Royal Enfield Build

Hi,
My name is Damon and I haven't posted much on this forum but I finally have something to share so here it goes.
A few years ago I bought this 2005 Royal Enfield 500 Continental on Ebay and had it shipped from New York to me in Seattle.

It is a beautiful machine and gave me no issues until this past fall. I went on the local Distinguished Gentlemans Ride and was hearing some strange noises, no running issues, just some weird noises.
2 days later I go to ride to work and it is now making the most horrendous banging noises. So I park it and decide to investigate. Needless to say the big end gave up.

here is the rest of the bushing


So I decided it was time to rebuild and if I' going to all that trouble I might as well go all out. So I went online to Hitchcocks of England and ordered a complete engine kit.
It comes with a tuned head, complete new crank assy with Alpha roller big end, an aluminum Barrel with matching forged high compression piston, and new high lift cams ( .395 intake and .420 Exhaust)
This kit takes the stock 500cc engine from 84mm bore and 90mm stroke to a more impressive 612cc with 87mm bore and 103mm stroke.
It should raise the HP from 22 stock to roughly around 39 hp.

Wow, three of us on the board at the same time...!

High on Octane's working on projects with older twins, and I'm closing in on the end of a frankenbike that started out as a 1977 army Bullet.

Good luck with the Hitchcock kit. That crank is f'n SEX. Octane and I are both working with Ace Engineering.

Bike is gorgeous, and even has rearsets---most "continentals" I see have low bars and stock pegs. If I were you, I'd ditch the e-start and go to a kick-only primary case while you had the bike apart, and switch back to RH shift to eliminate goofy linkages. (Unless your bike has the 5-speed trans with the shift shaft going through the oil tank...?)

Yeah I dumped the e-start last spring. But I just elected to go with the nifty polished aluminum plug that Hitchcocks sells to fill the hole left from the starter.
after paying for the engine parts I couldn't really afford the kick start inner cover and yes the 5-speed shaft goes through the oil tank.

Sweet. I don't know if there is a kick-only inner cover that fits the shift shaft anyhow. I guess if anyone has it, Hitchcock does, and it's super-bonzo expensive.

A primary case in India is like $20. 'Course, you might have to buy three before you get one that functions...

Sending a PM on an Enfield issue I ran into today...