Hitchcocks Forum

Good afternoon to one and all, from a wind swept and wet Kent!
I have just bought a 2002 Royal Enfield 500 Delux, with 18,000 Kms on the clock.
On the initial ride out, about 20 miles, I noticed oil coming out of the filler cap breather hole
and cap seal, running down the gearbox and onto the centre stand.
I checked the oil level, warm, and its approximately half an inch above the maximum mark!
I assume thats way over full and causing the problem. Is the correct level, warm, half way between
the low and high marks on the dip stick? Should the dip stick be fully home or resting on the filler neck?
Apart from that, it took a while to warm up, spitting back a lot from cold but eventually clearing.
No apparent air leaks between the carb,manifold to head joints. Air screw 2 and a quarter turns out.
Its fitted with a newish Monobloc and K and N filter. Its also got Boyer Bransden ignition and power box.
It starts easily.
Many thanks for any comments. Mac.

Hi Mac, I Presume with the Classic engine you have The Bayonet type Oil Cap?..Any way the best time to check the oil Level is after a Run/Ride Leave the Bike For 15 min while you take your gear off and make a cup of tea then wander out and check it (check it again 15min later if your worried) That will give you a True Reading...Most Classics are Happiest 1/2 way round dip Stick other Wise it Could Blow out over your Chain via Breather or Catch can...Never Known a Leak from the Top Up/ Dip stick before on Threaded or Bayonet Type?? Just check it is On Correctly (Bayonet Type Should Have a degree of bounce on it When on correctly, Just Press Cap and it Comes Back Up..While Threaded Should have an O Ring on it)..Lastly an oil Drip else where oftern ends up Driping From bellow Enginge whilst Haveing Nothing tio do with it....... All Your Other Problems I Would Say are The Carb (A Dark Art in its Self)...Enjoy!

Hello MAC and welcome aboard the good ship "Hitchcocks Forum"............ I have two Classic 500s' of about the same period as yours and would strongly urge you to fit our hosts breather/filler mod. kit like this}-----------
PART No. DESCRIPTION PRICE
90060 OIL BREATHER MODIFICATION KIT (push and turn cap) £33.50

90061 OIL BREATHER MODIFICATION KIT (screw in cap) £33.50 ----------------------------------------- It's possible you might be experiencing the early stages of crankcase overpressure ???------------- The K&N filter is a particularly good "Less restrictive" air filter but should really be serviced using the dedicated K&N filter kit..... grab this one while you can}---------------- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/K-N-Air-Filte ... 43be8c1e20 ---------------- Boyer Bransden is GOOD (but keep an eye on the timing gear drive train backlash..Ideally you require NIL but a few thou won't hurt......POWER BOX is GOOD as well..... Check-out our hosts for the best jetting re}--- MONOBLOCK carb.....that cold spitting may be a small primary jet and/or slide cutaway....Try and get plenty of miles under your belt before Winter so you feel "at home" with it ready for some maintenance ( RIDE IT in SUMMER---- MAINTAIN in WINTER rather than the other way around, eh ??)

Hi Mac just read your post and I would agree with Alan R comment the oil breather modification that he mentions is really good , I have one fitted on my 350 bullet and it works a treat with no sign of leaks or oil mist anywhere around the upper part of the engine and it re directs oil back into the oil tank maintaining the correct oil level for longer periods, and as to the oil level my bullet is quite happy with the oil level showing between the upper and lower marks on the dip stick. all the best Taper.

Mac,
if the oil level is half an inch above the high mark on the dipstick of course it will pump oil out everywhere, only way for the tank to breath is the cap

On my last crankcase split I opened up the tank overflow hole by 50% , this is the hole that when at max oil tank level drains into the crankcase and then sits at the pick up pipe area .
The idea was to reduce the pressure of the breather tube which soaks the chain with oil to the point where the bike looks really messy after long runs , this was back in 1999 before our hosts offered their breather redirection kit 90060 ,
to tell you the truth it did not make much difference due to the fact that the oil cap still had a tiny hole and the next pressure exit was the level hole for the timing case so oil drained into the main tank so the pressure from the crankcase remained the same .
one mod I did at this time was creating oil collection gullys for directing it into the enlarged oil holes for the main crankshaft bearings which had failed at 10,000 miles , I doubled the amount of oil getting to the bearings and now replace Indian bearings for top range Jap bearings . One good thing about the breather kit would be getting rid of the honking sound from the flat end of breather pipe which in my case seems louder with a 535cc piston and when I stroke it to 612cc I imagine the pressure
will be at it's max for the original system .

Thanks to you all for the advice/tips,all taken on board.
I've owned many British bikes over the last 40 years but
never an Enfield, Indian or otherwise. It reminds me of
a BSA B33 I owned back in the 80s, only not as heavy.
Is the Owners club a good idea and active in Kent and
Sussex? Mac.

Is the spitting back at low revs, or when opening the throttle from tickover? If so, it could be the pilot air screw setting is too weak (ie. open too many turns.) Try setting the slow running with the air screw 1 to 1.5 turns out. You will probably need to adjust the throttle stop in conjunction with this.

Mac, before spending money, drain oil down to halfway between High and Low marks and turn air screw to max 1 to 1.5 turns out, as Allan says. This should fix both problems, then keep riding and see if anything else develops!
REgards, Mark

Sage words from Mark M. No need to modify the bike.

The 'correct' oil level is midway between max and min indicators on the dip stick.