Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum

General Discussion => Campfire Talk => Topic started by: spacemonkey on August 31, 2009, 03:15:26 pm

Title: loosing parts ramble
Post by: spacemonkey on August 31, 2009, 03:15:26 pm
 I have about had it with crap falling off this bike.I have put 3200 miles on this bike about 20 miles each way .The first week I lost the rear foot peg.Shortly after the nut  that holds the kick stand on fell off ,The oil return line came  loose and dumped oil all over the walk at work.The gas tank had slight leak at the weld fixed with rubber washer.the bracket that holds the muffler pipe broke at the bend and came loose at the head on the hwy twice.the plate that attaches to the rear fender holds the coil missing the bolt that holds that on . the screws that hold the fender to the mount are loose but i cant tighten them up without taking the tire off,the battery cover fell of the lock broke only opened it once,air box filter about as loose as you can get with out falling off,the hindge for the tool box broke twice Illl be removing them and replaceing with new hardware.The foot pegs were so loose it was unrideable so i tighten every nut and bolt on this thing its ridding much nicer for about 100 miles then the muffler falls off the bolt that hold that on was completly gone and the nut that holds it to the kick stand had loosend up again .only  to strip this time trying to tighten it .I had to make a new shaft with new nuts locktite and lock washers while installing that i noticed that there is a bolt that runs through the motor that has no nut on it ill have to remove the kick stand to pull the bolt to find out what size nut it needs unless some one knows.I wonder if that has anything to do with the snake  like movement that the rear tire makes once in awhile or just bad bushings.
       I knew going into this that I would need to work on the bike more than other bikes but this is getting to the point that I dont fell safe on this thing at any speed or any distance.
  I should add that I have also keep up with the maintence. tappets are good chains are good probly need to tighten heads but seem to be good.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Thumper on August 31, 2009, 03:22:26 pm
Well part of the routine maintenance every 1684 miles should be to check for stuff so as to prevent just that sort of thing. 6800 miles and nothing's ever just fallen off:

I Routine Maintenance
            Note: Check fasteners as you go along. Check the fasteners for whatever area you are working on.

Then, specifically:
27)  Check any remaining fasteners not already checked. Check timing gear cover screws. Check oil line banjo fittings (22 and 13 mm). Check front (13&12mm) and rear (18mm) motor mounts. Check bottom crankcase-half stud nuts (10mm). Check horn bracket and chain guard rear  bracket for stress cracks.

Just sayin'...

Matt



Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: UncleErnie on August 31, 2009, 03:27:35 pm
Thanks for posting.  I feel a lot better now.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: ace.cafe on August 31, 2009, 03:39:32 pm
I think you have an abnormal circumstance, and the first thing that I'd do is check to see that the head-steady which braces the cylinder head to the frame is correctly adjusted and tight.
If the head steady is loose, the bike vibrates alot more than normal.
Also, try to ride the bike in the smooth part of the powerband where it has least vibration.

I've had my bike almost 2 years, and it's a 2000 model, and not one thing has EVER vibrated off the bike or broken from vibration. EVER.
And I practically never have to tighten anything because  of vibrating loose.
And I don't have anything loctited.
It all just stays put.
I can't believe that I'm the only one who doesn't have things vibrate off.
I'm hardly even paying any attention to that, because it just isn't happening to me.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Kevin Mahoney on August 31, 2009, 04:24:31 pm
I had a customer once who complained of excessive vibration. ( I can't determine if that is your complaint and how much is too much?), but he loosened all of the engine mounting bolts and then re tightened them and things were much better. Ace is also right about the engine head steady. A loose one will turn the bike into a bone shaker.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: ScooterBob on August 31, 2009, 05:39:19 pm
Loc-Tite is good, too ...... Try arriving on a Norton Atlas with all the parts on it after a hundred mile ride if you DON'T use Loc-Tite .... and lock washers ..... and pray a lot ... Hahaha!!
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Geirskogul on August 31, 2009, 06:06:06 pm
losing.  One "o."

But yeah, green loctite all the way for those of us too lazy to take everything apart again.  It's a super-thin, penetrating loctite.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: REpozer on August 31, 2009, 09:44:48 pm
For 2000 miles , the only part that came lose ( so far) was the big nuts on the rear frame , the bar wraps around behind the seat. Both sides hand loose.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: 1Blackwolf1 on August 31, 2009, 11:14:51 pm
  After the initial Brit ritual of the first tightening at 300 miles (with service) I have had only one thing vibrate loose.  And that was probably my oversight for not rechecking tightness of fasteners after I installed my rear rack.  But like Ace said I try to operate within the "sweet spot" of the powerband.

