Forum

[Alan R]

Bullet Whisperer is ok too ( Thanks for that £50 note, Paul !!)

[Bullet Whisperer]

Thanks Alan R! The plain big end is fine and will do many thousands of miles providing it receives adequate, clean oil. A roller big end will be more forgiving if the oil supply to it fails, but only by a relatively low number of miles before it, too, fails. The choice is yours, John, the crank can be rebuilt with either type of big end, or you could, indeed, buy our host's crank, which is very well made compared to the factory job. cheers, Paul.

[Phil Ashbrook]

As it looks it's going to be a total strip , this is your chance to fit the RE 15 big end with a forged con rod and high spec crank bearings together with the high output oil pump . They are hard to break but if a pressure switch was fitted to the pressure relief valve kit to give a red warning light if the oil pump spindle and worm failed from a hard kick back as they sometimes do ...you could try as I have done by having less torque on the worm so it will break free and prevent stripping the thread for the worm .

[Norm]

Paul,
each time I have fitted one of the Hitchcocks cranks I think to myself this is too nice to be hidden inside the motor, never to be seen again

[simon]

It's also an opportunity to take advantage of the superior load bearing qualities of the improved crank and bearings and raise the compression, improve the breathing, valve overlap etc and get some serious extra ergs!

[Chris Tindal]

When I stripped my old BIghead engine the main bearings were totally shot, the crank had the hardening worn off on the timing side, and the oil pump worm had huge chips out of it. The bike had obviously had a hard life but the big end floating bush and con rod where still totally fine, so the design can't be that bad.

[ajb235]

I have been through this process this year, after 7 years of total reliability with my Bullet. Now I have the Alpha roller bearing big end fitted I will be tuning the engine knowing that the big end is strong. So this winter; new main bearings,gas flow cylinder head high compression piston, bore out to 535 and fit the performance camshafts and adjustable spindles. Boyer Brandsen Mk4 digital ignition too.

My question is, what is the overlap and lift of the Hitchcocks "improved" not full competition, cams? What performance gain will I see in conjunction with the 8.5:1 piston and some gas flowing?

Thanks

[Midge]

I always find it a joy and quite amusing that whenever some poor soul posts a message here about some major catastrophe or other that the majority see it as an extreme piece of good luck as it is the perfect excuse to rebuild larger, stronger and better.

[John L]

"the majority see it as an extreme piece of good luck" - well, yeah, mainly that some other poor joe is having to pay for it..........

[Alan R]

Hi guys-------- whilst on the subject of plain or "Floating Bush" big ends-----is there any advantages to having the all-bronze bush compared to the white-metalled one ??----------------