Hitchcocks Forum

My old 612 which I recently bought back is fitted with a 4 speed albion box, the only improvements it had had is the close ratio gear set, sealed bearings, and the stiffer outer cover to improve clutch action.

When I used to own the bike the gear change action was just about acceptable but it never really fully complimented the performance of the 612 motor.

Since buying the bike back the gear change action is not as good as I remember it, could perhaps have been abused by the last 2 owners or has just worn.

I am contemplating a 5 speed box, but given the expense involved I was wondering if anyone has any experirnce of improving the action of these box's which I could try before making any decision.

Appreciate that the albion will never be as good as the 5 speed box, or a modern jap box, but the way it feels at the moment there has to be room for improvement.

Thanks

Andy, these are pretty agricultural gear boxes as you know and I don't think there's a way to make them comparable to most other period British boxes let alone modern ones. However, as you say, they can be improved but it would help if you could describe what is wrong with yours specifically?

REgards, Mark

Most gear change problem are clutch related. The Albion is pretty crude but will perform reasonable well if the clutch is spot on. Trouble is, the clutch is pretty awful as well😕 I'd make a start by overhauling the clutch.

My bike had a standard 4-speed box. It seemed to work ok (the bike only had 1000 miles on it when I bought it,) and the gearbox had the closer-ratio conversion.

However, no amount of tinkering/adjustment/modification would give it a quick, clean gearchange every time. The clutch would slip (despite adjustment, outer cover stiffener, ATF fluid, stiffer springs, etc.

I bought a 350 on Ebay which already had a r/h change 5-speed gearbox fitted. I stripped the bike and sold all of the bits except the gearbox and recouped nearly all of the purchase price. I replaced the 4-speeder in my bike with the 5-speeder and also fitted Hitchcock's 5-plate clutch.

Others who have fitted a 5-speeder have commented on the total transformation of the bike and I completely agree.

(For info, my bike has a bored and stroked 625 cc engine, which is probably relevant to your situation.)

I realise that budget considerations are very real to all of us, but sometimes there is another approach!

Just to clarify, Andy C has posted elsewhere about this bike. He has bought it back after 2 owners and, it seems, little mileage. However he's found that the POs have inflicted all sorts of abuses on the poor thing, many in places which shouldn't have needed attention in such a small mileage. So I'm guessing that he's trying to get ideas about what might have been messed about with before investigation rather than start a debate about the (let's face it,) awful Albion box. I am currently working on a Bighead project and after investigation (and if needed a rebuild,) I'm going to refit the Albion box that came with it but I'm seriously thinking that if it plays up I'll just go and buy one of our Host's modified 5 speeders. They are not all that expensive and I've decided life's too short for remanufacturing pig's ears!

REgards, Mark

The 4 speeders [even the Indian ones] should work quite well when properly set up. This one on a tuned 350 changes fast and doesn't miss gears, although it could benefit from the close ratio conversion. ... https://youtu.be/qbhm19lDboM

Paul, I'm not saying it can't be done, I am quite prepared to put in the effort and mine all work well including on the Interceptors. I have ridden a 60/5 and thought the gearbox was a real improvement, not only because it is smoother than an Albion will ever be but the 5 speeds (which I expected to be over-kill,) really suit the Bullet. However, the one I was riding still had an occasional false neutral going 5th to 4th, so nothing's perfect!

REgards, Mark

PeteF's comments regarding the need for a well-adjusted clutch are also relevant to the 5 speed Indian-made box.



Had my big head Bullet bitsa been built as a proper Fury replica it would have had a four-speed box, but having ridden both four speed and five speed Bullets, I decided that some things were non-negotiable.



If, however, you have an original Redditch classic or don't want to throw too much money at a Chennai Bullet, I can see the point of taking the time to get/keep the four speed box working well.



A.

Just to clarify.

1. Has the close ratio gear set from our hosts - big improvement.

2. It has our hosts stiffer end cover.

3. Sealed bearings - oil and not grease filled.

4. Has a Bob Newby Clutch fitted and setup properly.

Symptoms:

1. It is a bu**er to get into 1st to pull away.

2. All change are crap - usually have to take 2 or more attempts to find a gear.

3. Jumps out of gear.

When I owned it originally it had none of these issues - agree nowhere near a modern box (or a 5 speed Bullet box - I have ridden one), it seems to be a bag of intermittent hard to find gears.

Have to admit to not looking at anything yet, perhaps I should pull the whole thing apart and rebuild from ground up - that way I will be able to see / fix anything obviously wrong.

Hi Andy, many years ago I made up a plate to replicate the f/c stop plate and spring retainer but I cut most of it away so that it would hold the shifter mech together but allow me to see what was going on as I shifted it through each gear up and down. I found it the best way of getting it to work. On one box that did my head the only way I could end up getting it to work believe it or not was to move each tooth on the inner ratchet (grind,weld,grind again ) until I got each gear selecting on both the upshift and downshift perfectly. Without the plate I made there is no way you can see what is going on. As far as I know that bike is still running around fine, at least it was the last time I saw it.Problem is I lent the plate to a mate so I think it is gone forever, but there is no way I could set up a problematic box without it