Hitchcocks Forum

Hello, I’m new to this forum and at 71 years of age I’ve just bought myself a 2006 RE Bullet 4 Speed with only 285 miles from new on the clock .

It should have Electric Start except that it already had the usual problem with the Sprag Clutch.

As I used to be a mechanic before I retired, I’ve look through the exploded Parts pictures but they don’t seem very clear on this point .

Can anyone please give me a run trough of what is involved in carrying out this repair?

While were on the subject instructions on the alternative of blanking off the electric start would be interesting to hear about.

I thank you all in advance of your helpful advice. Thank you. b4bike

Repairing the sprag is usually a waste of money, because if you have a bike that busts sprags the seem to continue to do it. Some people are very lucky and sprags last, others spit it at very low miles like yours. If you can still kick it, save your money and put it towards the K/S only inner primary because it gets rid of the ugly growth on the existing inner primary

well said norm thats the way to go ,although i have a sprag clutch complete with gear if anyone interested

Good morning B4......I would agree with what Norm & Grunda say even though I have no personal experience of the newer electric boot equipped Bullets I have read enough...............I too am 71 (with a couple of health problems) and one of my rides is an older Bullet 500... .... Kick starting is no problem to me (Kickstart is a misnomer really as it is a swing on the k/s lever).............. Feel for TDC, ease over with decompressor and swing once or twice from cold, once from warm.....Happiness

Grunda-my sprag is still under investigation-i'm currently using the k/s only-but i'm waiting for my mate to strip and inspect the sprag which appears to have failed again AFTER ONLY ABOUT 100 MILES!!!

How much do you want for the parts please if they are still available?You can email me direct if you want :martinsbikebitsathotmail.co.uk

hi martin,i think that if your sprag has gone in under 100 miles i would personally junk it,i removed a sprag/drive gears & starter motor on noel(ogri,s) bike a few months ago ,the gears had all lost their teeth but the sprag gear & bearing were ok i will email you reguarding the bearing but as i say its probably not worth repairing atb paul.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I must say I didn’t expect such a good response in such a short time. The bike does start up OK on the kick start , that’s why I was still interested and I went ahead and bought it.

However, what about the teeth that’s broken off, Where do they go? Is there any risk of them doing any further damage? Is there plenty of room down there ? Is there any easy way of just getting them out?

Although I value your opinion regards just using the kick start,
Just for Interests Sake , What is the sequence for the repair ?

Thanks to you all. .

Just for interests sake you have to strip the primary side down and remove the inner primary to be able to remove the sprag gears. Clutch hub puller needed, rotor might come off easily, might not, 3 countersunk screws on the inner primary can be a problem and if you get this far come back and as how to set the stator up

Lot of negitive stuff here, done 25,000miles on two sprags, like to have it, again personal choice

Norm, your instructions sound very helpful so far. Please continue for if I decide to do the repair it would be best for me to know as much as is possible beforehand what I’m letting myself in for. This could also avoid the bike being in bits longer than necessary. Thanks.