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[Adrian]

Shaping up very nicely Tom, shame Watsonian-Squire never offered a beefed-up tuned engine as an option - possibly that would have been an admission that the 500 Bullet was not for thrashing.



Will you be twin-plugging with that high-comp piston?



A.

[Bullet Whisperer]

Yes, coming along well there, Tom. I doubt you will need twin plugs, though, our 350 racer runs a single non resistor, bog standard ordinary NGK B7 HS, has a huge dome on the piston and has a rev limiter to stop it going past 9500 rpm. Might as well keep a fully functioning decompressor. Regards, Paul.

[Tomshayes]

Rockers fitted, head torqued and tappets adjusted..

[Alan R]

Hi Matey !!---------- Looking very good indeed........not trying to tell you how to suck eggs but do be very cautious with the very first engine rotation....do it by hand or rotate the rear wheel in 3rd, but DO feel for any binding or refusal to fully rotate.....If it helps any I had exactly the same set-up on my previous Bullet '65 but kept to standard valves running in Phos. Bronze guides, and a 30mm Amal with large pancake filter and jetted accordingly.............She ran a treat and pulled that extra tooth with no probs....Standard single plug but of the 3-electrode type...Best fuel at all times.....

Those pistons are a work of art, aren't they ??...It took me quite a while before I fired it up.. seemed a shame to spoil it !!............Best day out on that set-up was from Telford down to Newport (Gwent) via Hereford -- then return via Worcester...Another run was down to Leicester for Beezabryan's first get together....Electronic ignition and charging went on later...........To be honest I don't know why I sold it ?? Must have been barmy ?---OK now though with The Red Baron in the fleet ...

[Tomshayes]

Hi Alan

All Rotates nicely.. I've still got the 17 tooth on the gearbox but was considering 18... I've converted to 5 speed box but I'm not really too bothered about a nice cruising speed.. This Royal Enfield 535 GT Clubman "S"is going to be my hack about.. I have the 53 Meteor for cruising..

Tom

[Bullet Whisperer]

Alan R, The engine will rotate nicely, I made sure of that when I assembled the bottom end in my workshop. I would not let it leave my workshop if there were any tight spots or other defects. You can check for yourself in Tom's links to my youtube clips at the top of this page. The crank, as it was before splitting had 0.008" run out, after my work it was 0.0015", a useful contribution to smooth and free running, I would think. Incidentally, sometimes a crank will appear to bind if it is spun with none of the drive side components [or equivalent spacers] done up tight on the drive side mainshaft to prevent the crank creeping over to the timing side as it is spun, when the shoulder of the timing side mainshaft can rub on the inside face of the bearing housing on that side. Regards, Paul.

[Alan R]

Hi Guys---------Hello Paul....woa, hang-on a min. there matey........That wasn't meant to be a slur on your well-known ability to build A1 grade engines----I'm sorry it came-over in that way.....What I was saying to Tomshayes is that having now got the barrel, head, push-rods in place then don't forget to make sure that it STILL turns over, thus proving that his recent work is OK, especially if he's fitted that oversize inlet valve.....Once again my apologies for an unintentional knock at your good self, OK ??

[Bullet Whisperer]

Hi Alan, no problem, I just didn't want anyone getting the wrong end of the stick. Regards, Paul.

[Adrian]

This bike is starting to look the part with some decent internals to promote reliable go as well as shiny show. Now why couldn't Watsonian-Squire have offered a tuned and beefed-up engine to go with their café racer package, or would that have amounted to an admission that the classic 500 engine wasn't really fit for thrashing???



Looking forward to hearing good reports about this one on the road. Will you be twin-plugging that high-comp motor, Tom?



A.

[Tomshayes]

Well further progress photos.

This is it untill after Christmas now.