The past 2 weeks I've been struggling to start a Matchless single. I got it part built with a rebuilt engine that looks to have been standing and got rather dry. I've not been able to get a good swing on the kickstart as the engine is too stiff. I also wanted to prime the oil and cylinder, but as its not road registered and we are in a town centre, I couldn't push it up and down the road.
So I bought a 12v paddock starter off the web. It is not especially well made and needed fettleing to get it to work, but its been a revelation. I was able to motor the engine with the plug out for a good few minutes and get oil return and free things up a bit. Then I was able to start it. After half a dozen roller starts and about 45 mins running the engine is now free and starts on the kickstart. I don't think I could have got to that stage on my own and my options were to buy a starter or trailer the bike to the local bike mechanics. Since the A10 engine will be built soon and needing the same priming I opted to buy the starter. And as we all know; never pass up any reason to buy more tools!
All in its about £540 with the battery and to be honest you could make one for £100 once you see what's in one - not much. I'm quite tempted to make one and flog this one!
If you are considering one my advice is make one if you have time, they are over priced, but they do the job. This one will have paid for itself in getting these two rebuilt engines free and running. I can also use it to pump out the sumps before a run.
