Hitchcocks Forum

I have 2003 Royal Enfield 350cc when selecting 1st it crunches into gear.Not
all the time.If I increase the revs. it never seems to happen.I am guessing this
is a selector problem.This is my first enfield which I bought in September

Hi - it may help to free the clutch before starting the bike. Clutch in and down on the kickstart. But a crunch going into 1st isn't unusual for an Enfield. It isn't a sign that anything is 'wrong'. But it can become more obvious if the clutch slips or drags. (Out of interest what bike did you have before? Possibly its gearbox was a bit more 'slick' than the Enfield 4 speeder - in fact its almost certain to have been more slick than the Enfield 4 speeder!!)

My previous bike have been modern. Honda cbf600/Kawasaki gpz500 and currently a Kawasaki
W800.I just felt it was one hell of a crunch of gears getting it into first.

This is probably clutch drag. One thing that can help with this is fitting the gearbox cover stiffener available from our hosts ( or make your own) The classic models are a bit short on clutch action travel and the warping of the cover doesn't help. Just watch the gearbox outer cover as you pull the clutch and you'll see the problem. Even then the clutch cable/lever/actuator needs careful setting up.

Jamesy I guessed you'd probably come from Japanese machines - we all do (or almost all of us). The 4 speeder cannot compare in slickness with any Japanese gearbox - it's a case of chalk and Stilton! However PeteF may well be right and clutch drag may make the problem worse - although you say you find the crunch only in going to first and only with low revs. Maybe as you become more used to the bike this problem will become less annoying as your gear shifting technique changes.

Jamesy, are you freeing the clutch before you start the engine?
(Pull the clutch lever in and free it off with the kickstart.)
Otherwise the clutch plates stick like the proverbial to a blanket, which makes engaging first gear difficult.
On my Enfield I do that every time before I start the engine.

Hi guys !!.....Sorry to slightly hike your thread JAMESY but the following item is worth looking at}-----

A few years back somebody put up on here an animated, coloured diagram showing the inner workings of the 4-speed box....Is that retrievable ??......It clearly shows just how "different" the Albion-type boz is compared to other Brit. bikes of the time and the Japanese variant as well...

TYPO !!-------Albion-type BOX

meanwhile this gives you a good idea of what's inside your 'box}-------- http://www.midlandbullets.co.uk/gearbox/gearbox.html ---- Enjoy !!

and this is something you'll not be used to }-------- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNXl7nH5Yu8