Hitchcocks Forum

Hi to all , im considering a clutch swap of the oem clutch basket to a triumph/bsa clutch for my slightly modified 1994 Indian Bullet 500. I have made all the mods that standard procedures allow but to no avail. Still slipping under load.Havent tried the hitchcock upgrade yet but i am considering it due to a lack of alternatives, so im asking in here if anyone can tell me if the clutch center of a triumph /bsa can bolt on the primary shaft of the Bullet gearboxand if any mods apply that i should be aware of.I can list the upgrades ive made but it will take to much of your reading space. Thanks in advance folks. Located in Greece.

Anything can be made to fit but there is no clutch off another British bike that will fit straight on to a Bullet. If your clutch is slipping there is a problem with the components or the assembly. I do not say it will ever be a good clutch but if properly assembled it should not slip! Can you explain what you have done or replaced?

REgards, Mark

As far as the oem clutch is concerned i have replaced the 4disk deal with the 5disk off of a later year assembly , new metal and fiber disks , roller pushrod end , new riveted disk , new rollercenterhub (the one that bolts to the gearbox mainshaft) to eliminate end play and new stiffer clutch springs.
As far as the engine is concered fitment of a harley piston (88.1mm diameter)compensated for compression to 9:1 ,hitchcock valvesprings, alpha bearing RE13 on the crank, ported heads with larger valves by 2.5 inlet and 2mm exhaust. A vm32 mikuni is set to feed the system , dual plug setup is in also using a harley ign.coil , converted from single to 3phase alternator off of a triumph with hitachi module and higher capacity oil pumps.
Thats about it , have not put it on a dyno yet due to the clutch issue.It looks the only feasible solution is the hitchcock spring relocation setup BUT will it work ???

Aah. If you have twin-plugged you have lost the decompressor? If so this means the clutch has to handle the 9:1 compression on kickstart and that's quite a big ask. Can you re-fit the decompressor just to get it running? I believe that running twin plugs doesn't do a lot to performance on a Bullet? Bullet Whisperer can maybe confirm this? It means you can run less ignition advance but not much else I think. If you want to keep it maybe try the Bob Newby clutch Hitchcocks sell. I have one in my 56bhp Interceptor and it does not slip.

REgards, Mark

Yes no decompressor present and the blowby plugged. I have no problem starting or riding the bike as long as i dont hit any hills... It has power to spare but about mid fange everything collapses (high revs and subsequent overheats if prolonged at that state). There is a low gradient stretch nearby where i can rev with relative ease and the bike shows its strength , but thats it.! The Bob Newby setup is the 600£+ eh ? Brrrr, too steep for me given that labor is mine and i pay for parts only, to keep costs down.As far as twin plugging youre probably right although i might add the benefit of a near spotless combustion chamber.Cheers and awaiting more thoughts .can i post a video of the bike here ??

I had slipping clutch problems with an old Kawasaki KT250, I replaced everything and the problem persisted. Turned out that it was the clutch cable, it was old and there was a bend in it that prevented the cable moving freely and kept a very slight pull on the clutch.

My 350 bullet trials bike has a standard clutch and only has three clutch springs yet manages not to slip, although it will if you over fill it with oil.

That is another possibility, what oil do you have in the primary case? It might be worth trying ATF, get the specification Type F, usually for older engines and some Fords. However, if your clutch is now slipping I think it might already be worn enough to need the plates replacing, you don't need to lose a lot of friction material to reduce grip to the point of slip.

REgards, Mark

Already have fresh ATF in there Dextron 2 type (ye old stuff) plus new plates , metal and fibre as stated in previous post.New cable too.I need to get something beefy in there somehow , the bike has torque that mushes anything i throw at it.Do you guys think that our hosts part# 90044 since i have a 5 plate setup should be worth the money ??

Without having done the same conversion as you I can't be 100% sure but I'd say it would help. This is the spring set-up that is in the other 2 Interceptors that i have and it works well. By the way, I read your post to mean that you were getting slip on your current set-up which is why I commented about the plates.

REgards, Mark

Mark thanks for the info , the fact that you have installed the hosts setup helps me a lot . I will start saving for to buy it. Truth is that any other setup will cost far more in money and modifications giving me equal results (i think).At this stage i will send our hosts an email attaching this thread and see what they have to say . Cheers and best REgards.