Hi from the UK,
the model name "Electra" can refer to several different motorcycles, it was applied to a range of 350 iron barrel Bullets for the Indian home market with electronic ignition. These were quite popular in India, so the name continued with some of the 350 UCE Bullets over there.
The Electra-X was the first of the 500cc AVL lean burn engine Bullets purely for the export market, built between 2004 and 2007. Yours might have sat in a dealer's show room for a while if it has a 2008 title. Not everyone liked the styling on Electra-X, and latter 500 AVL imports in the USA were a different model known as the AVL Classic. Same engine and gearbox as the Electra-X, but with traditional Indian Bullet tinware and a drum front brake instead of the disk.
The Indian-built Bullets go back as far as the late 1950s, while British-built Royal Enfields didn't finally cease production until 1969/70. The last pre-unit Bullets built in the UK were around 1961/2.
Not sure about your CV carb query as my Electra-X came with the UK importer's Dell'Orto carb conversion from new. The BS29 Ucal/Mikarb CV was however used on the 350 UCE models in India until recently, plenty of repair kits on eBay which look as though they DO have a spring for the air screw, though it's possible that on older versions it's just held in by an O-ring.
There is plenty of choice for after-market carburettors. The PWK30 was in fact used in a kit offered by the former US importer, so that's definitely an option. I think they're still available from some US eBay suppliers, but if you source your own (cheaper!) you will need a one-piece rubber mounting flange with 60mm centers to fit the cylinder head.
When you do get around to taking the carb off you might be surprised by the inlet port, it's way bigger than needed for a 29mm carb, sort of an oval shape 32x36mm. This is with a 1½" Amal GP carb spacer for comparison.
Couldn't resist...
So if you ever DID want to go beyond a basic tune-up there's scope for a 36 or even a 38mm carb if you wanted. My current AVL-engined bitsa is very happy with a Dell'Orto PHF36. None of this is any use with an OEM exhaust which is deliberately restrictive to get the lean-burn combustion to work. You'd need to replace the pipe as well as the muffler to free up any performance, even for a modest hike in output. It is possible to tune (i.e. richen up) the Mikarb for more performance but there are better suited carbs.
Differences between the US and UK specification Electra-Xs are quite few. The US DoT mandated adjustable 5¾" headlamp unit instead of the normal British-style 7" was because Washington bureaucrats weren't happy with the limited adjustment available with the inner headlamp rim on the casquette headlamp casting. I can't remember if the UK models can have the lights on with the ignition turned off, but US models certainly won't. Not sure if the rear license plate mount/tail lights are the same.
Try Champion N3C for your spark plug, or N4C if that's too hard a grade.
The 5-speed gearbox was fitted from the beginning on this model (all markets). Left foot shift is actually stock on these bikes, though many owners who have ridden old British bikes prefer the right-foot shift conversion.
The Electra-X is an underrated model, get a good one, let it breathe and you have a fun bike. There are some mechanical issues, all fixable, but read up on the past posts just in case any of these come your way.
A.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!This will be a bit of a novel so I apologize but I have updates and more questions, I hate leaving a thread dead and starting a new thread, because I know how difficult information can be to find a few years down the road perhaps this thread will help someone. Without further to do...
First and foremost: I'm trying to verify Hitchcocks told me right, they said the USA electra is different from the Electra X in that the USA electra uses the older "Sixty-5" frame with the lean burn engine, while the UK and elsewhere got a whole new frame. I know I have the lean burn AVL, I am not however sure I have the older sixty5 frame. Can anyone verify this? Or tell me how I can tell the two apart? I ask because the seat and other frame related parts I want to order will be dependent on which frame I have.
The bike now runs!
I have fixed the BS29 carb. Fortunately I started working at my Buddys vintage motorcycle shop recently, its been a learning curve for me because I have years of experience in the automotive world but never really got into bikes much, but I have owned a few. Everything I did was EFI usually so carbs and anything bike specific (like drive chain tension, forks, that sorta stuff) have been a bit of a learning curve for me, but an engine is an engine and I can build one with the best of them. Long story short, I was able to dig through the spare carb kits we had laying around the shop and managed to put together a shorter spring and shim it with some needle washers and an o-ring that seems to fit. I think my O-ring might be 1mm too large, I did order the correct 3mm o-ring from Hitchcocks so I have it laying in the shop if I need it.
Like I said, the bike runs, but I've yet to really ride it or run it for long periods of time. This is because my gas tank is pooched at the moment. I discovered the tank had red kote or some type of tank sealant that was failing. There was large chunks just floating in the gas tank. I took acetone and removed it. The tank looked fine, but I soon discovered one tiny pin hole. No rust in the tank so I assumed this happened from the bike being laid down oddly. But theres no dent in the gas tank so perhaps not. Perhaps somebody just cleaned the rust out before coating the tank. Long story short, I took the tank to work, we have a welder, but I've only ever welded 3 or 4 brackets up. I thought one small tack weld and ill be good to go, I'll just primer that area after the weld patch and order some knee grips to cover it since its in that area. NOT SO. As soon as I put a tack weld to it I burned a hole straight through, even with my welder on its lowest settings. Are these tanks metal super thin or is this likely the result of past rust thinning the metal out? For 4 hours I went back and fourth chasing holes I kept blowing in the tank, getting it looking solid just for it to fail holding liquid. I kept getting a few drips even though it looked like my weld was solid.
