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1,502 Posts
looking for a roller starter
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7,140 Posts
I may be looking for one also. My hand held after hours of making it and modifying it it just won't even budge my motor even though it is quite easy to turn with a ratchet wrench.
The small battery won't put enough torque to it so I modified it to accept a big 750cca car battery and it still won't turn it over. The original starter in it turned clockwise but I needed it to turn CC. So I got a Dodge started that turn the correct direction.
Once I find a way to turn this thing over I think I am only an hour or 2 from making real noise and crying a lot.
The small battery won't put enough torque to it so I modified it to accept a big 750cca car battery and it still won't turn it over. The original starter in it turned clockwise but I needed it to turn CC. So I got a Dodge started that turn the correct direction.
Once I find a way to turn this thing over I think I am only an hour or 2 from making real noise and crying a lot.
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7,140 Posts
Went to the site and had to laugh when I saw the pic of the girl and the 2 starters. Caption on the girl says "Girl not for sale" , I wonder if I could rent her for a few hours.
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7,140 Posts
What kind of money are they getting for one with or without starters? Starters can be pricey if you get a good one (or 2). My motor is 1327cc and 11:1 cr.
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7,140 Posts
Thought you said O'Reilly's? I worked for O'Reillys until 2 weeks ago and I don't think a starter for anything is under $100 anymore, starters and batteries have really gone up in the last couple of years. So basically that roller is $1k. Bit more than I want to spend. I'm looking at the pics and seeing how to build my own. Have you seen the ones with the long rollers that one end goes under your car/truck wheel to turn it? Obviously doesn't work on a post rear end.
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2,313 Posts
There's a guy on ebay that sells plans on how to make one. Maybe that's an option.Went to the site and had to laugh when I saw the pic of the girl and the 2 starters. Caption on the girl says "Girl not for sale" , I wonder if I could rent her for a few hours.
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7,140 Posts
Mine always started first kick, would everytime if you knew how to start one. When we were finished at the car wash I would go sit on the curb. My brother would ask me what I was doing. I said I'm taking a rest while you try and start your wet Triumph. I'd usually have a 5-10 minute break, then I would kick mine once and be on my way.
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1,512 Posts
Ive got a 5.5 hp Honda Engine from a water pump, plus an unused automatic clutch from a go-kart laying around, I fancy making one, but just dont have the time I might get Junior to make one in his school holidays as a project.
Firstly what are you trying to start?
Does it need to be mobile i.e. taken to a circuit?
Finally is it to be used regularly?
The above questions are very relevant as starters vary hugely. Most are designed to spin up the rear wheel, dump the clutch and use the inertia of the rear wheel to bump the motor into life. But if you are trying to start fresh engines with high compression you will need something very different.
Battery starters are good but design is everything, they can be single driven roller or twin driven rollers, rollers can be parallel, concave/conical, similar height or have a higher rear roller. They can be 12v, 24V or mains supply.
Petrol Starters that drive a wheel that you put to your rear wheel are good but again vary in quality and require maintenance, fresh fuel, oil changes, the drive tyre will get hot and hard and needs to be changed occasionally.
Then there's the good old fashioned type, twin rollers driven by a car drive wheel.
I have used all three types, use my starters regularly so they must be reliable and durable.
if you can tell me the intended use I can hopefully advise what will work.
Lots of manufactures claim their starter will get anything started. From experience that's pure BS.
Go for something like the "Startingblock" design with a deep cycle battery in 12v, there are a few similar starters out there Alf Mossel Racing makes similar. These starters have a raised rear roller, both rollers are driven and conical to keep the bike central. Go for the most powerful one you can find within your budget. Have a real close look at the starter for quality as most are pure rubbish and tear themselves apart very quickly. Most use car starter motors so are high torque short period usage so be careful not to kill the motor in frustration if you bike develops a problem, if you do put the starter drive motors under severe load the heavy cables will heat and burn their insulation I kid you not. Don't get a belt drive type unless you want to take a box of spare belts with you to every circuit. The chain drive type are better but avoid those that have the drive sprocket welded to the motor shaft which means you'll have to go back to the maker if the motor goes rather than the local motor spares shop.
Another possibly is a crank starter but these only work if your bike had a starting circuit that will result in fast idle, most race bikes especially strokes don't idle at all.
And never loan it to anyone; I have had 3 starters killed on circuit by people who don't understand how they are meant to work rather than spinning the wheel up and dumping the clutch they drive their rear wheel and therefore the engine like the starter is a rolling road, they ether melt the power cables, kill the drive motors or shred the drive mech.
My race circuit starter is 24V (similar to the picture below which is 12v), twin motor, twin rollers and both rollers drive. It in steel and weights a tonne but can start anything from 13:1 500cc British singles to big modern Ducatis to Jap multis both 4 and 2 stroke. I also have a petrol starter for lighter work and engines that are healthy and run in.
Solo Starter
It also depends where you live as the starters mentioned are made in the UK.
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1,685 Posts
Same as mine, but with the added $200+ dolly feature.
Oops, it has one feature I don't care for - the "back up bar". Which means you must back into it, cant roll right on straight away.
If you are starting a big race Ducati or Hi comp Harley or similar the back bar stop the starter from being shot forward under the bike or the bike being thrown backwards, 24v and two motors is a potent thing. For smaller stuff like British twins its not needed. You could always take it off!
This starter will rip your tyres to shreds too if you use it wrongly.
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7,140 Posts
When I started my build I was a young 23 year old street racer so this build was suppose to be a street legal full race bike at the time. So in consideration of weight EVERYTHING that didn't have to be on the bike wasn't on the bike. This included elimination of the weight of any electric or kick start parts and would be a bump start only bike. Some of you know the story of this bike how for 35 years I thought this motor was only 1032cc, 10:1cr. After a tear down of the motor after 35 years after never having been fired I realized it was actually 1327cc at 11:1cr and might not be the easiest bike to bump start for a 60 year old guy (not my mind, but the body is showing wear) in 95* Georgia. So I looked into a hand held starter because the spud for the engine was available for a very low price. I even got Alan Sputhe who I bought my heads from to send me a set of pressure relief valves to put in the heads to ease starting. But the mechanic who did the reassembly didn't have the confidence to do them so I'm glad he passed on the job. But now I don't want to tear the top end down again until this freaking thing runs and I put a season on or how ever much time it takes for me to determine it needs to be done. In the mean time I need something to turn the motor over enough to fire it up before a few other things on the bike can be completed.Then I will need something that can be used at the starting line for LSR runs and trackside at RR tracks. and ready for use for DD. I just don't know how hard bump starting will be when I leave my destination without a starter. The hand held was portable enough to have fit in a backpack if need be with the motorcycle battery driving it, but that battery isn't enough torque to turn my motor or I have the wrong starter for this app. So thats why I need something like this.
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