Author Topic: royal enfield 355 1929  (Read 2268 times)

Offline geoff.godwin

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #15 on: February 06, 2024, 09:34:02 AM »
I have not ridden it yet as I cant keep it running for long enough to feel confident . I have not ridden any bike for more than 50 years ,the thought of pushing it any distance at 75 is no fun at all . Tickling does not seem to change anything apart from a puddle on the floor. The problem I am finding is the balance of the two levers against mag advance. On my old car static advance is 0 increasing to about 35 at 2k+ if I try to get the car to idle with full advance it wont. So I try to get the bike to ilde with starting advance say 10/15 btdc . I have looked into an induction leak ,but will try again ,the inlet duct is about 6in long to clear the dynamo. Geoff
« Last Edit: February 06, 2024, 10:31:39 AM by geoff.godwin »

Offline cardan

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #16 on: February 06, 2024, 11:46:17 AM »
That's a super nice bike Geoff - looks very original.

I'd be happy to drop by and lend a hand, but I suspect I'm 10,000+ miles away which makes it hard. Maybe there's someone nearby with experience with vintage bikes? It would be great to get it running nicely.

Good luck.

Leon


Offline R

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2024, 11:00:41 PM »
That is a nice bike.
I'd swap for any of my Enfields (later), any day of the week.
But I'm also 10,000+ miles away ...

A dab of grease or 2 well applied to the carby spigot may help (briefly) with any air leaks.
Just to try. And is easily removed.

A wipeover with oil on the chromy bits (nickel ?) will help prevent any further corrosion.
Will need to be wiped well dry before any heat gets to it, or may smoke a bit ...

I'm wondering if you have any later carbs you can try on it ?
Or, once warm enough, if that choke lever would be needed at all ??


Offline R

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #18 on: February 07, 2024, 11:27:04 PM »
We see that someone in Switzerland is selling off this engine.
My that is a long induction pipe !
Timing cover looks a bit abbreviated ...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/GHQAAOSwnMdloxES/s-l1600.jpg

Offline geoff.godwin

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #19 on: February 08, 2024, 08:35:42 AM »
That is the 500cc version of my 350cc, the huge long inlet pipe maybe one part of my problem ,being so long it will take a long time to reach a stable temperature ,with the fuel mixture condensing out on the walls of the pipe [its bloody cold here at the moment].. Yesterday I ran the bike for a good while started to get a better feel for the many control levers. After it had warmed up i tried again to get it to ldle against all that I know from vintage cars I left it at fullish advance 30/35deg  it seemed to work better like that . Still not stable at low revs hunting a lot and in the end it just died ,but a definite improvement. One other niggle is oil system ,its total loss  and after running for a while dribbles oily mess into its dirt tray  .I would like to check the output of the pump but cant run the engine with it disconnected ? Geoff

Offline vintage_keith

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #20 on: February 08, 2024, 08:00:15 PM »
There are quite a few knowledgable guys on this facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/444624876468800 Only way to join is by answering ALL entry questions and agreeing to group rules.

Offline cardan

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #21 on: February 08, 2024, 10:39:43 PM »
One other niggle is oil system ,its total loss  and after running for a while dribbles oily mess into its dirt tray  .I would like to check the output of the pump but cant run the engine with it disconnected ?

Hi Geoff,

You pump has an inlet and an outlet (?), so presumably you can disconnect the outlet pipe and see what comes out when the engine is running. If the bottom of the oil tank is not filled with sludge (and it probably will be if you haven't taken the tank off the bike and cleaned it out) oil should be running out the outlet withing a few seconds of starting. The pump is said to be adjustable, so you should be able to adjust it between nothing and a slow trickle. Normal running might require something like 30 drips per minute, so it would be useful to find the setting that gives this.

The oil coming out of the oil pump should look pristine and golden!

Then you need to find the sump plug and drain everything out of the engine, if you haven't done this already. Do it after the engine had run and mixed things up a bit. If everything is ok, there should be a surprisingly small amount of oil to drain out, say an egg-cup-full.

When you restart the engine there will be no oil in it. Yuk - this is a job for the hand pump in the oiling system but you don't have one! If you can't find a place to squirt in a few squirts from the oil can, at least set the oil pump to its highest setting for the first minute or so of running, and don't rev the engine, before cutting it back to the 30 drip per minute setting.

