[Tassos]

My New Enfield is a dream! I've been driving around town for over a month now, and it's great!

The only problem I have is that when I start the RE at night and I turn on the headlight the engine stops.

I have 2 options: I either have to use the choke, but for how long? I'm afraid that if I use the choke for long, I'm stressing the motor.

or I have that little screw on the engine which I can screw/unscrew (sorry I am not very good with technical terms ) and that makes the engine run a bit faster at neutral. But if I take this too high, again I feel that it's not good for the engine...

any ideas???

 

[Chasfield]

Mine used to quit when I applied the brake (light). The bike is 7 years old and the battery was shot. A new battery and LED substitute stop/tail lamp solved it.

On my 2001 Classic, the headlight main beam has its own dedicated alternator winding so turning it on doesn't (well, shouldn't) steal power from the ignition circuit and weaken the spark as you describe. If yours is the same it may be the small load of tail light, side lights and instrument illumination that is actually causing the problem. I have replaced most of these on my bike with LED substitute bulbs. My ammeter hardly moves when I put these minor lights on.

I wouldn't keep the choke/enrichener engaged for any longer than the cold engine needs it. Tweaking the throttle idle speed finger screw for a slightly faster idle is ok. 

Better still would be to run through your electrical connections to make sure every thing is clean and tight. Poor connections and bad earths will steal volts from your ignition system which could make it marginal when other accessories are pulling current.

[clamp]

If your engine stops when you turn your lights on then the charging system is low at tick over. The choke does not stress the engine . Increasing tick over speed does not stress the engine to the contrary letting the engine run too slow will be more stressfull.

    Charging  the battery will give a temporary fix.

[wmooremn]

Chasfield,

Where did you get the LED replacements? did you have to replace the entire fixture or were they simply replacement bulbs? I just put the Beehive tailight on my Electra X and while I love the looks it is not very bright.

Thanks,
Bill