ET: Engine (Twin) Godet electric starter

greg brillus

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Has anyone here ever actually worked on one of these bikes.........particularly the later ones that use the Harley sportster starter motor. I'm interested in any starter/engine issues..............Cheers.
 

bmetcalf

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My 1200cc, 10:1 Buell starter motor seems to struggle unless the battery is well charged. Should be okay with most Vin motors.
 

Robert Watson

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In 2010 Patrick had Fritz's sidecar outfit with one of (or the) first Harley starters in the modified cases at one of the legs of the EU rallies. In the parking lot he started it about 8 or 10 times in a row. Cranked it just a well on the last as it did on the first.
 

greg brillus

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Hi there Bruce........does your engine have any form of decompressor built into it at all..........?.........Cheers..... Greg.
 

greg brillus

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Thanks Bruce........The one I have here is a 2015 Godet Egli 1330 magnesium engine, with 400 km's from new. It has smashed the starter ring gear twice.......The first time was when the owner first got the bike, the second has happened to me the other day........There are a few issues and some are a bit beyond belief........I asked the young parts salesman at our local Harley dealer, how do any of the larger Harley's get on if their decompressors don't work on start up.........He smiled and said, "Oh it just smashes the starter to bits" To add to this comment, I have also discussed this with Ken Horner who has a business that specialize in making starter motors for heavy equipment.........He had actually done the same set up to a 1600 cc Vincent based engine with a reworked Harley type starter, presumably for a possible road bike........He said the starter could barely crank the engine properly, and if the throttle was opened the smallest amount, it was all over. My advice to him was to incorporate some form of decompressor, via a simple solenoid valve screwed into a second spark plug hole.........Or like Terry did on the later versions of his top end kits.......A small port right in the middle of the head between the valve seats........ I might just be pulling the heads off this Egli ...........
 

litnman

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S&S solved the problem for the big Harley motor with their easy start cams.
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BigEd

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I guess that quite a few modern bikes may have some kind of automatic de-compressor. My newest bike is a Yamaha MT07. This is a 700 twin. It looks like a parallel twin but the crank is 90º. It has some kind of cam arrangement to automatically de-compress on startup. This allows a smaller starter motor and smaller battery to be fitted.
 

greg brillus

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Even the new and very popular KTM 390 Duke and the RC 390 all have a centrifugal device on the exhaust cam to open one valve a few thou on start up.......My dilemma is I have a customer who is sh-t scared of his newish 1330 Egli as it sounds like it tries to self destruct on start up.......I have since found another bike here in Australia that has suffered a major failure to the starter ring gear/chain wheel, and only after about 2500 Km's........Of course with a standard Vincent we are all on our own, but these are new built bikes that have had upgrades to this system, but to me they still have a long way to go........Is it safe for me to continue this conversation on here or am I likely to receive threatening emails from somewhere in Europe........
 
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