[Blaqkfox]

           I don't have a clue one way or another. The whole "non-removable cap" thing was totally new to me when you mentioned it in your post. It was a surprise because since around 1950 I've been doing plugs in various cars, bikes, lawn mowers etsetterah & I've never come across a plug with a non-removable cap. The NGK BR8 & 9 plugs I went through in the early days with my '08 AVL all had removable caps. It was in those early years that there was a lot of discussion about resistor plugs teamed with resistor plug caps. My coil wire now goes directly to the plug with no cap so I don't care if my plug has an R or not.

Maybe it is a country to country thing then idk. Or maybe it just depends on what the part stores order, but I mean besides managing the parts store here in TN I also lived in Seattle WA for awhile and managed two part stores over there, and it was the same, and I’ve flipped cars on the side my whole life too, I’ve had about 20 something vehicles over the last decade, got 5 in my driveway right now haha, but every R plug I’ve ever come across didn’t have a removable terminal nut!

I checked NGKs website to see what they say about it, they don’t specify the R plugs as solid terminals but they do verify they exist and I’m not crazy! Lol

https://www.ngk.com/spark-plug-terminal-types#solid

I do wonder why there’s a discrepancy between us though

[AzCal Retred]

"What is meant by 3/4+ and 2/5-3/4ish?"
These are throttle/slide opening ranges. The main jet functions primarily at roughly 3/4 slide full open to"WFO", that's where the main jet is the primary dominant metering factor. The needle/needle jet combo is the primary metering from roughly 30%-40% open to maybe 70% open (2/5 - 3/4). Pilot/slide cutaway are off idle to maybe 20%-30%. Mikuni has great charts on this, and of course being a mechanical system there are interactions and overlap. As 2CV says, make one change & test it otherwise it gets to be inconclusive. It's tedious but not being methodical really impedes the learning process. The engine needs to be under some load to get good numbers.

The old rule of thumb for these motors was "55 all day, 65 for awhile, 80 one time". The Electra design pushed these limits out a bit, but it's a 1940's long-stroke design using India-sourced low cost bidder parts so unless there's a Hitchcock's custom steel crank/steel rod/forged piston in there I would be reluctant to flog it. I believe the Electra has an OEM steel rod/roller conrod bearing/hi-silicon piston, but there have been big end failures. Keep the oil fresh & clean, change filters often. Unless you enjoy seeing these engines internals, ride in a "mechanically sympathetic" manner.

[Adrian II]

My Champion R3NC resistor plug on my big head Bullet has the fixed top. It fits in a Champion (rubber) non-suppressor plug cap which will accept these or the NGK plugs when the threaded cap/nut is fitted. NGK's own plug caps need the bare threaded terminal stud.

https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-shop/ignition/16359

A.

[tooseevee]

My Champion R3NC resistor plug on my big head Bullet has the fixed top. It fits in a Champion (rubber) non-suppressor plug cap which will accept these or the NGK plugs when the threaded cap/nut is fitted. NGK's own plug caps need the bare threaded terminal stud.

A.

           I have RN2C, RN3C & N4C downstairs; all have removable caps.

           I don't trust where ANY plugs are made nowadays & there's nada you can do about it. Most of 'em work, I guess, even though the boxes are different shades of color, slightly different fonts. There can be different fonts on the plugs also.

            Have we had enough plugs now? Let's get back to what color Blaqkfox's plug is.

[Blaqkfox]

Oh ok azcal, I didn’t put two and two together there, you’re just talking about throttle position got it. I’m aware how they operate.

I had a 118 / 15 in there before with just the hot tube deleted and it was still a bit lean, looked almost the same as here. So I tried a 120 / 17.5 and then it was too rich. So I swapped the silencer for that BSA one I picked up and now it’s back to looking maybe too lean? Or too rich? Everybody seems to have a different opinion. I come from the EFI world, I’ve been to pampered by computers that read A:F output for me ha. I’ve got half a mind to put a lambda sensor on this thing tbh

[Blaqkfox]

So update. I have found I have two small exhaust leaks where my custom adapter pipe was fitted for the new muffler. This is probably a contributing factor so I’ll fix it.

