[Adrian II]

Hi all. Haywards don't deliver. They gave me number of a van courier. Quoted me £150. Seems reasonable. Adrian ll is that  a magneto? Marvellous set up if so.
Another question. Can you put gear oil in the gearbox or must it only be grease. If so how do you check the grease amount already in there without stripping the box?

That's a shame, the delivered my new Electra-X down to (Old) Hampshire in 2005. Maybe for new bikes only?

Yes that is a magneto, a refurbished BT-H BKH1TT racing mag which came up on eBay and no-one else wanted to bid for. A not too daunting bit of home engineering was need to get it to fit. That same seller has the non-racing version of the same magneto, fully refurbished, listed at the moment, no bids yet. eBay item 156263648673.

There is a magneto which will bolt straight on, the Lucas SR1, which was fitted to English-built 350 and 500 Bullets in the late 1950s.



I had a working one fitted when the engine was rebuilt, but sadly it quietly died while I was finishing the rest of the bike, which is why I also experimented with the old Pazon ignition I had lying around. I'll try a new condenser on the SR1 at some stage as it did spark pretty well. Plenty of these still around, though a good used auto-advance unit can be hard to find, new ones are available but pricey.

A.

[ddavidv]

Another question. Can you put gear oil in the gearbox or must it only be grease. If so how do you check the grease amount already in there without stripping the box?

This often degenerates into a heated discussion.
The factory recommendation from Redditch in my Interceptor's service guide is engine oil. Once again, Paul Henshaw has a rant: https://youtu.be/8oMFwnCKGHk?si=hFHWq_QLYlY-lzg8
And a more detailed discussion: https://youtu.be/PaD3wfwu9Gs?si=a8nJiUiO_zjDqCKJ
In India, they tend to use grease only. The 'restored' bike I worked on that came direct from India was packed with a white-ish grease. When I took the gearbox apart, I found the grease packed against the case where the gears had flung it asunder. There was some grease on the gears, but centrifugal force does what it does. Didn't impress me with the long term effects of grease.

[Paul W]

I topped mine up with gear oil when I first bought the 350, rather than empty out the grease, but it only had 3,100 miles on the clock back then. Some recommend liquid grease, as used in the axle ends of old Land Rovers, if starting from scratch.

(But I no longer have to worry after fitting a five speed gearbox, which transformed the bike).

[SteveThackery]

This often degenerates into a heated discussion.  [...]
The factory recommendation from Redditch in my Interceptor's service guide is engine oil. Once again, it asunder. There was some grease on the gears, but centrifugal force does what it does. Didn't impress me with the long term effects of grease.

I think for future readers it's important to emphasise that the Indian export AVLs, UCEs and J-series all used oil to lubricate the gearbox.

I'm in the UK and my Indian iron barrel arrived with grease in the gearbox. However, unlike @ddavidv's experience, the grease in mine was actually runny - like a thick fluid - and it would flow. Not freely, like oil, but enough that I don't think it would have stuck to the sides. If you imagine mixing grease and oil together, it was like that.

[Super45]

topped my box up with engine oil recently after replacing the kick start pawl, after about a week i had a leak seems to oil had emulsified with the grease to produce a semi mayo like consistency which then leaked out into the outer gearbox cover ( correct oil level I may say) will be draining, flushing and and refilling with oil again after locating the source of the leak into the OGBC.   

[AzCal Retred]

The KS shaft has an o-ring seal. the clutch pushrod has an annular scraper and a pushrod cover gasket. The inner cover has its own gasket. If these are intact any leakage should be minimal.

The "mayo" is a grease/oil amalgam which seems to be a reasonable compromise for lubrication purposes. Better than solid grease randomly clinging to castings. Many run amalgam or "cotton picker grease" and are perfectly happy. Amalgam leaks slower than oil. Oil is thinner, easier for it to flow & wick into spinning shafts & bushings. I come down on the side of maximum lubrication.

Vertically split cases are prone to leakage. Most Japanese hardware uses horizontally split cases. In the wayback a bit of oil seepage was considered normal. Cat litter & newspaper means you are keeping those oil levels checked...

