Hitchcocks Forum

A quick note to anyone considering upgrading to a 5 speed box.

I have now done a little over 200 miles on my 612 fitted with 5 speed box, and the difference is astounding.

Changes are much slicker, and I don’t recall finding one false neutral to date. It does not jump into or out of gear, and the best thing is that neutral is so easy to select - even if stationary. Another big bonus is having a neutral light.

It just makes the bike a whole lot more fun to ride.

If anyone is thinking of doing it - don’t hesitate, you will not regret it. Conversion can be done in about a day.

Hello Andy

I did the same conversion on my ‘93 350 and totally agree with you. The only ‘problem’ I had was the upside down right foot change. Made a few wrong moves on the first ride but the old brain has caught up now so all’s well!

Stephen

Stephen - mine being based on the Watsonian cafe racer has the rear set arrangement so with the linkage that it has the change pattern is 1 down 4 up. Glad that you agree with my thoughts. The old 4 speed clunker is now consigned to history !!

The 5 speed box is A GOOD THING, confirmed by my limited exposure to the 4 speed version! The otherwise excellent action can get a bit notchy and unpleasant if you let slack build up in the cable, fortunately it's usually a quick adjustment fix.



Owners of older 5 speed boxes might be interested to know that the factory changed the design of the mainshaft on later versions to have a 14mm threaded end where the clutch centre is fitted instead of the original 12mm, which has been known to snap when the M12 nut is being tightened. If you have an older 5 speed gearbox apart for any reason you might want to upgrade.



A.