Also I went to check my oil level and found it is way over full. I’m not sure how this happened. Pretty sure I put the amount the manual stated in when I did the oil change. I’ve only done one oil change so far and put like 400-500 miles on the bike, but perhaps that was before I found out about wet sumping and all that and I overfilled it, I can’t remember it was many months and problems ago.

I have drained out like… idk 200ml or something… and it’s still above the top hashes on the dipstick. Whoops.

I’m about to just drain it all and fill it back up with the appropriate amount. I’m shocked it wasn’t spitting out of the catch can. That’s the next modification on the list.

Can anyone verify the appropriate amount of oil I need to put in after draining all 3 ports?

[AzCal Retred]

The oil level check dipstick is fine, no reason to get all scientific. Fill to the lower-ish mark, run it for a couple minutes, shut off, put at TDC and check level again. The filter & timing side cavities can fool you. It's not an exact science.

1) High oil level can come from "wet sump" oil returning to the properly filled tank. ALLWAYS park the piston near TDC because the crank oil seal can wick oil back to the conrod bearing. If it's left "low"(BDC) you can create a syphon. The actual crank seals can leak through too, mostly it would become a problem if on the timing side.
2) The carb float is leaking and gasoline is diluting the oil. This is bad because it thins out the oil. Usually you can detect this by smell.
3) A "buddy" is messing with you, adding a humorous quantity of extra, or you had a "brane fehrt"...so double check yourself just like the rest of us do...

[Blaqkfox]

oh I live for the science lol yeah there's just a lot of mystery it seems with the oil level on these, as far as do you check it with the dip stick screwed in or not and people like me tending to overfill it on their first time. I've experienced the overflowing with gasoline issue before on the wifes piaggio scooter. none of that here fortunately. I just warmed it up and set it close to TDC and drained the tank only and refilled it. I got it a little higher than I meant to, but hopefully I didn't overdo it again. about to run it and then double check.

admittedly, I never fully understand the wet sumping thing. I've done a lot of engine work in my days but bottom ends aren't something ive ever really fooled with, plenty of top ends, but no bottom ends. All I understand is the sump fills with oil for whatever reason, and it sounds like when you start it up next time you can have a good bit of oil blow by. which doesnt really sound like the end of the world to me. but you make it sound like it'll blow the crank gasket out? honestly I never worry too much about putting it at TDC if im gonna be riding it again the same day, but if im putting it up for longer than 24 hours Ill attempt to get it to TDC.

I need to put my old amp gauge back in, the newer style one I installed doesnt give an indication when its at TDC for whatever reason. I just liked the way it looked, and it seems to function just fine when running, its just not as sensitive or something to the TDC spark signal draw I guess. so I just go by how the kickstarter feels. I kinda hate doing it though because I can't tell where the compression stroke is if ive got the decomp lever pulled but without it pulled I get a little kick back and here that starter whine and I worry about the sprag longevity lol

[Paul W]

I’m assuming that your bike has TCI ignition, rather than points. If so, the ammeter needle won’t kick at the firing point. Finding TDC on the compression stroke using the kickstarter is straightforward though….

[AzCal Retred]

@ #22: ( but you make it sound like it'll blow the crank gasket out? )
(ALLWAYS park the piston near TDC because the crank oil seal can wick oil back to the conrod bearing.)
Not sure how you arrived at that conclusion, but no, just smoke from oil whip and maybe an oil fouled spark plug.

Almost all modern engines are short stroke wet sump engines. All oil falls to the bottom, the single oil pump picks it up and sends it to the filter. The crankshaft isn't allowed to touch the sump oil to avoid power losses from "whip".

The Bullet comes from a time when the long stroke was king and fuel efficiency was a higher priority than BHP. The crankcase is low to the ground for "handling"/center of mass reasons. The huge flywheel would need another couple inches of case sticking down below to create a sump that kept it clear of the sump oil, and that eats into ground clearance. Their solution was the "dry" sump, one which requires using a seperate high volume "scavenge" pump and a lower volume "pressure" pump.

