[stinkwheel]

Just moved over from the Hitchcocks forum.

I got my first Bullet back in 2010, a late model 350 which I entered in the Round Britain Rally and got a 100% allrounder award on. I did it in one trip of 3 months covering 9,000 miles, visiting 89 checkpoints locations and camped off the back of the bike the whole way. SUffered 2 punctures and one broken throttle cable.

That bike has seen many incarnations from totally original, a long distance tourer, through a trailer tug and is currently an ongoing project as a long distance trials bike. It has completed two competative trials now and performed better than I did.

Hitchcocks big valve head, meteor minor piston, trials exhaust, modified crusader rear brake plate with cable conversion, 40mm over standard shocks, bolt on rear sprocket, trials gears, half-width SLS 21" front wheel, trials tank, homemade mudguard stays, subframe, footpeg mounts and rear brake. To list just a few of the modifications.


I liked the bullet as a road bike though but decided it needed a bit more "oomph" so I set about building a "big bullet" starting off with a bare frame and a set of 500 crankcases. This got the whole Hitchcocks 612 kit. After a lot of sweat, tears, a broken (forged!) piston, three bent pushrods and more time than I care to think of, it seems settled. Now has a TM32 carb, UCE disc brake front end with brembo master cylinder, running about 10.3:1 compression with a close ratio gearbox and 21t front sprocket. I love riding this bike and am looking forwards to touring the mountain roads of Northern Spain and Portugal on it next month.

[AzCal Retred]

Welcome aboard! Now I have questions!

The Meteor Minor piston in your 350 - this is on a standard bushing crank, yes? Do you run the high volume oil pumps?

On your 10.3/1 500 Bullet - bushing crank? HV pumps or no?

On the 500's close ratio 4-speed, did you gear down the overall ratio in 4th with the primary ratio, or just let the 1-2-3 get higher? I've always thought the close ratio would be nice, eliminating the big 3-4 jump, but I've wondered if it might be like a 5-speed missing either 1st or 5th? Likely with a highly polished 612 kit it doesn't matter if 1st is a bit high.

Again - Welcome! - ACR -

[stinkwheel]

The Meteor Minor piston in your 350 - this is on a standard bushing crank, yes? Do you run the high volume oil pumps?

It's actually running a needle roller crank now, but there was nothing wrong with the floating bush crankpin on the old one and I'd probably still be running it if I hadn't had a catastrophic top-end failure (snapped valve with accompanying mayhem). When i stripped it to get all the bits out of the cases, I found the drive shaft in the standard crank was loose on its taper and had ovalled the hole in the flywheel, only the key was holding it in place. That crank must have done in excess of 70k miles by then and the big end was in excellent good order with barely any perceptable play. A reconditioned crank with silver needle rollers was cheaper than sourcing a replacement flywheel and having the old one rebuilt.

I did fit high flow pumps to it at one point but took them off again because it made it burn an outrageous qualtity of oil. I think partly because it was swamping the rocker area to over the valve stem height. I also worried it was putting excessive pressure on the pump drive with the floating bush

On your 10.3/1 500 Bullet - bushing crank? HV pumps or no?

It's a hitchcocks long-stroke crank which is on needle rollers. i do have high flow pumps. My understanding is this is more to facilitate cooling than to supply lubrication. The needle rollers offer very little resistance to oil flow from the feed pump and i have a scavenge side pressure relief valve fitted along with rather more elaborate breathers than the 350 has (bunded crankcase breather with mechanical ball valve, relieved timing chest transfer hole and a rocker breather).

On the 500's close ratio 4-speed, did you gear down the overall ratio in 4th with the primary ratio, or just let the 1-2-3 get higher? I've always thought the close ratio would be nice, eliminating the big 3-4 jump, but I've wondered if it might be like a 5-speed missing either 1st or 5th? Likely with a highly polished 612 kit it doesn't matter if 1st is a bit high.

