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[Wheaters]

If it's 30mm I'm sorted. 32mm I might have to buy yet another tool if my biggest adjustable wrench won't see it undone.

I built an entire car from a bare chassis, designed and built the front disc brakes and a supercharger system for the engine and still didn't need as many special tools as this bike seems to require, just to remove the gearbox!

[papasmurf]

If it's 30mm I'm sorted. 32mm I might have to buy yet another tool if my biggest adjustable wrench won't see it undone.

I built an entire car from a bare chassis, designed and built the front disc brakes and a supercharger system for the engine and still didn't need as many special tools as this bike seems to require, just to remove the gearbox!

I have a universal special tool, a hammer and a six inch length of half inch diameter brass bar.

[stinkwheel]

If you look at videos of Indian street mechanics on youtube, they use a large ball-peen hammer, a bent screwdriver, a large adjustable spanner and a wooden three leg stool with a hole in the seat to do almost everything.

[papasmurf]

If you look at videos of Indian street mechanics on youtube, they use a large ball-peen hammer, a bent screwdriver, a large adjustable spanner and a wooden three leg stool with a hole in the seat to do almost everything.

The hole in the seat must come in handy in case of the hammer hitting fingers.

[stinkwheel]

The hole in the seat is for sticking the crank through when refitting it into the crankcase. You then have the option of using the hammer or banging the stool off the ground.

[Wheaters]

Stop giving me ideas, you lot!

[Wheaters]

So, the 5 speed box is in. Still a bit to do.

Having snapped the adjuster, I need a new decompressor cable. More tricky, the rear left side bracket of the fuel tank needs welding back on (a single tack weld blob was all that was on it from the factory). I have a mate who apparently knows how to this without blowing us all up. I'll hopefully get that done towards the end of next week (or buy a new fuel tank and find a new mate if it goes badly wrong...) .

The new "English made" clutch cable didn't fit as expected. My Minda handlebar levers don't have adjusters, just an 8mm aperture. The upper, crimped on end ferrule on the old outer cable for the 4 speed is a fairly substantial, stepped item of 10mm/8mm (same as the front brake cable) but the new one is plain and only 6mm in diameter so it had nothing to "bite" against in the 8mm aperture. I was going to send it back but in a sudden flash of inspiration this morning I realised that I could make a slotted adapter from a 12mm long, M8 "Allen" screw with a 10mm head, by drilling through it's length on my lathe and then cutting a longitudinal slot with my angle grinder to allow it to go over the inner cable. The plain ferrule on the cable sits in the top of the screw where the Allen wrench would normally go (the hexagon shaped hole needed slightly drilling out to 6.5mm before it would go in). The new ferrule adapter has the added advantage of effectively lengthening the outer cable, leaving some spare adjustment at the other end, which I understand is a known issue with some cables.

"Any road up", as they say in these parts, the clutch is now all working very nicely, in fact it seems to operate more positively then the old setup, which was a little spongey.

[Wheaters]

I bought a decompressor cable, the part number of which was easy to find because it is the same for almost every Bullet. Wrong! Mine needs a longer inner cable, as advertised for "electric start only" bikes. Mine of course, isn't electric start....

As for getting a new mate....he messaged first thing to tell me he was waiting for an ambulance to arrive....he went to hospital this morning. Thankfully, this was nothing to do with him welding my petrol tank, he was unfortunately taken ill at home

So, feeling brave, but possibly just being stupid, having prepped the tank yesterday and let it dry and ventilated it thoroughly overnight, I decided to have a go at welding on the broken rear bracket myself. My risk assessment told me that three things could be the outcome. 1). I could weld it successfully and without incident. 2). I could blow a hole in it, requiring a new tank. 3). The previous outcome plus needing to join my mate in hospital.

Thankfully, option 1). was the actual outcome. Job done.

[Wheaters]

Yesterday was interesting. At 0800 I was thirty miles from home, helping my wife set up her stall at a craft event in Gainsborough. I received a strange and worrying text message from the petrol tank welding mate after he had returned from his overnight stay in hospital on Wednesday. I was worried so phoned him and quickly realised he was delirious and obviously very ill. I got in my wife's van and drove 60 miles to his place on the farm. Less than two hours later I'd got him back in an ambulance! He initially went to hospital with severe chest pains from an injury and got sent home less than 24 hours later with a severe dose of Norovirus.... He's now on IV drips and oxygen but thankfully recovering.

Anyway, the 5 speed 350 is almost finished. Just got to fit a new tube in the back wheel and I can road test it.

[Wheaters]

Job done!!

Unfortunately, a twenty minute road test showed that the gearbox is sometimes reluctant to change down below fourth then third. There seems to be some "stiction" in the lever mechanism so it won't "reset" to engage the next gear, as if the return spring isn't doing its job properly. This might be a function of the "toe only" gear lever, rather than the "heel and toe" lever it was originally fitted with, or the shortened gear lever shaft (my DIY mod) binding inside the case.

I'll give it some mileage and see if it improves. If not, a bit more "fettling" will no doubt be required but I'm certain it can be done in situ.