Classic Motorworks, USA has issued a recall for a number of unit construction 2009 Royal Enfield Bullets for a problem with galling on the clutch shaft. Please read below for further details.
Manufacturer: Classic Motorworks Limited, USA
Models affected:
2009 Royal Enfield Bullet Electra E-5 EFI
2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Classic EFI
2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Deluxe EFI
2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G5 Military EFI
NHTSA Campaign Number: 09V235000
Potential Units Affected: 196
Problem: Classic Motorworks is recalling 196 model year 2009 Bullet Electra E-5, Bullet G5 Classic, Bullet G5 Military, and Bullet G5 Deluxe motorcycles equipped with the unit construction, EFI engine. These motorcycles can experience third gear galling on the clutch shaft due to lack of lubrication. This condition can allow the gear to seize to the shaft, causing rear wheel lock up. This could result in a crash that could cause injury or death to the rider.
Corrective Action: Dealers will inspect and replace the third gear and clutch shaft with increased clearance free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on or before June 29, 2009. Owners may contact Classic Motorworks at 1-800-201-7472.
todd says
wow, only 196 units affected. I wonder how they found this one out and determined it wasn’t just a fluke. Maybe it was one batch of 200 and four already failed. Interesting that they will just increase the clearance instead of (somehow) increasing the lubrication.
-todd
Eddie says
Increasing the clearance will increase lubrication.
Burphel says
There’s been a fair amount of discussion of issues with 3-4 gear changes on the US Royal Enfield forums. As far as I know, nobody’s let it go long enough to cause a rear wheel lock before they took the bike back to the dealer and had it checked out. I’d say it’s only 196 units because RE’s are a bit of a niche motorcycle and the UCE models are really just starting to hit the dealerships. All in all, I’d chalk it up to the folks at Enfield paying attention to feedback from their early adopters and taking quick action to investigate a common complaint and fix the problem when they figured it out.
I’ve been seriously considering picking up one of the new Enfields as my next bike. If anything, this gives me another reason to consider it.
kevin mahoney says
In the interest of transparency here is an explanation about our recall. A bike was found in post production testing that had a noisy transmission (All bikes get a dyno workout before being released). As it was analyzed, it was discovered that there was galling between third gear and the clutch main shaft. In further testing it was determined that the clearance between the shaft and gear was less than the specification called for in the design specs. This was an error on the part of the supplier that we didn’t catch. We then started to determine if this was a one off or something larger. At the same time just to be sure, the engineers changed the shape of the oil groove in the shaft to be U shaped instead of V shaped to move more oil. The clearance spec was also changed to insure that the optimum lubrication occurred. While trying to determine when the out of spec. parts had entered the system, there were a couple failures in Europe from the same thing. At that point it was decided to recall the entire production lot up to the point the changes were put into effect just to be safe. Fortunately no one was hurt. As the importer, I have been very proud of Royal Enfield’s response. Because it is a fairly small company (50,000 units a year), everyone from the CEO to the engineering staff was right on top of this. They have a very intense pride in these new bikes. They are staking their future on these new models and have a system to track every paint pimple of each bike to make improvements as issues arise. After we sold our first 50 units in the US they shut down the entire factory for an all employee meeting with me to go over each and every little thing that our dealers had come across.
Although you can expect me to say nice things about the factory and the product, it is really a great feeling to be involved with a company where I can pick up the phone and chat with the CEO at any time. Even better is the fact that they look to their importers and customers as the primary source of information about their products.
I deal with a lot of companies around the world and Royal Enfield is by far the best to deal with.
kneeslider says
Kevin, thanks for the background on the recall. Sounds like a very positive and proactive process and that builds confidence all around. Hope the new Bullets do very well.
Mark Chanen says
I am the owner of a Bullet affected by the recall. I am inconvenienced but more than satisfied with the company’s response. Alot of discussion on owner forums has been highly critical and even harsh (“keeping up the British tradition” and such). The most common manufacturer’s response to such a problem is to quietly fix the problem, then, with such a small number of units affected and no accidents, deny there ever was a problem. When my Suzuki Bandit was burning a quart of oil every four hundred miles, new, it was like pulling teeth to get Suzuki to fix the problem. And in that 2002 model year there were thousands of bikes affected. Royal Enfield would not even let me ride the bike to the dealer. That tells me they are concerned about me as a person, not just as a customer. Find another manufacturer/ importer like that.