How would you increase road clearance.

[mamboman]

I am wondering how you could increase the road clearance of an Enfield. Most diesels look to have a very low road clearance, ok for the highway but not very good when you come to pot-holes, where every inch counts. I was thinking, maybe a monoshock set-up with some cutting/welding at the front... but where would be the best place? It would be a very costly and time consuming exercise, and Im wondering how many inches you could safely expect to gain, and whether it would be really worth it.

[Anorak_ian]

Hi, you can get extended forks for dirt riding or chop type conversions; I saw one pair go on eBay almost new for around £50.
The rear dampers, well just get a pair an inch or two longer, there's plenty of them on the market for loads of bikes.

Ian

[coachgeo]

If your shocks are good thus you do not "need" to buy new ones.. might you save some cash and lower your shock mounts? Iffff doing so does not mess with swing arm geometry? Fabricate a quality upper frame shock mount an inch our so below the stock point. or guess you could do the fabrication to the swing arm shock mount?

[Dan J]

I think any difference between my Yanmar engined Enfield and the original petrol engine is negligible. Also the rear swing arm of the Enfield is only designed to travel 30cm. My bike came fitted with the later gas filled shocks which were 31cm and caused no end of problems - you can't safely put the bike on its centre stand as the rear wheel is always on the floor. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the limited rear suspension on the Enfield is the saviour of the chain - any further travel would put huge stress on chain/bearings/sprockets etc when riding over any bumps - the frame is simply not designed for it. Perhaps if you're looking for a more off-road style bike then using a different donor bike would be a better bet?

[mamboman]

Also the rear swing arm of the Enfield is only designed to travel 30cm.

Hmm... so a complete rethink maybe neccesary.

[Anorak_ian]

Back in the 1960's Royal Enfield exported a lot of bikes to oz, (and I'm sure they had longer shocks) as they were designed for the rough stuff, sheep herding etc. They named the bike the wallaby, and it was the later type frame and in my opinion is a far better frame than the old British / Indian type frame.

[Sphere]

My bike came fitted with the later gas filled shocks which were 31cm and caused no end of problems - you can't safely put the bike on its centre stand as the rear wheel is always on the floor.

Thanks for this bit of info Dan, I was thinking I made a mistake when reassembling my bike or perhaps a problem the subframe mangled the frame, but now I know that the rear wheel is in it's natural position on the ground. Not that I'm happy with it, but at least I can worry about other things first. Will be a problem when lubricating the chain though.

[Dan J]

Sphere - I changed my shocks to Hagon ones and it solved the problem. I can actually lube the chain with the bike on the road rather than having to put a piece of wood under the stand now! Problem I had was that though the new shocks were great quality they are very stiff so ride is now hard - a cheaper option would be to just fit the standard Indian shock absorbers instead of the gas ones.

[Sphere]

Thanks a lot Dan. I will have to see how the bike handles, and then decide on what to do about the shocks. I think I would prefer less wobbliness over stiffer ride, but I imagine 6'5" is rather tall for an Enfield, so there is a limit

[sbrumby]

Dan when you say 30cm of travel do you not mean 30cm total length?

[Dan J]

Sam, you're totally correct - brain not fully engaged before posting. Cheers for highlighting.

[mamboman]

The Royal Enfield "Wallaby"! Wow... Ive have done a google search, seems they are very rare, but I want one! Maybe its features could be replicated...