Forum

[Alan R]

Hi guys------------ can the con. rod from a BSA A65 650 be made to fit a 500cc Classic Bullet ??

[Jack]

No chance Alan,it will have plain shell bearing and they would be much larger dia than the Bullet.
jack

[MadMike]

Al;an of course you can fit an A65 conrod to a bullet. All you need is one hell of a machine shop and loadsa money. The simple truth is that you can make almost anything fit almost anything else in a motorcycle engine, but mmoney and machines, plus a lot of design and machining skills are essential. Remember at the last MadMike Gathering Tony Harris (of BT-H mags fame) rode his Norton ES4, which is a 1000cc Vtwin based upon 2 ES2 engines mated together. Why do you ask incidentally?

[Alan R]

Hi guys---------I'm trying to find another motorcycling "Holy Grail"........... this one is a forged steel con.rod from A.N.Other make that will fit straight onto the 500 Enfield, (preferably with cap and shells)....

[Norm]

Why cap and shells Alan you are then going to run into problems finding a crank pin to suit the shells and conrod. Still have to split the crank anyway to fit new crank pin. I think one step forward 2 back

[Alan R]

Hello NORM---- yes,I've realised that as well so have abandoned the cap design ( pin too narrow anyway) and am concentrating on a con-rod that is }---"same as Enfield but in forged steel" idea......I know it's a long-shot but you never know ??---------- I'd love to line our hosts coffers by purchasing one of their steel rods but can't justify the costings ----------- How about the older Enfield models eg the CO or WD etc......It's only a bit of Engineering fun really, but.....????

[Phil Ashbrook]

I still dream of the day I could afford our hosts top of the range crank with the R15 big end kit and a forged steel rod , 1,000 pounds is a fair chunk of money but you could really work the engine hard without the fear of disaster and I could raise my comp ratio's to 12:1 and run on methonal .
I have tuned the engine in so many ways with our hosts kits but could not seem to find the money for a new crank as mine is bog STD mid 90's classic engine , everythings OK with it's floating bush and alloy Indian rod but it has it's limits like blasting around with hard acceleration all the time and high speed motorway riding for extended periods . The vellocettes record of 24 hours at 100 mph is something that not even with the best bits could an Enfield reach , I would love to know if someone has ever tried it , the record was made at Montlhery

[Norm]

Phil,
The Hitchcocks long stroke crank is the best thing you can ever do to a Bullet, just superb. We put one together about 3 weeks ago and it has now done over 8,000ks and is as smooth as a bun. We got it running,the next day he headed to Alice Springs then up to Three Borders, up to Longreach then worked his way back down to Vic. Went through a fair bit of oil but that is a ring problem but apart from that didn't miss a beat. Went through a couple of rear tyres though. I built a 570 last year and that is also a superb bit of kit. Put one on your bucket list and then you will see what a real Bullet is capable of. No point in talking about what you call a performance Bullet that is still running an ally rod and floating bush

[Mark M]

Alan, many years ago I bought some Bullet bits from the late Richard Dames Longworth (a very nice guy,) who apart from being an Enfield nut was also a motoring journalist. He told me he built his bikes using a Norton ES2 rod. I think this is correct but sadly I can't remember anything else!
REgards, mark

[another Allan]

My 625 has a steel con rod and roller big end, which I am told is from a Matchless G85.