I want a pull start onmybike

[lingeringstin...]

I was out on the Thrunge Wangler today and stopped at the seaside to smoke a pipe and appear generally unsavoury when somebody came up and said "Wow, I haven't seen one of THOSE in ages!"

If you know my bike you'll know it's an unspeakable abomination of random parts and dubious modifications so nobody will have ever seen one of these anywhere. But that got me thinking. My bike starts so easily I thought how cool would it be to have one of those old school wind-the-rope-on-the-pulley mechanisms like what old lawnmowers and things used to have before you were born.

Due to design limitations on my bike I've only got electric start and not a kick starter. Footpegs and shit are in the way. But you can literally start my bike by putting a socket on the alternator bolt and give it a spin. That's where I want to put a pull start pulley. Seems like it would be easy enough to cobble up. I could just cut the end off the engine cover and bolt some kind of starter pulley gubbins on the end of the alternator using that bolt at the end of the crank and carry around a piece of old rope in my top box whenever I want to bemuse bystanders.

So where am I to find one of those old starter pulleys off something? Bloke at the salvage yard says he hasn't seen anything with a wrap-around rope starter for ages. Any ideas?

[A100man]

a scrap lawn mower surely..
some monkey bikes had them too I think.
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750, SL1000

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600, Skorpion

[stinkwheel]

Seagull outboard motors have them.

But why have a wraparound start when you could have a handle start like a model T? Does the flywheel cover have an inspection cap in it? Make an easily removable one of those to insert your hand crank.

Extra points if you upset people by bastardising an actual model T crank handle.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[A100man]

[doggone]

Some quad bikes e.g. honda had a pull start in addition to electric it was typically hidden behind sidepanel.
So it is a reasonable thing to devise.

[lingeringstin...]

I do like the vintage Seagull gubbins idea but actually the starter handle idea is superb.

The engine cover already has a little hole there right over the alternator nut (consult picks of a Honda CMX250 engine) and the alternator nut is right under there. I already run around without the little screwcap cover for ventilation so the oil seals and pickup sender gubbins stay cooled. It's leccy ignition so no amount of rain ingress makes any difference. Been running like that for years with no problems.

It's a 14mm nut so I would just need to get a cranked ratchet handle and it's instantly a starter handle with no modifications whatsoever. Bloody brilliant.

However it does need to be a ratchet because a simple breakover socket bar can be lethal when the engine kicks in. Gotta have the ratchet mechanism.

But it might also be fun to rig up a detachable bicycle pedal or something on there maybe.

[lingeringstin...]

I should also fit a Frankenstein knife switch as an ignition switch. Been wanting to do that for ages. With a giant fuckoff capacitor so it throws an almighty spark when engaged.

Would love to incorporate a plasma ball into the headlight somehow but that seems a bit more difficult.

[stinkwheel]