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[pd110961]

ok guys, thanks for the encouragement. ive ordered a new set of points and screw in TDC gadget thingy.. will fit and time up myself short of anyone local offering assistance.

[Barry_Q]

My Lightning used to be a rotten starter. Not any more. The biggest single improvement was......Wait for it.... Super unleaded petrol! More often than not, it's starts first kick!

[PeteF]

It sounds to me like the ignition is a touch advanced but not a great deal if adjusting the points makes a difference.
I would just set the points to the correct gap and then retard the points plate a tiny bit (put a scratch mark on first so you know where you were) You can then see if this is better or worse and proceed accordingly. I find this a lot easier than mucking about with TDC and all that if the timing is roughly right.
When I say a tiny bit I mean 0.5 mm or so at the circumference of the plate.

[pd110961]

New set of points arrived.. along with TDC screw in gadget.. off to a local RE enthusiast tomorrow evening to install with his help.

[Exile]

MarkM: No apologies necessary.😊 : Phil: Hope it all goes well.

[pd110961]

well.. I took the bike to a local chap, Taz, and we put in new points.. set to 15thou, fired her up and she ran perfect.. I asked him if he was going to set opening to 0.8mm BTDC etc.. he said by the 'sound' of it it didn't need it.

and he was right.

Now.. from cold, turn on ignition, increase tickover screw by one full turn, 10 kicks with decompressor in. get her over tdc and one long smooth kick and there she goes!

decrease tickover to as slow as you dare after a few minutes!

one happy chappy!

[Gwilly]

Old up, old up, whats all this turning the tick over screw and ten kicks with the decomp? Thought you had a bad ankle..

No need for all that honestly.. You'll just end up with a broken kickstart spring and worn out pawl..

Kick over once if you must with the decomp then release and find compression, over the top with it and start it..

If the choke is on then after a mo it will start to eight stroke slightly thats when you turn off the choke but keep the revs up a little with the throttle..

Give this a few more mo's and you can ease off the throttle to hear a nice steady tickover. Now put your lid on and it should be ready to go, on EASY THROTTLE until the engines warmed through with no hesitation on throttle demand.. Nobody i Know alters the tick over screw every time they start, just hold the revs steady for twenty seconds and listen to the engine as it speaks.. Have fun and get out there.. gwilly

[pd110961]

thanks for the advice, i'll try it tonight.. mine does not like the choke at all though. I DO have a bad ankle, but kicking with decomp in is easy peasy.. if this technique works for my bike, i'll stick with it. it fired again first proper kick with this technique last night.

[mauri]

i have long since understood why enfield’s got a bad reputation, especially when one reads things like this.



the problem(s) can again be traced to the one sitting on it.

and if its not the one sitting on it, its the one tinkering with it.

[Paulk]

OK not wishing to add another variable here but if your bike doesn't like "choke" at all it could be your pilot screw is set too rich. Once to engine is warm you could try adjusting to see if you can get the tickover to rise. - There are technical notes for setting up carbs, reading thru wouldn't do you any harm.
Reasoning - engines usually prefer a richer mix to start than normal running, so if your starting without "choke" then theory goes you must be getting a richer mix from somewhere else - pilot jet being an obvious culprit (there are others). Not suggesting you go through the whole main jet/slide set up etc but with the pilot jet/throttle stop so easy to adjust they are easy to tamper with - and get wrong.