- Thu Feb 19, 2015 1:24 am
#44499
Norm, the engine in the ebay listing is definitely a late 350 right foot shift 4 speed iron barrel Electra with TCI ignition, though left foot shift 5 speed versions in both K/S and E/S were available towards the end. Early 4 speed versions had the CDI ignition.
The bikes you're thinking of are the AVL engined 350s, the first of which was the A350 Machismo which came out as a right foot shift 4 speeder with CDI igniton, drum front brake and a Dell'Orto carb, as well as gear oil pumps from the start. Later Machismos got the 5 speed left foot shift box, disc front brake and 24mm CV carb, still with CDI until the E/S version which has TCI ignition, very similar if not identical to what was fitted to the Electra-X. The Thunderbird was, I think, the last of the pre-UCE 350s to be introduced with the five speed box from the start, "custom" styling, drum or disc front brake and in CDI K/S or TCI E/S versions mirroring the last of the 350 Machismos.
Just to confuse things the name Machismo was also applied to another home market 350 Bullet with the classic engine from the late '90s, which would indeed have had piston oil pumps. There was also the 500 and later 535 Lightning which was really just a classic Bullet with wonky styling.
For my sins, I am the owner of a rebuilt 350 K/S AVL crank (rebalanced for an Electra-X piston), a spare set of Electra-X crankcases, head, barrel and piston and the makings of a CDI ignition set-up. The rest is all on ebay. Hmm, where might this be heading? Scary. The Snidal workshop manual (expanded edtion) has all the wiring diagrams needed, so I shouldn't have to bother our Indian friends.
Regards,
A.