Hitchcocks Forum

14 years and never been opened. Although it works fine, common sense tells me that there must be metal particles in there due to normal wear and tear. Question is, do I just melt out all the old grease and replace, or change to sealed bearings and use gear oil? If anyone is now using oil, is there any noticable difference in smoothness. I'm also still unsure whether to go up to a 19 tooth sprocket or not. I would like the higher cruising speed/lower engine revs but unsure if it will pull up those A road hills. Even with a free flow air filter and exhaust it still feels a bit underpowered.

Hi Midge. I had my gearbox to bits (2000 Classic 500) last year to fit Mr H's close ratio gears and after checking all was ok I put it back as it was with '00' grease and a 20/50 top up. Everything worked fine. At the same time I went for a 19 tooth sprocket and the bike pulls it (one-up) without any trouble at all. Even steady hills aren't a problem. However I do now have the closer third gear if things get tough. Like you I've got a free flowing inlet / exhaust but I did have to go for a 1.5mm main jet (manually drilled). I can cruise easily at 60mph and I reckon on a good day she could get to over 80 for a quick burst, although with an Indian piston I wouldn't want to do that for long!!! Cheers. Riggers.

Hi Guys----------- MIDGE, I also am running Mr.RIGGERS carb & engine settings--- including a 19t sprocket --- and can fully endorse his comments re}.. performance etc..I fitted our hosts 8.5 : 1 forged piston and, using premium petrol, can now accelerate uphill in 4th...They now do a forged piston in standard comp. ratio as well if you like ?? In fact the clutch now needs an upgrade to cope...Please be assured that all will be ok after changing...If you are stripping the whole g'box out then I personally would go for the sealed bearing conversion and use oil....

I did a full gearbox overhaul for my 1995 export 500 classic and found only a few areas that were tricky and found the box almost fun .
The best mod is the close ratio cluster , I changed all the roller bearings and the layshaft bushes and all the seals including the felt for the front drive sprocket with it's new 19t ratio . One thing I overlooked was the pinion for first gear 15t , it was starting to pit but after ordering the parts from Australia it was a bit late to re-order .
I'm going to pull the box out again when I wear out my new front sprocket . I'm now used to the slightly higher kick starter ratio and I fresh filled with oo grease and all in all I find Albion grearboxes great long lasting rugged things with only the F/c lever return spring being a weak part ( I've broken 3 since 1995 ).
I use my netural lever all the time in this traffic light stop start city but I dont know if other riders take advantage of the lever .