Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all. I have a supposed 1964 350cc RE bullet. When I did the gearbox up it used imperial bearings. I know because I bought bearings from India and they were metric and so I had to buy imperial bearings that fit the gear box. I have found the same with the kick start spindle. I bought one from India but it does not fit in my gearbox so I have either an old Indian box or a English Redditch gearbox. The motor had imperial bearings in it too.

I still want to buy a kick start spindle but how would I know which Redditch gear box spindle do I have to buy or are the British kick start spindles all the same. I do not want to waste any more money buying parts that do not fit my motorcycle. Perhaps I could send a diagram of the spindle to Hitchcocks with all the measurements and they may be able to see which one that I need. Any help much appreciated.

It's possible you have a late Redditch built lndian engine. The engine number will tell all. You can get it dated for free by the REOC, l will dig out the email address later. REgards, Mark

I have found the kick starter spindle that I need. It is a H21/4 with a kick start O ring H77. These parts are shown in Hitchcocks parts books online section for the 1961 350 bullet gear box. Hi Mark M and thanks for your reply to my query. I have had the engine number checked out by REOC but they say that is most probably a made up number and stamped on the engine by the Indians that sold this motorcycle. This motorcycle is most probably put together in India from any parts that were at hand a made up engine number stamped and sent to a buyer in Australia. It is registered as a 1964 350 RE. I rebuilt everything when I bought it and it is quiet a nice machine to ride. This kick start spindle was the last piece that I needed. The engine number for what it is worth is QS11646955

Indian sourced bikes are always a nightmare to repair.


1: The gear box may be a pattern after market made item?


2: The gear box could have been 'repaired' with any number of Oversize components to allow for wear/damage from previous 'repair'.


3: Over size lay shaft bushes, and kick-start spindles are common in India




The ball bearing on the outer end of the main shaft (kstart end) is imperial up to approx 1972. (In 1971 there was an international shortage of almost all imperial size bearings). It is common to find latter made 'metric' gear box end covers fitted to older 'imperial' bike., Along with the change in bearings was a change to the main shaft oil slinger washers, and the installation of a gasket between the case and the inner cover.


Check the alignment of the primary drive sprockets VERY CLOSELY! You may need to fit shim washers to the oil slingers to correct any misalignment.

Hi Tim NZ I do not believe that the RE350 that I have has a Redditch engine or gearbox in it just because they have imperial bearings in them. For a start both crank cases have different numbers at the front where the front single down tube engine mount fits. The engine went back together ok and was very easy to turn over by hand. The conrod was in the centre as it went up and down so I thought ok we will go with that. So far on the road I have had no problems. I think that this motorcycle has been fitted with an early Indian made engine and gearbox just to fool buyers and so that they could get it registered as a 1964
RE. Any way it has taken me a long time to fix all that was wrong with it and a fair bit of money but I have ended up with a reliable older English style motorcycle. I have a 1973 Honda 750 that I restored for most of my serious riding. The alignment of the primary drive sprockets is ok. I have had them in and out of the motorcycle without the covers on many times during the engine rebuild and looking down from above the chain seems to be perfectly strait. I had Lance Wilson do the crank for me. He is always in big demand from restorers of British made motorcycles. He came from NZ as well where he worked and learned to repair English motorcycles. My RE350 does not vibrate hardley at all so he must have the crank pretty well spot on. On my motorcycle grease started coming out of the kick shaft spindle hole and so I decided to change the whole spindle for a new one as the box has to be split even to do an O ring repair. The whole spindle is not very expensive.

I will post this just to finish it off in case any body wants to know how things went. A lot of people post things and get a reply and then you never hear from them again and you do not know wether they solved the problem or not.The kick start spindle H21/4 fitted up perfectly. This spindle number came form Hs parts book on line and is for the 1961 350 Bullet. I earlier said that I had bought an Indian one but it did not fit. I now know that the RE that I have is closer to actually being a 1964 which is its year of manufacture on the registration. Any way my problem has been solved and I now know that if I want engine parts I can order the parts from the 1961 350 parts book and they will probably fit.

Thanks for coming back Binary, and letting us know how it turned out. It is good to hear that someone is on the road again and happy with their Enfield and it's even better to hear what the answer to the problem was. I don't know much (nothing really!) about the Indian made Bullets so it is good to learn. I might have one one day if the price is right! Happy riding!

REgards, Mark