Yes, there are fundamental differences in architecture between the Bullet and the other bikes you mention.
But, there are also similarities.
The BSA Gold Star and Norton Manx are racing motorcycles, built to be that way from the ground up.
They pushed them till they broke, and made changes for the next year's model.
These were the cream of the Brit racing industry, along with the AJS/Matchless.
The Bullet was a commuter bike.
But, the Bullet has road manners around town, that you won't get from any Gold Star or Manx, unless you de-tune it for around town riding.
So, it's a matter of building for the intended use.
The CMW/Hitchcock Performance Crankshaft with steel con-rod and Alpha roller big end is an almost dead-on copy of the Gold Star bottom end. If you want to have a bottom end that is comparable to the Gold Star, you can have it.
Alloy barrels are also something that they have, and you can get one of them for the Bullet too.
There are some things they have which we just can't get, because of design differences. But we can get a pretty healthy output from a Bullet if we build it with the right stuff, and do all the parts fitting and assembly with knowledge.
For example, you could run a short break-in time, with a barrel bored on torque plates,after it has been stress-relieved properly, and hot bored and low-honed to the precise clearances. That takes alot of the movement out of the barrel, and keeps it round when it's torqued on and after it heats up. Run it in for a couple warm-up laps, and go racing.
The problem is that there's about $400 worth of machine work doing that, and most people don't want to spend that kind of money. At least, not on reliability work. They normally "expect" it to be able to take it. And that's where the disappointment begins.
And this brings me to one of the most salient points about Bullet performance work.
When you get into performance modifications, the Bullet is no different than any other engine. It ceases to be an "economy" bike, and it becomes a performance bike.
And at that point, money needs to flow. You can't cut corners on performance building. It has to be done right, which is often expensive, or you pay the piper.
The biggest mistake that Bullet owners make is trying to keep considering the bike as an econo platform and skip the expensive stuff in performance modding.
The typical mantra is, "I'm not going to put $2k into the bottom end of a bike I only paid $3k for." That's the beginning of many a sad story.
Wasn't very long ago, there was somebody here who was disgusted with knocking out a big end bearing after modding the top end and leaving the bottom end stock.
Well, that's to be expected. That was no big surprise.
You leave the econo world when you start building for power.
What you're doing is good. Do the best machine work you can.
Build the bottom end, or you'll pay for it later.
You'll never get enough oil flow in a Bullet, so you have to decelerate regularly and don't hold high speeds for long periods, to keep the piston heat under control.
Do things to reduce pumping losses, like returning to the old-style breather, and reduce friction losses where you can.
Have an alloy barrel.
Get good breathing in and out. Don't run lean. Set ignition timing proper for your mods.
Do everything to convert wasted heat into power. Run efficiently.
Lower aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance.
There's alot you can do.
Many people are put-off by certain things like low bars or aero-fairings, but they greatly reduce loads at higher road speeds, and put less work on the engine.
"Sitting up and begging" riding position might seem "retro", but it's the worst thing you can do for loading up the engine unnecessarily. It's a "barn door" as far as aerodynamics go, and it makes your engine work harder to achieve higher speeds.
It might work out fine for a 100ci Harley, but it ain't too good for a half-liter antique single trying to cruise at 70mph while sitting up bolt-straight.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everybody understands what it takes to make a little bike go. It's like fishing on light tackle. Sure, you could land a tuna on light tackle, but you'd better know what you're doing. You're not gonna just reel it in as if it was on a trolling cable.
It takes alot of skill. More skill in fact, than trying to make a big bike go fast. Much less room for error.
But, it's a real challenge too.
You might say that the Bullet is an expert tuner's bike, at a beginner bike price.
It might be cheap to buy and run stock, but if you want to make it fly without blowing up, you'd better know what you're doing, and pay attention to the details. Details that alot of folks never even heard of.
Topic: Well that was an adventure - piston (Read 3860 times)