Hitchcocks Forum

Hi, I'm new to the forum and Royal Enfield, i have just sold a Dnepr outfit and bought about a month ago a 05 Electra.
Im fitting the Amal carb and exhaust upgrade and have removed the standard air filter housing and until i decide what to do with the catch can what should i do with the tube that i disconnected form the air filter housing, let it vent to atmosphere or should i block the pipe, cheers, Jez

Hi there. I have an electra x and have removed the can and all of its pipework. I have run a hose from the top of the engine breather back to the number plate, I get the occasional dribble of mayonnaise down the number plate but just wipe it off from time to time. I have found that if the oil level is around the halfway mark it lessens dramatically.

Hi Davie, thanks for reply, i decided to remove the catch can and plumbing , i kept the main breather for now till i get a new longer pipe, i took the duckbill out of the catch can and fitted it on the end making sure that the pipe ran upwards.
I ran the pipe from the primary back over the gearbox and on the timing side i cut the pipe short and blanked the pipe.

You can stick a little filter on the end of the breather hose. You should not get mayonnaise. If the engine is over filled with oil it will spit it out of the breather.



It is easy to overfill these engines, don't do that. You cannot measure it in because the engine retains so much oil when drained, you must use the sight glass or dipstick.

Hi Jefrs, all the pipes i removed with the catch can had a thick film of mayonnaise, the catch can had quite a bit in too, when i picked the bike up from Scotland and rode it down the motorway about 60 miles and stopped at services it threw quite a bit of oil out of breather, after letting it cool i checked the oil level and it was fine, I'm guessing the guy i bought it from had topped the oil up before i got there and he had over filled it!

Doing an oil change and inspecting the filter(s) can tell you a lot about the state of the engine.



There's a chamber below the breather outlet and various weirs and dams supposedly to stop liquid oil being ejected. The engine will not show the same level of oil two days running, the full mark is probably the absolute full mark.

I have a later model but the principle is the same. I have I hope just fixed a dribble from the bottom filter on the C5, changed the O-ring. When refilling I added a final 100ml and the sight glass (C5) went from not showing oil to over the max line, I should have waited longer. That may cause mayonnaise in the breather but running won't significantly lower the oil level (NB). The C5 breather goes into the clean-side of the air filter straight into the inlet, I do not want it inhaling goo. I shall have to drain an eggcup full out.

Jefrs,
This is about an 05 Electra, not remotely like your C5. Checking the oil on pre EFI models is just a matter of reading the dipstick, but do this after a run as wetsumping can give false readings. Keep the level half way between the marks.
Have a read HERE
and HEREThese articles are not about the Electra but general principles apply.
Ditching the catch can is a good move.