Wow, I got the old girl running last week, but kicking it over whilst laid on the tank holding the clip-on bars is going to take some getting used to, as it always had 18" apehangers on 6" risers! Still a lot to do to get it right, mainly carburation. The electronic ignition I got from Moen at Indian Parts Europe is amazing, what a spark (I'm using a single coil off a Yamaha 750 triple).
It's funny how you think you've got everything how you want it, you lay in bed not counting sheep, but going through the bike from end to end wondering what you could have done better. This idea came to me about 3am when I was mentally going through the parts under the bench in my shed.
When I did the cable-hand operated clutch, it worked great, but at the back of my mind I could see the cable breaking or something going wrong at Bonnevelle, so I decided to go hydraulic, using only parts I'd stashed away incase they came in handy one day, but I would have to make my own slave cylinder. I had a bike clutch master cylinder under the bench, and also a brake master cylinder off one of those Piaggio scooter thingys (dunno why I kept that, but I do now.)
With hydraulics, the amount of travel on the slave cylinder is dependant on the bore of the master cylinder. The master was 14mm, so I somehow worked it out that the slave bore ought to be @12mm. Amazingly, the Piaggio one was 12mm, so it was stripped and relieved of its piston & seals. Had to do a bit of machining on the piston to get more travel.
Big problem 1. How do I bore out a PERFECT 12mm hole when I have no reamer? Solution: Sharpen my only 12mm drill to perfection, put the ally bar in the lathe, pilot-drill to 11mm, then wind the 12mm drill in so slowly I nearly fell asleep doing it (60mm of boring boring). Result? Abso-bloody-lutely perfect!
Bid problem 2. OK, the piston moves 15mm but I want the clutch lever to move at least 30mm or more. Solution....A bell-crank lever, with the top pushrod adjustable with a ratio of either 2:1 or 2.5:1. Both worked nicely, but I plumped for 2.5:1, as (like my Mrs says) length matters.
This whole setup was made from stuff laying in the workshop. If the "Earl's" hose had been 1" shorter, it wouldn't have fit! Total cost £0. Time spent making it, 12 hours without a break.
Does it work? Better than I could ever imagine. Light lever & super-smooth.
Last night I forced the other half into the workshop, I wanted to show her how nice my super-trick digital speedo looked. "Wow" she said, as it zoomed through the numbers. "Do you like that?" I asked. "Yes, but I said wow because the bloody thing started first kick". I like my missus, and I LOVE my Indian.