Hitchcocks Forum

I did the Double Adjustable Head Steady modification to my 2018 C5 a few days ago in an attempt to reduce vibrations, and I am pleased to report that so far (only a few miles done) it has made decent job of curing vibrations, probably by about 50%. The new head steadies were from Hitchcocks.

The original Modification is detailed here:
https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/in ... ic=29706.0

The only difference I made was to drill out the front engine mount from M8 to M10 by using a 9.5mm drill bit and honing it by hand to get a tight fit on the new bolt. I used a 70mm bolt for the front mount and 80mm for the rear mount near the seat.

Some pics below

Thanks for the pics and info

You have it on opposite way round to mine.
Smaller bolt goes in the cylinder head so no need to drill or ream anything.
This is the end the top hat spacer goes in so it fits the smaller bolt.

I tried them both ways round and found this to be the best way on my bike, with the top hats in place on the head side and an M8 bolt it felt like there was some play, hence drilling the mount to M10 and not using the top hats.

The head was not aligned to the frame at all well and I had to shim the mount with washers so that the head steadies fitted snuggly.

Seems like each set up is a little different. I am pleased with the result.

@Haggis, did you use 1 or 2, and has it helped with vibrations?

This sounds a good idea but a bit pricey (I am from Yorkshire )
I'm going to try making some out of stainless flat bar 6mm thick. That should be as strong (or stronger)
Some shaping will be required I expect but what is lock-down for?
I'll report back.

Mann, I just used the one.
The origional oem one broke.
This is the second bike I have fitted it to.
On the first bike there was no way to get it to line up when trying to fit it to the left side.
I think the frame boss was welded on a bit squint.
It is a much more substantial piece of kit but as none of my enfields vibrate to any great extent, I do not experince any reduction in vibes on my bikes.
I notice your have four or five threads showing whereas mine is almost all they way in.
Think they must weld the frames free hand without any jigs?

Meant to say, when I got my 2017 Classic a few months back, after a bit of riding, I tried what some of you said and that was to run the bike with loosened engine bolts and then tighten whilst running.

It made a heck of a difference to the right hand foot peg. It had annoying vibes and after the ‘mod’ it feels as smooth as a four.
Let’s forget about the left peg, that got worse!

I ride as is now and put it down to the ride of the bike.

@PeteF - I would assume that 6mm flat bar will do the job nicely, I think the key is that it is shimmed onto each mount as necessary so that it is not under force and therefore it naturally accommodates any misalignment between the two mounts.

@Haggis - I think this ‘fix’ for vibrations is a by product of putting a much more reasonable heady steady on the bike, the original one on my bike was about as sturdy as a 6”thou feeler gauge. I have no idea why the alignment is so random from the factory nor why the stock head steady is so poor!

The few threads showing are because I bought 90mm bolts and cut them down to 70mm and 80mm respectively, so it’s not a precise measurement but gave me some grace to get the shims in place correctly

Mann, I meant the threads on the head steady.

Haggis I get you now, yep completely, agree 5 or 6 turns out suited my bike but for another to have no turns out on the head steady the frame mount must be welded freehand each time