RE on the Bullet used the "scavenge" pump to keep the sump "dry", ie. minimal oil level. In RE's Bullet, the scavenge pump output directly feeds the rocker arms, then falls back down the pushrod tunnels and pools in the timing cover. The timing side cams & idlers are lubed in the oil bath inside the timing cover. A scavenge pump failure just cooks the rocker arms and fouls the plug, both easily externally replaceable.

The timing cover cavity is always full of oil, above the level of the crankshaft. If the quill bolt seal is leaky, timing chest oil can find its way to the conrod bearing when the machine isn't running. Parking the big end above this level blocks this pathway. The other seal is around the crankshaft itself, always under oil. If it leaks oil will flow into the crankcase at some low rate. The 350's in early days didn't even bother with a seal, they just used a bushing.

The timing cover overflows to the cast-in main oil tank with some assistance from the idler gears "lifting" it back. The "pressure" pump sucks on the main oil tank, pumps thru the oil filter and feeds the conrod. It's dedicated to this task, reducing conrod oil failure methodologies.

All this is a lot busier than a wet sump with a single oil pump feeding everything, which is what we Japanese machine riders grew up with.

[tooseevee]

I need to put my old amp gauge back in, the newer style one I installed doesnt give an indication when its at TDC for whatever reason. I just liked the way it looked, and it seems to function just fine when running, its just not as sensitive or something to the TDC spark signal draw I guess. so I just go by how the kickstarter feels. I kinda hate doing it though because I can't tell where the compression stroke is if ive got the decomp lever pulled but without it pulled I get a little kick back and here that starter whine and I worry about the sprag longevity lol

           As Paul W sez you will not get any indication of TDC on the ammeter of a TCI AVL.

           When shutting it down for the night just "feel" TDC with your foot on the kick starter lever.

           When finding TDC when setting the valves, just kick it around with your thumb over the plug hole. You'll feel the pressure on your thumb when it's coming up on compression stroke.

           As far as checking your oil goes; go down in the morning, pull the dipstick, you will more than likely see NO oil on it.

           Now start it up. Run it for 2, 3 minutes. Shut it down. Let it sit a minute. Check the oil. You want it in the middle 1/3 of the hash marks. Choose whether you want it screwed in or not & just stick to THAT.

           If you find it's way over the hash marks & you drain some oil, you have to start that routine all over again to determine again what your actual level is.

           Does that make any sense? No. But it is what it is & that's what you have to do. It took me a long time in the beginning also to trust my AVL oil level because I was used to harley engines with an oil tank above the level of the crank case. All I had to do was keep oil in the oil tank & I was good to go. You could just look in the tank & see that your oil level was OK. Some had a dipstick, some did not. You could also have an oil temp tank cap if that floated your boat. Any oil that may have sumped would scavenge back into the oil tank. 


 

[Adrian II]

The AVL has no quill bolt, the end feed to the crank has a spigot in the end of the timing side main shaft which runs in an oil seal pressed into the timing cover. No corks here!

Another difference compared to the later iron barrel Bullets is that AVL design has no seal behind the crankshaft timing pinion, the engine just relies on the efficiency of the high capacity scavenge pump at start-up to clear any wet-sumping before the white smoke starts. Seemed to work OK with mine.

A.

[Blaqkfox]

That’s very useful information Adrian! Thanks. Yeah I haven’t seen this thing smoke on startup ever. So are you saying I shouldn’t worry about putting it to TDC then or is this a practice I should still follow with the AVL?

[Paul W]

I was careful to put my 350s piston up top when I first bought the bike, once I knew about the possible wet sumping issue (some BSAs had the same problem).  However over time I forgot to do it because this particular bike doesn’t seem to be prone to it.

One thing I had noticed early on (initial oil change on purchase) was that the outer surface of the quill of the quill bolt felt a bit rough due to poor manufacturing quality. The outer hexagon nut was losing its chrome anyway, so I bought a Hitchcock’s stainless one and polished the quill to a very smooth finish to preserve the neoprene oil seal that it runs in.

[Adrian II]

At least that's one thing AVL owners don't have to worry about. But it's probably still worth checking the condition of the seal and the crankshaft spigot whenever you have the timing cover off.

Parking the engine at TDC with both valves closed is probably still a good idea.

A.