insurance UK

[sbrumby]

New bike done now & passed the MOT. Rang the insurance Footman James, told them what I had got , I pay £120 at the moment for two bikes fully comp, agreed values, breakdown cover. The new bike just adds £30.
Easy to deal with over the phone & I can recomend them. I think it would be usefull if a few people could post what they pay & it gives everybody an idea what they should be paying. I will post the pics Friday as I get the stickers for it then.

[Dan J]

Needed to insure my bike today so Henry Price can get it taxed. I called Carole Nash first who wanted full bike spec including engine spec sheets sent to them. Stuff that I thought - after looking on here (where I should've come first) I read sbrumby's recommendation of Footman James and tried them.

One ten minute phone call and all sorted. I've no no claims bonus, a clean licence, and had Class 1 business use (so I can ride it to both place of work and client sites) put on all for the princely sum of £180 (the business use added on £30). They're also helpfully sending a cover note copy to Henry.

All in all recommended for anyone in need of insurance for a diesel conversion.

P.s. Thanks sbrumby - saved me calling several other places first with your post

[Cockney Bob]

Hope to see you and your bike soon you must come to one of our Southend Brekkies or we are going to Battlesbridge this Sunday.
Dont forget to check all the bolts and nuts are tight and locked down before you ride off.My bike is now going again but I had to have the Head off Five times before I found the fault.
Have fun
Bob

[Dan J]

Hi Bob.
Dave has also reminded me about the Southend breakfast run - I won't be able to make July but definitely hoping to make the August (31st) one. Look forward to meeting you and everyone else and glad you've got the bike sorted now.
Speak soon...
Dan

[Stuart]

I'm with Carol Nash and I found them to be a little dearer but stuck with them because of european breakdown cover. Figured I might need that if all goes wrong on the way to Hamm one time.
The cost goes up and down because I keep adding bikes. I think it's around £150

[Dan J]

Stuart - if CN work for you then great, maybe I just got someone who wasn't too familiar with diesel bikes (it just isn't good enough ). For the record though, Footman James have also given me European breakdown cover thrown in.

[Stuart]

Dan,
that's good that Footman James give you the same cover. I forgot to say that I did get the third degree from CN over the bikes details. I was adding to an existing policy at the time. Maybe I'll change next time. Sounds like it might save me a few quid

[GeoffK]

I just got a Royal Enfield Bullet, modified by Henry Price to take a 406cc Yanmar engine. Really pleased with the bike, but getting insurance has been a pain in the rear end.

I worked my way through a number of insurance companies. Norwich Union would not touch it because it had a Chinese Engine. A number of other companies would not look at it because it was a foreign import, or was modified.

Footman James no longer insure imported bikes. At least, that is what I was catagorically informed. And since my Enfield was made in India, it is classed as a foreign import.

I finally found a safe haven with Carol Nash, who are quoting me £188.

Bikesure may yet offer me a quotation, but they are demanding a full specification sheet on the bike, including all modifications made to the frame, along with photos of the bike.

Geoff

[Cockney Bob]

Welcome to the Diesel club. If you have not ridden it yet Post Dan in Chelmsford on the Bullet mania forum .He has a lot of experience in this bike.
I have a Henry price Greeves which is going well now but took a lot to get reliable . Check all your nuts after each ride for the first couple of thousand miles. The vibes loosen anything.
Bob

[GeoffK]

Thanks for the welcome Bob.

Yes, I have already noted that Henry is not a believer in doing nuts and bolts up heroically tight. Do not misunderstand, I count this as a virtue, but I will certainly follow your advice about going around the bike regularly, making sure it still has its full complement.

Cheers,

Geoff

[Stuart]

Yes, Wel;come Geoff You might wanna consider replacing some of those loose nuts with Stainless ones because the imported bikes don't like our climate too much

[taildraggin]

I've gone a bit too far on some of my tightening, too, spinning the tops off of a few. A clutch basket bolt (Whitworth!) was the latest test of my EZ Out skills. Many of the RE bolts are very soft.

[Dan J]

Geoff - welcome to the dark side Where are you based?

I bought a Yanmar diesel conversion from HP July this year. Stuff done so far...

