[Karl Childers]

I'm waiting on my parts order and one of those parts is a blanking plug for the starter hole in the primary. I've used the electric start all of one time when I stalled the bike on the initial test ride before buying it. Since getting the bike to run right it's one more chunk of extra weight I want to get rid of as the bike starts so ridiculously easy with the kicker. The one thing I haven't done yet is remove the primary cover because I didn't have a gasket if the original ripped so for now it's all pie in the sky as to what's in there in the way of linkage and drive for the starter. I did check chain tension and oil level though. I Will have it apart as soon as the gasket arrives because I want to change the oil and check the clutch  and alternator. Just as a curiosity until that happens and I can see what's what can the starter just be removed from the outside and plug put in its place or will more have to be disassembled in the chain case? Eventually I want to change out the inner primary to the earlier non flanged version but for now the plug will do.

[Mr_84]

I can't say much for the electric leg removal as mine is kick start only but the primary gasket should be a big rubber one the stays in the inner case and be reused many times if it wasn't leaking prior to removal

[AzCal Retred]

Nonfiction just did his a while back, so it should be fresh in his mind. There are sprag bits behind the rotor, so that would need to come off. The clutch also has to come off if the rotor comes off. There are two "paper" gaskets deep in there, one for the engine case/primary case sealing and another on the plate that holds the clutch shaft seal. Personally I'd get the primary cover/primary sprocket/drive sprocket removal tools from H's, a clutch shaft seal & some spare gaskets, along with the stator wire seal to have in hand. Whenever you start pulling off primary stuff, not having appropriate parts or tooling gets really aggravating. You'll need these eventually anyway. I discovered the hard way that the sprocket nut was loose, leading to the sprocket spacer getting eaten up, leading to unwanted main shaft axial play, which caused my shifting to be dicey. None of that could be seen or determined until the inner primary cover was pulled, it just looked like the clutch had a problem. Way better to have this stuff in hand ahead of time, otherwise the job can string out to 2-3 weeks waiting for various bits.

I'd be interested in your take-out bits, as I'm trying to keep my 350ES as an electric start. The considerably less powerful 350 motor may possibly allow the sprag gear to survive. If it proves to be problematic, I'll just pull the guts & plug the hole like you are doing now.

[Karl Childers]

AzCal : I was hoping I would not have to go that deep but it's not a problem. Good to know what I'll need ahead of time, the removal of the starter will have to wait  until a second parts order goes in. Should I decide to let go of the old parts you will have first dibs on them.

Mr_84 : Good to know about the gasket, I was not familiar with what it was made out of, I was hoping it wasn't a one time paper piece.

[AzCal Retred]

KC - here's a Parts List I used for pulling off the inner primary cover  - CHECK ALL to verify they apply to YOUR machine !!!

98315 ; BOX SPANNER for 4 speed sprocket nuts Indian 4 speed

ST25098 ; ENGINE SPROCKET EXTRACTOR (2004)

ST25104 ; CLUTCH HOLDING TOOL (This may differ to picture shown in catalogue)

ST25099 ; CLUTCH EXTRACTOR

144752 ; GROMMET, ALTERNATOR CABLE, (144393)

200140 ; CHAIN TENSIONER BUFFER ASSEMBLY 
140290 ; SCREW, CHAINCASE SEAL ADAPTOR PLATE

111888 ; SEAL AND ADAPTOR PLATE (BEHIND CLUTCH), 4-SPEED

144624 ; GASKET, CLUTCH OIL SEAL (140937)

560052; GASKET CHAINCASE, ELECTRIC-START MODELS ONLY

111086 ; FELT WASHER, NUT, GEARBOX SPROCKET, 4-SPEED, up to 2002 (2B511911A)

111161 ; LOCK WASHER, FINAL DRIVE SPROCKET

140327 ; SPACER, GEARBOX SPROCKET

H49/17 ; SPROCKET 17T, 4 SPEED, UK MADE

I went back to the stock 17T and it made my Bullet spunkier, 4th was a lot more useful in hill country. The PO had put an 18T on, but unless the engine is modified and makes some HP, it's just a strain on the stock motor. Or if you live in Kansas...