It's still 1:1 in 4th and such is the power increase from the kit, it's able to pull 5 teeth higher on the front sprocket. This leaves me with a ludicrously tall 1st gear so I have to slip the clutch till 10mph but it has the oomph to cope with this. With this setup, it's like you say, a clunky and badly maintained 5-speed which is missing 1st. I've also got a Bob Newby clutch on it and a kawasaki clutch lever which has a WAY longer pull (and therefore bigger stack seperation in the clutch) which cures a multitude of sins. Next time I change the front sprocket, I'll drop it to 20t from 21t because it can lug slightly at 60-65 in top but will pull 80+ on the flat. It does however mean that riding around on and off the throttle in 3rd on twisties is a legitimate thing to do without screaming the engine.

[Bilgemaster]

Welcome aboard! Hopefully we can salvage the data from that old Hitchcocks Forum as an optional searchable knowledge base section imported here or perhaps as a stand-alone archived option. It was kind of a clunky, primitive, or at least "feature poor" forum system, but did the job, and there was an awful lot of useful stuff discussed there. I'll bring it up with the Admins.

As for your Bullet, that's a masterful bit of work you've done. You've truly made that YOUR bike and should be proud. And is that eclectic old white or light grey four-wheeler also yours? What is that? It sort of reminds me of an old Czech Tatra, but the righthand drive tells me it's probably British.

[stinkwheel]

The car belonged to one of the marshalls on the trial and had been driven about 10 miles along pretty rough forestry dirt roads to get to the section. Consensus among my mates was that it's probably a Lancia of some sort?

[tooseevee]

The car belonged to one of the marshalls on the trial and had been driven about 10 miles along pretty rough forestry dirt roads to get to the section. Consensus among my mates was that it's probably a Lancia of some sort?

           Yes. An Aprilia.  The ones built and sold in France had to compete with the Traction and didn't do well. V-4 engine.

[Chris ~ Stockport]

Just saying hi as I, too have just moved over, and recognised you.
Best wishes,
Chris

[Raymond]

Hello - welcome to your new home. Like the look of your road bike in particular, cheers, Raymond

[Karl Childers]

Welcome, nice road bike really like your trials machine!

[allanfox]

Welcome, I reckon there will be in influx of refugees from the closure of the Hitchcocks forum, no bad thing!   

[Martianus]

Hi all, I'm new to Bullet ownership having bought a 2008 Iron Barrel just a few weeks ago. I'm a Hinckley Triumph owner up to now (Two 790 Bonnie's and a 2002 955i Daytona at the moment) No idea really what has been done to the Bullet I bought so far although it was sold to me as having at least a ported head and big valves. The receipts from Hitchcock's suggest that it had previously worn one of their alloy Cafe racer tanks although it came to me wearing a standard black tank but still has the alloy Casquette with flyscreen, rearsets, ace bars and Mikuni carb. It certainly is a reasonably good mover so far. Oh and it has a right hand five speed gearbox.

What sets the Iron Barrels apart from the Leanburn's and EFi models? I opted for one because of the obvious relationship to Brit bikes but, thinking about acquiring another Royal Enfield I am wondering if an EFi or Leanburn might be an option or should I stick to Iron Barrel if I want the Brit Bike 'character'?

[AzCal Retred]

The Pre-Unit Electra/AVL/Leanburn is a heavy flywheel, long stroke, pushrod motor and as such will give you the real 1935 motorcycling riding experience.

The Electra has the good 5-speed, gear oil pumps, better valve angle and roller crank, so it generally should be more trouble free. It's vacuum slide carb is less persnickety than the manual slide Mikcarb. These "new" bikes do require quite regular attention and a "mechanically sympathetic" owner/pilot, the same as the old Bullets. The 5-speed makes it much more manageable in traffic and on hills, it has good ratios and improved shifting. It was the Swan Song of the Pre-Unit machines.

Hitchcock's has all the gimcrackery necessary to doll it up to your heart's desire, as well as downloadable manuals: https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/

The Pete Snydal Bullet manual is an invaluable accessory - acquire one ASAP.

Oil & filter change intervals are about every 1,500 miles, multigrade 10W or 15W/50 weight seems to be the preferred engine oil, ATF the preferred primary fluid. Change early & change often!

Most of us here have multiple R.E.'s. The "hot buy" might be the new long-stroke "J" series OHC 350 if you want to do a lot of tinkering on your Electra/AVL, you'd have something to ride when the old girl is on blocks being fettled.

