Hitchcocks Forum

hi folks - posting on behalf of a friend.

05 Enfield bullet runs fine except...

once warmed up when he rolls off the throttle, it sounds like the engine has dropped a valve. Very noisy metalic clattering.
Only when rolling off throttle
only when in gear (does not do this in neutral)
the hotter the engine is, the louder the sound

all usual suspect things have been checked with no avail. Does anyone have any advice where to look?

Many thanks

Cas in Hawaii

Could possibly be a valve seat loose when head is hot..?
Primary chain will also clatter on the overrun if running slack.

hi Gwilly,
the loose valve seat idea is very logical. Thanks for that. Time to pull the head and take a gander.

I'd just check that primary first - 2 minute job.

My 05 Electras X did something like that just as you rolled the throttle off to change gear. After a lot of listening and checking all sorts of things it turned out the hardening on the big end . Some of the early bikes had this problem which resulted in a crank overhaul