[Hewie]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick Question:  The Rubber inserts on the Engine Cooling Fins!  Do they actually serve a purpose  or  are they just  for fashion?   

I ask as I live in the Tropics Downunder, at the moment  I am presuming that these rubbers  may  interrupt air cooling of the bike, thus may be better to be removed? 

Any Ideas 

[gizzo]

They stop a bit of engine noise by keeping the fins from ringing. Pull them out if you don't like them. I took them out.

[Hewie]

Thanks  Gizzo,

   I have asked numerous people and  nobody had an answer, even the RE Dealer up here in Darwin didn't know!  But to be fair he did  say he had no idea, but he recommend to other owners to keep them in (apparently 2  other people have bought GT's up here, Haven't seen them yet  ).   However, your answer makes sense, now I just got  to decide whether  to take a chance on excessive ringing noise 

I did notice a  couple of nights ago after a  run of about 25k's  that  a couple  looked like they were popping out!    Engien was hot but I went to push them back in,  the ends snapped off    So I left them, but thought maybe they should be taken out when they are cooler, hence my Question.

Still not sure weather to leave them in or take them out    I will probably leave them in and if they fall out so be it 

Cheers

[Arizoni]

They are dampers intended to stop resonant vibration in the cylinder fins.
The vibration can be audible and these dampers will keep it from occurring.

The fins have interconnecting material to stabilize them so they are strong and don't really need the dampers from a structural point of view, so removing them won't damage the engine.

They do cover some valuable surface area on the fins and the reduction does keep the fins from dissipating the engines heat.

These Royal Enfields are designed to be ridden slowly in India which has temperatures, much like where I live (in Phoenix, Arizona).
I haven't heard of any engine overheating because the dampers are there but I decided I could put up with a little high pitched buzzing and would rather have a cooler engine.
That's why I removed mine 3 years ago.

[Hewie]

Thanks Arizoni,

It's  not  too bad  if  you take them out is it? Ie  its not like a swam of bees buzzing around you is  it ? 

I like you think they could effect the cooling?  especially as  it is  pretty much a constant 30c here and humid, but I probably won't take them out  yet 

Cheers

[Arizoni]

A lot of people have removed the dampers and I have yet to hear one of them say they heard an annoying sound of any kind.
Well, except for the normal clicks and ticks these engines always make that is. 

[Mr.Mazza]

A lot of people have removed the dampers and I have yet to hear one of them say they heard an annoying sound of any kind.
Well, except for the normal clicks and ticks these engines always make that is. 

I love those noises on my Iron Enfield.
Everyone says man you gotta adjust this and that (random shit like tappets and all sorts) from even seasoned mechanics.
I just say, 'Nah mate, shes just talking to me and shes saying lets go!

Then I speed off.

[JVS]

I removed those dampers from my UCE 500 after 2 years, and it sounds the same to me  However, I've still kept the lower dampers in there as they blend in with the black.

[SSdriver]

Took mine out, looks better without them. I can't hear anything different, but at my age, I'm lucky to hear anything...Jim

[barenekd]

I took mine out. Never could detect any difference and it doesn't look Japanese
Bare

[Jellyroll]

Ripped all but the barrel dampers and threw 'em in the RE box. They do interrupt cooling obviously; Texas is bad too and it just makes sense. Thumpers are noisy due to their design, and I think someone decided that the 'modern' thing to do was cram chunks of rubber between the fins. My ooooold Yamaha has 'em, but they're buttons. I don't see the logic in that bike, the head fins have massive molded bridges between the fins anyway, and if all that is just to quell a little noise from the valvetrain, well I think it's just a tad anal.

[selac]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick Question:  The Rubber inserts on the Engine Cooling Fins!  Do they actually serve a purpose  or  are they just  for fashion?   

I ask as I live in the Tropics Downunder, at the moment  I am presuming that these rubbers  may  interrupt air cooling of the bike, thus may be better to be removed? 

Any Ideas 

Hi from France,

It seems that AVL, the autrichian conceptor of the engine, which was tasked with maximum reliability, fitted the cylinder with many rubbers, to avoid the breakage of the fins due to vibration that targeted sometimes older models. May be that it is an unecessary precaution.

[StephenR]

Guys - I'm fairly sure that we're off the mark here. The reason (one of the reasons) that AVL were commissioned was to get the engines through the stricter EU emissions regs (and I guess EPA) and as the little plate on the frame tells you the engines are measured for sound output in Db.  The rubbers make a small difference to the total sound 'picture' from the engine but they do make a difference for the tests. But in the real world of riding the thing if you are wearing earplugs you'll never tell the difference between rubber inserts and no inserts.  After all the classic British air cooled singles all happily ran very similar cylinder heads with no little rubber bungs.  Remove them if you wish - they'll make no difference to the fins' strength.  Usually in the old days the only reason the fins broke was because some gorilla couldn't get the head off without putting a big lever between the top of the barrel and the bottom fin - usually around the exhaust port.