Electric Start

[King]

Hi All

On our club ride this weekend one of the guests remarked that his buddy who had both knees replaced had installed an electric start device on his Pan. It is pretty much what Indian tried in the 1914 Hendee Special. It goes the place of the generator and starts the engine as a motor then switches over to a 12v generator once started.

He did'nt know who made it or the price but the concept is very intriguing.

Has any one heard of this device? I'd like to look into it.

BTW the Hendee Special failed miserably as the battery technology of the time was not up to the task. Indian recalled all of them and did a kick start conversion. Reportedly, only one has survived intact. It had been stored in the basement of a hardware store and found, with 10 miles on the odometer, when the building was torn down in the 1950's.

King

[xnoahx]

I have never heard of that but I know there are electric start conversion kits out there that work in the traditional way. That is pretty neat about the bike found in a basement.(who puts a bike in a basement anyhow)

[Panacea]

That's asking a lot from your pinion gear, I'd miss the kickstart, might as well ride a twinkie....Mike

[panhead]

This was discussed before: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=2111

[beets]

Someone makes a starter that goes in the right side of the transmission, where the kicker is now.

[King]

XnoahX

The Indian in the basement story goes like this as reported by Allen Girdler in his excellent book "The Harley-Davidson and Indian Wars". It seems a young guy working in a hardware store wanted to buy an Indian but didn't have the bucks. So the kindly store owner bought it for him with the agreement he would pay it off in installments. For some reason this never happened and the store owner stashed it in the basement. It only had 10 miles on the clock when discovered in the mid-fifties so the young dude couldn't have done much riding. The mystery is why the store owner just didn't sell it.

King

[rodklop]

I don't remember the gentlemans name who owned it, but I recall seeing the bike at the Davenport meet on more than one occasion in the mid 80's.....I even saw him start it one time....Rod

[Ripley/Fla]

As beets mentioned - look in the #81 September 2008 'The Horse' magazine. Page #82. There is a blurb from a Russ Petersen who makes a right side starter for a Pan using Sportster stuff and his parts. You have to have a bigger battery and a swapped out oil tank. Introductory price is $895. E-mail at cnc56pan@hotmail.com for info. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS ITEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ridermike]

Try "New Starter System for Old Farts" www.bikernet.com/garage/PageViewer.asp?PageID=1499

Mike

[panhead]

or here: New Starter System For Old Farts