Wrench'n Ride'n

6 degrees and wet.

2026-06-05T08:10:21.423+10:00

Heading to the RE Owners rally in Boorowa today.

6 degrees and wet.

Pa's WW2 caps

2026-05-19T08:56:48.600+10:00

My sister, Sarah, sent me our Pa's WW2 Army caps. She had them in storage. The first photo shows Pa in Palestine on a Army Royal Enfield 350. Notice the cap he is wearing in that photo. Same cap with my modern Army style Royal Enfield 350 which I have made into a tribute to him. The other hat is his slouch hat. Missing the band that has his unit badge on it. The Rising Sun badge I added to it but its smaller than what was originally on their. The passage of time may have meant that when i removed that badge when i was a kid it has gone missing.

DugDug recommissioning.

2026-04-27T08:35:43.836+10:00

DugDug my 2011 C5 Classic 500 has been ignored since I put it into to storage just before we moved from Narrabri over 2 years ago.

It has sat in my garage here in Armidale for nearly 18 months. Pushed to one side. Sad really hey. Well not anymore.

The recommissioning and makeover has started.

It needs new steering head bearing. Front brake fluid replaced. A makeover/restyling.

Firstly though will it start after sitting for this long? Some Start Ya Bastard and some fuel and bingo we have DugDug noises.

If it did not start the makeover would be put on hold.

This is what DugDug looked like when I bought it about 4 years ago.

The makeover is going to keep the essence of what the previous owner has done. I will just add a bit of my madness to it.

Staring at the back and working forwards we have a very old small British mudguard now mounted. Don't mind my welding. It is done with my TIG welder. I had to fight the gal coating on the plate and I forgot to take the black paint off the curved railing. Lazy me. But I know I have good penetration on the welds. That's all that matters.

I used CAD (cardboard assisted design) to make the mounting bracket.

Notice the colour of the rear guard. Mermaid Green. Looks kinda 50s British to me. I googled what colours go with the original RE Teal and goggle told me greens do. The green will flow up the tank in a stripe as wide as the rear guard and front mudguard will be this colour too.

Yes that the Classic 350 Reborn Touring seat going on DugDug too, Mounting brackets to be made.

Not saying what style of bike this will be just yet. You will see as I make progress and post it here.

Bit more work done to Dug Dug. The front race plate with the light is a mock up at the moment. Kinda gives away the direction this is going in. ;) Colour of the rear guard up the middle of the tank.

Hitchcock's 20 degree exhaust pipe extension with the old Hitchcock's 500 muffler i had fitted a few years back. Had to do some modifications to the muffler because silly me cut the inlet end shorter awhile ago. Plus had to cut the pillion peg hanger off to get the muffler to fit. I could have bought the 10 degree pipe but wanted the end of the muffler higher.

Steering head bearings are in. The cup for the steering stem was sat on a hot plate and it dropped right in place on the stem. The other 3 cups spent the night in the freezer. They where drifted into place with ease after coming out of the freezer. The vintage MX bars I am planning on using.
Nothing like a good cuppa tea while you are working.

Bit of a change of direction. Not doing the yellow race plate over the headlight. Splurged a bit and bought a Trials Top Yoke. https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/18921?cont_page=Royal-Enfield-Classic-EFI-Accessories&category=sub1

It will have a headlight because it will have to be road legal.

New fork seals fitted. I believe the ones I took out are the originals from the factory. Same with the fork oil. I do not like the smell of old fork oil. Fork boots instead of the metal shrouds.

Front end may look like this???

Mock up time. Bit of cardboard painted silver. Bit of graphic design to put a number on it. 79 is for the year I started riding on the road. 1979. Made a bracket for the headlight and mounted that.

Might do a rectangle plate mock up and see what that looks like too. At the moment I do like the oval shaped one.

Decided on narrow rectangle style race plate. Shaped and cut some treadplate. This will be polished to try to remove the tread pattern. Have to make a mounting bracket for the speedo. Its just resting there in the photos. A stripe of the colour same as what I have applied to the middle of the tank may be applied to the middle of the plate. Then fake race number.

Sprung seat mounting brackets.

2026-04-02T12:52:00.008+11:00

Happy place time this morning. In the garage making metal do what I want it too.

A week or so ago, while we where off house sitting I refitted the solo seat that looks like its a Lycett seat. Its a combination of a cut down 2011 Royal Enfield Classic 500 seat. Foam from another different solo seat and some gel seat padding I got off eBay. The springs I use are off a solo seat made in India.

