Hitchcocks Forum

As a Christmas treat to myself I am going to strip down the primary side and remove the E/S and sprag clutch, some strange noises and clicks! Doing this before I put any miles on the bike as it clearly is not right.

Just checking with anyone who has done this to see what tools I need to do this and if any of my existing 'normal' extractors can be employed, can see I do need a few special tools but can I get away with regular extractors anywhere?

Will be using our hosts blanking cover for now before possibly looking for replacement covers (Sans 'hump!'). Have seem posts mentioning removing the hump and welding a piece in, anyone ever done this?

Any comments much appreciated TIA

If your bike has the TCI ignition like my 350 Electra does, you will definitely need an extractor for the magneto rotor if that's part of the job (presumably you will want to remove the inner primary case). I bought one and another special extractor for the crankshaft sprocket. I didn't get to use the latter because once its 32mm nut was removed (there's a clue to something else you'll need, a 32mm, half inch drive socket) the sprocket slid off the shaft fairly easily by hand.

Likewise the clutch, I removed it all without using the advertised clutch holding tool or the clutch extractor. I undid the clutch nut on the gearbox main shaft by jamming a round bar in the primary chain, so that needs doing first.

Btw, if you can find a 350, home market 350 Bullet Electra inner chain case, it will go straight on....then no need to cut and weld your existing one and it will be far neater because there is no provision for a starter motor to be fitted.

The lumpectomy on the Electra-X inner case has been done, though some of the welding I have seen where the patch is welded in looks a bit rough. Perhaps take it to an alloy tank maker for a nice neat job.

Wheaters is right about using the 350 home market TCI kickstart inner case up to a point, but for an Electra-X a bit more work is needed.

First off, the chaincase stud mounting positions on the Electra-X left-hand crankcase are in the wrong position for a kickstart inner case, you have to drill and tap the crankcase for a set of M8 studs for a late K/S model (or use 5/16" if you prefer). Fortunately there is alloy in the correct position for both types of inner.













If you're really good with the hand drill you can do this with the engine still in the frame, I just happened to be working on these crankcases for a project.

The other point Wheaters didn't mention is that most of the 350 K/S Electra primary cases are for 4 speed bikes and therefore don't have a hole drilled through for the left-foot gear-change shaft (they do exist but they're pretty rare, even in India), you'd have to find some way of accurately marking and drilling it to match the E/S inner cover if the bike hasn't been converted to right-foot shift.



Hope this helps.

A.

If fitting a new sprag clutch, have some patience ready - tolerances are small.

Jojje wrote:If fitting a new sprag clutch, have some patience ready - tolerances are small.

Could someone please put me wise as to what these small tolerances are. I have just fitted a new sprag clutch to my Electra and found no need for patience or adjustment at all. Beginning to wonder if I have overlooked something

Thanks for the answers, I used to be an aluminium TIG welder for a living but don’t have access to the kit anymore. Is the socket a regular one or a deep one? Cheers

My 4 speed case has a recess / blank spigot for a left hand gear change shaft already cast in.

Perhaps an easy, accurate way to mark a "4 speed" Electra outer cover is to remove both cases, temporarily screw them together, then make a simple "centre pop" tool of a size that matches the diameter of the gear change shaft. This could be done by carefully wrapping layers of tape around a "standard" centre punch. Put the centre pop in from the back of the inner case, where the gearchange shaft normally goes and tap the punch with a light hammer to mark the centre.

Carefully drill a pilot hole perpendicular through the mark to the outside of the outer case, then turn it over and lay it flat on its gasket face to mill it out to match the diameter shaft.

I used this technique when converting my 5 speed box to right hand gear change, to mark the "blank" outer cover to get the modified gear change shaft through.

The socket needs to be a deep one, to go over the end of the crank.

Ok cheers, will have it down for a bit so can investigate drilling options, could have a drift made with a centre punch on it so would be close to concentric as poss! Do have a set of adjustable reamers so could bring it up to size slowly.

ericpode wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 17, 2019 6:19 pm

Jojje wrote:If fitting a new sprag clutch, have some patience ready - tolerances are small.

Could someone please put me wise as to what these small tolerances are. I have just fitted a new sprag clutch to my Electra and found no need for patience or adjustment at all. Beginning to wonder if I have overlooked something

I meant fitting sprag clutch component itself inside the "gear clutch driven" (560017).

"I meant fitting sprag clutch component itself inside the "gear clutch driven" (560017)."

Oh yes, thanks for that Jojje. It can indeed be a pain to get it to drop in! I was just concerned that there may have been some setting up that I had omitted.