Kick-start, first gear ratchet profile ?

marshg246 said:
On US eBay, sold under many company names all made in India.
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Are they crap ? I had a bullet 65 500 for 8 years. The electric start worked. Nothing fell off . Didn't rust and reliable. Looked OK too ! Ps it cost £1350. With spare tyres panniers back box etc. You have to be a dedicated norton commando affectionada to own one ? I had a Navigator 54 years ago. Nightmare ! However when a commando works, magic. Price ? High ! Spares ?
 

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andover-norton.co.uk

PiratePartDetails

andover-norton.co.uk
Kick-start, first gear ratchet profile ?

"And on the subject of gearboxes, another beauty from the Pirates Dept:
Kickstart Shafts

(Taken from the accessnorton forum)

If you have been sold one by your "leading Norton Specialist" that did not come in Andover Norton packing, you stand a fair chance yours is one of the thin-walled hand grenades pictured on the right.

As the buyer and destroyer of the pattern shaft wrote on being given the dimensions of the real deal:

"That would mean a difference of 3.53mm between the outside diameter of my pattern bush and the original.
As my pattern shaft thickness here was only 1.4mm we can assume an original shaft would have a thickness of approx 3.16mm if my maths is correct. More than double the thickness.

Wow that is a huge difference. Moral of the story, DO NOT buy a pattern kickstart shaft."
 
The yaki said:
Are they crap ? I had a bullet 65 500 for 8 years. The electric start worked. Nothing fell off . Didn't rust and reliable. Looked OK too ! Ps it cost £1350. With spare tyres panniers back box etc. You have to be a dedicated norton commando affectionada to own one ? I had a Navigator 54 years ago. Nightmare ! However when a commando works, magic. Price ? High ! Spares ?
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India, just like China, is capable of making good things. However, when they make a kickstart shaft that they sell for about 25% of AN sells them for or about 50% of what RGM sell them for, you have to wonder. Since RGM doesn't say for the kickstart shaft, I wonder where theirs are made?
 
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Possibly my original is just metal fatigue ? Most cars are kept running on pattern parts. The majority I would think . Some are poor but some are an improvement on the original. Ask anyone (me included) who had a 2.0 ltr skoda, Audi,vw clutch self destruct at 70000 mls. A foam gasket at the polen intake on a passat which destroyed the car electrics. Was the mk3 electric start a success or found to be useless in many cases ? Sensible to tension a primary chain outwards ? Not all aftermarket are bad. Some a positive improvement wouldn't you say ? Electronic ign? Synthetic oil ? Ad infinitem. I also think modern machining tolerances are slightly more accurate. How many miles to run a new car in ? Hmmm.
 
The kickstart shaft is probably the most process intensive piece we make, we have also made test purchases of these and had them measured and chemically analysed. Also, some are copied from old shafts which is not ideal as some useful changes were made in the life of the shaft. And yes, I have looked at trying to manufacture them using different material and methods, less processes etc, guess what - it doesn't work.
 
I reckon that it's a bit of a weak spot ! Certainly an inferior metal would not last past a couple of pawl slipping incidents! As I said, I have one from RGM. I now can't think of anything else that can be worn ! Famous last words ! 🤞Roy.
 
The yaki said:
Took the bush out of the kick-start shaft today. Drill & Dremmel. Cleaned it thoroughly. Checked all the components and photoed as asked. Then noticed this , my bank won't like it !!! Ps the inner of bush looked shot ! Cause of longstanding problem do you reckon?? Roy.
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"They all do that"....🥳
 
Roy,
Bite the bullet and go for the original from AN. It comes with the bushing already pushed into place. Long story short! I purchased a kickstart crank because my old one couldn't keep tight and always loosed from vibration and riding. It turns out my Kickstart shaft spline was badly worn. It just did the same thing to my new kickstart crank in short order. I then smartened up and bought the new AN shaft and another new AN crank and it never loosened again. (My learning curve) I went cheap or more correctly, only halfway to do the job right. By the way when I opened up this Gearbox, I had the same crack that yours is showing. Time to ante up.
Tom
 
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CanukNortonNut said:
Roy,
Bite the bullet and go for the original from AN. It comes with the bushing already pushed into place. Long story short! I purchased a kickstart crank because my old one couldn't keep tight and always loosed from vibration and riding. It turns out my Kickstart shaft spline was badly worn. It just did the same thing to my new kickstart crank in short order. I then smartened up and bought the new AN shaft and another new AN crank and it never loosened again. (My learning curve) I went cheap or more correctly, only halfway to do the job right. By the way when I opened up this Gearbox, I had the same crack that yours is showing. Time to ante up.
Tom
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I will be renewing all 4 bush's, 1st gear, pawl, pawl spring & plunger, pawl locating pin and yes , the dreaded shaft. It's a RGM item and looks extremely well made (as does everything else I have had from them !) So I dare it not to work now. Famous last words ? Roy.
 
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