Forum

[Bullet Whisperer]

555, I am sure with a top end strip and a good check over of the lubrication system and oilways that your RE engine could be made to work properly. Once you start to b****r about trying to put some other engine in, you will end up spending more time and money than you ever would on putting the original right. Regards, Paul.

[555]

B W, I agree about the effort with a different engine, I now just need to find someone who can sort out what's needed and do it. Drive,push, in drive out all fixed. There must be that person near by, Cambridge, Royston area. Just want it fixed . I feel that I may be ranting. Apologies if it appears so. Calm now.

[Norm]

555, it is NOT the engines fault, they can be very reliable, they just need to be done correctly.

[papasmurf]

555, it is the Royal Enfield specified minimum piston/bore clearance that matters. Not anyones elses.

[Marko]

555 if you want peace of mind re your barrel & piston I suggest you get in touch with T&L engineering in Bedford who have loads of experience working on older engines, or ask Paul Henshaw (Bullet Whisperer) at Performance classics. Your barrel probably needs just a light hone, no need for new components except probably rings. Taking your barrels/pistons to a place that does rebores - uhm, well, we've all done that, but they need to go to someone who understands old engines. It might be a temptation to use someone local who can do the job on the spot but in the long run its far better (& cheaper in the long run) to send them to someone who knows what they're doing. Best regards, Mark

[555]

Marko Hi, thanks for the contacts. But I would have thought that the clearances would be ok in a used barrel and piston. Leading me to believe that excessive heat is causing the problem, this leads me to fuel mixture , which I thought I had addressed, but it starts easily so no wonder back to SQ one. I need somebody to fix it, not just the parts.

[Aethelric]

555, you say the bike has only done 7000 miles yet it is on its third (or fourth?) barrel and piston and second carb. When did the “nipping up” start? Was it with the original barrel and carb?

[Marko]

555 (give us a name will you I feel like i'm talking to a bunch of numbers)Excessive Heat in an engine can be caused by all manner of things however...an engine that has had its ignition timing badly set i.e for arguments sake too retarded can overheat quite quickly - I've fixed a number of triumph twins over the years where the ig nition timing was so far out you could see the exhaust headers glow cherry red in the dark, yet their owners were adamant that the Amals were the chief culprits in the lack of performance department. I'm not saying that this is whats going on with your bike although it might be a possibility & well worth checking. You mentioned that its happened 3 times (nippin up 3 sets of barrels &pistons) in 6000 miles... so.. it looks like theres an underlying problem that has been there since day 1 with your engine. Its very hard to diagnose/fix things in cyber-reality but if it were my bike my chief suspects would be ignition timing and/or oil delivery problem BUT i'd still get the barrel&piston checked out. I seem to remember in the past that the Bullet Whisperer fixed an enfield that had been misbehaving itself, one of the oilways I seem to recall was partially blocked & caused the owner all sorts of grief. I wish you luck

[555]

Marco - its Andrew. I agree that it's a old problem that has not been solved. I think I have eliminated oil , or lack of it as a culprit. Cracked open the banjos and big glugs go oil. On the timing side, although not checked I think it must be ok, reason being that she fires up really easily, no choke. All the dots lined up on the cogs, so should be ok.

And yes it had been the same symptom since new,

So I have changed barrel and piston, oil pump , plungers, oil supply pipe, rockers and richend the fuel with different jets and needles.

I do think it could be excessive heat build up, last time it was around 22 ambient temp. Could not measure the heat of the head, but there was a real heat haze.

The most recent rebuild lasted for less than 30 miles, 5 to the MOT, 5 back then a 10 mile then back, . Clutch in switch off and coast to lay by, swear a lot , calm down then restart and drive home . But now the throttle cable or slide is jammed in the Amal carb, could the heat have warped the carb?

[Adrian]

Over-tightening the two nuts holding the concentric onto the head will distort the carb body! A good reason not to use one of the older zinc alloy type. A.