My MK3 Estart has been non functioning for several years now. It sort of worked when I bought the bike 14 years ago, but the sprag slipped a lot. I fitted a new $150 sprag from Norvil and that self destructed after a couple of dozen starts.
So it's been kickstart only since then, but it is an easy starter( Early Boyer)
As others have noted, the early Boyer and the Estart are a bad mix.
Unless the battery is at tip top voltage, the starter drags the Voltage down too low for the Boyer to function properly. Kickbacks occur and the sprag can break.
Or as mine generally did on cold start, it whirled over with gusto but only fired when the starter button was released.
One cure for this would be to fit a new ignition which will work at a lower voltage, or to fit the original points back in the bike.
Other than the Estart problem , I do like the old Boyer, can't fault it and it is proven.
My intention was to redo the starter drive with the new high grade CNW Mk3 drive parts when those came available and that might still happen. At the moment tho, the CNW parts are not available and it seemed like time to get this starter working again.
I have two modern bikes which have EI that is supposed to be able to function
at lower voltage. The Triumph Daytona can be a bit of a bear to cold start after sitting for awhile, even with a fully topped battery. I always assumed that this was just a case of needing to roll over a fair bit to get fuel into the dry cylinders. One day, quite by accident, I cold started the bike with the big battery charger still attached to the battery. The bike hadn't been started in months but it started instantly, as though I had just shut off the warm engine and then touched the button.
That had me thinking about the Commando Estart.
So this was the plan- fit a tiny second 12 volt battery on the bike somewhere and switch the ignition circuit through a separate direct fed, on off on, double pole double throw toggle switch in a hidden location.
In forward position the ignition circuit is fed by the isolated small battery and gets full voltage , the starter motor rolling over has no effect on it. In rear position the main battery supplies power to the ignition plus the switch is jumpered so that the small battery is now in parallel with the main battery . This means that the small battery gets charged along with the big battery in normal running.
I can report that this works beautifully, the bike cold starts instantly just like the Daytona did with big battery charger connected.
The second battery is quite tiny in size, just 1.3 ah and about an inch and a half thick by two inches high and three and three quarters long. I made a mount that fits to the left side shock bolt, the battery sits right there under the seat and between the rear fender & the seat frame loop. Cost for the battery was $21 at an Electronics shop.
I also fitted a $17 Chinese sprag from Alibaba. Too soon to say if it is good or bad, but it has already outlived the expensive Norvil sprag.
Glen
