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By Adrian
#82227
The Electra-X head can be machined to take the old-style Bullet decompressor, too. Big improvement.



A.
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By Cov Lad
#82228
Happy St Patrick's Day Norm. I am very impressed and jealous of your collection I viewed aforementioned Electra X. It was quite a nice tidy bike in the flesh. I was a little surprised however that the owner seemed genuinely unaware of kick back, sprag and big end failure issues with this model. He uses the kill switch to turn it off. But for reading your previous comments I would have bought it. Could I fit another Enfield Engine straight into the Electra? I also wondered about your opinion on a 4 speed 500 Bullet 2001 Iron barrel with 30,000 miles on the clock. It seems fairly well maintained but another longish drive away.
By Norm
#82229
Cov Lad, can't remember what I did when I put a cast iron into mine, not sure if I used the 5 speed or the 4 speed. What I ended up doing with the Electra motor was use the cases and built it into a cast iron just to prove it could be done and that was a very nice bike in the end. Really it was only an Electra frame and engine cases with everything else changed to look identical to a cast iron Bullet, tool boxes,guards etc. As for a cast iron Bullet and I had several of those over the time, but from memory with every one of those I bought them with blown motors for cheap and rebuilt them. All ended good bikes with Hitch big ends and I had a lot of fun with those. Good bike but you still need to be aware that they can be fragile in the motor department unless you find one that has been rebuilt with the good non Indian bits. It used to cost me around the $900Aus for the parts to rebuild a Bullet motor. I have to rebuild one shortly, be interesting to see what the bits cost for that now ( it has been sitting in my shed for I guess 3 years ) the owner was onto me at the last club meet saying he hoped to have the money to rebuild it before he retires. As long as you are aware of the shortcomings they are a great bike. The UCE bikes are far more reliable but then there is a couple of the early ones that did have problems. The current UCE's still on the showroom floor will probably be very good value because they will soon be heavily discounted because the new 650's seem to be good value and hopefully reliable and if that is the case the remaining singles will be hard to move
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By Cov Lad
#82230
I wondered if prices may come down a little as more people buy the 650's. So I may be worth biding my time for a while or even put a few ads up and try to find something more local. The few bikes on here for are are all quite far away.
By Norm
#82231
Cov Lad, one of the things we like about the old cast irons is that people see them as a relic from years ago and they can't believe we are still riding them around, but they can be high maintenance
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By Wheaters
#82234
I pulled in to refuel my 350 (a 2004, iron barrelled Bullet Electra) at Sainsburys the other day when a rather nice lady came marching over, smiled at me, pointed at the bike and said: "Now THAT is a proper motorbike!". It took me a bit by surprise - I thought she was going to complain about the rather loud noise coming from the Goldstar silencer. I should have asked her if she would like a ride.
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By Cov Lad
#82235
Wheaters, can I assume that your Iron Electra is one of the earlier Indian types and not a more recent Electra X with big end issues? I am still keen to hear from "Electra X Survivors".
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By Wheaters
#82236
Cov lad, that's correct.

This model is as basic as a RE can be, with the disadvantage of no electric start - but with the advantage of no sprag clutch and electronic ignition. Thankfully I've now got mine to the stage where it starts first or second kick. I understand the previous owner struggled to get it to run at all; not surprising seeing that the exhaust valve seat was as hard as lead and there was very little compression after only 3,000 miles on the clock.
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By Cov Lad
#82868
Norm, I have just re read your post about breaking your hip. That is bad or dag as you boys down there say. You mentioned fitting an Indian 350 engine into an old 50's bike. Dis you mean Raj Indian or American Indian Motorcycle? - another bike I love. I saw one being used on a wall of death show along with a Honda CB. I'd love to see a picture of your collection. I still have yet to work out how to post photos on here.
By Norm
#82869
Cov Lad, my collection is now down to 3 my Inter,my CB750 Honda and the 45 Enfield with the 350 Indian enfield motor in it. That is stuck in the back of the shed, been there for a nimber of years now and a major job to get it out. I haven't been able to ride anything for 2 years now and I live in hope that I will be able to get the Inter out again. I had injections in the hip last Friday and that is helping a lot

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