Hitchcocks Forum

simple question, can you alter the gear lever round the spline a bit, my size 12s are struggling to get under it at the position its at.thunderbird 350 kickstart just need to move it a wee bit

It should just be a simple job of loosening the pich-bolt ( or removing it!) to enable the lever to be repositioned. I don't think there's anything to worry about on the shaft but make sure the pinch bolt is retightened afterwards! If not it can become a 'kinell' moment!

ok gaz will try that ive noticed a allen key bolt on the lever will loosen that bit at a time to see if I can gears ok ok any idea what the bikes idle speed should be its maybe just me not got the hang of starting it properly but yesterday I set the idle at just below 1000 rpm when it was hot today it was hard to start till I screwed the idle screw up to raise the revs and it started then when it was hot I turned it down again do I have to use the decompressor every time before I start it hot or cold

Fishermanferg. I don't have a 350 T'bird so don't know the specifics (I run a 1996 iron barrel 500). But if you loosen the pinch bolt on the gear lever and continue to operate it like that, the pedal will slop around (or maybe even fall off). And some of the splines could get worn away by the loose pedal and then it will forever slip on the shaft. I suspect you should remove the pinch bolt (or loosen it enough) then slide off the gear lever and replace it one spline higher or lower.
Regarding the need to set the idle a tad higher in order to start the bike after you’ve set a low idle speed, I have heard others say that shouldn't be necessary. But in the past 8 years, I always have to do that – both with the original 1996 500 Mikarb and now with the uprated twin-plugged 535cc with Amal Mk2 carb. It probably means some part of the tuning is wrong but..................
ChrisD

....What ChrisD said.... On the starting & idling, does the bike have a choke lever? It should have something to help cold-start the engine. If so, use it. The decompressor should be used to ease the piston over TDC (the hard bit when you press the kick-start down!)...then let go of the decompressor & give a good solid lunge on the kickstart pedal. Hopefully the bike will start - I've never had to mess about with the idle speed but it should tick over when warm at around 750/850 rpm I would guess. Hope this helps mate.

once again thanks for the info, when I ran the bike yesterday I screwed the tickover down when it was warm to just below 1000 rpm. then when I tried to start it after it had cooled it was a wee bit reluctant to start so I screwed the tickoer screw up a bit and it went it does have a choke its just maybe me not used to it yet although a did a right novice start procedure , I was kicking and kicking till I realised the kill switch was of so it flooded I took the tank of to make sure the cable was not trapped anywhere it seemed ok I will try take it for a longer run and check the plug colour, when I come back I know its a lean burn but I came across a wee tool I used years ago it was not perfect but it was pretty close , it was a tool called colortune you screw the colortune glass spark plug into the engine start the bike and slightly turn the mixture screw till you see a yellow color engine too rich then gradually back it of till you get a nice Bunsen burner type blue color I'm sure some forum members must have used them before

Fishermanferg
Yeah, I too have a Colortune. It works great BUT on my bike you have to take the tank off to fit it, and after a couple of goes I got tired of faffing around with it and realised I could hear when it was best tuned anyway. Cheers, ChisD

hi again , another simple question can I change the gear lever from the heel and toe one to a regular type gear lever, I don't like the heel part on the lever, or better still can I just cut the heel bit of.

It's your bike ferg, do what you want with her but I'm feeling it would be pretty safe to remove the heel part of the lever, it's the cheapest option but don't cut too close to the hole! Cheers - Gaz

thanks gaz I spoke to a mechanic friend of mine it was he , who suggested cutting it as I said I have size twelve wide fitting boots , they canny seem to get on to the heel part, I know what you mean its my bike, but getting opinions ,from people who are ,more knowledgeable , helps a lot as to making a decision, have you read my post to you , about ww2