The Reasons For This Manual

In the early '90s of the last century, your author was among the many who discovered the existence of the manufacturing of the original-pattern '55 Royal Enfield 350 Bullets by Enfield of India. As it happened, I was a huge fan of the original Redditch (England) models in their heyday, having owned, street-ridden, and even raced a number of them. They were an orphan motorcycle in Vancouver, where I was growing up in the late '50s, and I was thus forced to do a lot of self-teaching about their idiosyncracies during that time - there was very little available in the way of manuals for them, and few people who seemed to know anything about them, so it took a lot of research and hands-on tinkering. As these were essentially an "orphan" motorcycle, and there were few on the ground, every one I ran across for sale needed help, so they were quite cheap to buy, yet a great bike when properly fettled, so much easier to sell when fixed. Thus my quest for knowledge was well-rewarded at that time! And when almost -identical Bullets began to be exported into North America some 40 years later, I was well-positioned to be helpful to a number of new Bullet fans, particularly on the internet in such places as the royalenfield and bulletech yahoogroups.

I might mention that, although the Indian Bullets had been in production (and in large numbers!) there for 40 years, there was still little available in the way of a decent service manual for the Bullet. The factory manual was quite esoteric, assuming a basic fundamental knowledge of motorcycle work in general, and was a constant source of complaints by owners of export models - it seems that Bullet repair had become somewhat of a folk art in India, with much of the repair and maintenance knowledge being passed by word-of-mouth and from father to son. It appears that the many Bullets on the road were being kept in condition by a huge network of streetcorner repair people, and the odd dealer who had managed to acquire a good reputation. Owners themselves appear(ed) to be a lot non-interested in getting their fingernails dirty, preferring instead to seek out a competent mechanic, whether street-corner, genuine unauthorized dealer, or even a member of the dealer network in India. At any rate, this left little for the new dealer in North America, or the DIY owner who would rather have a much more comprehensive manual for a few dollars than have to figure it all out for himself.

Thus, after having a look at the various available manuals (ie, two: one from the original Redditch factory, and one slightly improved from the contemporary one), your author embarked on a journey which resulted in Manual A.

The Arrival Of The UCE Bullet

So why me? My experience of the mid-'50s with the earlier Bullets is of no particular value here. Consequently, when asked by various members of the Enfield fraternity when I was going to come out with a manual for the new Bullet, my reply was just that - why me? I have little to no hands-on experience with the new machine; my personal specific motorcycle interests don't particularly run to anything made after 1970; they aren't even sold in my country - Canada (although this may change soon); the reasons not to seemed to outnumber the reasons for writing yet another manual. However, it seemed that there were many user/readers of my previous Bullet Manual who were considering purchasing un Bullet nouveau, and who appeared to feel that ownership would only be complete if they had a companion Pete Snidal manual to go with it!

I also ride, tune, fettle, and collect old Triumphs. I never felt a need to write a Triumph manual, since Triumph of Meriden (England) had distinguished themselves from the git-go as being producers of a more-than-excellent series of service manuals - one for each and every model - beautifully illustrated, comprehensive in every way, and complete in every detail (although expensive!) However, I was getting enquiries from some of my Enfield Bullet manual readers asking when I was going to come up with a Triumph manual! After I got tired of explaining that there were so many possible models to cover, and that the factory manuals just could not be improved upon, I finally concluded that I had a readership! There were some Triumph owners out there who had my Bullet Manual, who liked the "Idiot's Guide To Volkswagen Repair" style, and wanted something similar to help them along with their Triumphs. Thus I wrote the Triumph_101 manual, conceived from its inception as an auxilliary, or an adjunct to the appropriate Triumph manual for any specific Triumph. If there was anything lacking in the factory Triumph manuals - still available, by the way, although the factory is long-gone - it was that they were serious shop manuals, written in "mechanicese," assuming a certain background in the fine art of monkey-wrenching. Thus Triumph_101 was written to provide a bridge for those with a non-mechanical background to the more esoteric factory manuals. And it is well-received by a number of Triumph owners, most of whom have followed the advice given therein also to purchase a parts book and service manual for their specific model before embarking on any serious mechanical adventures.

Why am I telling you this? Simply to explain the reason for this, the UCE Bullet manual. Just as with the Triumphs, this time the Royal Enfield (India) factory manual is, in my opinion, a well-written and comprehensive service manual, with no particular shortcomings as far as I can see. So once again, one finds oneself responding to one's public, writing a "bridge manual" to the more comprehensive factory manual. A quick perusal of the index will show that I am limiting the scope of this one to the advertised purpose of the earlier Triumph one, covering only "basic care, feeding, and fettling" of the UCE Bullet. As for serious shop work, it will go only as far as the most common engine procedure - top end overhaul and behind-the-sidecovers work. Any further than that I shall leave to the excellent manual produced by REI. Lots of photos and drawings, step-by-step procedures listed, no reason that I can see for much redundancy on my part.

But for you fans of Manual A, I hope that you will find this Manual B sufficient, and, to the non-mechanic, a suitable bridge to understanding of the much more comprehensive factory service manual. You'll want a parts book, too, for serious delving into the guts of your UCE. Thank you for purchasing this manual. I appreciate your interest! Pete Snidal - Dec '09