[SteveThackery]

Oil is thinner, easier for it to flow & wick into spinning shafts & bushings. I come down on the side of maximum lubrication.

Totally agree, and so does every motorcycle and car manufacturer - everybody uses some kind of oil (or ATF) in gearboxes for the reasons you give.  Personally I would use real gear oil if it is a separate gearbox, but of course these days the engine oil lubricates everything so it must be good enough.

[stinkwheel]

My 350 bullet has had 00 grease in it since day 1. It's done in excess of 70k miles now and is still on the original bearings. It has never leaked. It had to have 1st gear replaced due to chipping of the dogs which I doubt had anything to do with the degree of lubrication. I replaced the iron layshaft bushing in the kickstart shaft which was badly galled and replaced it for a bronze one.

my 500 bullet has a close ratio conversion. It had the bearings replaced with sealed ones and has been running on EP90 gear oil since. It's done nearer to 10k miles. If filled to the level screw, it leaks a small amount of oil out along the mainshaft and past the front sprocket when parked on the sidestand hot until it finds a level marginally below the level screw then stops leaking. It exploded after a fractured kickstart dog tried to go round the gearbox taking out the gear casing and layshaft, which I doubt had anything to do with the degree of lubrication. While I was in I replaced the iron layshaft bushing which was badly galled and replaced it for a bronze one.

My conclusion. Semi-fluid grease is fine. EP90 is also fine but can leak a little if you park on the sidestand. Cast iron layshaft bushings are not fine.

[Super45]

The KS shaft has an o-ring seal. the clutch pushrod has an annular scraper and a pushrod cover gasket. The inner cover has its own gasket. If these are intact any leakage should be minimal.

The "mayo" is a grease/oil amalgam which seems to be a reasonable compromise for lubrication purposes. Better than solid grease randomly clinging to castings. Many run amalgam or "cotton picker grease" and are perfectly happy. Amalgam leaks slower than oil. Oil is thinner, easier for it to flow & wick into spinning shafts & bushings. I come down on the side of maximum lubrication.

Vertically split cases are prone to leakage. Most Japanese hardware uses horizontally split cases. In the wayback a bit of oil seepage was considered normal. Cat litter & newspaper means you are keeping those oil levels checked...

couldn't call this seepage, Outer casing full to the top of the KS return spring, took too full 1" x 5" syringes with a bit of fuel pipe to empty it.

when I did the job I found the kit from Mr H slightly substandard, the O ring, all be it the correct internal diameter,  was too thick to allow the shaft to even pass back through the  gearbox casing even when lubricated, luckily I had a correct thickness one and the gearbox shaft locking tab was too large to even fit in the recess,  so had to reuse the old one.

when I have a spare 5 minutes I'll look at it, at present as it still seems to be leaking I know there's still oil in it!

[Royal Stargazer]

I fitted a Boyer Mk IV to my 2003 Bullet earlier this summer, and I've been more than happy with it. My old CB plate was starting to wear so it was over-advancing, and no amount of adjusting was getting me back to the sweet spot. While I could have just as easily gotten a new one, I'd read a couple threads that stated that the design of the points is inherently flawed, and I won't argue for or against that claim, but being that I had the money and didn't want to rebuild another iron barrel engine just yet, I decided to take the plunge and get the Mk IV electronic ignition kit.

I would definitely do it again if I needed to. I feel like this is the best that little green Bullet has ever run.

[allanfox]

Hi all. I'm buying the bike blind from Haywards Cambridge who are selling it on someone behalf. So only seen photos I haven't heard it running. Only 6000 miles on clock! They say it runs fine etc.got new mot. The electronic ignition is a downer for me so will probably refit points sourced from Hitchcocks at some point. I'm looking forward for delivery hopefully this week. Thanks all for the welcome.

Good guys at Haywoods, sure they will make sure all is well.

[Adrian II]

I'd read a couple threads that stated that the design of the points is inherently flawed,

The Indian Bullet points mechanism is copied from the mid 1960s Lucas 4CA, the same as in my old BSA 250.

A.

[stinkwheel]

Just be aware that some of the lucas branded points have a slightly longer spring on them that can short against the distributor housing.