My 1942 16h arrived from the Netherlands this week. The import process was quite and experience, I can post about it if anyone is interested, the important part is I have a title, plates and bike.

Took it for it's first ride away from home yesterday, LOVE THE BIKE. The controls took some getting used to.

I have TWO problems that I need to solve.

1. Dynamo not producing power, so I am sending it off to Eugene.

2. On the second half of the way back it started having shifting problems. Until then it shifted great. It is now hard to get it through all of the gears without missing one or landing in false neutrals.

Any suggestions on what to do?

Does anyone know of anyone that rebuilds (or sells) the upright "Dolls Head" gearboxes?????

I'm glad you are enjoying and pleased with your 16H, they are great fun

Before you start stripping your gearbox apart, check there is oil in it, check your clutch isn't dragging and check your primary chain isn't too tight. All these things will make it difficult to change gear.

Thank you for the reply!

I checked the oil, good there.

I doubt the primary chain would have gotten tight after riding for an hour and a half?

The clutch cable is poor though and I think it could have slipped with use. I will check that soon. Thanks!

Thank you John!

It has plenty of oil, though I am going to change the oil to just to make sure it has yellow-metal safe oil in it.

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It is worth double checking that the primary chain isn't too tight, these gearboxes are renowned for not tightening up properly on the frame and can easily crack when done up too tight. When we were in France one year a Dutch lad on an M21 broke down as he couldn't change gear. We had been on a ride out and it was slowly getting worse until the gear lever was too stiff to move. After lots of waiting around and taking gearbox casings off etc, it was found that the primary chain was too tight and seemed to have got worse over the day. When it was slackened off, the gearbox worked perfectly. Just a thought

Gents,

A bit late due to holidays but:
Do not forget to mention the possibility of a loosening clutch centre nut!
These tend to come loose sometimes leading to difficulty in changeing gears.

Cheers,

Rob

Did Timothy sort out his gearbox?
I only ask because my change was getting progressively worse. I had bleak thoughts. It turned out to be a loose nut on the rocker shaft in the doll's head. Now the change is very good.