My Orange Royal Enfield- New Bike Thread

[KungFooBob]

I raced DD when the Alpha 13's were the control tyre.

They were shocking when brand new or it was very cold. We had people high siding in the paddock at the first race of the season.

Once warmed up and they had a few miles on them they were great.

[weeksy]

That was a good watch

Interesting to see how different bikes ride completely differently, the gsxr destroying you on the straight and the 390 making up the ground late on...

The only problem really is, if you struggled there, imagine how you'd be feeling if it was the only bike you had a Portimao, that could make or break a very expensive trip.

[Tricky]

I raced DD when the Alpha 13's were the control tyre.

They were shocking when brand new or it was very cold. We had people high siding in the paddock at the first race of the season.

Once warmed up and they had a few miles on them they were great.

Yup, agree- I was despairing a bit after the first session, but it was probably only 5 or 6 degrees and the track was really cold, but once the day warmed up they were shit to a blanket

That was a good watch

Interesting to see how different bikes ride completely differently, the gsxr destroying you on the straight and the 390 making up the ground late on...

The only problem really is, if you struggled there, imagine how you'd be feeling if it was the only bike you had a Portimao, that could make or break a very expensive trip.

Aye, my thoughts exactly- Portimao bike it really isn't
In fairness to it, I only bought it on a whim with the thought that couchy might keep one of his slow track bikes more than 5 minutes and we could have some fun in a sort of "special bike" sort of old man race, but Saturday hammered it home to me- Tim (my mate who comes past in that vid just before Gixxer boy nearly highsides) just disappears when I'm on the 390, when I was on the 765 we were circulating together doing 46s, but I don't reckon I could get within 5 sec of that on the 390, as it currently is at least, and that difference would be even more at any other circuit I reckon.
The next time I go there it will have a few more hp hopefully, and I'll gear it better which will make a significant difference on that bike- I don't think I ever used 6th.

[Couchy]

I think the sweet spot for me is 70hp or so to make a little bike fun on your own. Much less is great with two or more of you but much less on your own is a bit tiresome

[Skub]

Heh,that cooled the Gixxer's jets for sure.

[Tricky]

I think the sweet spot for me is 70hp or so to make a little bike fun on your own. Much less is great with two or more of you but much less on your own is a bit tiresome

Yup, pretty much my view too.
I think the 390 can still be fun at Lydden and Pembrey, but anywhere else I'd just get blown away by most things, and yeah that does get tedious.
It's a shame the 690 lump is so physically big, as that power in an RC390 chassis would be a cracker of a bike I reckon, or even better, a 421cc Cheetah LC motor

Heh,that cooled the Gixxer's jets for sure.

It definitely detuned him a bit I think
There were a fair few offs, especially in the morning- I nearly ran over a CB500 that went down right in front of me at the hairpin in another busier session , should hopefully have video of that too, I'll post it up when I find it.

[Dodgy69]

Nice vid but couldn't stop thinking about oil.

[Nobby]

I rode down to down there on Saturday , mainly as a test to see if my arse could do a 3 hour journey with my new air seat.
Got as far as the gate where a covid restriction kicked in and entry was refused. This was at 10, just as recovery were removing a bike from the tyre wall at Paddock.

[Tricky]

I rode down to down there on Saturday , mainly as a test to see if my arse could do a 3 hour journey with my new air seat.
Got as far as the gate where a covid restriction kicked in and entry was refused. This was at 10, just as recovery were removing a bike from the tyre wall at Paddock.

That's a shame, would have been good to see you, and if I knew you were coming could have given you a cover story so you could have been Tim (my mate's) essential helper, bringing him a new sprangleiron or something.
As I guess you found out, on this one they were taking the Covid rules seriously on the gate, had a list with all entrants' names, and a box by the side of each name to tick if you had your one helper/mechanic or not.

[Bigyin]

Cracking video Tricky and shows exactly what the track is all about

I love Lydden .... first time i went there i thought it was shit with fuck all facilities and a bit mickey mouse. Soon realised i was wrong. As a spectator you can see the entire track from one point, it is a great equaliser in machinery. The Lord of Lydden meetings i used to marshal were superb as we had GP125 and GP250 mixed in with SS400, SS600, Powerbikes and a few Boxer cup R1200 Beemers and all battling round the short track. I remember when Lee Dickinson was almost untouchable on his RS250 GP bike that he won the MRO title on. The little cafe/caravan used to do the best breakfast roll of any circuit in the country.

Lydden also has some very personal memories for me

1) One of the closest i ever came to be being killed/seriously injured as a marshal protecting a fallen rider
2) First time i ever passengered an F1 sidecar outfit being piloted by the the then current leader of the F1 British Championship who decided to "give me a proper try out"
3) One of the funniest "things you do while a bit pissed in the paddock at night and decide to race on kids scooters"

[Tricky]

Had a couple of spare hours this morning, and as a result, this is how the 390 currently looks - I am off doing other stuff now but the plan is that I'll be inside the motor either later today if I can, or tomorrow for the big reveal.





From this morning's work and a little bit of googling it's become clear that isn't going to be the first time this motor has been apart, and the previous owner was, let's say, not entirely honest with me about its history in his possession when I bought it, but that's another story...

