Forum

[simon]

Brings to mind a rather interesting program on telly with these chaps restoring classic cars. The Triumph Stag was one of the more contentious choices with the restorer remembering them as a bucket of bolts. Turned out after they did the definitive number on it that they were actually a pretty good and well designed vehicle just blighted with being assembled in England in the early 70's.

[Norm]

Was a good show that one Simon, we discussing it at our meeting last week, beautiful car just not assembled correctly and the design led to a difficulty in bleeding the radiator which ultimately ended the production of them. If somebody had bothered to come up with an easy way of getting the air out of the motor many of those Stags would still be around today

[Adrian]

Ah, the British motor industry in the 1970's, say no more! Getting back to the Electra, that business of the cam followers puzzles me, as it was the only major flaw that was actually designed into it. Presumably it was to reduce weight in the valve train and help the revs a little? Was this part of the original Stuart McGuigan redesign for AVL, or was it something the factory thought of?



Something else that intrigues me, you never hear of half these problems affecting the home market 350 AVL Machismo or Thunderbird models, does it also boil down to a case of a good 350 engine being over-stressed when served up as a 500?



A.

[Norm]

Probably a good point Adrian, 350 is a sweet motor but other things come into play outside of India,better roads means we ride faster, in India a motor blows up you can get it fixed on the next corner and it only costs you a few bob. In the rest of the world it costs you an arm and a leg to get them rebuilt, and this is on top of the initial purchase price which we all know is 3/4 times the cost of them in India. We pay good money for these, in fact compared to Jappanese/Korean motorcycle prices what we are paying is bloody ludicrous, so we expect better reliability from what was a third world bike, with third world reliability but a first world price

[Norm]

I was just thinking about it Adrian, I can only recall seeing one of those 350 I think it is a Thunderbird (350 Electra motor) at the All British Rally a few years ago, got talking to him about it and bugger me if he didn't email me the next day to say he didn't make it home, the big end failed, so they are not immune either

[Leon Novello]

Why do Norm`s post always make me nervous?

[Norm]

Leon, I spit it how it is, I don't make these things up, if something is good I will say it is good, if not you will hear about it

[RogerM]

I have an 07 350 Thunderbird.
It has proved to be very reliable and needs far less attention than my previous Bullet.
It is perhaps overlooked that the AVL engine was designed and developed and manufactured for several years as a 350. They then increased the capacity of the top end for export without considering the extra stresses that 500cc produced.

[Adrian]

My point exactly, though it seems even the 350 AVL is not immune. Still, I don't think a 500 AVL has ever thrown a rod through the crankcases like the 500 Classic Bullets (Redditch as well as Indian) can, but come on Norm, you must have found one that did!



Why did I buy my Electra-X? I wanted an old-style pre-unit single, but I wanted one I could just ride from new, so that was an Indian Bullet or nothing. I read up on the then-new Electra, and ooh, it's got a steel conrod and roller bearing big end as standard, like the classic models should have had but didn't unless you fitted (eg) one of out hosts' cranks, that ought to work.



When or if things do go majorly wrong, you have to consider whether you like the bike enough to want to fix it, or cut your losses and run. Do I still enjoy my Electra? Oh yes. If it goes seriously bang, will I fix it? If I can, I will.



Regards,



A.

[Mermaid]

Some thoughts from a lady Electra owner!
I have an '08 Electra and love it to bits. It looks enough like a classic bike but rides more like a modern bike - everything is in the 'right' place and it just rides/handles 'tighter' than a genuine vintage. I prefer to plod around the lanes at about 50mph but have spent a couple of hours at a time at 60mph when pushed. It's also great for a bit of gentle green laning. I do my own maintenance and service according to the schedule as it's the best way to really know your bike and so far everything has been pretty straight forward. I always kick start it from cold but for some reason have trouble when it's hot so the electric start is very handy. Having said that, the sprag finally died at the end of last year so I removed it and associated gubbins. I haven't had the chance to ride it since then but, to be honest, now that the sprag has actually died I'm happier to get the knack of hot starting as I don't have to worry about back firing and damaging the sprag! If I do have to replace it, it's a simple enough job I can do myself.
Would I recommend one? Absolutely!