Forum

[Roy P]

Hi,I'm in the process of completely rebuilding my Electra X after it has sadly been left under covers at the bottom of the garage for the past six years. It has presently got a working sprag but I have had problems with the Enfield quick fail sprag bearing in the past. As I have to buy a new battery I was wondering if anyone has used a lithium ion battery and was it any help in preserving the life of the sprag. Thanks Roy.

[Adrian]

A really healthy battery (can be AGM as well as lithium ion) will make a big difference to the reliability of electric starting, as will a properly set-up carb with no air-leaks.



The other aid to the sprag's longevity is to use the valve lifter when starting and stopping the engine. Getting the engine spinning fast enough before releasing the valve lifter means the sparks will be coming at the right time (the temporary voltage drop caused by the starter motor kicking in will have passed, though the later green TCI box is supposed to fix this: fit one if yours doesn't already have it. Also stopping the engine with the valve lifter reduces the tendency of the engine to bounce back on compression and briefly drive the sprag clutch in the wrong direction.



This is all well and good, trouble is the valve lifter is rubbish! Or at least the silly little plastic lever in the left-hand switch cluster is. I gave up on mine altogether when the AVL tappet cover cracked and leaked oil badly, and still got another 13,000 miles before my sprag went bang... Some owners have managed to get the thing working well enough by using an old-style decompressor/valve lifter handlebar lever. The other option is to modify the cylinder head to take the classic Bullet decompressor valve. This is what I did for my AVL hybrid and it works well.



A.

[Roy P]

Thanks Adrian, the bikes not got the green TCI but rather the one our host sells. I agree the valve lifter is not very good, the switch gear is generic to many bikes and that lever was only designed as a choke control lever, i fitted a proper decompression lever some years ago. Thanks for the input.

[Adrian]

I know our hosts have been selling the little black box spark delay unit, this was developed/commissioned by Watsonian-Squire as an interim measure for early Electra-X bikes with the original black TCI box. The later green TCI box incorporates the spark delay circuitry and doesn't need any add-on bits.



Think the switchgear seems to have been copied from the Suzuki range of the day, when I converted my Electra-X to push-pull throttle for a Mikuni TM36-31 carb, the Suzuki R/H switch/push-pull throttle housing I used was almost identical.



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[Roy P]

This is the TCI that our host used to sell some time ago, I bought it over ten years ago far more expensive thàn the green TCI but was sold as a vast improvement to the standard offering from Enfield. Looking through Hitchcocks recent book of dreams it seems he no longer supplies this item.

[Adrian]

If that's the bulkier flat one it was a Suzuki GS125 TCI box. I obtained mine from a different source, where it was sold as part of a budget 4 stroke single racing TCI kit... AS you point out they're part of our hosts' catalogue history. OEM stocks elsewhere have probably dried up except for 2nd hand, though pattern items can still be had new on that on-line auction web site.



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[Norm]

Adrian's option of fitting a Bullet decomp valve is probably the best option, although there isn't much room in the head to fit it. Running a small pipe out from the head to a ball valve or something similar will work probably easier, ope ball valve, spin the motor, shut the valve and it will start, reverse method to stop it. It only needs a bit of 1/4 inch copper tube coming out of the head so getting between the fins should not be too difficult

[Adrian]

Hi Norm,



the combustion chamber is large enough to fit an extra 14mm x 1.25mm threaded hole opposite the spark plug quite happily. The head has to lose a little finning (not a problem in our normally cold climate) and the hole has to be counter-bored to let the valve body sit in a bit so that the valve head is flush with the combustion chamber.



I'd put the pictures up again but my photo-hosting sites have disappeared or gone payment only, I might put some up via Image BB in a while.

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[Trev]

Maybe not super helfpul but for what it's worth, I fitted a lithium ion battery to my 2008 efi when the battery finally packed up and although it was about twice the price I wish I had done so years ago. Starting is now almost instant and I can actually run a Keis heated vest whereas previously the poor old thing would splutter and fart at low revs if any drain put on the battery for any length of time. Other bonus is that the original battery never fitted very well under the side panel and the much smaller one fits in easily and leaves room for a couple of extra tools. The weight saving is a nice bonus but not one I would personally go for jsut on it's own as the rider (in this case) could easily bring that benefit if he could be bothered!

[Roy P]

Thanks Trev for your response to my question,I was hoping that there would be more experience of these batteries but I am going to give it a shot anyway. The weight saving is not an issue with me but rather the far greater CCA.