Forum

[Tim NZ]

There are LOTS of misinterpreted tales about the Constellation that are repeated by those with no practical experience. Warped crankcases is but one.


Tales with a modicum of truth behind them: Blown head gaskets, yes, was and can be a problem. Use the thicker Super Meteor head gasket to lower compression. OR modern Flame-ring compressed fibre pattern.


Contributing factor behind blown Head gasket was Detonation - Over advanced timing...


Stripped 5/16 barrel studs due to high pressure is/was an issue. Heliocoils or 3/8 studs cure that.




Inadequate Oil scavenging from the sump, leading to Oil being blown out the breather.


Stemmed from bore/ring wear due to lack of Air filtration, and dated piston and ring construction. (The forged piston that H offer and far stronger and have much better rings).


Combined with excess oil entering the sump via the 'Windows' in the camshaft tunnels. The Inter had the 'Windows' closed off...


Fit the large capacity Oil return pump!


Engine breathing issues were sort of nearly almost just about not quite completely cured with the Mk1 Interceptor.




A bit like the Bullets somewhat problematic breather issue, lots of Home remedies out there...




Scissor-clutch came in for a lot of grief due to wear of the clutch thrust bearings: ALWAYS engage neutral when ever stopped! ALWAYS! EVERY TIME! Then thrust bearing wear from prolonged holding is negated, and the clutch is perfect! (Best Clutch fitted to any Brit bike up to the Trident.)


The Clutch thrust bearings are actually open E10 magneto bearings and not up to the job. Fit 16100 2RS sealed ball bearings; they are designed to accommodate the same end load, but are sealed and thus dont suffer from lack of lubrication which is the underlying issue with the E10 wearing out.

[Mark M]

Ah, a Mick Walker book. He has written dozens. I suspect that this type of book (choosing words carefully here,) is often assembled from other books and press cuttings without direct experience of the bikes in question. If the comments you quote are typical it sounds more like the sort of thing the club bore confidently spouts while leaning on the bar, probably poking you in the chest with a pipe at the same time! Before he leaves to go home in his Mondeo. (No offence Mondeo owners, other family cars are available.) Seriously though, this is a better place to ask research questions as Tim amply demonstrated. There are several much more useful books with Enfield big Twin information in them but no single book that covers the whole story. The closest is probably Andy Stait's "The Mighty Interceptor" but that doesn't go into a lot of on-the-road or workshop detail and is about er, Interceptors! So ask away, and if you are buying from a dealer or other public sale post a link so we can have a look although that will just be external appearance obviously. Also, do you feel confident to do work yourself? I think that any bike you buy, restored or not will need some work and a new owner should be comfortable with this, even if it's only changing a cable or adjusting chains, without this bringing on a terminal depression!

REgards, Mark

[SMLE]

Thanks for all the info' folks.

Yes it is Mick Walker's book, and with already several spelling and grammatical errors so far (and I'm only up to chapter 3) does make me think this book is average at best. Still. it's the first R.E only book I've had in my library, the others mainly being Triumph, Norton or all British makes general books.

Re fiddling with a classic, I'm up for most things, but have a good man with spanner, and I dare say hammer should I need someone with an imperial hammer instead of my metric ones (wink). As well as Moggies and a Series IIa Land Rover, I've also, in the past been an avid reader of classic bike stuff, mainly Triumph though. In short, I'm not an expert, but know more than the current Land Rover dealers. Hang on a mo', that ain't a lot!

On a more serious note, time is probably more of an issue, however, I like the thought of a R.E twin. A tad different, yet familiar (sort of) at the same time.

Cheers all,

Chris.

[Bullet Whisperer]

Another point to consider is these machines are unlikely to be used to their full potential these days. All old bikes still with us today have gone through being new models, when they might have been ridden hard and fairly well looked after, to being old 'hacks' and ridden hard and not so well looked after, blown up / worn out / put in the back of the shed, down the garden or whatever. Next, survivors get rediscovered, brought back to life and 'restored' - I use inverted commas there, because there are quite a few stunning looking restorations to be had which are total crap mechanically, among the truly good ones. What this boils down to is this - throughout a machine's life, there will be plenty of opportunity for wear and mechanical damage, but the way these machines are used these days, a lot of the old 'weaknesses' no longer apply, apart from possibly at a vintage race meeting, I doubt I am likely to see the owners of a T120 Bonnie and a 'Connie' thrashing the nuts off their machines to see whose machine is fastest, so these machines' weaknesses are less likely to rear their heads as they might have done in the old days, assuming they have been put together right in the first place!

[capedcrusader]

Having had several of this venerable models,they were all different.But once sorted with some of the mods outlined proved to be good performing machines.Conversley the one with the sportiest spec TT carb etc was probably the poorest performer and the scruffiest the best.The biggest limitation is the gearbox but if you get the clutch working well it is quite acceptable as long as you dont expect racing changes and close ratios.With the help of our hosts they make a pleasant usable machine.

[Dennis C]

They are indeed a very good machine when correctly assembled?. As for what "experts" write about them, well to say the least it varies. I was looking through some old magazines a week or so ago and came across one excert of a rebuild by one such "expert", the rear sprocket was rubbing on the swing arm so he ground the swing arm back to clear it and then welded a gusset on the top for strength, then of course when he came to fit the chain, it didn't line up so the sprocket was ground off and a new one welded on in line. if this didn't make him look daft enough he went on to describe how he had to make a brake rod with a kink in it to go round the rear suspension unit, the photograph clearly showing the brake lever on the drum was fitted upside down, the mind boggles.

[vince]

Hi, Well he should have read mick walkers book, obvious his cases were warped! Vince

[Marko]

Steve Wilson in "British Motorcycles since 1950" mentioned "exploding chaincases" when talking about the Connie which I found quite amusing but I don't stare at my Constellation wondering if its going to explode. I bought my Connie last November as a supposedly restored bike - its had lots of mechanical issues though it does look like a stunner. Most of the problems have been sorted, indeed I thought they had been until yesterday when it blew a head gasket HOWEVER i'm still impressed with just how well it goes. The Connie is a seriously underrated bike, if I had to rank it against others I have ridden i'd rate it higher than any Triumph T140 I've ever owned. I'm a complete novice regarding the Connie, some of the comments above in previous replies I've bumped into on my bike - however i'm surely but slowly getting there. My only regret? I wish i'd tried or bought one years ago when I had the chance, instead I bought a Triumph and have spent the last 30 years living in the dark ages

[Mark M]

I had always discounted the stories about exploding chaincases too. You see quite a few inner cases where the centre stud has been pulled out and rewelded, usually badly! I thought this was always due to owners tightening the centre nut too much to stop the lube leaking out when they should have replaced the sealing rubber band. However, I know a chap who had this happen to him recently, he said he was riding briskly when there was a big bang near his left foot so he stopped and couldn't see anything but back at home spotted the rubber seal hanging out. In this case it was only the seal that parted company but it shows it can happen. He assured me that there hadn't been any fuel leakdown or anything like that! Made me ride for a few weeks with an ear out for unexpected noises but that didn't last....

REgards, Mark

[Dennis C]

I think this is very rare but I guess possible, the inlet manifold has a small drain hole in the bottom to stop overflowing petrol running into the engine when stopped with the petrol left on, if this is blocked or the manifold inverted petrol can end up in the crankcase which will vent gas through the crankshaft breather, an unlikely spark from the alternator would cause the bang.