Norvil starter motor

Thanks for the info Ian. It all sounds good, but it would be nice to hear from someone in the club who has actually bought and fitted one. There's nothing quite like the views of a paying customer!

Previously wrote:

Frank Westworth has one on his restored Mk.III Commando and spends his life boring people with tales of how good it is. Have a look at the RealClassic website or their Farcebook pages for his very words.

Thanks for the info Ian. It all sounds good, but it would be nice to hear from someone in the club who has actually bought and fitted one. There's nothing quite like the views of a paying customer!

Previously wrote:

Over here in North America everybody fits Dave Comeau's Hitachi Starter motor (the Norvil offering) - everyone except nutters like me who like fiddling about with the original one. Its a Standard Hitachi 1.4kW unit and extremely powerful and reliable.

Thanks Luke. I've googled Dave Comeau and found a lot of info on Nortons, but no mention of the starter motor.

It would be really helpful if you can let me have a web address which refers to it. I suppose what I'd really like to know is the specific model number of the starter.

Having googled 'Hitachi starter motor' I'm getting the impression that the Norvil offering could be massively over-priced, compared with price lists on the web.

Allan.

Previously wrote:

Over here in North America everybody fits Dave Comeau's Hitachi Starter motor (the Norvil offering) - everyone except nutters like me who like fiddling about with the original one. Its a Standard Hitachi 1.4kW unit and extremely powerful and reliable.

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Over here in North America everybody fits Dave Comeau's Hitachi Starter motor (the Norvil offering) - everyone except nutters like me who like fiddling about with the original one. Its a Standard Hitachi 1.4kW unit and extremely powerful and reliable.

Hi Luke. Just found the motor on AtlanticGreen. It would still be good to know the Hitachi model number.

Allan.

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Thanks for the info Ian. It all sounds good, but it would be nice to hear from someone in the club who has actually bought and fitted one. There's nothing quite like the views of a paying customer!

Allan,

Why do you assume that Frank didn't pay for the work that Norvil did on his Commando? He did. He also chose to use Norvil rather than the many other firms that he could have chosen that are nearer to his home.

I'm sorry if you felt my post was worthless as it was dashed on your cynicism. Perhaps the good people of Norvil could supply you with a list of satisfied customers, or are they likely to supply you with a list of stooges?

Ian

Ian,

I'm really sorry if you got the impression that I didn't value your reply. It was useful because I hadn't seen the Real Classic website item you mentionedand, as I said earlier, it did look good.I also wasn't suggesting that the bike in question was not paid for, but it would be nice to have some feedback from others who have used this starter motor. 'Two swallows don't make a summer' and all that, so I was hoping to get a broader view.

I suspect that Norvil would have problems supplying a list of customers due to data protection rules, and that is why it seemed reasonable to ask on this forum for some experiences of the starters in use.

Having looked at the info provided by Luke, about Dave Comeau (who I now understand developed the starter from an off-the-shelf Hitachi unit,) my confidence in the starter is growing. It looks like it has been modified so that it fits directly on to the Commando, which explains the additional cost over the original Hitachi unit.

I just want to be certain before paying £300 +p&p + vat, as well as the cost of replacing the other parts in the starter drive train.

Allan.

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Over here in North America everybody fits Dave Comeau's Hitachi Starter motor (the Norvil offering) - everyone except nutters like me who like fiddling about with the original one. Its a Standard Hitachi 1.4kW unit and extremely powerful and reliable.

Hi Luke. Just found the motor on AtlanticGreen. It would still be good to know the Hitachi model number.

Allan.

Hello again Luke. I've just been studying the Atlantic Green site, and I've now got a better understanding. It looks like a much better-engineered piece of kit than the original Prestolite. I suppose that the modifications which have been made so that it fits the Commando justify the additional cost over the 'donor' Hitachi starter on which it is based.

Thanks again.

Allan.

Previously wrote:

Previously wrote:

Over here in North America everybody fits Dave Comeau's Hitachi Starter motor (the Norvil offering) - everyone except nutters like me who like fiddling about with the original one. Its a Standard Hitachi 1.4kW unit and extremely powerful and reliable.

Thanks Luke. I've googled Dave Comeau and found a lot of info on Nortons, but no mention of the starter motor.

It would be really helpful if you can let me have a web address which refers to it. I suppose what I'd really like to know is the specific model number of the starter.

Having googled 'Hitachi starter motor' I'm getting the impression that the Norvil offering could be massively over-priced, compared with price lists on the web.

Allan.

Second thoughts on the pricing issue, now that I understand that the motor began life as a standard Hitachi (which do seem to be priced very reasonably)but has been modified for the Commando. Modifications = added value = cost, I suppose, but I'm beginning to think that this starter is the way to go.

If I had the original, I'd probably try the upgrades suggested on this forum, but I don't fancy paying the price of an old Prestoliteunit (which will have issues!) in addition to the rebuild/modification costs.

Thanks!

Allan.

Previously wrote:

Allan,

Sorry been offline for a week or two so missed yr posts. Dave has sold about 500 of his units by all accounts.

http://www.accessnorton.com/primary-noises-t10178-15.html

Some interesting stuff from him on AccessNorton - he is known as DynoDave. He can be e-mailed directly through Atlantic Green and is very open to communicationg about things.

Apart from the fun (??) of doing it I cannot think of any reason one would use the Prestolite unit if you didn't already have one. I've enjoyed messing around upgrading minebut really paying the money would have made more sense frankly...

Cheers

Luke

Thanks a lot, Luke.

I share your generalliking of fixing/modifying what I've already got to make it work better, but with no original starter to use as a basis, it looks likeI'll be ordering Dave Comeau's one from Norvil next week!

All the best,

Allan.