EXTENDED PLAY Keeping old guys on old Harleys with an electic-start conversion
The edited version of this story first appeared in the November/December issue of
The Antique Motorcycle on pages 18 & 19. Below is the unedited version with the original title and all the photos.
Choke, Retard, Push button. Keeping us aging guys on the road.
Story and Photos By Rick Najera
Produced by Keith Kizer
Lead photo by Ken Nagahara
The inevitable reality of growing old is the difficulty of kickstarting your favorite old Harley. Over the years, the club has lost hundreds of formerly active members because they refuse to ride a modern motorcycle. They love their old Harley, and it’s that or nothing when riding with their local chapter or on a national road run.
Electric start conversions aren’t new, and there have been alternatives to customizing an electric starter onto some Harleys. However, it required running a later style stock clutch and inner primary to make clearance for ring gear, and the starter solenoid shaft had to be cut to make room for the solenoid to stick over the top. It wasn’t crazy expensive, but it was very time-consuming and damaging to the bike.
In the Jul/Aug 2022 issue of The Antique Motorcycle, I ran across an ad from Cannonball advertising their StealthStarter. Cannonball, like The Cyclery, is one of the brands of W&W Cycles in Würzburg, Germany. Their ad promoted a new starter for kick drive rigid frame Harley’s. It touted converting your classic kickstart-only bike to electric start retaining your stock kick starter. A couple of months later, I was at our house in Sturgis when Rich Coffin of the SoCal Chapter came riding up in my driveway. He had one of the Cannonball starters on his bike. I ordered one that night online and had it waiting for me when I got back home to San Francisco.
Once I got home, I opened the box to discover an easy, straightforward package starter unit. When installed, it’s difficult to know it’s even there. If you play your cards right, you can still pretend you're kickstarting your motorcycle and push the button. It fools them every time.
The StealthStarter is made for ’36 to ’57 rigid bikes and now ’58 to ’64 swingarm bikes. Make sure to order the correct model. The skill level required for this installation is a basic knowledge of wrenching. More intimidating than actual. If you can install your own kicker gears, you can easily install this. If you don’t fancy yourself as a good mechanic, I recommend having a professional mechanic perform this installation. But if you are a successful do-it-yourselfer, you will be fine. For those who are good basic mechanics, this installation takes a few hours, excluding metal fabrications and wiring. But, if tearing into an engine is unfamiliar territory for you and you need to methodically read the instructions as you go, you better plan on this being a one-day or weekend project to be on the safe side. How much you want to hide the wires will dictate your total time. I’ve installed eight of these and now have it down to a science.
Cannonball show display featuring the complete starter kit mounted on sample transmission. Transmission and kicker not included.
Optional accessories, battery box, antigravity battery and shut off valve.
View of starter relay in bottom compartment of Cannnoball’s accessory battery box. The battery compartment is above the relay.
Cutaway photo shows how the clutch arm fits, showing the gear lash from the starter to the starter gear.
These display photos show the complete starter kit, including an accessory battery box for a clean installation to hide the wiring. This hides the starter relay under the battery, which requires removing the battery to test the relay. The cutaway photo shows how the clutch arm fits. You can see the gear lash from the starter to the starter gear. This can be checked when the cover is off. I opted to locate the Starter Relay in my toolbox just behind the starter. This way, I don’t have to remove the battery if I need to test the relay.
This complete kit photo from their website is a better visual of what is included in the starter kit.
Although this photo shows two boxes (kits), the kit comes in one box. When I bought the kit for this installation, I bought two StealthStarter kits. Don’t be shocked when you open the box and don’t see any instructions. For those, you have to go online and pick your language and print your own. The starter kit comes in a sturdy metal-clad wood box, so I guess those are already packed and sitting on the shelf and they obviously don’t know what country they will be shipped to. The bike in the background is a ’63 Panhead swingarm model with hydraulic brakes and the StealthStarter installed.
Heavy-duty metal-clad wood shipping box.
For today’s installation, I’ll be using my teal green ’55 Panhead with mechanical brakes. It’s the teal green motorcycle in most of these photos. In some cases, since I was my own photographer, I had to use a stunt double. Any photo of some white dude and/or tattooed hands, that would Mattias Andersson, the Swedish crew member of W&W Cycles. They have dozens of more installation photos and a video on their website. I’ll give you their link at the end.
Some little details you need to know before you get started. This system starts the motor using the main gear shaft, clutch and primary drive. The starter requires a 12-volt system. Also, a heavier amp battery, cable, starter button, or ignition switch with starter function and fuse. It’s designed around a stock motor, not a hot rod.
