Lets fix this Bullet

[Vecchio Lupo]

Well....purchased new in 2011, 6 thousand trouble free miles put on the rig in the Jacksonville FL area until medical issues parked the G5 Bullet in 2017. Fast forward to last Monday and I purchased said project and dragged her home to Charleston SC. Come with me as we rehab this old Bullet and get her back on the road.

I separated the sidecar (which is another restoration for another thread) so I could get the bike on my lift table. I removed the seat, side covers, and racks in anticipation of sourcing new bits. I removed the spark plug and gave it a few squirts of penetrating oil before turning over the engine by hand.

I drained the oil (very dark and smelled a little gasoline-ish) and replaced with 30wt just to get running and then after 1 heat cycle I will change again with correct weight and new filters.

I put a gallon of ethanol free unleaded and a quart of Sea Foam fuel additive to try and loosen up and dissolve any varnish deposits on bottom of empty tank and hopefully rehydrate the fuel pump. tomorrow I will pour it out and try to get the fuel pump to move some go go juice.

I will replace the battery tomorrow as well......wish me luck. I will turn the engine over without the spark plug to get some oil circulated and then see if the injector is injecting.


here are a couple pics.

 

[CiscoGoodDog]

Fingers crossed and hoping you can get it fired up

 

[Vecchio Lupo]

Today was not so bad. After some individual prodding with the power probe I was finally able to get the starter to spin free and fast, the fuel pump to pump , and the coil to spark. I could not get them to function as part of the greater bullet wiring harness. Since all systems were down, I figured it was a central problem....the clutch switch looked suspect but was ok, all the relays clicked as far as I could tell.......yes.......the side stand cut out switch was sticky. I now have free flowing fuel, free spinning starter and good spark. I have not attempted to start yet but I will take video of first attempt . The spark-lightnng plug was a super premium R6 Bosch and that seems wrong.

 

[CiscoGoodDog]

I now have free flowing fuel, free spinning starter and good spark

You're making progress. No need to rush. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Vecchio Lupo]

very anti-climatic, new battery, fresh gas, hit the button, and she started right up and settled down to a steady idle. I did film it but why post such a boring 10 second clip. Now that I have achieved smooth running (for a single) , I can concentrate on cleaning and trying to save some of the chrome. the muffler, headlight bezel, and front fender are beyond help, but I believe I can save the rest.

Im looking to save the rims too, my vision is a brown solo saddle, black rear rack, brown hand grips and maybe a new header and a Dunstall megaphone exhaust. I'd love a Velocette style perforated fishtail but haven't found one yet I can afford.

 

[CiscoGoodDog]

she started right up and settled down to a steady idle

Bravo, well done

 

[Roy Gavin]

very anti-climatic, new battery, fresh gas, hit the button, and she started right up and settled down to a steady idle. I did film it but why post such a boring 10 second clip. Now that I have achieved smooth running (for a single) , I can concentrate on cleaning and trying to save some of the chrome. the muffler, headlight bezel, and front fender are beyond help, but I believe I can save the rest.

Im looking to save the rims too, my vision is a brown solo saddle, black rear rack, brown hand grips and maybe a new header and a Dunstall megaphone exhaust. I'd love a Velocette style perforated fishtail but haven't found one yet I can afford.

I had a Velo with a Fishtail a few years ago.
Mine came in two parts - one was a capped and perforated tube, resonator?, which fitted over the exhaust pipe, and the fishtail muffler which was just an empty can and clamped over the tube and pipe.
The tube broke at the pipe end, without it the bike hardly ran, cutting the broken end square and refitting the shortened pipe made it run a little better but a fair way from the correct length.
I had a genuine Gold Star muffler lying around, this was back in the days when folks removed the BSA motors and replaced them with a Triumph twin, and it was a little better, as long as you kept the revs over 4500. Below this it was like the Fishtail with no resonator.
So my take is that the construction of these things is critical , and you probably need the separate resonator to enable you to tune it to your bike.
In Oz we can buy good quality replicas of the Dunstall Decibel cans made by Orion Pacific at a sensible price and the one on Nicoles Electra works perfectly. and looks good.
These bikes run hot and require a extremely cold plug so I would get the correct plug in ASAP. That is, one with the centre electrode well recessed.

 

[Vecchio Lupo]

I have always liked the Dunstall megaphones and used to run them on everything, might just try that. what do you mean electrode recessed? The consensus is NGK BPR6ES, but I figure a 8 or even 9 heat range would be ok here in hot as hell South Carolina.

 

[Roy Gavin]

In Nicoles Electra the plug was a a special.
The BPR6ES has a Projecting tip, that is, the electrode and ceramic surround project well past the end of the plug so it is exposed to a fair bit of heat and runs quite hot.
The Electra plug was the opposite, the electrode gets barely past the end of the plug, the ceramic surround does not even reach it, so it absorbs less heat and runs cooler.
But it was one of the first "Lean Burn" injected motors, perhaps yours is not, but worth checking.
The Electra has been sold , or I would check.

 

[Morgan60]

very anti-climatic, new battery, fresh gas, hit the button, and she started right up and settled down to a steady idle. I did film it but why post such a boring 10 second clip. Now that I have achieved smooth running (for a single) , I can concentrate on cleaning and trying to save some of the chrome. the muffler, headlight bezel, and front fender are beyond help, but I believe I can save the rest.

Im looking to save the rims too, my vision is a brown solo saddle, black rear rack, brown hand grips and maybe a new header and a Dunstall megaphone exhaust. I'd love a Velocette styleperforated fishtail but haven't found one yet I can afford.

As I said before I have the same model G5 Bullet as you have. The first thing I did was to have the dealer send my wheels off to Buckanan in CA for Akront stylrims and polished stainless steel spokes. They did a beautiful job and look great today.

Buchanan Spokes - Akront

Akront

www.buchananspokes.com

I to have been looking for a Velocette style muffler but no luck after 12 years.

A full size chrome headlight bezel and head light you can find on eBay for around $45-$50 with shipping out of India. Best is if you can find a genuine RE one if possible. They are much better then the worthless 5” one that came on the bike here in the US.

 

[Vecchio Lupo]

great advice on the headlight, that 5" thing is crap. I do find that I enjoy riding around on the Bullet more than I anticipated. I haven't turned a wheel on my R100/7 in a month or more.

 

[Morgan60]

Yes it’s ready amazing how fun the early G5 Bullets are to ride. Yes it has no power but that’s why RE gave us a 5 speed gearbox. I plan on keeping mine for ever. Every time I’m out on it people are always saying “nice bike, did you restore it yourself.” I say no I’m just the money man and keep riding with a big smile on my face.