Hitchcocks Forum

Try not to be put off by everything that is said on this posting, it seems to have attracted a lot of negative posts about the AVL engine, and I am sure some owners have had a bad experience.



But, there will be a lot of owners out there who are perfectly happy with their bikes who do not post here. I met someone who had covered over 70k miles on their Electra X which was owned from new, the bike was tatty and showing its use, but other than routine servicing done by the dealer, they were very happy with the reliability and had faced no real issues, they did not even know what the sprag clutch was!



I am certainly unsure why a picture of a J2 engine from the 1940's, using an alloy rod, which has damaged the crankcases has been posted, as it has no connection and is only scare mongering.

Dan,



Leon re-posts that picture every now and again. Sales of J2s will no doubt plummet as a result. My point was that however else an Electra-X might choose to break down, with the steel con-rod at least it wouldn't do THAT.



I am still a fan of the Electra-X despite(!) mine breaking an exhaust tappet, the sprag clutch and finally the big end. My suspicions were that it was primarily the **earlier** bikes still at risk, so I hope that owners of later bikes can draw some justifiable comfort from your comments and ric's.



There were two reasons why I started this topic.



1. As enthusiasts we take an interest in the failings as well as the workings of our bikes, including the causes, the cures and any preventative measures we can take. Piccies are usually helpful.



2. None of this is shock horror breaking news, but I thought it fair just to remind owners of early Electra-X bikes what had been happening. I could have thought "yeah, they'll find out soon enough" and left it. Would that have been better? Discuss, if we want the topic to run on to 4 pages...



A.

I wish I had a photo or two of the "daily rider" BSA A7SS 500 twin I owned in the late 1970s. The damage to the bottom end of that equalled that of the Enfield engine posted earlier. It began to gently tap as I entered the M1 northbound one very dark January night before a big end seized solid, welded itself to the crank, its conrod snapped and the lower half of it poked its nose right out of the bottom of the crankcase. Just as I joined lane one between the HGVs. I pushed it from J13 M1 to J14 before I collapsed in a heap on the hard shoulder. After the event everyone said "Oh yes, of course they all tend to do that". It hasn't seemed to have made them any less popular, forty two years later.

Dan so you know of ONE that has done big miles, big deal, the other 90% failed miserably The Electra X gets what it deserves, if it was built properly it would have been a good machine but the Indiand couldn't give a toss about the customer. In the UK at least you had Watsonian Squires who tried to help the customer out, here in Aus you were pretty much on your own.

You just need to read any vehicle forum to discover that it's all doom and gloom. I have a Vivaro van and all I read about are all the problems and disasters. My van is brilliant and no bother whatsoever. Has anyone an idea as to how many Electra X machines were made? How many have failed and how many have been utterly reliable? Can regular oil changes with the best oils help? What is the best oil?

Oh No! Jon Hill, what have you started?

Oh no, the oil question has cropped up. This thread could break 10 pages.

Adrian, No not here Ebay gumtree auto trader not in a rush and see them go for anything up to £3500 in shops loll but would like close to £2400 if i can.

Just to reassure people that monumental design errors, lack of QA oversight, poor build quality and material selection and over-enthusiastic overboring of perfectly well designed motors into fragile oblivion are not a uniquely Indian issue. My wife owned a Kawasaki GPz305 a few years back... I built it from the surviving parts of three blown up bikes I was given. She then proceeded to go through another three rebuilt engines in two years...



A mate of mine described them as a "Hand grenade looking for a war.".











Bullets are an utter delight in comparison. Both to own and to work on.

Replying to Jon`s query. I found that after using various oils, Castrol Edge 25/50 for large bore engines, lowered oil consumption in my 2000 Bullet, and made it a bit quieter, or maybe I was going deaf.


https://www.castrol.com/en_au/australia ... 5w-50.html