Hello,
I have some observartions to share.
SOme time ago a Norvegian fellow with an Enfield made from India to Istanbul.
The bike had crankshaft problem. To find a mechanic was not easy.
He had some repair in Iran. It look like they made even more damage than repair. Parts were ordered all the way from İndia. They cost next to nothing but still some vital parts were missing. Finally the bike was sent to Norway via cargo.

Anothe traveller ended up leaving his bike some where in Eastern Turkey.

Unless you travel with lots of parts, and you know how to fix that bike, I would not advise it. Once you are in India I hear you can find a mechanic very very easily.

Take your Yamaha or BMW, enjoy the ride...

Have good one.

Burak

OK so I've decided on the Enfield and done a fair amount of preparation to the Bike - the list includes:-
Replacement inner tubes (also taking 2 spare)
Strengthen front mudguard
New front springs
New rear shock absorbers (Hagon)
New 5 speed gearbox ( original was 4 speed - big gap between 3rd and 4th)
Electronic ignition ( will take spare points/condensor in case)
Boyer power box to replace Regulator and Rectifier
High performance coil
All electrics moved into left hand tool box
Front brake modification ( it now nearly stops!!)
Complete check of wiring circuit and improved earth contacts
'O' ring chain
New Amal carb (had the slider machined and fitted with brass sleeve) with free flowing filter
Made some sponge type outer filter to fit onto cone air filter
Big 18ltr fuel tank
Single seat
strenghtend rear mudguard (although the 350 ones are stronger than the 500 bullet ones already)
Side stand with wide metal plate on 'foot'
High rise handlebars
Replaced all cables with new ones and had the new inner cables replaced with Japanese non memory ones ( also taking 1 spare of each)
A friend of mine is currently making a luggage system for the rear which will be supported on the frame and not the Mudguard. Also taking 3 X TKC80's which I have fitted provisionaly to make sure there are no problems ( needed to cut away part of front mudguard )

I've done most of the work to keep costs down and used some S/H parts like the fuel tank - some people would say I'm going over the top with preparation but I know I'm going to have problems and I just want to reduce the amount!!

Forgot to say all this has been done on a bike that has only just covered 400 miles

Should be off in September down the West Coast of Africa.

Going to the UK Hubb meet if anyone is interested in a chat

All the best

Rob

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Rob

Nice one Rob, looks like you've constructed yourself a nice little adv-tourer! I'll keep an eye out for it at Lumb farm!
This is probably unecessary to say as I'm sure you know but remember to run that bike in REALLY gently. They're not made to the same tolerances as 'modern' bikes. The good thing about that though is how the bikes feel improves over the first 1000km. Mine felt SO much nicer at 1000km than it did at the start.

Matt

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Hi Rob,

All the mods to the bike look really sound. We've made it to Ethiopia with our Bullet now, I'd suggest a couple more mods from our experience: the primary drive cover is really vulnerable to damage from rocks, a bash plate is a must to avoid this - the ones available from Watsonian and Hitchcocks look nice but are too narrow for real hard going, I bought a Hitchocks one and then enlarged it by fitting a large ally plate over it to give a bit more protection. It helps to drill a large hole in the bottom so that you can get to the oil drain plug too or else it is a real pain to change oil. The other mod is really simple and a bit of a bodge but I've found that in sandy conditions the oil filler cap is pretty vulnerable to attracting sand all around it, to get over this you can just cut a length of bicycle inner tube and stretch it over. This keeps out sand and if you drop the bike oil will not spill out. Would recommend getting a Hitchcocks oil breather mod to go with this too and oiling the chain manually. If you don't use the Hitchcocks mod then check that the oil tank can still breath OK with the rubber sleeve over it.

Hope that helps. At the pace you are planning to ride we'll probably be in SA at the same time. It would be cool to have a mini HU Bullet meet in CapeTown.

Good luck, cheers

Richard

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