I cannot find a replacement tank that is exactly the same. so I have outsourced the welding to a buddy of mine, Im sure he will be able to repair it. I also have two spare kits of emblems I ordered in case we need to fully repaint the tank or whatever. I love these emblems. Theyre my favorite of all the RE emblems for some reason. They were hard to find, I had to pay $95 to get them here from the UK but well worth it imo.
So the bike runs but I've yet to tune the carb on it. I might bring the rig home that we have at work for tuning the carbs with the tank off. idk what its called, its just a large container to hold fuel with an inline valve. Im sure y'all know what im talking about. But im hoping to have my tank back later this week anyhow.
ALSO, I installed the 7in headlamp conversion kit I ordered from Hitchcocks. I did have some issues with fitment. the factory headlamp wiring on the bike side has 3 separate terminal leads that were quite long, and the new larger headlamp is deeper. This caused the wiring to hit the speedometer cable. Fortunately I have a CM400 Honda laying around in pieces which has that flat plastic connector for the same style headlight, so I was able to wire that in. It still is a very tight fit and presses on the speedo cable but it does fit with little force. When I emailed Hitchcocks about this they claimed I need the rubber piece that goes around the speedometer gauge as it angles it back further. Thing is, I already have one installed on my bike and it looks to be in fine shape. Maybe its shrunk over the years or something, I'm going to order a new rubber piece and see if it changes anything.
I also got the new ammeter gauge that has the newer euro look or whatever, I just liked the way it looked, updated the bikes appearance more than anything. It was direct plug and play. Although I do wonder about the calibration... the one and only time I ran the bike with the older factory ammeter gauge the gauge swung pretty wildly when the engine was revved, as it should, just the new gauge is much more tame and hardly moves at all. The battery is brand new and charged up.
I also gave the bike an oil change and tune up.
Its curious to me that y'all are running spark plugs with that low of a number rating. Hitchcocks recommended the B9ES. The previous owner had a B7ES I had pulled out of the bike. the 3 or 4 you guys are talking about seems like it would burn way too hot! Maybe the rating scale is different on that side of the pond? They may have put the B7ES in because I struggled to find a replacement for the B9ES. I found a BR9ES locally but it didn't have the removable tip so I couldn't plug it into the wire. There was also some Autolite brand that cross referenced at the parts store but had to be shipped in and I prefer the NGK on my older style bikes, so I just ordered the plug from Hitchcocks and installed it.
I also got their little clock since the only spot of rust on the bike was on the stem nut, so that covered that up and will also be handy. I couldn't tell a difference between the one they sell for $18 and the one they sell for $40 but I decided to be fancy and get the expensive one. It looks pretty good, but its a lot taller than I thought it would be. In hindsight I may just order that fancy electric gauge replacement they have, it has a build in clock and rev counter and a bunch of other cool features and I think would look better.
The last thing I'm struggling with is tires. I kinda want some dual sport tires, I live in the country side and have a long gravel driveway, but mostly ill be riding on the road, its a good 40-50 minute commute to the shop I work at down winding hilly back roads in the country side. I could take the interstate but most people drive 75-80mph and that feels like id be punishing this little single thumper engine for 40 minutes straight, it's not but 5-10 more minutes to take the back roads anyways. But most tires I find (sorry, "tyres") are too fat. The factory 3.25 and 3.5 come out to about 82.5mm and 90mm. Most the tires I find that I like, such as the shinko 705s are only made as small as a 100x19. Thats about a 3.9x19. Ive seen claims that a 110 (4.0) could fit the rear, but it seems like id be rubbing my swing arm. It'd be incredibly tight. I can fit about half a finger on each side of my tire between it and the swing arm. Im not sure about the front, Im about to run out to the shop and take some measurements. My front fender got tweaked slightly from whoever wrecked this bike and almost rubs the factory tire as is, I can always bend it back or order a new fender I suppose. I was just going to order tires through Hitchcocks but its expensive to have them shipped, luckily I can get the Dunlop K70 and other tires locally, but the confusing part is when I see tires on Hitchcocks like the ones offered for the trail bike that are still factory specs, like 3.25x19, but hickcocks fitment guide says it won't fit the electra x or sixty5. Oh, also as far as thats concerned if I have the sixty5 frame does that mean I need to be looking at tires that fit the sixty5 rather than the electra? Like are the fenders different between the USA electra and the UK electra X?
Here are some photos of the bike:
When I first got it:
During installing the headlight and other headlight housing parts:
Topic: New owner questions. (Read 7603 times)