Alton Electric Start

I cannot say enough good about Alton's customer support when I had issues with mine in '12. In two cases Alton immediately shipped replacement parts at no charge, including customs fees to me in Mexico on two occasions. OTOH, Norvil, who I purchased it from, was not particularly helpful, immediately suggesting that I must have installed it incorrectly, despite my detailed explanation of what I did. I contacted Alton directly on my own, it was not suggested by Norvil.

I sent them the same information I had sent to Norvil and they had no question whatsoever regarding my installation.

I would second that on Alton customer support. It is extremely well made kit . Buy in confidence

Jack, thank you for replying to my comments. But since then, Jerry has made it known that he thinks it imprudent to post comments that could be considered derogatory by certain individuals or company's . And as Paul at Alton can't find any record of my starter, or its problems and you , as you say can only take the information I have provided at face value all I can do at this point, on this forum, is say " what a load off old tosh" from Paul . If he can't find any record of my warranty repair at the time of the Spring Stafford show 2013 then he must have been swamped by warranties.







Here are a few pictures of the kit with I presume the registration number marked by Alton in marker pen on the day installation began. Maybe Paul can't remember anything about it but I have the kit, the shock absorbers and the photos to back up what I have to say, but no paperwork from my dealer or Alton , I also have the cancelled check when I paid for it. Maybe the next time you speak to Paul you can get him to email or message me but is Altons past record with me is concerned, I won't hold my breath. Thanks again Jack and fair play to you.

Jg

In one of the photos you can see the installation guide ,my dealer never even passed that on, although I did request it. Thanks for that Colin, makes me laugh now , the fact I spent £1400 and never even got the set up guide and when I spoke to Beverly via email she didn't offer one either, so apologies in advance Jerry, but what a bunch of rank amateurs.

I would third that on Alton customer support. It is extremely well made kit . Buy in confidence
I emailed Beverly regarding some measurements as I was using a Norvil belt drive and got good quick response.
I wouldnt hesitate to buy another, althought the second one I bought was a CNW one because it uses a standard alternator
which suited my particular application, (fitting Electrexworld crank mounted ignition) but I certainly wouldnt hesitate buying another Alton.
Being a supplier of new innovative products myself you will never get 100% customer satisfaction for whatever reason. Sorry Auldblue you had a bad experience.

May of you know I designed and build the CNW starter for Matt. Wanted to state that before commenting.

The new design on the Alton starter to couple the sprocket shaft to the driver is great. When I reviewed the Alton system several years ago, the sprocket shaft was pressed into the driver and scallops were cut to reduce the contact area of the press fit. I assumed this was done to allow for a failure point in case of backfire or other incidents. I was not crazy about the design feature, and a failure there would have cost a pretty penny to replace the parts. I thought at the time that putting nylon pins into this feature would have made it similar to commercial couplings available for industrial use.

This is what Alton did, and it is a great improvement. As I have said in the past (even if I am biased) the Alton kit is fine piece of workmanship, and I would install one on my bike if the CNW unit was not available.

As I have posted previously...IF the CNW starter could be installed AND RETAIN the OEM airbox, I might select the CNW over the Alton simply based on CNW's long-term reputation. But the fact that the CNW starter requires removal of the airbox AND it's more visible, makes the Alton a better choice for me. Heck, even other Norton owners don't usually notice the Alton E-start on my bike..

MexicoMike said:

As I have posted previously...IF the CNW starter could be installed AND RETAIN the OEM airbox, I might select the CNW over the Alton simply based on CNW's long-term reputation. But the fact that the CNW starter requires removal of the airbox AND it's more visible, makes the Alton a better choice for me. Heck, even other Norton owners don't usually notice the Alton E-start on my bike..

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Yes, it is one of the drawbacks of our design. I have CNW starters on two of my bikes (both CNW builds), but I have a 71 750 Roadster that I have not added the starter to because I too like the 'ham can" air filter.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Murray-filte ... ter-Th.jpg
the air Filter Murray of Cyclecraft made for the cNw starter, more pics on Cyclecraft Engineering FB page
If he went into production ,he'd sell a bunch I reckon

madass140 said:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Murray-filter/i-bDT6q6R/0/7be6a68a/Th/murray%20filter-Th.jpg
the air Filter Murray of Cyclecraft made for the cNw starter, more pics on Cyclecraft Engineering FB page
If he went into production ,he'd sell a bunch I reckon

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Yes, I have seen this. I wish Matt would take a risk and order 10 or 15 to sell as options with the CNW kit. I would most likely buy one of two myself

But anyway, we are getting off topic. this is about the Alton Starter

Norton46 said:

To All
Now Photobucket is working again. Here is a photo of the old style double gear. The amber red epoxy was not durable enough, evidently and it fails after so many starts and then there is just a GRRR GRRR sound or maybe a attempt to turn over the engine that ends in GRRRRR, each time you hit the starter switch.
Alton has updated the double gear and uses some PVC or plastic pins to replace the epoxy. They have also reworked the metal center and perhaps the outer. I did not get a photo of the new double gear (duh!). The small black pins are what is used in the new type double gear to replace the epoxy.

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Those pins look a lot like the nylon bits Ford used to use on the electric window gears on their cars. I used to work at a Ford dealer back in the 70's.
John in Texas