  But I learned some really painful lessons with my first Brit single..BSA 441 Victor.  And I now know (have for years) that I pushed Nelly way to hard.  Will
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Ice on September 01, 2009, 05:47:09 am
Hi spacemonkey.  Locktite in colors blue ,green and sometimes red have saved me countless irritations.  Much bet6ter than the old 3M glue (A.K.A. gorilla snot) that we used for the same purpose at one time. Well worth a visit to your local auto parts store.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Geirskogul on September 01, 2009, 08:54:10 am
blue is what you should use the most.  Get the gel.  Removable. 

red is what you should use the least.  Permanent bond unless you heat it up hella

green is penetrating.  Use it on permanent bolts that you don't want to take apart first (like the frame bolts, etc etc.)  Comes off with less heat, but still "permanent."  SUPER THIN

purple is the weakest.  Use on commonly/often removed items, like timing cover bolts, or drain bolts.

BTW the colors for loctite vs permatex are the same.  Permatex is a company that broke off from Loctite awhile ago, but the formulations are, surprise, EXACTLY THE SAME.  The only difference is, Permatex tends to be way cheaper, and offers gels for all but the green one.  The word "loctite" has become a generisized trademark, like band-aids for bandages and kleenex for tissues.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: spacemonkey on September 01, 2009, 03:58:26 pm
 Im going to try to pull every thing loose tonight and re tighten with locktite blue on every thing . I still need to figure out what the nut size is on the bolt that runs through the motor at the kick stand.also thinking about hitting the heads up whats the spec on
tourqe. also where is the head steady located and how do i adjust that .
Thanks for the info
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: ace.cafe on September 01, 2009, 04:44:41 pm
Im going to try to pull every thing loose tonight and re tighten with locktite blue on every thing . I still need to figure out what the nut size is on the bolt that runs through the motor at the kick stand.also thinking about hitting the heads up whats the spec on
tourqe. also where is the head steady located and how do i adjust that .
Thanks for the info

The head steady is a turnbuckle type device that has adjustable length.
It runs from the same frame lug that the gas tank tabs bolt to at the rear, and goes to a lug on the cylinder head just above the intake manifold.
You have to take off one of the bolts holding it in place, if you want to adjust the length.

You just make sure that it is the proper length to go on to the bolts at both ends.
Then make sure that it's tight.
That's it.
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: UncleErnie on September 01, 2009, 06:51:00 pm
Interesting, that.  That bit isn't adjustable on the AVL.  Just a tube with flattened ends about 5 inches long.  Under the tank, in front of the battery (kind sorta).
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: spacemonkey on September 02, 2009, 01:23:31 am
ok the head steady was fine but I did manage to learn several new was to use the f word and I also found out there is such a thing called a 1/2 bsf its not metric or standard wish I had known that before spending the last hr on my back
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Ice on September 02, 2009, 05:08:46 am
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/common/graphics/upload/all/loctite_product_catalog.pdf (http://www.loctiteproducts.com/common/graphics/upload/all/loctite_product_catalog.pdf)
 
 Locctite was invented by Vernon Kriebel, a retired chemistry professor. I consider him to be the father of liquid thread locking technology. He plowed his retirement into starting the company in the late 50's or early 60's. His son Robert even gave up his career to assist in the venture. As late as the mid 90's if you wanted to infringe on the good professors hard work and patents you needed better lawyers than they had. I don't know when they were acquired by the Henkel group. Before that though, I think I read that they owned Permatex for a short while.

Permatex is famous for their RTV silicones. They still make Permatex #1 ( brown, hardens ) and Permatex #2 ( green, stays soft) ,Permatex #3 ( Aviation) those three compounds were important to winning WW II and are still excellent and useful sealants in their own right.

Warning about "green" Locktite's
 There is the wicking type that is applied to bolts after assembly and gives a grip similar to the 242 blue locktite and then there are green retaining compounds.

 The retaining compounds are pretty much permanent requiring heat and/or power tools for removal.

 Please do not repeat my mistakes by using the wrong ones. 
Title: Re: loosing parts ramble
Post by: Geirskogul on September 02, 2009, 06:35:49 am
Even the wicking one is stronger than the blue, IMHO.  That's why I said to use it on parts you "don't wish to take apart again in the near future," like frame hold bolts etc etc.  For instance I put it on my footpeg bolts and the bolt for the kickstand.