[Frankenzuki]

Hi all!  New to the forum, joined because I need some help. I have a 2006 Bullet 500 Electra with a Cozy sidecar. It's my dogs favorite ride. Had an engine failure of biblical proportion on the way home from work last week. So I either need a replacement motor or another Enfield! Any help out there? Thanks!

[ace.cafe]

Is the engine case still intact, or did it spill it's guts on the road?

[Frankenzuki]

Nothing from the inside is on the outside!  Cant kick it over, was running, made some noise like  a pushrod was way out of adjustment, then stopped. Just happened to be in a section of highway with an entrance and an exit in very close proximity, couldn't get over quick enough.

[Frankenzuki]

Sorry, mistyped in my original post. It is a 2006. Not sure if that makes a difference if it is UCE, AVL, EIEIO..

[ace.cafe]

Just upload a photo of the engine. We can tell you what it is. It's either an iron barrel or an AVL.

Might not be very serious.

[Frankenzuki]

Thanks! will get a pic uploaded in the morning

[Superchuck]

Welcome to the forum, you've come to the right place.

Like Ace said It may not be as big of a deal as you think.  If a pushrod was too loose, it could have come unseated and may be unattached in there.  Happened to me once or twice.

I have the AVL, not sure if the same applies to the other models.

You can take a look at the pushrods by opening the side tappet case which is about a 3"x4" panel on the side on your engine.  There should be one acorn nut holding it on (centered).  When replacing this cover it's good to regrease the gasket and make sure not to over tighten the nut.  I've heard you can crack the cover that way. 

If a pushrod is off its seating it's not too horribly complicated to get it back on, and as long as it's not bent: good as new!  (Finders crossed)

[Adrian II]

It's a Royal Enfield. They are repairable.

A closer look at the photo (a bit more effort, guys!) shows that it IS an AVL engine with the Electra-X tinware on the frame, so we'll go for it being an Electra-X until evidence to the contrary arrives.

Push rod trouble is definitely the front runner in this race. Hitchcock Motorcycles in the UK sell tappet adjusters designed to prevent this happening (a second time).
http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-engine-timingside

Scroll down the page about halfway until you get to part # 90235, you might be able to get them from RE Fort Worth.

There are known mechanical weaknesses with the 500 AVL engine but I don't think for the moment that yours has fallen victim to one of the more expensive ones.

A.

[DanB]

Good advice here. Check pushrods first. If they look ok, you may want to check the exhaust cam follower. Mine broke and shimmed into the cams. It's happened on a couple of AVLs of that vintage. Don't try and force turning it over. Don't want to break cam teeth (I have an extra set of stock cams that are collecting dust).

Take some photos and let us know what you find.

[Adrian II]

The broken cam follower is sadly not unknown (yep, mine did too), for some unexplained reason the factory went for cam followers with much thinner stems on the AVL motors. The result is that compared with the classic design on the cast iron model Bullets they are more fragile, meaning the foot simply snaps off while the engine is running. The broken off foot will then be loose inside the timing cover where it can do more damage to the other cam follower and the camshaft gears and timing pinion on the crankshaft.

While it is possible to repair with new parts, a better solution is to fit the followers and guides off a cast iron Bullet, these have thicker stems and are a lot less likely to snap under normal road use. Some modification is required, but my current AVL project bike (using a set of crankcases purchased cheap because they too had a broken cam follower!) now has a set of "real" Bullet cam followers fitted by Bullet Whisperer. Note also the fixed cam spindles.

Hopefully this particular case is just the jumped pushrod, we shall have to wait and see what Frankenzuki finds with the tappet cover removed.

A.

[Kevin Mahoney]

We didn't see broken cam followers on the AVL much but....it did happen to mine while I was riding it.
Most likely it is the pushrod and if so the advice to get the reengineered (and cheap) replacement from Hitchcock is a good idea.

[Narada]

Sorry your having trouble, but awesome that our forum brothers are so knowledgeable with the AVLs.

Personally, I just want to say NICE HACK! The paint and pinstripes are beautiful. I would definately fix that one and get it back out on the road. Please keep us posted on your progress. I have a UCE but I wouldn't mind an AVL to keep it company!

[Ice]

The broken cam follower is sadly not unknown (yep, mine did too), for some unexplained reason the factory went for cam followers with much thinner stems on the AVL motors. The result is that compared with the classic design on the cast iron model Bullets they are more fragile, meaning the foot simply snaps off while the engine is running. The broken off foot will then be loose inside the timing cover where it can do more damage to the other cam follower and the camshaft gears and timing pinion on the crankshaft.

While it is possible to repair with new parts, a better solution is to fit the followers and guides off a cast iron Bullet, these have thicker stems and are a lot less likely to snap under normal road use. Some modification is required, but my current AVL project bike (using a set of crankcases purchased cheap because they too had a broken cam follower!) now has a set of "real" Bullet cam followers fitted by Bullet Whisperer. Note also the fixed cam spindles.

Hopefully this particular case is just the jumped pushrod, we shall have to wait and see what Frankenzuki finds with the tappet cover removed.

A.

 To reduce valve train inertia and valve float tendencies at high revs. AVL rocker arms are much heavier than Iron Barrel rocker arms.

 

[heloego]

Haven't had a problem with mine yet, but on Adrian's and Kevin's words I do believe I'll order up those Hitchcock's adjusters. Simple, easy winter project.

And that IS a nice hack! 

[tooseevee]

It's a Royal Enfield. They are repairable.


Push rod trouble is definitely the front runner in this race. Hitchcock Motorcycles in the UK sell tappet adjusters designed to prevent this happening (a second time).
http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-engine-timingside

Scroll down the page about halfway until you get to part # 90235, you might be able to get them from RE Fort Worth.
A.

            I have a set of those on the shelf that I got from CMW even before I had the ACE head work done in 2014.

             And THEN I forget to install them when I did the head install.

             Even though I'll never beat the juke box at the Ace Cafe (or even try) I think I may just install them this winter. Planned on adjusting the push rods anyway.

              Do these more deeply inset ones screw up short enough to fit in without lifting the head a little ?   

              The worst part of the job is that damn tiny circlip (500502/b).