1930 Royal Enfield Model c with no lights or anything electrical, original?

[Rex]

Doesn't look original (too long) so you need to check the little "damper shoe" is in place inside, too. Lots were discarded over the years.

[mini-me]

I'd stop worrying about little things like that and get it well sorted first.

The silencer is one of those pride and clarke repro "brooklands" cans that were popular some years ago with the look-a-like crowd.

Years ago I fitted one to a cobbled up from spares bike,  its sole asset was that it acted like an echo chamber instead of a silencer and made a lovely racket; [according to whether you were riding on it or being deafened by it as I rode past]

Having looked at the photo of your bike, I am going to be hard and say its not a bad little bike, but if I wanted to go where I think you want to go,I wouldn't start from there.

A decent period set of bars,those are horrible, to take inverted levers and a straight pull throttle plus the lights  you want could easily cost you as much as the bike if you wanted to go strictly original.

The correct non inverted levers should be solid brass, easily 150-200 for a genuine used set, you should beware of, and avoid indian made crap, although you can get good UK made inverted sets, or from the guy in Czech republic.

If it was my bike I'd get a period magdyno, there is one for overhaul on ebay now at 40£, and a small period lamp, junk the brooklands fake and repaint the tank in a correct style and colours.

Its not a bad little bike, ride it.

I am very very biased against the VMCC and just because they say its one year or another I would not take it as holy writ, they'll approve almost anything for cash.

[casperboat]

Out for a spin today, the hand gear lever judders itself into neutral, so I don't know if the lever should have a spring on it, or if the lever needs more of a bend. Unfortunately the bike also broke down with fuel pouring out of the carb, which I hope just needs a new washer.. A nice walk home pushing the bike, at least I was only 1/3 mile away..

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,

Doesn't look original (too long) so you need to check the little "damper shoe" is in place inside, too. Lots were discarded over the years.

Most of the twistgrips I see of this type seem to have too long a screw fitted ?
This feature has become a "pet Hate" of mine
A few years ago A friend was knocked off the "Norton Dommy" he was riding
His only serious injury was a neat hole in his knee and resultant fractured kneecap caused by hitting the
friction adjusting screw
WTF!!!!
John

[mini-me]

What you are finding out is the wisdom of checking over the esentials before worrying over what "looks right".

As for the carb, strip it clean it, seat the float needle, check the washer under the large union.

Try and find out how to adjust the gear change linkage, that would cause jumping out of gear or it could just be the gearbox is buggered.

Personally I don't like the way the rod seems to have been bent to clear the non standard magneto.

[33d6]

The gear lever doesn't have nor need any sort of spring but you have to know how to adjust the linkage. Before you start adjusting ensure all clevis joints are unworn and in good order, also the gear lever pivot. This is the sort of fussy detail that many restorers just skate over. Adjust the linkage so it pushes firmly into top gear and stays there, then back in to bottom gear and seats firmly there. Let middle gear fall where it will. You may have to tweak either the gate or the lever with a file for middle to sit nicely in its slot. Same with neutral.

Don't worry about the bent rod in the linkage. If you look in old period catalogues you'll see lots of bent rods. Many linkages were not elegant nor met engineering niceties.

It is common for bottom gear to drop out if the box is well worn. Sturmey Archer boxes will soldier on well past the point a modern box would cry enough. They are not hard to work on, merely hard to find decent spares for. I can see your kick start hangs too low, it is an integral part of bottom gear so I'm not too surprised that it drops out.
Keep at it, the end result will be a bike you can happily ride anywhere. I think you have the standard restoration. All the shiny bits done but the fine detail put in the too hard basket.
Cheers,

[Rex]

I think you have the standard restoration. All the shiny bits done but the fine detail put in the too hard basket.

Good expression! I said very much the same (though not as witty!) on the old RC site recently where  the regulars were going gooey over someone flogging a new-paint-and-chrome BSA Spitfire which was clearly sporting some of those "too hard" basket finishing touches. Still, bling baffles brains as they say..

[mini-me]

Its like those ebay listings,

a"fortune spent, just needs finishing, "

[iansoady]

It sounds as though the gear linkage has too much play in it or is incorrectly timed.

Timing is done essentially by checking that the lever moves the same distance either side of the neutral detent before touching the adjacent (1st and 2nd) gears. On my Sunbeam, the spring in the lever holds it against the detents and holds it in the correct positions.

[Rex]

Over the years when these old bikes took people to work, the simple first fix when the gears didn't engage properly or nicely, was to grab ahold of the linkage and bend it where possible.
I wonder how many renovated bikes had these bends replicated when new linkages were made...?

[casperboat]

Half the problem is this bike was owned by an elderly chap and was rebuilt 8 years ago and then he never rode it. He gave it to his son, who sold it straight away. It really needs recommissioning, which is what I'll have to do. Luckily I like tinkering..

[mini-me]

Just start at the beginning and work through it all slowly and methodically, not just the engine but cycle parts a well, if you take it all to bits, you won't ride it again this year.

[33d6]

Interesting isn't it Ian. The Sturmey Archer 3 speed way is the exact opposite to the Sunbeam way. Firmly in top first for S/A, then bottom and finally middle gear with neutral a long way last. Who cares about neutral, it's only a convenience for starting and wheeling the bike around the garage. I'd liked to have been a fly on the wall listening to the different designers express their thoughts back in the day. It would seem Mr Sturmey and Mr Archer approached their gearboxes from quite a different direction to Mr Sunbeam yet both solutions obviously worked. 

For me a lot of the pleasure in vintage motorcycles is trying to nut out what the designer was trying to achieve and how did he work around the various constraints his factory put upon him. No point designing something that the factory didn't have the machinery to make it on or couldn't make it cheaply enough to be commercial. For the same reasons designers kept up some archaic design features well past their use by date but the factory had too much invested to change.

Ain't it all fun.

[iansoady]

Ain't it all fun.

Indeed. Although "fun" isn't exactly how it sometimes feels at the time......

[casperboat]

Some good news to report.I cleaned the carb and fitted new washers, I then took this bike to my brother's mate, who is, apparently, big in the vintage bike world. He corrected the gear linkage, fitted a new plug and rode it around his paddock with no problems. He says the gearbox seems fine and is now changing, and staying, in all the gears. He said I need to stop riding it like my 2 stroke Bantam and be more gentle with the throttle. He reckons the engine is very good. So I am a lot more happy now.. I'll just ride it around to get used to it, and i'll probably fit some more appropriate looking handlebars, rather than these Vincent Straights that are on it..
Gary