[Bilgemaster]

I had also suspected I might need a fancy puller-extractor or three to remove my own Bullet's primary drive case goodies to get at the stricken starter sprag clutch, its gearing, casing, starter motor, etc., as described in this old thread: https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=26991.0;all

But just as Ace assured me then, "Shouldn't need anything special, except a strip of cereal box cardboard to set the stator gap upon reassembly. The front sprocket can be a fiddle to get out sometimes, but it will come out. You will typically need to alternately inch the primary sprockets off their shafts because there is very little flex in the primary chain."

Indeed, apart from a hunk of wood to immobilize the primary drive chain and an elderly rubber mallet for "light persuasion", it all came apart and went together again quite readily.

The only other tip I might pass along would be to wrap a piece a tape, whether electrical, cello- or Scotch brand type and a dab of grease around those rather sharpish teeth of that shaft at the clutch's center to help protect that inner primary case's little oil seal as it slides over it. A little dab of grease onto the seal itself also couldn't hurt.

As for that "blanking plug", it's just a nice firm press fit with a kind of "O-Ring" sealing. Just whack it in with a rubber mallet or hammer and a piece of wood, and it'll stay put just fine. In contrast to the problematic sprag gearing cluster, which needs (stupidly, given its rather high predilection to failure) to be accessed via screws located behind the inner primary, the starter motor thereafter is easily removed from without. In fact, I actually rode with it as dead weight for several months before getting the blanking plug. Once I had pulled it off I used its redundant old relay and "Nuttin' Button" for a stoopid yet charming "OO-GAH!" horn, as shown here: https://youtu.be/Xcfo30h-0N0

[AzCal Retred]

Yeah, about that. The tool of choice to get the primary sprocket nut off is the impact wrench, electrical or pneumatic. The "Lock up the primary by putting the bike in 1st gear & stand on the brake whilst taking off the primary nut with a breaker bar" may have put a bit of wobble in the engine & clutch shafts. Save the effort - break out the 1/2" impact.

[AzCal Retred]

Here's a Hitchcocks "Sprag Clutch replacement" pamphlet that should be helpful:
https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/core/media/media.nl?id=188650&c=1062795&h=cef07de664060cc09003&_xt=.pdf

[ddavidv]

The 'block of hardwood' to keep the gears from turning proved difficult to come up with. Everything I had just splintered. I used a length of aluminum angle (I think 1") and it worked perfectly. The softer aluminum won't mar the steel gear teeth.

I may have had to use a standard 3 jaw puller on something as well.

I've found different bikes like different things for the air gap on the alternator. A cardboard Kit-Kat box was the perfect size for the 350 I worked on but my 500 prefers a plastic section cut from a gallon vinegar bottle. I find the plastic much easier to slide in/out as well.

[AzCal Retred]

I'm very ambivalent about wedging the shafts to block rotation to unscrew the crank nut. It's India-grade metallurgy, the shafts stick out quite a bit from their support bearings. A 1/2" impact tool from harbor freight is $60, way cheaper than dealing with the aftermath of inadvertently bending a shaft. I can see the rotor orbits eccentrically now a bit, and the clutch has always been a bit wobbly.

[ddavidv]

Impact can loosen but you won't likely be able to tighten it with one. Not properly, anyway. I've finagled a torque wrench while trying to use the rear brake, etc and it's a fiasco...though possible.
If one properly wedges the gear in place with angle or wood the type of force is the same as being applied to the gear via the chain.

I've not yet had a problem with the sprockets. I did have one with a bent clutch/transmission shaft but it's not known what caused that (came to me that way). Bent at the trans end though. Absurdly easy to straighten once removed.

How does our resident Whisperer do it?