1. Replaced many screws, nuts and bolts

2. My bike came with the governor springs on the weakest (inner) settings. They've been moved out to the outer holes on both throttle arm and governor arm - it's like a different bike now. You will NOT achieve a good top speed (55mph+) without doing this. Check where they are currently set - they are a nuisance to change (I did with engine/gearbox on the bike and used bent coat hangers etc). See here for more details... http://www.dieselbike.net/phpBB-2.0.21/ ... .php?t=555 Note that the engine speed works entirely around tension in the springs - less tension = less possible top speed so it's important to sort this out

3. Next and possibly even more important... My bike smoked heavily on arrival and taking warnings from all manner of people including Diesel Dave who suffered the hard way with a seized piston you really need to make sure the max fuel stop is set correctly. Others here (andrewaust) can advise better but as a starter look at ...
i. Get the bike outside in the light with the engine running. See how the bottom governor arm behaves as you open the throttle - it's pulled up as you open the throttle (the position governs max fuel) and then moves back to a "balance point" as the engine speeds up. Where the governor arm is pulled up to is the max fuel point. This will help with the following...
ii. Remove the max fuel stop. You'll see it has a sprung loaded plunger - this may work well at a fixed speed but doesn't on the bike. I took the screw out, put a ball bearing down and locked this on advice from andrewaust who has done the same with his - much easier to adjust after.
iii. (engine off!) and open the throttle, let go again
iv. Put the fuel stop back in so it *just* touches the governor arm
v. Go out for ride, check for black smoke at higher revs and with engine under load (e.g. going up hill) - you'll definitely get it at this point
vi. Keep turning the stop in half a turn until the smoke reduces or you get a reduction in power then back off very slightly as appropriate. The bike will always smoke a bit but it should not leave clouds of black smoke behind you - you'll seize your engine eventually if it does and it will be less good on fuel

For a clearer understanding of what I'm talking about have a look in the files section of http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Die ... ike_World/ - go to 'Yanmar engine information' section and then download the 'Yanmar fuel govenor details.doc'. You'll get a nice clear view of what I'm talking about here and for the previous point.

4. My regulator/rectifier failed and nearly cooked the electrics. This happened to Cockney Bob as well (different engine but also HP conversion and with similar "Swiss" regulator). I bought a new powerbox (£57) from Hitchcocks and not a problem since.

5. I've fitted one of these - http://www.tinytachuk.com/ - cost £65 and has been invaluable in getting the engine set correctly. Idle should be around 1200rpm - sounds high but it is spec for the engine. Engine will happily rev to 4000rpm (where my max throttle stop is set) so don't be shy of a few hundred rpm over 3600 (once the engine is run in!!!). It's a great help having this tachometer and I'd definitely recommend it.

I'm no expert - much of the above has been cobbled together from great advice I've been given from people on this forum - notably Diesel Dave and Andrewaust. But having got the same bike some of the above will hopefully save you having to find out the hard way/ask some of the same questions!

I changed my oil at 500 miles and stopped riding the bike so carefully. With my bike "tuned" (and throttle spring settings as above) it will happily sit at 50-55mph all day, will top 65 (18 tooth sprocket). I think it'll loosen up further as I put more miles on. I can really say it is a different bike once run in and governor set properly - but hey, you get 500 miles of pootling around and getting used to it

Dan

[Diesel Dave]

Hey Dan,

Remember when all this stuff was new and scarey - you sound like an old hand now!

If a Royal Enfield will turn any rider into an expert mechanic then the diesel RE owner will become a guru in all thngs mechanical.

Well done!

Dave

[sbrumby]

Geoffk, If Footman james will only insure bikes that are made in England then they are surely limiting there market.

[nicknick109]

Insurance due for renewal so called Carole Nash (my bike, Charnwoods Hatz, was insured with them in 2005) and they point blank refused to offer insurance saying "we don't offer insurance for that type of bike" Note that Stuart is insured with them so not sure why I was refused.
Returned to Footman James for renewal one thing I do not like though is that they charge £1.50 to use a debit card have e-mailed them asking why still waiting for a reply 5 days now.

[coachgeo]

Insurance due for renewal so called Carole Nash (my bike, Charnwoods Hatz, was insured with them in 2005) and they point blank refused to offer insurance saying "we don't offer insurance for that type of bike" ....

Call again but talk to a different agent. Sometimes you get someone lazy. They don't first find the base bike on the list or dont know (and don't want to know) steps to insuring a custom bike... thus will come up with a lame blanket saying like you just experienced.

[Sphere]

Exactly. What George said.