Hitchcocks Forum

This is probably going to be a silly question but I'm going to ask it anyway. The rubber damper pads that are fitted to the cylinder head are there to stop the aluminium fins from vibrating and 'singing' (so I believe). If the pads are taken off, is the vibration likely to cause any damage to the aluminium fins or the cylinder block?

mine went in the bin because they're ugly,,,,,, IMHO,,,,,,,,,, didn't make the slightest difference to anything but the looks.

My rubber strips mostly fell off by themselves, I removed the rest. The fins are well made and are not going to break. If you put your hand on them (whilst still fairly cold) one does not feel a whole lot of vibration. As far as I'm aware they are solely intended to reduce noise, but they do not seem to do that. I cannot discern any noticeable increase in noise level. There is the usual pushrod clatter and since I fixed the head to downpipe joint the engine is significantly quieter. So I'm not entirely sure what they are for. Does it look better with or without? - dunno but a traditional motor wouldn't have them.

No mick not a silly question, as i asked the same one on here about 6 months ago,and got the same answers so removed them all from my continental 535 and looks so much better without them,also sounds and feels the same so I would go for it and pull them out.

Thought they were more of a 2 stroke engine thing to quieten the noise caused by haveing ports cut in cylinder wall, enfields should, nt need them as you say for looks only ( styleing department ?)

Thanks lads, mine will be coming off today. I saw a Bullet without the pads when I was in the UK and it looked so much better.

MickB - it's only the EFI that has them from new - 'cylinder fin rubbers' p/n 92764. And I'm still none the wiser what they're for.