Hitchcocks Forum

I recently took my '94 Bullet 350 for it's first run and noticed that it was very difficult to select gear when stopped. If I stop in first I have to kick the lever hard to get neutral and it is almost impossible to get to neutral from second. I am still getting used to the neutral finder as I am more familiar with BSA's and Triumph boxes. The bike was laid up for about 20 years before I bought it. When I checked the gearbox I found grease which the handbook said is standard but I topped it up with 85/90 gear oil not the 20/50 oil recommended. I adjusted the clutch as recommended without much success. Looking for information on adjustments I found a reference to the detent plunger being a possibility for my problem. Where exactly is this plunger, what does it do and is it necessary to strip the box to access it?. Although I was trained as a mechanic is a previous existance many moons ago gearboxes still frighten me..!

If the gears select normally when moving? then it is very unlikely to be the detent plunger, the most likely cause is a dragging clutch.

Hi Dennis, when moving things improve slightly but not by a long shot could the change be called smooth. I know from reading that there is a view that some difficulty is regarded as normal but this is downright unpleasant in traffic where I cannot easily select the right gear. When I adjusted the clutch it will go into first from idle without problem, getting it out is another matter. I will recheck it and see if I can make any improvements.

These gearboxes are not known to be the best, they have a very heavy action and don't like to be rushed, without riding the bike it's hard to tell but compared to Triumph and BSA they are in a word CRAP, I have a Super Meteor which to all intents and purposes has the same box as yours, while it can be made to operate fairly well it is not in the same league as my Triumph and BSA.

If you can adjust the clutch so you don't get a clunk when engaging first (butt don't get slip) then it should be ok. It COULD be the detent if someone has screwed it up too tight or plunger is stuck (there was a case of this a bit ago on here). Otherwise, something bent in the selector mechanism?

Hi pecan many gearbox problems can be put down to a clutch

fault you should check your clutch is lifting properly there is very little clearance with these clutches its mm an extra two mm can make all the difference.check the plain plates are flat on a piece of plate glass quite often you will find one buckled.I have a 350 bullet I fitted the driven plates with cork inserts I got from our hosts as they are thinner than than the bonded originals every mm helps.you can also file the clutch lever perch to give another 2 mm of lift.I hope this helps somewhat.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by the British bikes I have had but I don't believe this could be normal or RE would never have sold a Bullet and they seem to have a loyal following. As I mentioned the bike was laid up for about 20 years and the PO was the original owner who bought it in India, used it there for two years and brought it home then stuck it in a shed and forgot about it. I doubt if any work was done on it since he returned as it only had 8000 km on the clock. I thought perhaps that something might have seized over the years. I can't contact the seller to check if he had experienced this problem as I have misplaced his number. Still not sure what the indent plunger actually does though, where it is and what adjusting it might do?.

If you're experiencing difficulty getting out of 1st gear into neutral, place your heel on the neutral finder and press down on gear lever it goes nicely into neutral 👍

Hi pecan position of detent plunger. Remove outer gearbox cover.you will see plunger three quarters of the way up on the right hand side held by a lock but.it needs to be free moving and just screwed in tight enough to hold it in the gear selected.

Hi I should have added before turning the detent screw you should put the gearbox into neutral otherwise you could damage the plunger and the correct position of the slot in the screw head is horizontal when you tighten the lock but.