Turn signal indicator replacement.

[young gun]

Hi, I am new to the forum. I live in Johanessburg, South Africa and I have just bought, which to my knowledge looks to be a 2005 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 (AVL, Sixty5). I got it in really good condition with very low milage (2600km/1625miles). The bike so far has been great, as expected, its a relatively quirk which is why I decided to buy it.

One big bug bear I have is the turn signal indicators, although they do glow, is close to pointless as you cant see them when you are riding. The indicator pod to me seems pretty pointless since you really have no idea whether the turn signals have been deactivated unless you actually take a look at the indicators themselves.

I've been looking at the Hitchcocks catalog and there seems to be a few fixes but to be honest, all I really want to do is change the turn signal indicator bulb in the speedo console to LED and that should sort out the issue. Right now its pretty dangerous as I find im second guessing myself everytime I cancel the indicator, have I cancelled it, have I inadvertently switched on the other indicator etc.

Any ideas?

[young gun]

Oh and here's a pic of my lady

[Chuck D]

Young gun,
What you've got there is a black and chrome "Classic Deluxe", not "Sixty-5" with the "iron barreled", not "AVL" engine. And it looks mint.
Do this. Before a ride, verify that your turn signals work. While you are riding if you think you forgot to cancel the signal just press the button again. More than likely, they'll be doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. Activating either the right or left signal is a distinctly different action from canceling as far as your thumb is concerned and there really shouldn't be any confusion there.
Welcome aboard!
Chuck.

[boggy]

Chuck is there a "cancel" button on your controls? I don't have one on mine.

young gun, if you don't have a cancel button, one trick I do is press 'in' on the button to make sure it's off.  On my bullet, if the switch is in the off position (not right or left) you can press in on the button and it has a springy-give to it. If it's in the on position (right or left) it won't push in so you will know they are on.  Pressing it in doesn't cancel a turn indicator on my controls.  This is just my quick-trick of making sure my indicators are off.

That is one really nice looking Iron barrel Bullet.

[barenekd]

Get some LEDs for it. The part number form Super Bright LEDs in the US is BA9S-W4-90-12V. You will be able to see these easily in the daylight. Be sure to get the W4 version. The W version has one LED in it vs 4 in the W4 version. The Ws aren't any better than stock. You can replace all three bulbs in the Speedo with them. Bulbs are available for everything in the bike except the headlight and do not replace the actual turn signal bulbs. The LEDs won't work.
Bare

[Jack Leis]

Beautiful bike ! Welcome to the forum young gun !

[Chuck D]

Chuck is there a "cancel" button on your controls? I don't have one on mine.

young gun, if you don't have a cancel button, one trick I do is press 'in' on the button to make sure it's off.  On my bullet, if the switch is in the off position (not right or left) you can press in on the button and it has a springy-give to it. If it's in the on position (right or left) it won't push in so you will know they are on.  Pressing it in doesn't cancel a turn indicator on my controls.  This is just my quick-trick of making sure my indicators are off.

That is one really nice looking Iron barrel Bullet.

Boggy, those controls look identical to the Minda's that came stock on mine and if I remember correctly they would move either left or right and then return to the neutral middle thus you could not look at the switch and know if it was "indicating". So when I had 'em I'd just hit the button again to make sure they were canceled.
Chuck.

[barenekd]

If the button is in the middle and you push it, that will turn the signal off. Sometimes mine would turn off just by returning it to the center.
Bare

[young gun]

If the button is in the middle and you push it, that will turn the signal off. Sometimes mine would turn off just by returning it to the center.
Bare

Yup that sounds like mine. I'll try Chucks trick, hopefully it works if not, LED's will be going in. I love nostalgia but not at the sake of my life

Whats the difference between the AVL and the cast iron? Over time i'll be making some changes to the bike, its why I decided to go in this direction, so understanding what I am dealing with is always a good thing there are so many models and variations of models, you can get a bit lost.

And yes, I think I scored here, the guy owned 2 Harley's and they got most of his attention which is why the milage was so low, but he did care for her

[young gun]

Oh and the reason I thought it may be the Sixty5 was because it has a starter and a 5 speed box? Can you use VIN numbers to determine the model somehow?