No oil should be coming from anywhere at this point. If it does, you have an oil leak. In a total loss system most excess oil is burned with only the odd drop ending up on the road. If you have oil running out, your oil pump feed might be set to "max". Is the exhaust very smokey?

Leon

Offline geoff.godwin

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #22 on: February 10, 2024, 09:55:59 AM »
Thanks Leon, in the end I worked out a way of doing it. I removed the pump and pipes and connected a flex pipe between the tank and pump , with a short length of copper pipe flattened at one end mounted in a drill I spun the pump . Almost zilch ,so I looked at the adjuster shaft [dial missing] it was fully shut. I assume that the adjustment is on the inlet . So I undid the shaft a couple of turns and now have a reasonable output. On the basis that oil is cheap compared to bearings I will up the output till the smoke brings complaints .I have bitten the bullet and bought a helmet and inured the bike from 1st march . fingers crossed Geoff

Offline cardan

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #23 on: February 10, 2024, 12:43:38 PM »
Hi Geoff,

Just be wary of too much oil: if the crankcase gets over-full with oil everything gets terribly hot and bothered. The trick is finding the Goldilocks flow: not too little, not too much, but just right.

Good luck!

Leon

Offline Rex

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #24 on: February 10, 2024, 01:42:07 PM »
Clue...if it's smoking like a WW1 destroyer chasing subs it's over-oiling.. ;)

Not as fatuous as it sounds. I have a Scott (obviously also total loss oiling) and some owners think that having the oil pumps WFO is a good thing, but there's no need for it. A light blue haze when working hard is more than adequate.

Offline geoff.godwin

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #25 on: March 03, 2024, 02:44:40 PM »
At last ,a dry day and off we go. The gearbox is described as close ratio, wow they were not kidding. No real idea of speed as no speedo or rev counter. All was going really well untill the rather dodgy thread on the gear change connector rod pulled out !! back home in 1st gear. Some smoke but not worth chasing a sub for. Geoff  PS 84 years off the road for the bike  55 years for me on two wheels!!
« Last Edit: March 03, 2024, 04:39:41 PM by geoff.godwin »

Offline R

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #26 on: March 03, 2024, 10:40:06 PM »
Congratulations !
On several counts ...

Offline cardan

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #27 on: March 05, 2024, 11:49:51 PM »
Nice one Geoff! Hope you enjoy it.

Leon

Offline chaterlea25

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #28 on: March 11, 2024, 10:20:03 PM »
Hi Geoff and All,
I have only just now caught up with your posts
I have a fair amount of experience on the AMAC MDY carbs
These have a tapered neele just the same as later Amals,  so after starting the bike you should open the air (choke) slide fully, (tight cable)  and use the long lever just as you would a twistgrip
Most often there is no need to use the choke (air) lever just press the tickler until fuel starts to drip from the chamber top or bellmouth .
Did you remove the jet block from the carb body and clear the tiny pilot mixture drilling's ,
There is no separate pilot jet just the drilled holes, the drilling's in the block line up with others in the carb body exiting at the engine side of the throttle slide.
Not having a throttle stop on these carbs tickover must be set with the cable adjuster
This alters the speed of the engine as the handlebar is turned which can be a pain
A solution is to use the special outer cable as used on modern bicycle gear changes, this is wound on a long spiral to prevent the overall length changing  as the handlebar is turned.
I have the AMAC instruction book on PDF which I can share with you if you need it

John

Offline cardan

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Re: royal enfield 355 1929
« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2024, 02:52:42 AM »
Hi John,

That's interesting - I'd not thought much about the tapered needle in the MDY (1928-on), but it seems this was it's first appearance on an AMAC carb. The tapered needle (usually called "variable jet") arrangement was covered in a 1913 Brown & Barlow patent, and was first used on their 1914 model carbs. So through the 1920s, B&B had models with tapered needles, and AMAC didn't. Until 1928. I wonder if this was part of the AMAL deal, where AMAC, B&B and Binks were amalgamated to form AMAL?

B&B's tapered needle and AMAC's air control on the side on the throttle body were two features used on the AMAL carbs for years...

Anyway, good tips for Geoff.

Cheers

Leon