Forum

[marsie]

As your Bullet is registered pre 1960, after November 18th this year it will not need an MOT

[Ian W]

Hi, I think you will find a lot of your questions answered here:
http://www.dieselbiker.co.uk/enfield4speedbox.htm

What this box really needs to keep it oil tight is bearings with an O-ring groove on the outside, and shafts with O-ring grooves for the inside of the bearing.

I have fitted two small O rings to the to the main shaft before and after the small sealed bearing. I have also used a small amount of silicone sealant from the top to half way down the side of the small sealed bearing, this will seal on the alloy bulkhead. I always use Loctite bearing fix to stop the bearing from spinning in the housing, this also may keep the oil back. This mod works ok for the right side of the box.
But the problem is the main shaft sleeve, although there is an oil seal, it will leak from this side due to oil passing between the bearing and the sleeve, it travels down the sleeves sprocket grooves (which have been cut too far up the shaft), under the sprocket distance piece (negating the oil seal) and then it drips out between the distance piece and the sprocket / sprocket and nut / tab washer.
Fitting the latest Indian main shaft sleeve, sprocket, and oil seal nut will help a lot.
I also use an oil breather pipe out from the top of the oil filler cap; this stops the excessive build up of air pressure.
My box is a mix of British and Indian and is 100% oil tight. This doesn’t stop the box from having its other problems though.

[Alan R]

Hi Guys--------A few extra points there which I wasn't aware of myself eg who put the grease in originally. As MARSIE says}-- your pre 1960 bike will be exempt from MoT after Nov. this year BUT, if in the meantime it expires then you must have it tested in the usual manner if you want to stay road-legal. The posting from IAN W is of particular interest--especially the link contained within---as I will be stripping my box this coming Winter (here already, I think ??) for close-ratio and bearing mods. Many thanks for that one , IAN ---- a particularly good description of the box's history etc.

[Chris Tindal]

John M, I have an English cover on an Indian box. There is a 2mm lip as the English cover is smaller, but apart from that it fits.

[Ian W]

Yup, so did mine.

[Norm]

Only thing I have found different is bronze bush in the mainshaft and bronze layshaft bushes

[Phil Ashbrook]

I have found gear oil in the box killed my layshaft bushes , now it's bronze bushes and back to Penrite NLGI 00 semi fluid grease , the tiny 15 T first gear pinion has a hard life on just gear oil as well , with new seals and a close ratio cluster my 17 year old box will forever break springs and wear the kick start pawl so I'll be back in the box to check for the slow down in wear in the gear pinion and bushes on the next repair .

[steveb]

Ok guys, tthanks for all your input on this. I made a trip to our sponsors premises and purchased the required kit (a handfull of seals and some sludge), Mrs B was ok with me cooking the sludge in her kitchen but only after my spending £1.50 on a new pan from asda!!

Appears to have cured my problem, just need to get the front brake working properly now.........

[Anders F. R.]

What do you mean by "quite a lot of oil"? Are we talking like "need to top up once in a while" or "need to refill 2 dl every day"? .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

My Albion gear box from 1953 (in a Model G), which i suppose is very similar, has always been dripping some oil when in use and until it cools down. I have to put a tray under it if I don't want oil stains on the floor or in my driveway, but it really isn't that much lost. I had an 850 km trip last year, and only topped up less that 2 dl when I cane back home. During winter storage the leak is only about a small tablespoon in 6 months. I live with this, as long as everything else is fine, which it is.

However, if the gearbox more or less drains completely it may be the time to take action.

I think the problem is that there is only felt seals around the input/shafts and selector shafts. Those are probably never completely oil tight.

BTW: My manual says straight SAE 50 engine oil in the Albion box.

This is the difference between British bikes and BMW: If it is leaking oil from a BMW, something is wrong. If it doesn't leak oil from a British bike, it's empty.....

Regards, Anders F. R.

[Phil Ashbrook]

At 10 bucks a tube of Semi-liquid black 00 grease mixed with straight 50 engine oil there is no harm doing a pure factory re-fill on the old 4 speed boxes , it just takes so long to get this thick lava in the box , I used a pump action oil can , it took 10 refills of the can , thinning it down kills the lay shaft bearings life span in those that top up with oil instead of the real goo .