Hitchcocks Forum

Hello,
I'm sorry if this has come up earlyer, I did a search but I couldn't find any information.

I took the clutch out on my 55 bullet, and, well..it was welded together, the plates were completely gone, the rivets had all broken off, it was rusty, and 1 of the bolts on the clutch basket has been taken out before and was basically in place using gravity.

I've looked on our host's website, and there's a few options. On the partslist of the '55 swingarm 350, it just says indian clutch basket as replacement, so I think any iron barrel enfield clutch should do?
There's a few options, as you probably know. The belt conversion is nice, but out of my pricerange. Right now I'm leaning towards a rubber cush drive basket, with the upgraded 5 plate hitchcocks clutch kit. I've also found a Miracle Clutch Basket from enfieldgear in the USA, does anyone have information about this?
When I was in India, people mentioned in passing fitting jap clutches to their bullets for reliability and such. Anyone know something about this?
I've tried to build a makeshift basket puller out of wood, but the stripped bolt (with mysterious substance) prevent me from pulling the basket off. Anyone have an idea how to do this without the proper tools? I've considered loosening the transmision and trying to use the case for leverage..

Indian 4 speed clutch, don't think about fitting a Jappanese clutch it you are trying to remove the basket with a wooden puller. Don't try levering it off you will only damage the primary case. If you can't get it off you may have to get somebody with a welder to weld something on it so the puller can be used

Thank you for the quick reply, Norm
Should I go for the 5 friction plate set or for the barnett 4 plate thats on sale?

My suggestion would be to get back to as close as possible to the original setup. The Indian clutch basket is fine but I would strongly suggest you go for the H89K clutch friction plates. Don't put an upgraded clutch it it unless you are planning to upgrade the performance otherwise you are simply giving yourself a heavier clutch for no gain whatsoever, not to mention unnecessary expense. With an original 55 Bullet your gearbox cover should be fine and not suffer from the flex that is a problem with the later Indian ones and you will also get away with the standard clutch springs.

Hi Simon

I was looking at the Barnett and the upgrade plates purely out of reliability perspective. I've fettled plenty with the stock (indian though) clutches and never completely got them right so I thought an upgrade would be in order.
You wouldn't go for the cushioned clutch basket either?

I have fitted Barnett plates to a couple of clutches, had to modify them to fit over the hub and apart from them being expensive (I think the bloke I got them from ripped into me) I found they were not much better than the standard Indian ones. As Simon says, try the cork ones, he swears by them

Thanks Norm and Simon, I guess I will order the H89K ones. (my wallet thanks you as well!)



Any last opinions regarding the regular clutch basket versus the cushioned one?

With the massive wheel standing horsepower the 350 delivers I will say it isn't needed

While you have it in pieces, it might be worthwhile to replace the metal ball between the clutch rods with a silicon- nitrate ceramic one. It does not transfer heat along the rods, so the clutch lever play will not change at the handlebars when things heat up and the rods grow longer.

Norm is right I do swear by the cork clutch plates and no I'd just go for the standard clutch. There is a cush in the back wheel and with the cork plates having a far more gentle take up than the composite ones I don't think you notice any roughness.