CNW to the rescue

Ian James

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A little over a year ago I purchased a new in box CNW E start from a fellow owners club member here in Australia. I fitted it following the clear instructions and it worked so well I jettisoned the kick start .
Well over time and quiet a good number of starts the sprag drive started to slip more and more .
I contacted Matt and explained everything to him and even though I had not purchased the kit from him he was happy to stand by his product. After learning the serial number he told me that I have an early model that did suffer from this problem and that he would post the upgrade to me.
This he did,again with clear fitting instructions. Job complete in an hour. Needless to say it works perfectly.
Thank you Matt
 
Yeah, well, CNW, another fly-by-night company with no track record....right....:)
 
Matt is always a pleasure to deal with.All of his products he sells are first class and fit right out of the box.Answers all my questions in a timely manner. I would recommend him to anyone without any hesitation!
Mike
 
Now, if he'd just develop an electric start kit for featherbed twins I'd be a very happy man!
Easy done - just fit the commando primary from Matt
Needs a small bit of machining and drilling (EDIT & welding) to make the commando primary fit the featherbed - and the gearbox needs to come forward a tad.
Front Primary.jpg
6. 4 Jan 2013 - small.JPG
 
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Recently I ordered a chainguard from CNW and it solved the problem of the chain hitting the guard with room to spare. I'm running the stock 530 chain so in the future I could go the 520 o-ring route with no problem. Expensive but an excellent solution to the problem.
 
Easy done - just fit the commando primary from Matt
Needs a small bit of machining and drilling to make the commando primary fit the featherbed - and the gearbox needs to come forward a tad.
View attachment 102257View attachment 102258
I think the chain case would be the easy part - I wonder how it'd all fit (the starter etc) with the vertical engine. I'm building a couple of featherbed twins at the moment, so Ill have to do some thinking/measuring.
 
I think the chain case would be the easy part - I wonder how it'd all fit (the starter etc) with the vertical engine. I'm building a couple of featherbed twins at the moment, so Ill have to do some thinking/measuring.
I don't think being vertical changes anything of importance.
I have a cNw e-start on my commando - looking at it - only means slightly different point of engagement of the e-start gears.
Putting the commando primary on a featherbed (single or twin) still leaves all the empty space that exists on a commando.
The only real downside I can see is there is no space for the featherbed centre-stand which has its pivot between the engine and gearbox - there's no room for the spring to go "over-centre"
 
I have not spoken to Matt on this (@cNw ) but some minor changes in cnc programming would give an inner chain case that would slip onto a featherbed single or twin. Maybe it would be simpler for the buyer to drill/countersink the three fixing holes.
All Matt would need would be the spigot diameter of the LH crankcase - just measured my 650ss - 84.1mm.
I know it is different on the single from experience - not sure about the twin - may even only require drilling the 3 holes at a different position?
Expand the market Matt?
Cheers & Merry Christmas!
 
W-A-A-A-A! I want to keep my magneto! And have ES.

Slick
But you're right - the cNw e-start would leave no room for a featherbed magneto - points would fit though - I have Pazon points replacement on the single and it will fit (very tight though!)
 
My Mercury runs the points behind the cylinder and I had thought that a crank mounted electronic ignition would be worth looking at, as removing the points housing would clear that whole area. I'm sure Steve at Trispark would be able to come up with something.
You're got the perfect range of bikes to sit down with a beer and work out what hurdles there might be. Some other points I wonder about: what about the length of the belt, given the gearbox is further back? With a vertical cylinder would the carb/carbs foul the starter? Is it possible to relocate the main power lead into the starter motor as it points forward and looks as though it would foul a vertical engine? Lastly, what about clearance to the oil tank and battery box?
 
I've got a Commando distributor with a boyer on my Atlas and it doesn't take up much space but I don't know if it would interfere with a starter. I wonder if an adapter that looks like a side point setup but shorter than the Commando distributor could be made. I have an extra Commando distributor body, maybe I'll dig it out of the shed and see if a shallower set up would be possible. An estart with a diaphragm clutch and a belt drive on the Atlas would sure be nice but you may also need to use the Commando rear hub so you have a cush drive,
 
Early Commandos didn't have the rear Cush drive and they seem to survive without it. I think if I bit the bullet and bought a CNW system to try and fit to my Mercury I'd also look at whether it would be possible to make a pressed steel outer cover (as per the original Mercury) and paint or powdercoat the inner alloy cover black. Given the belt drive runs dry the cover only needs to be water proof, rather than oil tight (which the pressed tin one has always struggled with anyway. The more I think about the more appealing the idea is. If I try it and it all turns to mud I can always fit the e-start kit to my "S". If only I'd thought of this back when the Aussie $ was buying US$1.08, rather than the 65 cents it's worth nowadays!
 
Early Commandos didn't have the rear Cush drive and they seem to survive without it. I think if I bit the bullet and bought a CNW system to try and fit to my Mercury I'd also look at whether it would be possible to make a pressed steel outer cover (as per the original Mercury) and paint or powdercoat the inner alloy cover black. Given the belt drive runs dry the cover only needs to be water proof, rather than oil tight (which the pressed tin one has always struggled with anyway. The more I think about the more appealing the idea is. If I try it and it all turns to mud I can always fit the e-start kit to my "S". If only I'd thought of this back when the Aussie $ was buying US$1.08, rather than the 65 cents it's worth nowadays!
CNW offers black anodized
 
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