Norton Commando Alton Starter Motor Project - Part 6 of 6 - Electrical Assembly and First eStart!

[@brianroche4127]

Enjoying the Work - best part was deployment of the kick start into the bin!

[@johnmcclain3887]

I've worked in electronics for fifty years, and was given to understand, "electronic parts work until the smoke escapes" and then, absent smoke, they no longer are complete. Congratulations on "no smoke escaping", and keeping all your parts functional. lol I believe when you start it with the choke, you will always get a bit of smoke, cleaning the oil from the cylinder tops. Amazing! Thanks for showing us, didn't know one could do that.

[@rscaryrsc]

Ahh! So satisfying to press that button and the engine starts right up. Well done. 👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, now he has me thinking about my own bike Scott!

[@Marius_vanderLubbe]

What an excellent series. Thank you.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Many thanks!! Really appreciate your comment. That was such a fun project and the Alton starter is still perfect! Best wishes

[@soldtobediers]

9:05 - 9:22 Camera placement art, of a well mirrored reflective joy; capturing yet another successfully shared goal.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, I'm glad you noticed that ;) Best wishes, Mike

[@geoffhalsey2184]

Not a trivial job for the average home mechanic, but well worth the effort. Well done chaps.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks very much Geoff. Hope all is well. Best wishes, Mike

[@ulrich.hoffmann]

Excellent work! I like the camera shaking when you start up the Mighty Commando!

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, I even searched for a rubber mat to lay on top of the concrete slab but it shook right through it ;)

[@gregbrassington2120]

Great work ,your right leg will thank you👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Haha, thanks Greg! Cheers, Mike

[@larrys.3992]

Well done! Appears that a lot experience was in the garage.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, thank you Larry. It was all Geoff! I'm afraid the IQ went down a few notches when I arrived in the garage ;)

[@MrBeracah]

Very good Geoff and mike, good job.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Many thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. The electronic starter is still going really well. It's so good to see Geoff push the button and see the bike start immediately! Best wishes, Mike

[@Georgeolddrones]

Another excellent video thanks guys 👍👍George in England uk

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you very much George! Glad you enjoyed it. This was a really enjoyable project ;)

[@sf940477]

Excellent job guys 😀

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you Stephen! Glad you enjoyed it. Best wishes, Mike

[@erwinballings9155]

Great job gentleman and a beautiful bike.👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks very much Erwin. It was a really fun project. Cheers, Mike

[@johnb5519]

Great job there guy's.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot John. Glad you enjoyed it. Best wishes, Mike

[@jerrykap44]

Loved this Mike...It's the way to go for many of us.

[@TheMightyGarage]

I so agree Jerry. Looking back, it was a relatively easy installation and it makes the world of difference. I am very tempted myself, especially when I flood it at the club meetings ;) Best wishes, Mike

[@TheDavey333]

Well done, great to see the Norton spring into life 😀 Hope we see the Geoff and Mike show again 👍 Ah well, back to the Manxman, Have a great week 👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Haha, I may not give up my day job just yet ;) but it was so much fun. I really enjoyed this project. Yes, it's back to the Manxman and the backlog of videos! More to follow soon! Cheers, Mike

[@BrendanGM]

Cheers Mike! I saved the balance of the videos after the first one to watch all at once - very satisfying as always. Setting aside for a moment the fact that I wouldn't be able to do any of that myself, I would certainly have been stuck at the holes not lining up and would have been checking the Alton return policy LOL!

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe. Looking back, it wasn’t such a big job and I think Geoff made the right decision to slot out the holes. After that, everything was really smooth.

[@bobwampler3387]

That was an awesome series of videos to watch! You two make a great team👍👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Bob. It was a real pleasure!

[@54macdog]

Brilliant work.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed the vids. Best wishes, Mike

[@tonupturner]

Brilliant! Thoroughly enjoyed this series. What can we look forward to next?!

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you very much, Luke! It's back to the Manxman project now, although I have to give the Rapide a good service before the Spring arrives. Plus other events and rides in the meantime! Too much fun and too little time ;)

[@Wooley689]

Job well done fellows. I am excited for you. Perhaps making a nice little cover now to go over the kick start end to top it off.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Brilliant idea Wooley. I'm going to ask Geoff about that. We have an extremely talented machinist in our club. I will certainly ask him if he can come up with something cool! Cheers, Mike

[@nickohare7187]

Thanks guys for a very interesting series. Wanted to fit Alton to my 72 750 but unfortunately I have a belt primary drive so cant do it. Shame! will have to keep that right leg muscular.

[@ChrisH930S]

They referenced a method of doing so with a belt drive in the instructions.

