Hitchcocks Forum

Hi,
my CGT has an annoying tappet rattle. As I'm new to Enfields I was wandering if this was normal?
It's not horrendous but it's there and you can hear it when riding!
Obviously they're hydrolic so are non adjustable.
I let the tech guys from our hosts workshop listen and they said it was about normal.
Anyone else got this problem?
Should I just live with it?
The bike is a 2013 with less than 1500 miles on it.

Dave

What is the idle speed?


If too low the auto decompressor can start to engage.


New bike? Concerned about 'odd' noises; go back to the dealer...

Yes, it's completely normal. Mine's a Bullet, but they are basically identical mechanically. I've whinged, whined and complained about it, because I think it's appalling that RE could develop what is essentially a new engine (or at least, a new valve gear) with hydraulic lifters and STILL end up with it rattling worse than the previous engine.



Even worse is that they've had that engine in production for, what, seven years now? And still they haven't fixed it.



They've got something wrong. Hydraulic lifters are usually silent. The noise from our engines is less severe when the engine is cold, and also seems slightly intermittent. By that I mean it is always there, but it varies in severity as you alter the speed of the engine. I've had mine in bits several times, trying to work out how the hydraulic tappets can make so much noise, but there is certainly nothing obvious. I wonder if the oil pressure isn't high enough for that design of lifter, or maybe it's being fed to the wrong place, or something. Just guesses, of course.



I've recorded mine and played it back in slow motion. There are four distinct and separate "clicks", two of lower pitch and two of higher pitch. I'm conducting some further investigations to try to work out exactly where they are coming from, and will report back my findings.



I think you'll have to live with it, I'm afraid. But certainly a lot of valve noise is normal for this engine.

Don't worry about it, it is just your bikes way of saying, 'come on, let's go'!

I'd worry if there was NO noise coming out of an Enfield!

Quite, Thunderbird 2. Enfield's remind me of the old joke about British Leyland merging with Mothercare in order to build cars with a built in rattle.

Thanks for the replies guys, I have it booked in with our hosts on the 21st of this month but from what you are telling me, there doesn't sound like there is anything actually wrong but more of a design fault.
It's a shame though because I love the sound of the motor but it is somewhat ruined by the excessive tappet noise.
Like previously mentioned it sounds great when it's cold but is quite noticeable when hot!
I will keep the appointment though and see if anything can be done because it's really annoying!!!

Dave

What was it now, the standard reply..? Oh yes...


"They all do that Sir..."



I wouldn't worry, unless it's excessive...

Usually, with hydraulic tappets, if they are noisy, it means there is no oil pressure to them; in a car it means they wear quickly and need to be replaced. Being quiet when cold seems to indicate that the oil is thicker at that time and as it thins, becomes noisy. Seems to me, oil supply/ pressure is the problem.

Always thought 25/50 grade oil was thin when cold and got thicker as it heated up if so you would expect tappets to be noisy when cold and quiet when hot.