[kjvelo]

I'm thinking of getting a torque wrench to use on my Enfield C5.  When I bought the bike (used), the sprag clutch needed to be replaced, and it seems that the mechanic over-tightened the oil drain plug after servicing, so it ended up stripped.

I want to avoid that problem in the future when working on the bike myself, so figure a torque wrench might be a good investment.  I can't seem to find torque specifications for the bike, so I've got a few questions:

1. Anyone know where I can find torque specifications for C5?

2. Is it worthwhile to invest in a torque wrench or is finger tightening with a bit of cautious ratcheting to follow good enough?

3. I'm debating between a 20-200 inch-pound or 10-150 feet-pound wrench.  Any suggestions as to which would be more useful, or if I should look at a different range all together?

Thanks in advance for the input.

[ERC]

Get one of those cheap Sears beam ones all the others you have to have calibrated to keep them accurate. The beam type last forever. For what you'll most likely be doing an inch ib. will do it. With what they cost you'd be better getting both. I'm sure somebody will disagree with me on this. ERC

[GreenMachine]

ERC:  Not at all..Best to experiment with it before putting it to your Enfield...It doesn't take alot to over tighten or snap bolts or strip threads on these machines.. I have had good success hand tightening with a 1/4 turn extra on external fasteners. GM...

[tooseevee]

Get one of those cheap Sears beam ones all the others you have to have calibrated to keep them accurate. The beam type last forever. For what you'll most likely be doing an inch ib. will do it. With what they cost you'd be better getting both. I'm sure somebody will disagree with me on this. ERC

            I disagree with you 

             (Is that a Mexican serape or a Sears serape?)

             PS: I have a small, very shiny, inch/pound torque wrench. The only thing I've ever used it for on the Enfield was the head nuts. I seem to have pretty good brain/hand coordination for everything else.
I don't really get why so many oil drain plugs get furckuzzled up.

[Arizoni]

kjvelo:

As everyone here knows, I'm a fan of using a torque wrench, especially when tightening steel bolts and plugs into aluminum parts.

Of course it's always a good idea to buy the best brand that you can afford but, even the cheap Harbor Freight torque wrenches are accurate to +/- 2 percent and they only require setting them to the right value before you tighten the nut or bolt.

If you are afraid of Harbor Freight's tools, Sears tools ranks near the top in quality in my opinion.

I've used the bend beam style for years and although they are good, reading the pointers location on the scale can be difficult, especially if one is looking for an accuracy better than the click styles +/- 2 percent.

As for the range, the 0-200 lb/in one maxes out at 16.67 lb/ft.  That's just barely more torque than the large oil plug needs. (15 lb/ft)

The 10-150 ft/lb wrench doesn't go down close enough to the small bolts that hold the oil pump pickup screen cover and oil filter cap covers 4 ft/lb torque requirement.

Look around and see if you can't fine a 3/8" drive, 0-75 ft/lb torque wrench that adjusts in 1 ft/lb setting increments.   
That will cover 95 percent of all the fasteners on a Royal Enfield.

My "Snap On" torque wrench can't be the only one that has this range available.

 If you get a adjustable click style wrench, don't forget to reset it to zero after your finished using it.  Leaving it set at some torque value for long periods of time can mess up the spring inside.

As for torque values, the best way to find them is to have a RE Parts Catalog + a RE Service Manual.  You need both to find the torque value for a specific bolt, plug or nut.

Lacking those books/DVD's, just ask us for the torque value.  One of us will dig it out and post it here on the forum.

PS: If you need a torque value and can't wait for an answer from us you can use this chart I made.  It shows torques for metric size fasteners in Lb/in and Lb/ft values.

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,10638.msg123549.html#msg123549

[singhg5]

... I can't seem to find torque specifications for the bike, so I've got a few questions:

1. Anyone know where I can find torque specifications for C5?

2. Is it worthwhile to invest in a torque wrench or is finger tightening with a bit of cautious ratcheting to follow good enough?

3. I'm debating between a 20-200 inch-pound or 10-150 feet-pound wrench.  Any suggestions as to which would be more useful, or if I should look at a different range all together?

Torque specs are listed in the SERVICE MANUAL for C5. It is sold separately by NfieldGear.  Call them or ask your local RE dealer to get you one.

Torque wrench may be helpful if you don't feel comfortable by hand tightening the nuts bolts till snug.

As far as range is concerned, there are several nuts or screws that are torqued in the range of about 4 to 20 Pb.ft. (such as tappet door screw), then there are moderately torqued ones from 20 to 40 Pb.ft. (such as main shaft clutch side nyloc nut)  and then higher range between 40 to 80 Pb.ft. (such as front drive sprocket large nut).

There are perhaps a couple of places where about 2 Pb.ft is used as well.

Oil drain plug is listed as 15 Pb.ft.

Hope this helps you in buying appropriate wrench.

EDIT - I did not see that while I was SLOWLY typing, Arizoni had just posted ahead of me, almost same things that I was typing. He explains much better though.

[motorman2whel]

Will all of the C5's nuts & bolts "make" the torque rating?. I know all of My IB's wouldn't (rocker studs) & Ace recommends a lower spec for them.

[ERC]

I knew you'd get a lot of advice on this, but owning ten different torque wrenches and even a comparator gauge to check them for accuracy. I've found after 55 yrs as a full time mechanic and still doing it everyday. Your best bet is get a cheap inch lb and ft lb beam type to cover all you torque needs.    ERC

[motorman2whel]

I knew you'd get a lot of advice on this, but owning ten different torque wrenches and even a comparator gauge to check them for accuracy. I've found after 55 yrs as a full time mechanic and still doing it everyday. Your best bet is get a cheap inch lb and ft lb beam type to cover all you torque needs.    ERC

+1 

[barenekd]

the big problem with beam-type, or dial-type torque wrenches is that sometimes you have to get yourself in some really weird positions to read them!  I prefer clickers, I don't need to read them, just tighten until they click. However they are more expensive, and should be calibrated occasionally, or you could compare to a beam-type for accuracy. I've owned several clickers and dial types over many years and had to get them checked annually when I was working on airplanes and never had one all of out of limits.
Bare

[AgentX]

http://www.protorquetools.com/cat-17-1-92/torque-wrenches.htm was where I shopped for mine. 

I got a small 1/4" dial for delicate applications (including a lot of my work on bicycles with finicky alloy fasteners) and a 3/8" click-type that covered most of the ranges in the Snidal manual.  Kinda wish I'd have gotten a 1/2", since that's what most of the sockets I'm using these days have.

[ERC]

I don't think he is looking to spend a lot of money on different wrenches. That's why I suggested these.  ERC

[AgentX]

I had a $30 inch-lb beam wrench I got from Autozone that I used to use on bicycles very happily.

Working on motos, I found that for clearance and readability, a click or dial type with racheting action was far more usable, and I invested in the more versatile tools.  I didn't think $100 for a high quality wrench was a particularly bad deal.

But the beams work nicely if you are using them in a place where you can fit them and read them, as Bare has pointed out.  A bicycle isn't very cluttered, so it was usually perfect for me in that application.

Edit:  If this is only for drain plugs, I'd just go with feel.  That's not a critical application...just remember a few drops of warning oil are far better than re-tapping your cases for a new plug!

[Mr.Mazza]

Sump plugs are feel, I'm lucky being a mechanic as I tighten a dozen sump plugs a day, you can just feel the washer crushing, simular in feel to a spark plug.

[kjvelo]

Thanks for all the great info and advice, everyone!