Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Norton bulletin board cNw e-start experience

Primary chain needs replacing, so started looking at belt drives, which took me to cNw where the belt drive is contained within the e-start assembly.

Hmm.
Pricey, but what's a knee worth, right?
Opinions/experiences?

that is actually a very rational comparison.

Yes, it's un-natural for me, but I have to get it by the wife.

My MKIII is the hardest kicking bike I've ever had in my life. I wouldn't be using one without an assist!

Lannis

Lannis, I have to agree: Commandos are the only bikes I've not been able to kickstart by just straddling the bike while it's sitting on the ground. That could be why so many people start them on either the center stand or side stand ... with understandable results.
.. Gregg

A sure sign yer Amals are all out of tune !

My 850 Mk2, all tuned up practically started its self - a half prod and it was running.
Choking it with the chokes and choke lever was ESSENTIAL from cold, and a good tickle.

I bought a new pair of Amals to achieve this - the old worn relics it came with just couldn't reliably start.
After about 6 or 7 cleans, eventually they were nearly as good as the new ones - it helps being able to compare them.
The passages seem to get white corrosion in them (moisture ?) and nearly impossible to remove.

And this makes all the difference ...
If the idle passages are blocked, you are trying to start it on the needle jets.
This gives somewhat hairy starting and running, to say the least ...
And requires a much bigger kick to get enough mixture flowing to give it something to start on. ?

P.S. A survey in an old british bike magazine concluded that ~75% of twin carb bikes coming into a workshop
somewhere were not well synchronized either. Small wonder that twin carbs had bad press ??

Hi Hugh,
My Mk 11A has always been a reliable starter - with Trispark ignition and a pair of AMAL Premiers, it only needs one or two prods. However, on the rare occasion I have stalled the bike in heavy traffic (it only seems to happen in busy traffic with trucks bearing down on you) kickstarting it has been a stressful experience. Decided I will have this bike as long as I can so invested in CNW's electric starter - and have thanked the gods ever since. It is a beautifully made kit that justifies its eye-watering price. Now a single brief prod on the starter button fires it up immediately.
Paul

my norton is a hard starter. not that it doesnt start and run immediately, but that the force to make it turn over is greater than anything else i have.

its a one or two-kick start, even after sitting forever in a cold shop, and i mean months. i attribute the shorai battery for that. but its hard to physically push that lever over.

dunno what the compression ratio is. the last guy took out the suicide side-cut pistons (its a 1970) and put in different ones, but i dont know what they were.

Mine is a 2 kick starter, but the kicks need to be strong as the gearing kickstart to crank is tall.

First kick cold.
1 or 2 warm.

Prepping for e-start install.
Might as well refresh any exposed seals etc while I'm in there.
Have new 04-0132 seal (a metal faced one) and 04-0131 spacer.

I'm working on the assumption these 2 can be pried or picked from the bore without disturbing the sleeve gear.

Stop me before I get in there with the ice pick.

Yes.

Good-o. I shall press on.
Thanks L.A.B.

If the seal does not come out with prying then screw in some self tappers and pull with pliers.

So seal first?
My initial thought was making a couple of short ended hooks and sliding them up the spline grooves at 12 and 6 then pull.
Get the spacer clear then seal should be simpler?

I just pulled out the crankshaft seal on my 73 850 in prep for my cNw estart installation, I used the Lisle 583430 shaft type seal puller. for $30 is was a very useful purchase.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../lisle-shaft-type-seal-puller/lis0/58430

Spacer first I would have said as it should just slide out.

Bent some picture hangers Fabricated 2 special tools to slide up the grooves and pulled out the spacer.
Then a couple hook picks behind the seal and Bob's yer Uncle.

Am I doing a King Canute impression thinking I can effectively seal the output side of the gearbox?

There was some yellow crud adhered to the sleeve shaft threads, some kind of plumbers putty thread locker I think, not a sealant.

As mentioned previously, I have a new metal faced 04-0132 sleeve gear oil seal and spacer.

The use of an O-ring on the main shaft between the clutch washer and gear face was mentioned:
Sleeve gear O-ring

Is a radius of RTV around the bore that the 04-0132 fits into a waste of time?
From what I gather the most likely cause is weeping past the sleeve/main bushing.

Thanks for that, worked a treat.

Bruno's barrels get hosed prior to head removal.
Covers were all off so borrowed the wife's shower cap.

She wasn't home, I take it?