Hitchcocks Forum

Apologies for the corny thread title; I just couldn't help myself. Further to my long thread back in July 2016 (page 20 if you are interested) and to which I had so many useful replies from you guys, I've now actually bought a B5, and am picking it up next Wednesday. The "30p per week for 40 years" works savings scheme has paid out and I started looking a couple of months ago for the right bike. This one's not new, as originally planned, but is a 2014 model with 5,000 miles on the clock, and looks and feels almost brand new. The test ride of 10 miles or so decided it for me; it is just lovely. It has a Hitchcocks 91080 exhaust silencer and sounds and goes really well, and I'm very much looking forward to owning it. The only slight issue on the test ride was that my arms needed to be an inch and a half longer. So my question is, do the handlebars on the B5 pivot back and forth within the chromed angle-iron type fixing bracket if the bolts are loosened, or is it all fixed solid and I need to think about buying some different bars? Cheers, Mike

Hi pb1 I have fitted high rise Thunderbird bars to my year 2000 350cc bullet they come back towards you quite a fair amount.only thing is you will need longer brake and clutch cables.thou I did not need to change the throttle cable.the reason I put these bars on is you sit more upright I'm 75 years now and need a more comfortable riding position.you can get the bar and cables from our hosts.


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The simple answer is - yes. When have the bars and levers where they feel right, before you tighten everything back up you need to check the angle of the cables where they enter the headlight casquette to make sure they run freely, they there is enough slack on full lock and that the cables and front brake hose clear the fuel tank on full lock. If not, you might have to compromise a bit.

PB1 Now all you need to do is join millions of other happy EFI owners on https://www.facebook.com/groups/163078194146170/

Congrats and welcome, I'm sure you'll love it. Only problem is you probably won't another bike, I bought my tatty chrome 08 plate EFI as a Winter hack and the bloody thing gets used nearly as much as my 'main' bikes!

The bars are 'pegged' so the controls have a limited range of movement. Obviously the controls must not hit the tank. The Bullet and Classic have different shaped tanks, so the bars on the C5 are slightly higher, because I put some B5 bars on the C5 but went back to the originals, I think they are interchangeable but the angle at the grips alters. The chromed angle-iron bracket 'clip' can deform and leave the bars loose, a new replacement fixed that. Handlebar clip bolts are only 12Nm torque.


Me, I've got arms like a gibbon so I wanted the bars further away, but I wanted the ends turned down for a more comfortable grip. So after a lot of messing about I think I'm back where we started. It takes a while to get used to the sit up and beg position, and then it all works together.

Thanks Gents. I picked the bike up yesterday and it's very nice; all I'd hoped it would be. I slackened off the handlebar clamp (using the toolkit in the side box!) and adjusted the bars back a bit and it is now just right. It goes well and sounds lovely with that exhaust. A few simple questions please...

It has a rubber Champion spark-plug cap with a soft black lead. I assume this is original, and have read most of what has been said about this on here but, before I do anything about it, can I ask if this cap is resistive or not? If yes, I'd have assumed it would have 10K printed on it somewhere, but it doesn't, so is it non resistive? It currently has a BPR6ES fitted, so I'm hoping not.

The battery negative leads, the slighter fatter one that goes to earth on the starter motor fixing nut; is this really all that is earthing the battery? If so, why is there a big fat 12v cable from the solenoid to the starter and a tiny battery earthing cable? I can see that will probably be replaced soon.

Lastly, on the EFi models, is the automatic decompressor via the exhaust cam system used? When kicking mine over, it seems to have a fair bit of compression, which leads me to think that it is not used on EFi bikes?

Thanks in advance.

PB1 I think you will find the automatic decompressor only functions with the electric start.

Ah yes, that would make sense. Thanks. Any idea on whether the Champion plug lead and cap is resistive or not?