Hitchcocks Forum

Hi , Im from Vienna and have an old Bullet 500 J2 from 1939. It was restored 8 years ago and running fine
Since that time no activity and had problems and as I had not done the restoration I'm lacking deep knowledge, trusting to find here some advice to get live in this beautiful mc.

a) De Compressor stucked and no Kickdown possible . think its solve, but if some advice would be most welcome
b) The Magneto shows no signs of turning to gap the breaker (kick and piston is moving but not the spindle)and so no spark
- What could be the trouble of having no revolving in the spindle?
-How this whole magneto unit can be demount - is it needed to remove the cover for the gears on the right side, unfortunately no real good drawings are available and to avoid unesessary work. Maybe some manual or tips pic are available for this old horse
c) I heard the magneto after some time has to be "magnetized" again, how is this done is there any manual available, hints ?

Sorry for so many questions , but my brain is squeezed since days about this topic and I don't find good answers on the net as this is an oldie! Attached some pics, which should explain.[
I trust here are some experienced guy or maybe some contact for Vienna.

Thx a million, Clemens[

If the points aren't operating there could be several reasons.

1. Armature spindle broken (unlikely):

2. Drive pinion has come loose and isn't secure on its taper;

3. The contact breaker has come loose from the armature spindle.

4. The points are stuck open.

I'm not familiar with the pre-Bullet models, but if the 1939 J2 is anything like the 1949 shown in our hosts' on-line parts book the timing cover is similar to the Bullet, it's just held on by 9 screws, once that's removed (your bike also seems to have an extra oil pipe joining the crankshaft end-feed) you can access all the timing pinions and check if the magdyno timing pinion is still tight on its taper.

As you have already checked under the points cover, check whether the points assembly is still secure on the other end of the armature spindle, assuming that the drive pinion is still tight.

On the 1949 J2 the magdyno is held on with a steel strap with dowels screwed into the base of the magdyno slotting into the crankcase casting.

https://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/p ... pages/3809

We have several magneto repair firms in the UK who can re-magnetize or fully overhaul the magdyno, but there must be someone in Germany or Italy who could do this even if there is no-one in Austria who can. I did a quick internet search for Magnetzunder Reparatur Osterreich without much success. Otherwise your local classic/vintage motorcycle clubs will surely know of a magneto specialist not too far from you.

Or hosts sell reprints of the owner's manual and the workshop manual for the 1949 J2, I suspect that apart from the change from girder forks to telescopic forks, not a lot will have changed.

https://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/p ... pages/3806

http://brightsparkmagnetos.com/library/ ... Pt%20B.pdf

While I suspect you wish to keep the original magdyno, this might be of interest.

https://www.vape.eu/en/magdyno-for-luca ... 1-cylinder

I hope this is helpful.

A.