The kit includes a starter motor, housing, relay, gaskets, extended studs, fasteners, main shaft keys, extended kicker shaft, and locking plate. As mentioned earlier, you can download a full step-by-step set of instructions from the Cannonball website, depending on your motorcycle model and the kit you purchase. I’ll skip over all the safety legalese and obvious preparation steps. Let’s get right to it.
W&W Cycles’ Mattias Andersson removing the kicker cover
Now that you are ready, remove the kicker cover and starter wheel from the kicker shaft. Remove the clutch throw-out bearing and the pushrod. Remove the starter coupling, oil baffle plate and the stud bolts from the transmission housing.
Once you remove the cover, remove the throw-out bearing and push rod to gain access to the outer kicker gear. Remove the outer kicker gear; it will not be used.
You have to change all the stud bolts. This photo shows the longer studs (included) after their starter and motor housing is installed. Install new studs with blue thread locker.
Note the thickness of the starter housing requires replacing the studs, which are included in the kit, as seen mounted in this photo.
After removing the “Outer” kicker gear, leave the old kicker gear in and install the new starter gear and clutch gear assembly. First, make sure the keys are in the right position. Then, put the one-piece starter and clutch gear set. Put the kicker gear nut, ensuring the safety clip is bent over the nut.
Prior to installing the starter unit, you have to either cut the rear fender or modify it. I used a body hammer to message the fender in a shape that matches the template included in the rigid frame version kit. Now install the starter/plate unit. Add the gasket and slide it on; add another gasket for the kicker cover.
Close-up photo of where starter meets fender. Modifications required.
This photo is the straight on view just before installing the extended kicker shaft, clutch rod before the covers goes on.
Install the stock clutch rod with its throwout bearing. This photo shows their extended kicker shaft with stock Harley kicker gear with an inside spacer. Finally replace the outer primary cover and the provided longer crossover brake shaft. Make sure to add oil.
This is the new throwout bearing with the kicker gear behind. I painted the kicker gear yellow to check for clearance.
Now it’s time for the wiring. This is the starter relay they send in the kit. I placed this in my toolbox, ran one wire to the battery and one to the starter, and the red wire to the button. I didn’t try to hide the start button. I simply mounted a button on the handlebars with one wire to the starter relay. I put an antigravity lithium, 480 cranking amp battery in the stock battery box location. Battery not included. Make sure the bike is in neutral before starting.
Starter relay installed inside the stock toolbox.
Installation Complete! This view is of the kicker spring and kicker reinstalled. To the average guy, the installation looks completely factory.
This Straight on view allows you to see the starter cover but again, unless you know what you are looking at it is not noticeable when the bikes on the ground.
View of starter at low level. Some guys paint the starter black to further hide its appearance.
On the opposite side of the bike, I’m pointing to the only thing you can see of the electric starter primary side of the bike. I’m no magician, but this baby’s practically invisible. Before you start it for the first time, don’t forget, ALWAYS put the bike in neutral before pushing the start button. The includes anytime you want to go backwards. Just get in the habit of putting the bike in neutral every time you shut the bike off.
This kit is offered at a very reasonable price of just over $3,300. There is no floating solenoid gear. One push of the starter button and it engages the kicker gear for instant starting.
Other accessories to consider for your build are W&W Cycles’ 12V Antigravity Lithium battery, Extended Throwout Bearing, Extended Clutch Release Lever, Puller Tool, A Dent, Crossover Shaft, Battery box, Relay Tray, or Neutral Switch. For full information from their website, click the purchase link below or visit: https://www.wwag.com/en/cannonball-stealthstarter-ssk-r-kick-drive-rigid-frame.
This story is not intended to be exact step-by-step instructions but rather a basic overview of how straightforward the Cannonball product is to install. For a full set of Cannonball’s step-by-step installation instructions, click on the purchase link for the wwag.com site and click on the Instructions button. Make sure to click on the EN button for english. Click Here to Purchase. Other good resources is to watch their YouTube video HOW TO USE – Cannonball Harley E-Starter for Rigid Frame Flathead, Knuckle, Panhead English subtitle.
I look forward to seeing you at an AMCA National Road Run next year.
View from left side of bike, behind the primary. This is the backend of starter just to show it’s hard to see it’s there.
Note from Publisher: Rick Najera is a former AMCA Board Member and known as the father of Road Runs. He is an ambassador and mentor to many young people in San Francisco. If they have issues, he will throw their bike on a lift and show them how to fix it themselves. He is passing the torch.