Forum

[apparently lucky eddie]

Its worth remembering that you need a good sense of humour when you consider the electrical systems on these bikes, particularly the UCE machines. There is little chance of a repair using the foil from a fag packet on the UCE bikes and an AA membership is therefore recommended. And a jumbo size box of electrical connectors, fuses, insulating tape etc., etc.

[papasmurf]

I have replaced a lot of the wiring on my Electra X(ish) using 7 core trailer cable. It is a lot neater.

[Adrian]

Marvelous stuff! A.

[sofiaspin]

Dont overlook the fact that the comments are, I assume, all from men. Women by and large dont like the mechanical side, so whilst I would agree with Norm - an early classic UCE might be a good option. In fact the best part is the Electric start. Kickstart for show - ES for practicality. Good MPG and great torque. I have an 08 classic and a UCE Woodsman - love em both. The classic UCE is a low seat height so might be better?

[Blue]

It's so lovely to know that the nice '05 Electra X I treated myself to last year has a sprag clutch which is gonna 'let go' along with parts of the engine imploding.

Let's check my AA membership and hit the road! LOL

[Norm]

Problem is Blue, people buy these things without doing any research on them first, then end up here and have a meltdown when they find out a bit more about them

[MattP]

Don't worry Blue. I think there are plenty of happy Electra owners out there. I'm one at least - 30k on the clock, owned from new, no serious problems and definitely less hassle than a boxer twin I recently sold. Bear in mind people who have reliable bikes tend to visit sites like this less frequently than those looking for solutions to problems, or those with a long term grudge against all things Electra (Norm).

[Norm]

Matt, of course they got the odd one assembled CORRECTLY, but the majority were poorly assembled and this is what caused the failures in them, it was not so much bad materials just poor assembly that brought them undone. Hardening on the crank pin was also not good enough . If they had put a bit more care into the Electra it would have been a good motor and people would have not had these issues, but as in all things Indian, they just don't get it right

[Adrian]

Blue, I think you have the right idea, just go and enjoy your '05 Electra (same year as mine, had it from new), and if something does go bang, fix it and carry on (I have one of our host's Electra-X cranks ready!). A good one is too much fun not to enjoy, and it's not too much work to make one go like a decent old British 500 push rod single. I liked mine so much I built a semi-Electra-X special which (hopefully) has the main weaknesses engineered out, or just not incorporated, as it's kick-start only!



Regards,



A.

[Norm]

Adrian, only thing I can fault with the Electra engine design is the silly tappets that can break because they are so small in diameter, that is a design fault, the rest was let down by very poor assembly practices and incorrect hardness of the crank pin. If they had sorted these problems early, once problems started to appear they would have been an excellent machine, but in typical Indian fashion it was all the owners fault that these things were blowing up and all that did was trash their brand even more