Hitchcocks Forum

Ordered the 32mm Carb, TCI unit and single seat on Thursday - all arrived Friday, what excellent service from our hosts. Fitted the carb first, lots to remove including airbox and PAV, but just took my time and worked through. Some minor issues, the soldered bullet ends on cables wouldn't fit through the carb holes on the carb top cover, so some fettling required. Set carb up as per instructions and all seems ok, been out riding for a couple of hours and definitely notice the difference. The choke doesn't seem overly effective though, I checked slide has full range of movement but it still needs a touch of throttle when starting...may be normal with this carb but if anyone has any advice it would be most appreciated? Fitted the TCI next, again not too problematic, but the replacement plugs don't seem up to the job. I couldn't get the supplied spade connectors to 'lock' inside the replacement plastic plugs. In the end I used my own shielded spade connectors and then pushed these individually onto the TCI connections, with clear high temp silicone sealant to ensure the connections stay waterproofed and isolated. Next the single seat - oh dear, firstly the supplied seat brackets (which fit on rear shock upper mounts and the mudguard/ rear frame pivot pins) would not fit on the pivot pins. The pins simply do not protrude enough for nuts to be in safety. Even winding the pins out didn't provide enough purchase. After scratching my head I managed to temporarily mount the seat...and found it the most uncomfortable seat I have ever experienced. I understand this is a personal thing but not for me! Given the problems with the brackets and the comfort factor I therefore decided to stay with the dual seat and will return the single seat accordingly. In conclusion...having fitted both the TCI and the Carb at the same time I can't honestly say how much each has affected the running, but the bike definitely feels better, smoother with a lot more power. In my humble opinion well worth doing...might change the exhaust now with seat refund money

Hey, Tzen, was it the Mk1 or Mk2 Concentric you fitted? If the Mk1, the choke slide is extremely crude and will render the bike almost unrideable. Nor does it provide any kind of fast idle facility, so it's all down to your wrist. Usually you can get away with just using the tickler. The Mk2 cold-start system is much better, but it's not at all unusual to have to crack the throttle a little bit when first starting. I wouldn't worry about it.

Forgot to say - I think you'll find a big difference with a different exhaust, provided it really is more free-flowing than the original. It was probably the one thing that made the biggest difference on my old Bullet.

Hi Thack. Many thanks, it was the MK2 and appreciate your head's up about the choke. Feel a bit more relaxed about the set up now. Wasn't sure how much a free flowing exhaust would contribute, but sounds like it is worth doing....

A nice Goldie system with the baffle removed should be the ticket!

You may need to jet the carb up a bit with it.

Tom

I tried a couple of different silencers, and the best improvement by far was when I fitted a straight-through absorption silencer. So long as it's big enough it can be pretty quiet. I'm concerned that quite a few silencers for sale may be a damn sight louder without being much freer flowing. The absorption type has a bloody great hole right through the middle, which is hard to improve upon in terms of free flowing. Peco made mine as a custom part; it worked superbly but was bloody ugly, unfortunately.

Tzen - I am interested in fitting a single seat, and am sorry to hear you found your's uncomfortable. Which one was it, the standard large one (200081) or the smaller one (92505)?
Thanks
ChrisD

Hi Chris - bearing in mind I have the Electra I ordered part number 91420, but found the seat to be smaller than expected. I am a shorty (5'6") and about 12 stone if this helps. My main issues were lack of support (in all areas!!!) and that the seat felt very hard; I was gutted as I really like the single seat look. Of course I could be softening with age!

New down pipe and silencer ordered yesterday, arrived today - you cannot fault our hosts service, excellent! Easy fit, though had to drill silencer bracket which is always a bit of a nervy moment. Measure twice, drill once (or in my case measure and trial fit about 10 times). Well, certainly a bit different in the noise category, quite a rorty sound, but not overly so. Just hope its ok for MOTs! Bike feels even better, seems to have improved pick up this time, whereby the 32mm carb improved top end. Easy attain 85 indicated (will check this with IPad app later). Pipe was 91020 and silencer 91045.

Great news, Tzen. How loud is it with the new silencer?