Hitchcocks Forum

I've been an enfield owner for about 6 yrs.Mines a '02 classic iron barrel ES bullet that has seen
major surgery since ownership.The conrod snapped a few years back whilst on the way to the 'farmyard rally'.
She sent bouncing down the road and destroyed the engine.I've always kept up with good maintenance so there
was never any obvious reason for the engine failure,the engine was replaced onto the original gearbox and since then
she has been fine.It has taken some time to restore trust in my machine and her quirks she's lots of fun to ride.
Once an enfield gets under your skin they are hard to not like.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Have seen this on one or two british singles and twins in my time, had one go in my ford Zodiac for no apparent reason, I put it down to a flaw in the casting. As long as they are well maintained ie oil and filter changed at regular intervals, the correct grade of oil used, engine warmed up slowly and the engine is not thrashed it will last as well as any brit bike.

thanx for your welcome.I suspect it was down to a conrod make from cheese,its been fine since the new engine.

Conrods can break in any engine, I've had them come through the cases of a z900 Kawasaki (broke at the big end), a 250 Suzuki (broke halfway up) and a VW polo (big end again). It's not a specific Enfield problem so I should n't worry about it.

Hello CHOOCH and welcome----Just to show you that it can happen to the best of them--------At a certain Fighting Vehicle repair place "Somewhere in Shropshire",- when testing a Rolls Royce 1,000 HP V8 diesel to it's max. output ---occasionally a con-rod would step outside for}- a breath of fresh air!! I KID YOU NOT, good folk. One engine wrecked---shovel it into a big skip and onto the next one. And that was after a thorough approved re-build to factory specs., ultrasonic cleaning, UV crack-detecting, etc. etc, and goodness knows how may 100's hours total labour. Incidentally each engine is a one-person build, just like we do. Having said that---it wasn't a regular happening and, just like our slightly lesser motors, the majority went on to give stirling service but in somewhat "Sandier" conditions. So take heart. Be seeing you---------------

I have never thrown an Indian rod yet but fitting a forgrd steel race rod will take all doubts out of your mind , cast rods are allways going to be a problem , 1 in a hundred might fail , it's just bad luck in some ways but with a forged rod that doubt is gone , I'm pumping 40bhp and my cast rod is still going , polishing it stops cracks from starting . check for rod twist by the scuff marks inside the piston , ie more on one side than the other .