Hitchcocks Forum

HI All,bloody sprag again,on the way out, must have lasted all of three weeks despite all precautions,im too old for kickstarts,love the bike but am begining to despair, wonderful bike but im afraid i think it might have to go,wouldnt you think they would have sorted it by now? regards Bob Hazlehurst.

Sorry to hear this Bob, what TCI unit is fitted to your bike? The WS green TCI unit I fitted to my Electra XS is working well with my new sprag!

Bob,
Wait a few minutes and you will get the usual replies that it is the owners fault, by not doing this or not doing that and then you get the ones "mine is fine and has worked perfectly since the day I bought it" None of these replies help and I'm afraid there will never be a fix, so you might have to get a Japper

Sorry to hear about your sprag. My 2010 EFI is on its third - so far so good..... Apparently the new ones are more robust. Insist on one of these if you replace yours - I daresay there's still a lot of sub-standard crap piled up at Chennai which they're keen to get shot of....

Thats very prescient Norm, I can't help thinkng we've been here before - a touch of the old deja-vu sort of thing.
I think it might be the owners fault not stopping the motor on the de-compressor,
only mine works perfectly, has done since the day I bought it almost six years ago.

I can't help thinking we've been here before - a touch of the old deja-vu sort of thing.......

You need a Kawayamahoduki mate, its the only reliable fix. Or a pillion with good knees.

WHY DOES A SPRAG FAIL!
1. OIL LEVEL IN THE PRIMERY CHAINCASE IS TO LOW
2. BATTERY CHARGE IS LOW
3. IGNITION TIMING IS WRONG
4. NOT STOPPING THE ENGINE OFF USING THE DECOMPESSOR LEVER.
5. TRYING TO START THE ENGINE WHEN IT IS ON THE COMPRESSION STROKE USING ELECTRIC OR KICKSTART
6. CONTINUOUS USE OF THE ELECTRIC START WHEN THE BIKE WILL NOT START BECAUSE OF ANOTHER PROBLEM
7. COMPONENT FAULT.

SIX OF THESE ARE DOWN TO THE OWNER.
I HAVE HAD 8 ELECTRIC START MODELS AND NONE OF THEM HAS HAD A SPRAG FAILIER AND THE ELECTRIC START IS USED MOST OF THE TIME.
I HAVE FOUND TALKING TO MANY AN ENFIELD OWNER THAT ALOT OF THEM DO NOT KNOW THE CORRECT WAY TO START OR STOP THERE BIKES MANY NOT HAVING ANY MACHANICAL EXPERIENCE AT ALL TO MAINTAIN THEM.

PERHAPS I WAS JUST LUCKY WITH THE 8 ENFIELDS I HAD! I REALLY DON'T THINK SO. I STILL HAVE A 2004 SPORTSMAN THAT HAS NEVER LET ME DOWN.

Her Her, At last someone that is talking sense. You only hear from a very small minority of enfield owners that have had problems with there sprag clutches, there are many many more owners out there who do not, it is the same with most bike forums you only hear the bad side. well done Johnny

oooops, Never stopped my 350 with the decompressor, should I be doing so?, the manual I have does not mention as part of the procedure, thanks for the pointer if I have been doing it wrong.

This might be a stupid question...why should you need to stop any modern bike using the decompressor? I had mentally filed this under the same dusty pigeonhole as pressing the earth button on the magneto to stop the engine. I may of course be out of date...my 500 Classic doesn't have a sprag clutch of course, so I presume this method doesn't apply in this case...

Cheers

TimG

Its the electric start ones that ought to be stopped on the de-compressor. This is in case the engine stops on the compression stroke, does n't have the inertia to get over TDC and then bounces backwards against the sprag, potentially trashing it.
If you don't have a classic electric start model then no problem.