[Chuck D]

Young gun,
The "AVL" was a transitional engine that was used on some models for a few years to bridge the gap between the older (and original) design and the spankin' new "UCE" engines of all models since around 2010 (was it?). Your bike has got the good 'ol fashioned, been around for 60 or so years, cast iron barreled engine.
If real "vintage" as opposed to "retro" is what you were after you got the right bike. It gets a little confusing because for one thing, RE designates essentially the same models by different names according to which market they're being sold in and also using the word "classic" in the naming of the new B5,and G5 UCE bikes. This sight doesn't help matters much since the advent of the B5'sand G5's  by using the word "classic" in the heading for topics related to the cast iron barreled bikes. Personally, I think that anytime you have to call something classic in it's name, you are simply calling attention to some fakery. But again I digress.
Back to the AVL's for a moment, if you see one quickly, they do bear a passing resemblance to the older engines but there is absolutely nothing that is interchangeable about them.
The "Sixty-5" was a styling exercise (around 2004, I think) that also introduced the (then) new 5 speed gear box. It was built on the same old fashioned chassis as their other iron barreled models and was mechanically identical to them more or less. I say more or less because over the years,RE was transitioning away from whitworth fasteners and going metric and also royally screwing with the crank case breather in the name of emissions compliance. There was no pin striping on the tank or fenders and the forks had rubber gaiters. Otherwise they were pretty much the same bikes.
So to sum it up, when you buy spares like gaskets and oil filters, chains and sprockets and cables and such,  you have an IRON BARREL (say it proudly!). NField Gear (our host) refers to them now as "Legacy" models. Hitchcock's has a handy window on each of their products that will tell you immediately if the item fits your bike.
Oh, and another cool thing, when someone admires your bike and asks where they might perhaps get one, you can then smile ruefully and say, "they don't make 'em anymore".
Chuck.

[tooseevee]

    Like others have already said, I, too, find it very easy to feel when the switch hits "neutral" (off) if pushed easily to the center. No problem. A lot of the "problems" some people seem to have are just finesse problems or "getting used to" problems.

    But, yes. The little light could be brighter. I forget to use the blinkers most of the time; I'm just so used to sticking my arm out. Stubborn dinosaur.

     You got yerself a nice Iron Head there, pilgrim.

[young gun]

Whoa, so I inadvertently bought the real deal?! Lol, I was looking at the new UCE versions but I couldn't find any that fitted my budget, when I saw this lady going for a good price I went for it. Tbh I find the Der versions of this bike quite a bit more atteactive that the newer ones! The older ones seem a little more honest. Are there any concessions to this motor? I don't intend on riding her hard but I had to use the freeway to get her home and I was hitting about 100 - 110 (65 - 70mph). I had no choice, our freeways are pretty fast in SA. You drive slow and you die.

Barenekd is this what I am looking for? http://www.superbrightleds.com/search/led-products/BA9S-W4-/ ?

And chuck, my bike will then be what Hitchcock's refers to as the Electric Start? Or the Bullet (IND MKT). They have:

Bullet (export)
Bullet (ind mkt)
Bullet Redditch
Electric Start
Sixty 5
Electra X
Thunderbird
Electra efi
Classic efi
B5 efi

[young gun]

Oh and 2 more questions, what is that thing thats plugged into my exhaust pipe at the top of the cylinder head and I have a lonesome pipe sticking out of my carb that just seems to dangle, there doesn't seem anywhere it can plugged into? is this some kind of overflow pipe?

[tooseevee]

Oh and 2 more questions, what is that thing thats plugged into my exhaust pipe at the top of the cylinder head and I have a lonesome pipe sticking out of my carb that just seems to dangle, there doesn't seem anywhere it can plugged into? is this some kind of overflow pipe?

            That thing that's plugged into your header pipe is part of the Pulse Air system for the catalytic converter (emissions control) in that giant silencer. It's part of why the damn thing gets hot enough to melt lead.

             Many of us have removed all the emissions stuff & modified our intakes, exhausts & carburetors to help the engines run better, but you need to read way more about these bikes & get a couple of manuals & absorb them before you're ready to do that. You must understand everything before you start changing things.

             You have a different carb than I have so I can't tell you where that hose goes plus you don't describe it well enough. Does it point down? Is it clear or black?