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For Royal Enfield owners and enthusiasts
- Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:41 am
#44534
BMWs Norm... and Land Rover Defenders... cos VW campervans and Royal Enfields dont quite get the job done at the mo.
- Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:01 pm
#44545
It's mainly lack of time that's the issue Norm. Rebuilt engine, carb, loads of electrics repaired, front brakes done, new dizzy and battery all in on the vw. Just got to find an afternoon to tune it, then a day or two to to figure out what's seized whilst it's been off-road (6 or 7 months now) then an mot hopefully. That job, plus day job, plus two very young kids and a dodgy EFI keep me busy! EFI wise, I chucked a whole load of throttle body cleaner into the throttle body and tonnes of gunk came out. Sooty, gummy crap from teeny airways left rights and centre. I removed the air bypass screw and a hole pile of gunk came out there too. Here's hoping that the new rubber plus clean throttle solve a few bike problems... Might left me concentrate on the vw for a bit 
- Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:39 am
#44665
I popped the cleaned throttle body back on along with new rubber seals and bellows last night (and new rocker cover gaskets as they were a bit leaky). I bit of a pain to align the manifold air pressure sensor, the choke (yes I know, not a real choke!) cable and the various other wee bits and bobs so that they fitted under the head steady or between the head steady and the injectors, but I got there. I also check down the spark plug hole whilst the tank was off (access to throttle is far easier with tank off - not necessary but less cut hands!) and noted that the top of the piston was just as black as the throttle was 
A wee poke with a flat head screw driver lifted some of the black deposit up through the plug hole. Mostly soft carbon like deposits, similar to some bits of the throttle body (especially the airways), but there was also quite a caked on hard black material under this softer stuff. Having not pulled many engines apart (except for clean ones in college) is this bacl build up something to be expected given my throttle was in a similar state, and will it burn off when I get the mixture right? Or should I be considering a head off, decarbonizing task in the near future... or perhaps an Italian tune up?
BTW I could take the bike out for a test run, but it idled nicely in the garage when I reconnected the battery etc.
A wee poke with a flat head screw driver lifted some of the black deposit up through the plug hole. Mostly soft carbon like deposits, similar to some bits of the throttle body (especially the airways), but there was also quite a caked on hard black material under this softer stuff. Having not pulled many engines apart (except for clean ones in college) is this bacl build up something to be expected given my throttle was in a similar state, and will it burn off when I get the mixture right? Or should I be considering a head off, decarbonizing task in the near future... or perhaps an Italian tune up?
BTW I could take the bike out for a test run, but it idled nicely in the garage when I reconnected the battery etc.
- Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:47 am
#44666
Michael if it runs ok just ride it,hopefully it will run lean enough to burn the loose carbon off, the baked on will stay there
- Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:20 am
#44668
Cheers Norm, will find out how well it runs under load when things warm up here
- Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:54 am
#45072
An update... finally got out on the bike this morning after all my earlier problems with it. Ran like a bag of spanners under load for a couple of minutes, backfiring and coughing and not pulling for the first 2 or 3 minutes, but then (almost like it had coughed up a furball) it started to run normally It never did it's 'rough running' thing at all at any point in my 45 minute ride. Time will tell if the issue has permanently gone, amnd no doubt the next 'crisis' is just around the corner... and I did lose one of the screws holding my new tail light lens in - hey ho!
It never did it's 'rough running' thing at all at any point in my 45 minute ride. Time will tell if the issue has permanently gone, amnd no doubt the next 'crisis' is just around the corner... and I did lose one of the screws holding my new tail light lens in - hey ho!
- Thu Mar 05, 2015 10:06 am
#45092
Michael I am glad all is well, the sort of "spitting out a furball" usually means that a few drops of water somewhere on the fuel system has been got rid off, or the heat from running the engine has dispersed condensation from the electrics.
- Thu Mar 05, 2015 12:36 pm
#45096
Hey! Mine has just done exactly the same thing!
Driving along, and it keeps doing these intermittent losses of power, like it's misfiring, although there's no obvious change in the exhaust note. When I accelerate gently, the power hesitates and them comes in suddenly, so it feels kind of "jumpy".
In my case it ran perfectly the first day I took it out after its winter layup. HOWEVER, that night, after the first run, I power-washed it to make sure there was no salt anywhere. The next day the trouble began.
It looks very much to me like I've either got water in the electrics somewhere, or through the lid into the petrol tank.
I've given it two good runs, and the problem seems to be disappearing. Last night it was still there, but hardly noticeable.
This has taught me a lesson - don't power wash my bike!
Driving along, and it keeps doing these intermittent losses of power, like it's misfiring, although there's no obvious change in the exhaust note. When I accelerate gently, the power hesitates and them comes in suddenly, so it feels kind of "jumpy".
In my case it ran perfectly the first day I took it out after its winter layup. HOWEVER, that night, after the first run, I power-washed it to make sure there was no salt anywhere. The next day the trouble began.
It looks very much to me like I've either got water in the electrics somewhere, or through the lid into the petrol tank.
I've given it two good runs, and the problem seems to be disappearing. Last night it was still there, but hardly noticeable.
This has taught me a lesson - don't power wash my bike!
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