When you have the rear sub frame fitted it can be a very tight fit for the springs. So I made a quick bracket, while we where away working, to mount the springs. This one had one bolt holding it to the frame. Long term I knew this was in no way strong enough to hold the seat and springs while I am bouncing along on it.

We are back home now. I have access to cutting wheels and my Tig Welder. Out came the card board to make a template.

Template is only the first step. Once metal is cut you start to adjust the design to fit.

Cut more. Then some more. Till you have the metal exactly, or close enough to how you want it.

The original bracket, as seen above, did not sit flush against the inside of the frame. I cut and then Tig welded bolts to hold the springs to the mounting bracket. That way no bolt head making the bracket sit off the frame.

The mounting bracket is now bolted to the frame in two places. The top shock absorber mounting bolt and the smaller hold in the frame for the original Royal Enfield fake seat spring mounting bracket.

Stronger and better mounted now.

Dirt roading

2026-03-25T18:42:00.002+11:00

Leaving and then coming back.

2026-03-20T14:14:18.424+11:00

Dug Dug restyled

2026-03-15T11:37:00.002+11:00

Poor Dug Dug my 2011 C5 Classic 500 has been off the road for 2 years now. Last ride was for DGR 2024 in Narrabri. Then we sold and moved and Dug Dug went into storage.

To get it back on the road I need to replace the steering head bearing. They are so notchy. I had also nicked some stuff off it like the rear guard and cut that up for Little Dug. So need to replace that guard.

So I have a cunning plan. Fitting a BMW R50 rear guard. Different front guard. Also thinking about getting a 2 inch stretched swingarm to make Dug Dug longer and lower. Also a respray in a different colour. Frame will stay in its original colour.

What Dug Dug looked like when I mothballed it.

Proposed makeover.

hood winked

2026-03-15T11:13:00.001+11:00

Have been looking for a "hood ornament" for some time now to go on Little Dug. Found some. 2 the same. So one for little Dug and the other will go on Dug Dug my C5 Classic 500 when I recommission that bike later this year.

2026-03-11T21:09:00.001+11:00

Hammered plant art

2026-02-24T19:02:00.001+11:00

2026-02-04T12:16:00.001+11:00

My Signals 350 is a tribute my Mum's Father, Pa

2026-01-26T10:09:00.007+11:00

My Signals 350 is a tribute my Mum's Father, Pa, as he served in the Australian Army in WW2. He enlisted in May of 1941. Family legend goes that he had to put his age down to be taken on. Said he was 26. In fact he was 33. He was sent to Queensland from NSW to join the 1st Australian Corps Troops Supply Column. This unit had already shipped out to the Mid East in December 1940. He arrived in Palestine in September of 1941. He then spent 2 month in further training. At one stage he was assigned to the Provost Guards for a very short period. The 1st Australian Corps Troops Supply Column supported Australian Troops in Palestine and Syria when they fought against the Vichy French who had sided with the Germans. In 1942 the Troop was sent back to Australia to be then sent to Papua New Guinea. In 1943 my Pa was then transferred to the 2nd / 34th Australian General Transport Company driving Jeeps and Trucks to supply Australian Troops fighting the Japanese. In November 1944 Pa was discharged from the Army as he was very sick from something that he had picked up in the jungles of PNG. This affected his heart as he passed away in 1972 from this heart condition.

Photos with text for the cosmetic changes I have made. Some I have not recorded here because I forgot about them. 😉

I get asked all the time what tyres do I run. I stayed with the factory sizes. Rear is a Pirelli MT90. Front is a Heidenau K75.

2026-01-15T06:56:00.001+11:00

2026-01-14T16:09:00.001+11:00

2026-01-14T09:26:00.002+11:00

New to me, 2nd hand Biltwell Maynard bars. 2nd hand Vans grips. More narrow than I normally run. I have used these bars years ago and really liked them. Was super happy to get another set. Did 160 kms with them yesterday just to change the muscle memory my arms and back have from wide bars. More than happy to have them fitted to Little Dug.

160km loop

2026-01-13T12:21:00.002+11:00

long way to Bunnings

2026-01-10T13:07:00.003+11:00

Cafe racer seat cover

2026-01-03T09:50:00.001+11:00

More cafe racer than most cafe racers. Why? I have a seat cover made from a coffee bean bag.

2025-12-24T18:03:00.001+11:00

On way to AGM

2025-11-06T18:50:00.003+11:00

Packed with 3 days to go.

2025-11-03T07:55:00.001+11:00

Things to see on the way to Glen Innes.

2025-09-29T14:33:00.002+10:00

Start of the week ride

2025-09-22T13:40:00.003+10:00

2025-09-12T15:40:00.001+10:00

2025-08-19T10:59:00.002+10:00