Anyway, stay tuned and watch this space to find out what the inside of a KTM 390 motor looks like, and to discover the cause of this one's appetite for oil

[weeksy]

LOL i look forward to that story over a beer

[Tricky]

Well, the motor is now in bits, a very straightforward and nice engine to work on once it's out of the frame, but FMOB, those head bolts were tight!

In terms of what I've found, the only area of concern really is just a very baggy oil control ring- I was expecting more but that's it, which is good news.
Bore is immaculate as is the piston ( aside from a bit of inconsequential gouging around the gudgeon pin circlips where the previous matey has obviously struggled a bit getting the clip in, but it's not significant.





End gaps on the rings are all well within tolerance, but the oil ring practically fell off the piston- I know that it is typically not as strongly sprung as the compression ring(s), but never seen one like this before- there's no physical damage to it, I'll be interested to see how it compares to a brand new one.
The valve stems and ports look clean, and the valves are all sealing perfectly so I'm as certain as I can be that the ring is the problem rather than valve guides.





There is some visible marking on a couple of the cam lobes, which does slightly concern me, but the rockers look good and I can't feel any of the marks with my fingernails so they'll all go back as they are. The exhaust cam has some blue felt pen writing on it which is a bit strange, just letters and numbers, not sure of the significance currently



Three of the valve clearances were just (.05 mm bigger ) outside the upper band of tolerance, so need a few shims too- sod's law I forgot to include them on the order I've just done.
I've ordered a complete piston kit, probably could have got away with just the rings but seems the sensible thing to do, and new valve stem seals, may as well replace them whilst it's apart.

It's on back-order, but hopefully won't be more than a week or so, I'll get the gasket faces cleaned up and everything ready this week, with a view to getting it all back together next weekend assuming the bits arrive by then, and then if possible get it on the dyno for an hour or so to give it a check-over and run it in -if I can't, then I'll just rag it around the roads of Buckinghamshire for a few miles.
I'm currently on the reserve list for the next Lydden TD on 15th May so that's its next planned outing, assuming someone drops out of course

[Tricky]

At long (long long) last, DPD man arrived today with these goodies, so as soon as I can get back in the garage (likely this weekend) I'll get the motor back together and back in the bike- interestingly, everything has " made in India" on it with the exception of the piston and rings, which is made in Austria, and has that printed on the top of the piston itself in addition to the packaging.

The good news is that the difference between the new and old oil control ring is absolutely night and day, feck knows why the old one is so flaccid and un-springy but that's the issue.
Next exciting installment with pictures (and hopefully another dyno print-out after) to follow soon , then it's off to Brands with it 2 weeks today for another trackday

[Tricky]

I got a few hours in the garage this week-end so made some progress

Before I re-assembled the motor, thought I'd do a bit more comparison of the old and new pistons;- as expected from the visual condition of the old one, there was no discernable size difference between the two

Old...


And new


It turns out a couple of (inconsequential) marks on the old piston that I thought must have been created by the previous owner weren't as the new piston has exactly the same maks, so I assume its from the jig/chuck or tool that it's held in at the factory for finishing



I used a ring compressor to fit the piston to the bore before attaching it to the conrod, and I must admit, although this is the KTM recommended way, what a pain it then is to get the second circlip in- there is so little room relatively speaking and after a few minutes I was considering pulling the barrel and doing it the more traditional (for me anyway) way and fitting the piston to the conrod first, but we got there in the end





So, the motor is all now back together and back in the frame, but that is as far as I got before I had to call it a day yesterday



Nearly there though, just got to connect everything back up, re- fit the rad, exhaust, panels etc and we'll be there- hopefully this evening or tomorrow if not.
Realistically not going to make it to a dyno before it's next trackday a week tomorrow, so a few miles around the lanes here will do just to check all's good and bed it in a bit before Brands

[Taipan]

Great (illustrated) thread. Thoroughly enjoying how this is going!

[ogri]

Wassat line?

[crust]

Nice one Rich.

The 350 is going to need a new piston soonish. Any special tools, handy widgets needed to gt the top off?

I'm assuming the engines are similar.

[lostboy]

Wassat line?

You waited until it was back together before you asked him that didn't you?! You little scamp!

[Tricky]

Wassat line?

You waited until it was back together before you asked him that didn't you?! You little scamp!

Lol yeah - it's a good question, don't know what it was is the honest answer, but it cleaned straight off, and there was no visible evidence of any cracks etc after I'd cleaned the gasket surface.
I think it was most likely caused by some evaporation of the brake cleaner I filled the combustion chamber with to check the valve sealing.

Nice one Rich.

The 350 is going to need a new piston soonish. Any special tools, handy widgets needed to gt the top off?

I'm assuming the engines are similar.

They look pretty similar from the outside certainly, and no, no special tools, is a very straightforward and easy to work on motor apart from the amount of space you have fitting the final piston circlip in if you do it the recommended way with the piston already in the barrel- I'm guessing there is probably a special tool for that though- they are just the usual little wire ones, and I just used a pair of small screwdrivers