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[Adrian]

Good point Norm, a friend was actually selling this one quite cheaply. I notice that Electras can sit around for ages on ebay over here, even at the £1,600 mark. A few canny enthusiasts will know when to get hold of one (or two!) and sort out their long-term spares needs.



Meanwhile this makes a lot of sense as a learner bike for my wife while she's actually building her Electra-oid, especially as there's a newly-rebuilt spare crank lurking in the garage in case the big-end on this one goes south. Must sort out a sump-magnet and also fit a decomp valve to the head, as I'm assured the e/s works on this one (there's something in the paperwork about a replacement sprag clutch having been fitted). Mind you, if this one turns out to be a keeper we could have problems...



A.



PS: any news on those postage costs?

[Adrian]

Sorry, Wheaters, our posts crossed.



The four and five speed gearboxes and engines will swap over happily IF the 5 speeder is converted to right-foot shift. If you want to fit an iron barrel engine into an Electra-X frame and keep the left-foot shift, you'll need the engine from a Sixty-5 which has a tunnel cast into the oil tank to let the gear change shaft pass through. You'd also need the Sixty-5's chaincases as those on the Electra-X are designed to take a totally different type of alternator. It might be easier just to BUY a complete Sixty-5!



Interchangeability is pretty good with the different engines and gearboxes, even between Redditch and Indian frames if you keep everything right-foot shift. There are a few Indian Bullet-framed specials out there with Redditch twin engines fitted. One of my projects is a '61 Redditch Bullet with an Electra-X engine and gearbox.



A.

[Wheaters]

Adrian, thanks for the info. So it might be easier/cheaper to keep the existing (nicely sorted) bike and buy a used, 5 speed, right foot gearbox for it.

[Norm]

I ran my Electra for a few years with a cast iron in it, but I had already converted the box to right shift previously. The other thing is I had to play with was the electrics because the different alternator required a different rec/reg setup, can't remember exactly what I did as it was many years ago. The motor fit was straight forward though because I had no starter to worry about and right shift conversion was already done

[Norm]

Sorry Adrian, I haven't got around to getting to the Post Office to check on the postage costs, I will try in the next few days, I will have to package them up carefully

[Adrian]

Norm,



thanks, just a rough idea, I don't mind paying a few AUS cents more if the package uses extra sealing tape!



Wheaters,



The Electra-X has a three phase alternator, so probably the easiest rather than the cheapest solution would be to fit a Lucas three phase alternator (I'd suggest the lower output version) on the iron-barrel engine crankshaft and wire it into the Electra-X reg/rectifier. Also the ignition is different, you'd have to rewire that for the points and traditional 12V coil, or whatever other electronic ignition you might be using in the points housing. The Electra has TCI ignition triggered by a magnet on the alternator rotor.



Against all that, the appeal of a simple gearbox swap (native shift pattern on the 5 speeder is 1 down, 4 up, our hosts have a 1 up, 4 down version for a few £££ extra) might be overwhelming.



A.

[Wheaters]

Adrian, my iron barrel 350 is an Indian home market Bullet Electra. It doesn't have any provision for a distributor (not even any timing gears in the case). The ignition runs on the left hand end of the crankshaft. That might make things less complicated in the electrical department if I wanted to put that engine in a more recent frame but a gearbox change to the r/h 5 speeder sounds like the way to go, I reckon.

I do actually prefer a one down, four up change pattern because the bikes I learned to ride on were like that (as does my Honda CB750 and my AJS Stormer). The RE is actually only the second bike I've ridden in 50 years of motorcycling with what to me is an "upside down" gearchange. I have only done about 3,500 miles on this bike and I occasionally have accidentally gone down a gear when I meant to change up...thankfully when pottering about at low speed.

[Wheaters]

Adrian, my bike is the same as this one:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Royal-Enfiel ... 4206294132

[Adrian]

Sorry, I tend to forget who rides what. That was a model which should have been an official import, though quite a few seem to have made their way into the UK anyway. The crank end and alternator/TCI is very similar to the Electra-X but without the electric start. When the sprag clutch on mine died I dumped the electric start set-up and fitted the inner chaincase from a 350 Electra. If you ever need to do an electrical upgrade on yours, the alternator off the Indian UCE 350 Electra (carb model) might be a good place to start.



Meanwhile, just stick the right-foot shifting 5 speed box with 1 down and 4 up pattern in there and enjoy the improvement. My riding history is littered with unit construction BSAs, plus a 125 Honda and a Triumph, all up-for-up and down-for-down, so that arrangement is perfect for me.



A.

[Norm]

Looks like my mates has chucked a wobbley, it had the bottom end replaced but something has gone west with it again. I haven't heard it yet but a mechanic advised him not to ride it any further and to get it towed