Forum

[Michael]

Scaly, I havent used electric start in a loooooonnnnngggggg time. The sprag failed on e start, but this new issue is with a dodgy, but intact sprag in and kick starting. Seems like the seized idea makes sense - we will see when I open it up tomorrow.

[Norm]

Not sure which model it is Alan but it could be one of those early UCE's where the factory thought they were smart enough to do away with the kickstarter only to realize fairly that the sprag was still pretty dodgy and they had to fit kickers again

[Michael]

************UPDATE****************




Hunches were correct, thanks for the tips folks. Sprag had disintegated (photo to follow) and had seized the engine sprocket to the starter sprocket, not permanently seized, but occasionally seized. This will be why bump starting it worked - moving in gear would have freed up the two for a moment.




Anyway, the bike has had the sprag removed and now kicks much more freely, although I still need to adjust the clutch a wee bit to compensate for the slight changes in set up which occured when de-spragging this morning.




Gwilly... thanks for your concerns. Having done the work this morning it could have seized up at any time. Not sure what the consequences could have been, but your comment made me think more seriously about this. Thank you!




As for Norm, thanks for the tips again. 45 minutes from opening garage door to tidying up There really is very little to the EFI chaincase side of the engine. For reference, take the rearward 12mm bolt of the left hand foot peg and rotate the footpeg downwards slightly. Remove the gear change lever by undoing the 10mm locking bolt then remove the 11 or 12 allen headed bolts using a 5mm Allen key or socket wrench. Tap or pull the chaincase off to reveal the clutch assembly, sprockets and chain. You *might* need to remove the chain tensioner - easiest to remove the 10mm bolt and pull out the spring becuase if you remove the whole tensioner assembly with the 2 5mm Allen bolts then reassembly is fiddly. Lock the clutch and engine sprocket somehow - I used a specially cut bit of wood and simply pull out the clucth push rod. 18mm engine sprocket bolt out, 24mm clutch nut out then pull the whole primary chain assembly out in one go. Desprag, then reassemble in the reverse order. The manual has you playing about wityh removing the clutch cable and the starter motor - not needed.




Norm, the UCE with no kick start, then a reintroduced kick start was the EFI Classic (G5 I think abroad?! Maybe C5? The Electras are E5s). However, all the early UCE bikes have THE SAME sprag that always fails on the pre-unit bikes for whatever reason.


Thanks all! Might look into getting the beefed up sprag after payday, but maybe not...

[Michael]

Attempting to post the pics...

[Michael]

Ignore the spark plug! The other two pics show the bits of sprag I managed to catch... the rest are in my driveway somewhere.

[Alan R]

Hi MICHAEL--------- Well that went fairly easily then ???......Personally I'd forget about that so-calle d "Beefed-up" sprag because Enfield have totally ignored the reasons as to WHY the sprag fails in the first place....Did you have a look at that link I gave ??---It's not just us here but America, India, Norm's paradise (Australia) etc, etc...........You now have a new "Sprag-Orientated" problem ie}--- Be careful when you next mow the lawn as one of those little rascal rollers could jam the mower blades !!--------------------- LoL !!............Ride safe !

[Michael]

Cheers Alan... it seems to be that the beefed up sprag is a little less failure prone, and from my readings (including the link you sent which I was aware of from before, but thanks anyway!) it seems that on the UCE bikes, the sprag failure is due in part to a weak sprag itself, but also in majority due to the autodecompressor (built in to the exhaust cam) sticking. There is also some issue with stopping the bike... cutting the engine out seems to put undue pressure on the sprag as the crank trys to roll backwards against the last compression stroke - again probably autodecompressor related?! You can sometimes hear the sprag catching and clanking on stopping.




I have never delved as deep as the cams in my machine yet, as the alternator rotor is stuck on quite hard and the cams are behind it! With the right tool it is probably another hour to get to, or a wee bit longer as the right hand engine case is more complex than the left hand (sprag and clutch) side, but such an investigation would be on the cards if I were to shell out the near £200 for a new sprag assembly...

[Norm]

Hi Michael, glad to hear it went well, interesting you could get the clutch off without a puller. The biggest killer of all the sprags was stalling at the lights or coming up on compression on the last stroke when you turned it off. No matter how strong the sprag was it couldn't withstand that punnishment, it isn't the sprags fault and beefing it up will only cause damage somewhere else

[Michael]

Norm... the clutch just came off very freely. It did that the last time too - just lucky I guess. I think I had a bit of a vicious circle going on with my bike, sprag died a couple of years ago, and now I stall at the lights more frequently - but I guess it was jamming up that caused the stalls, especially with the clunky noise that came with it. Should be fine now...




Incidentally, campervan fuel tank is now in just waiting on abnormaly large diameter fuel hose to be delivered from ebay along with a reducer and that will be back on the road too...

[Norm]

Hi Michael, I bet that makes you a happy little camper now