Alton Electric Starter - Share Your Experience

madass140 · May 18, 2015

Alton/RGM, no doubt fitting the Alton with chain primary would have less dramas, anyway as i go
first problem. and not Altons, the big ground wire on the starter mount fouled on my left side tranny adjuster, no big deal to fix
second problem and is Altons, the rotor nut internal thread is not on the same axis as the rest of the nut as seen in the 2 pics. no big deal to fix
third problem not Altons, the front pulley fouls on the inner primary. seen pictured where I had to machine

Alton Electric Starter - Share Your Experience

toppy · May 19, 2015

Madass i had the same problem with the RGM belt drive as you are finding but not with the crank nut.
I did read somewhere that 30mm was the largest belt that would fit so i did expect issues but fitted it as i like the speed of RGM delivery an their customer service etc.

Old Scratcher · May 19, 2015

Diver3284 said:
Old Scratcher said:

I see NorComCycles are no longer advertising the Alton kit on their website. I'd be interested to hear why they've dropped it, after such a glowing recommendation here.

Click to expand...

I have Lyell's "Alton Demonstrator" bike now. It is a 1974 850 which was brought into AUS from the USA about 4 years ago. When he sold it to me he said that he was getting out of the Alton business because of their lack of consistency in supply. Not quite as bad as Mr.Singh, but he led me to believe that he was uncomfortable waiting months for parts to be delivered to his antipodean customers.

My experience with the bike has not been trouble free. The Alton kit was an early one that had been installed by the PO, whether in the USA or AUS is unclear. Lyell re-installed it after rebuilding the engine, and it worked fine for the first few months. Then the "double gear" failed. This device has a gear at one end of a 2 inch shaft and a very small sprocket at the other, and transfers the drive from the starter motor to the chain which drives the sprag clutch attached to the crank end. To provide some flexibility or cushioning beween crank and starter motor, the double gear has resin filler between the gear that engages the starter and the shaft that transfers the motion to the sprocket. This is the weak point in the design.

I was told by Lyell that he had installed an upgraded 'mark3' version of the gear when he built up the system. Beverley at Alton was very sympathetic [via email] and assured me that they would supply a newer version of the gear [ 'mark8'? ] as a warranty item without cost, other than postage. This turned out to be about A$60. There was some delay due to my own stupidiity, but the new gear was installed by Charlie Osterfield in early April.

All worked well until last Saturday, when the gear failed again; I haven't opened up the primary yet but the graunch is the same, and the starter doesn't move the crank. Kick starting is still fine. I'm waiting to hear back from Beverley.

I'm not sure how to go with this. Junking the whole system would mean a new inner primary and charging system, as the Alton stator/sprag clutch includes an uprated charging system which is incompatible with the original inner case. I could then switch to a belt very simply. Fixing the starter and hoping it works is the easiest option but I'm not sure how I'll cope with the uncertainty of waiting for it to fail again.

I realise these are very first world problems but it is a PITA. Maybe my wife was right and I should have bought a shiny new BMW R9t. :?

Thanks for the info. It looks very relevant to me, & I think I still want one. Does anybody know who the cheapest Australian supplier is, & how much they're charging?

ntst8 · May 19, 2015

I don't think there is a reseller downunder at present, at least none listed on the Alton website.
http://www.alton-france.com/distributors.html
Lyell was $2800Aus when i least saw a price from him, not sure how the exchange rate will have affected that in the meantime.

madass140 · May 19, 2015

I bought mine from Andover a few months ago, one reason, they had stock. other dealers didnt. that may have changed now. I think their price was the best also.

1up3down · May 19, 2015

I installed my Alton this past September, got it through Classic Bike Experience.

I have a Norvil 30mm belt primary, the Alton installation went smoothly, I now have over 400 perfect starts with it, love it!

Anglophile · May 20, 2015

FWIW, my Alton works just fine. Going on two years of commuting.

Old Scratcher · May 20, 2015

I want one. it's just Australia's horrific exchange rate that's stopping me. 2 years ago I could have landed a kit for a tad over $2K (AUD). Today it's be closer to $3K! That's a hell of a premium to give to the international money market

madass140 · May 20, 2015

well I paid around US$2500 from Andover, Had they shipped it straight to me in the Philippines it would of end up costing me over $4000. I had it shipped to one of the members here who forwarded on to me , about $2900 in the end, I'm happy with that.

worntorn · May 20, 2015

How much weight does this system add to the bike?

madass140 · May 20, 2015

well if you run a belt drive , I would say you dont gain any weight

worntorn · May 20, 2015

How about with standard primary? I'm curious if they found a lighter way than the MK3 setup. I believe the MK3 starter and drive gears are about 20-25 lbs.

Glen

madass140 · May 20, 2015

back to RGM fitment with Alton. this was the easiest way to fit it all together and still have correct starter chain alignment ( remember earlier I still had to machine the cover for pulley clearance)
(1)Bore the pulley guide plate so it clears the Alton spacer
(2) Attach the pully guide plate to the pulley with screws
(3) Use the Alton spacer unmodified
The Alton spacer is sandwiched between the pulley and starter/alternator hub
Perfect alignment.

madass140 · Jun 11, 2015

Has anyone noticed on page 11 step 27A (battery and Relay connection) that the pic and the diagram below it have the 2 smaller wires on the relay arse about? mine is like the pic but the diagram shows it different, which is the correct way?
I may ask Bev from Alton but thought I may get faster info here. + ground

madass140 · Jun 11, 2015

a fast reply from Bev (Alton)
"Hello Don,

I see why you are asking this question.

In fact it doesn’t matter. The relay can work either way. Maybe we should have stated this in the instructions…sorry

jchill · Jun 26, 2015

THe INOA newsletter (circa 2014) had a great article on this from a member in Wisconsin who installed it with success
I had chance to discus with him in person as well

You should be able to contact him now that he has 2 years of riding with it

ntst8 · Jun 26, 2015

I see on the Alton website that they have revised the installation manual.
Now has instructions for wiring up either +ve or -ve earth and makes much more song and dance about torque/locktight on the rotor nut.
As one who had the rotor/nut come loose my suggestion is that it would be a good precaution to retorque the nut after a few runs just in case.
A great system once that hiccup was sorted.

ntst8 · Jun 27, 2015

300 km of riding, 20 or 30 starts including on the work bench.
Not a huge movement but worth the effort to retorque it seems to me - movement between the upper black mark and the red.

pdl999 · Jun 28, 2015

They've done a good job of re-writing the manual to help fitters get it right first time. I was an early buyer and my crankshaft nut came loose, causing the rotor key to shear. I now make sure it is torqued fully and secured with loctite. Been OK since. The extra words about the rotor being an easy sliding fit are also very important. If the rotor and woodruff key are tight, then it can distort the rotor which causes the sprag to fail with dire consequences for the entire system.

andychain · Aug 10, 2015

ntst8

It was interesting to a big pin chain on the starter and its looks like a big pin duplex on the primary.

What is your experience with these chains as Alton will not buy them.

Andy

Alton Electric Starter - Share Your Experience

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