[@nickohare7187]

@@ChrisH930S Hi chris thanks for the info. It was actually the UK distributor who told me when I asked him to fit the Alton for me. I have a Norvil belt fitted. maybe things have been updated since then. Trouble is I have exported the bike to France now and the Alton outfit is on the other side of France. Cheers Nick

[@elizabethpedro3103]

thanks Excellent job

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Mark. Best wishes, Mike

[@ianmangham4570]

Nice bike

[@rosco5003]

Greetings from the UK, brilliant job it works so well and I hope it performs better than the Commando MK3 electric starter set up in the longer term, makes me think that I should consider this for my 1974 MK2 A.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Rosco for your comment. Me too! I saw it last week or so but the video was unlisted and I couldn't respond until now. I don't know how you managed to get to the video that way ;) I think you found a loophole (undocumented feature!) in KZbin ;)

[@dwightneisler3844]

Very nice and I too hope it works better than the MK3. I had a 1975 MK3 Interstate and the electric would not turn the motor over by itself when the motor was cold. Had to use the kickstart, could use both at the same time to make it easier. Once warmed up it worked great

[@tadpoles10]

Well done guys, bought a smile to my face I can tell you. So satisfying to see the bike 'kick' into life on the battery, thanks for your time & patience bringing this to us. atvb t ..

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, my pleasure Terry. Glad you enjoyed it. We had a really enjoyable time. Best wishes, Mike

[@ChrisH930S]

Nice job, I did it on my 72 combat, just follow the instructions closely. Make sure your bike is running good, any backfires will quickly shred those little plastic plugs they give you, ask me how I know;( Plus, any starting issues will quickly run down the battery as well. Overall it’s a well made unit, fiment is spot on.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Chris. Great points! Cheers, Mike

[@TornadoCAN99]

Congrats of a good bit of work with such a satisfactory ending. Recalling the concern raised in one of the earlier segments on altering the accuracy of timing scale on outer cover, did you ever confirm scale using a dial gauge on the crank? Something most C owners need to do regardless as those scales are routinely inaccurate. I know mine reads 1-2 degs higher than reality so I adjust the timing to suit.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot. That's a great point. I don't think Geoff has gone back and checked as he didn't need to re-time, but I'm sure he will do next time he needs to reset the timing. Yes, definitely if the case had been left as it was, it would have significantly changed the timing marks if using the scale on the Alton outer case. Best wishes, Mike

[@gpo6581]

On my MK3, the primary calls for oil. Is ATF better?

[@TheMightyGarage]

I think it's a more of a personal preference. I use Mobil 1 fully synthetic in my Commando but I don't use ATF in the primary cases of my other bikes. Perhaps it's because they are not sealed so well, but I haven't had much success with my primary cases holding the ATF. Best wishes, Mike

[@marcostevens4086]

Great series. I am going to invest in one. Im just too light to kick my bike over

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Marco. They certainly are a tremendous addition. Best wishes, Mike

[@grantsnell6782]

She starts well, Congratulations! Looks like a bit of oil smoke on startup.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Grant. Best wishes, Mike

[@Stoneitful]

nice !

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Stoneitful]

@@TheMightyGarage wish I lived closer !

[@christidmas3995]

Also,do you find the clutch is any different with ATF?

[@christidmas3995]

Are they Mikuni carbs?Unrelated question but curious

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hi Chris, yes Geoff has converted to a single Mikuni. We look at it in the 2nd video in this series. Geoff also fitted a very cool handlebar conversion to replace the enricher at the carb. Cheers, Mike

[@christidmas3995]

@@TheMightyGarage Thanks for that.I will check it out.I remember those levers on Japanese two strokes back in the 70's.

[@phillipharding1538]

As much as I like Japanese bikes nothing sounds as good as a Brit

[@mickducati1947]

😜👍 good job lads whats next

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot Mick. It's back to the Manxman project and I have a backlog of a few videos to complete. I actually had a ton of technical / computer problems with these starter motor vids and it was such a relief to get them posted. Now I have some catch up to do on other videos ;)

[@gerrypowell2748]

Bril🥰

[@ThePianoCentre]

Great !! but think l would have left the kick start on ha ha .

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hehe, I will hold on to it for him :)

[@bakerrv]

I had the same thought David, leave it on, won't hurt and may come in handy some day.

[@ianaristotlethompson4186]

Making a mistake binning the kickstart. I have every faith in the Alton product but, a flat battery?

[@TheMightyGarage]

Will help him bump start it if needed :-) cheers Ian

[@ianmangham4570]

I'd have gone with a 3s lipo battery pack.

[@vincentdubois3291]

Bad idea to throw the kickstarter pedal in the trash bin .He should keep it on the bike. It sure will be useful when the starter motor will fail or in case of a dead battery !

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hi Vincent, I know what you mean but the main reason that Geoff installed the starter was to be able to get rid of the kickstarter. We talk about it in the first video. He will bump start the bike if the eStart or battery isn't working. Cheers, Mike

[@mitchburk5112]

If he has electronic ignition installed he won't be able to start it with less than 12 volts in the battery anyway.

[@pdm2201]

The kick start lever looks good in its place. It might be needed some day…

[@jimh.5286]

Well, I patiently watched this entire video expecting to see some smoke, but NOOOO.....absolutely NO electrical smoke at all, just a little bit of pathetic exhaust smoke. If I had paid anything for this video, I'd want my money back.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Haha. So sorry to disappoint you with no smoke or flames, Jim. Yes, it was all very sad in that respect 😉👍👍