Myself, I just collected a few 4-speed IB's as they came available at a good price and manage to always have one serviceable for an afternoons jaunt. The J-model will be less work for more ride time and provide the same indefinable 1930's "feel" as you chuff about.

Welcome to the Hoard of the Archaic, post some pics! - ACR -

[Martianus]

Im not sure what mine is but I don't think it's an Electra. It has Right hand change, albeit five speed and Iron Barrel not to mention twin leading shoe drum front and is Kickstart only. Does that mark it as an India home market model?

I have just been in touch which the previous owner (I bought it from a dealer who bought it from HH motorcycle auctions) and he says he had no end of troubles with the bike and fitted the Boyer electronic ignition and uprated coil but I take it he gave up and moved it on but it seems to be running sweet as a nut since I got it so perhaps someone between myself and the previous owner made some adjustments and got her running sweet. He explained that the reason an alloy Hitchcock tank was listed as bought for it but is no longer with the bike is because it split when he got it. I've heard mention of this before and, at over eight hundred quid for one now I think I'll pass on it and stick with the fibreglass covered Watsonian Sportsman cafe racer tank I've gotten for it.

[tooseevee]

Im not sure what mine is but I don't think it's an Electra. It has Right hand change, albeit five speed and Iron Barrel not to mention twin leading shoe drum front and is Kickstart only. Does that mark it as an India home market model?

           You're right. It's totally not an Electra. The Electra has electric start, left shift, front disc brake & is an AVL, not an Ironbarrel.

[AzCal Retred]

Go to the Hitchcock's "Parts Book Online" section, match & verify what you have there.
https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/Parts-Book-Online

The IB was made to 2008 as a 4-speed, drum brake, KS & ES. The "Sixty-Five" had the 5 speed. The 5-speed is fully retrofittable to the IB and is about a $1000 worth of improvement. There is a front disc brake kit, well worth it if you commute daily in traffic. That you actually have a Boyer, that rather says it's the older IB motor. Boyers are great, they have an "extra retard" function for starting, so a lot (if not all) of kickback is avoided. At 500 RPM (idle) they resume the normal curve.

If you have the older IB engine, not the AVL/Electra engine, it'll have a 28mm Mikcarb on it and a bushing bottom end. The bushing bottom end doesn't like lugging or lots of revs, just let it "run freely" under only moderate loading. These cranks last between 5K miles and 80K miles, depending on original fitment, lubrication and the amount of thrashing they get. Replacement requires case splitting. Depending on what you go with, it can run between $600 - $2200 just for parts, so you can see that "mechanical sympathy" and good maintenance are rewarded.

Until you pull the top end you won't know what piston is in there. The OEM cast "Velveeta" pistons can fail catastrophically in at least three ways: Seizure, dropping the skirt and shucking the crown. The OEM con rods don't like high revs either. The "fix" is a forged piston in an alloy barrel. Otherwise, just ride it sedately and be happy. With a forged piston, still don't buzz it. A broken rod will easily destroy the crankcases.

You also need to inspect the Quill seal. It can be either rubber or cork and HAS to be in good condition. I've found two with their guts vulcanized to the Quill bolt, but apparently still sealing "enough". You can try to look thru the Quill bolt hole or just pull the timing cover off. Have a new timing cover gasket handy before you start just in case the old one self destructs. A great time to change the oil filter and check the cam timing too. Don't let the distributor gears slip off their shafts as you can easily lose the engine timing you have that's working now.

The rule of thumb for the old IB motor is "55 all day, 60 for awhile, 80 one time". Unless you know there's upgraded internal bits, I'd treat that as gospel. Add to that "no lugging, no buzzing" and you're all set.

I'd get the appropriate gaskets from Hitchcock's and when you're ready pop off the top end and see for yourself what's in there. If you see a steel conrod, happy days you might already have the $1800 Hitchcock's roller crank!

In any event, your 5-speed Bullet is a great time machine that allows you to get a real feel for the 1935 riding experience. I enjoy mine tremendously. Pull maintenance, learn their quirks & needs, you'll have a great time chuffing about.