya kro Bharat ka naam . Jai hind

[@sharandeepsingh9559]

@@amuzzmuzz mere lun pe bajio chakke😈

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks, it’s a great color. Black would also be very nice

[@biku9571]

because green colour RE's are patented to army back at those times

[@userrrrrxx135]

​@@amuzzmuzzkyun jal rahe ho. I don't always like kesari colours for my bike. You jagrukta child

[@leondown6869]

Hi again. The indian electrix on these bikes does leave something to be desired. I have not found an accurate wiring diagram to match my bike but I have managed to arrange it so that every thing works and the magic smoke stays inside the wires. Also,Ive "upgraded" to a modern ' regrec' unit, all in one. So far it has been good. The Boyer ignition unit is also good but it needs a good fresh battery. Looking forward to seeing you ride your bike. They have a special charm to them, great fun to ride.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks and yes, I’ve definitely seen better electronics. Hopefully I’ll be riding it soon

[@wickedangel7]

Try and convert this to a dual spark plug for more power and a better mileage and instead of coil try to convert it from a classic 500cc TCI unit ..

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

All possible upgrades down the road. Trying to keep it (mostly) original for now

[@archond8922]

can't wait to see the ride, Now to find a exhaust pipe for mine lol. Looks good and love the videos on this bike.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks and I can’t wait to finally ride it again. Good luck with the exhaust - you saw how much trouble it was finding mine 😩

[@twostroke350]

There are two sorts of oil filter lid. One has a groove for the o-ring which should fit inside the housing once fitted. The other has no groove and takes a circular paper gasket instead. Easily cut out of a bit of thin card or you may already have one included in a gasket set.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Yeah it looks like it takes a paper gasket. It doesn’t look like there’s an issue, but I’ll fit one if a problem occurs. Thanks

[@felixVanDiemen]

That's great info. I've got a 2005 RE that I am in the process of fixing up. I love the knowledge and generosity of fellow RE enthusiasts 👌

[@ThomasSchmidt-t9t]

I had a similar problem, that ignition is very sensitive to a lower than 12.5 volts, get a good battery, we;; charged, also the ground strap to the frame behind the battery is likely corroded, clean that, verify good ground. In my experience, the "motorola" regulator never fails, usually it is the rectifier portion of the charging system. In fact, I replaced my rectifier with a Radio Shack rectifier which works better and very durable,(I ground out the innards of the original rectifier and us the case as a heat sink for the Radio Shack rectifier}. Good luck.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks and the ground is checked and clean, the battery is new and holding a full charge well and the regulator/rectifier is new. I’ll probably upgrade some things in the future

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

Vintage motorcycles are rebuidable forever ♾️.

[@ProSimex84]

Electronic ignitions need good healthy voltages. If that battery is toast, then that could be doing it. Id put points or a magneto in there, or at the very least the boyer you mentioned.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Yes, definitely. A new battery and Boyer are going in this week

[@WOLFIE-96B-UK]

Electrics are the Black Arts! Lol!

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

They are for sure 😂

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

And you can't blame Lucas!😂😂

[@andrewmcpoland9040]

From the video it looks like the wires from the ignition trigger have been pinched under the cover at some stage. The alloy is quite sharp at that point and the insulation could be damaged? Ask me how I know... P.s. the bike looks great! 👌

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Thanks. And the insulation is actually ok. It is something I looked at and I’m sure it’s an issue for many

[@mannbhupinder6160]

These Rectifiers very rarely go kaput plug out the connection between both and it will start the motorcycle with dead battery

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Yeah, I can bypass them, but I figure I’ll install new ones and (probably) never have to worry about it again

[@robgerety]

Why not use a meter and check from the plug back to diagnosis the electrical issue that is causing no spark?

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

I was replacing this anyways, so I took a curious and entertaining approach - let’s see what happens 😂. My multimeter was at the ready if it didn’t work

[@sameerfarooq_ali]

I have bullet 500 1982 dad of all bullets . My dad was in army got from him 😊

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

@@sameerfarooq_ali Very cool!

[@twostroke350]

Those reg/recs are terrible. If they haven't failed, they will fail. I've had two let go and they both failed at the regulator and cooked the alternator stator. You can swap in pretty much any reg/rec from a japanese bike, they are all made by the same company in different boxes. The mosfet type are best which have a part number starting with FH rather than the zenner type which start with SH. The three-phase honda type ones with the three yellows work fine. You'll have a spare yellow wire which you can just leave blank. the holes even line up with the captive nuts on that crosspiece on a lot of them.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Good to know, thanks

[@anthonyintrieri3329]

Rick's motorsports also makes quality reg/rectifier. Might have one that works for you. They have a lithium ion compatible one for my 89 Honda gb 500 which I'm going to buy so i can switch over to an ANTI-GRAVITY restart battery .i've had one in my other bike for 2 years and i love it .if the voltage drops below 11 (on mine, it's a small battery) it goes into sleep mode., which is great if you shut off bike with kill switch and forget to turn off key. Hit the restart button on battery and it wakes it up. I' had mine sit for a month in a cold garage with no tender and it cranked over no problem. Damn good battery 😎

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

@@anthonyintrieri3329 very cool. I’m getting an old school AGM battery and stock regulator, but might upgrade in the future

[@benrobertson7855]

Hi,the bike is sooo close,I can’t give any intelligent advice,but enjoy the great info in the comments,of my 2 bullet500s one has electronic ignition,the other points ( all original) and the points always starts way better,and with the manuals I can see some light….I wouldn’t have a clue about the electronic ignition,as I didn’t put it in,and would have to start by sacrificing a chicken…..I put in a brand new carb,60.00 bucks nz and that helped heaps with starting. Always appreciate your vids,best of luck.regards from New Zealand.

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

@@benrobertson7855 Thanks for watching! I was close to going with points, but settled on the Boyer as it’s a great ignition. Hopefully I’ll be riding later this week

[@shashikiranjeppu8158]

HI, did you get a chance to install the Boyer ignition kit?

[@shashikiranjeppu8158]

Just read in a past comment that you have installed the Boyer. Would be great if you could make a video of that or share some pics. Or talk more about it :-)

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

@@shashikiranjeppu8158 Hey, sorry for the late reply. I actually haven’t installed the Boyer yet. I’m about to replace the carb as the Indian one isn’t playing nice with the upgraded jets.

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

I got pulled over by a cop on my BSA 441 Victor because I was using hand signals and he didn't know what I was doing.

[@deltabluesdavidraye]

Put ooibtz back in there and put boyer branson regulator or use the single rect, reg.unit.the seperate ones are worthless

[@Cyclingwithgasoline]

Things are ok for now, but I’ll likely make some upgrades in the future. Thanks