So whats the deal with pull starters - why are they so much $$$ on ebay?

[Billy Golightly]

Is it just because people don't know or wont figure out how to re-assemble them, or because that many parts are discontinued?

I'm looking at some of the 185-200 series ones on ebay, and they are going $100+, some close to $200. Even 90 and 110 ones seem pretty spendy.


What am I missing here?

[Dave8338]

I think you're exactly right. Most can't figure out how to rebuild a recoil. They can be a little tricky in the spring rewinding to get them "tight" enough, but not all that difficult.
That being said, even a replacement handle for the 185-200 series will run you nearly $20.00. Makes me want to scour and scrounge for a few and completely rebuild / restore them. Flip them on the Bay.

[coolpool]

Good question. Seems to be an often forgot about part that's easy to find, or so I think? I have a thesis about why the ATC 70 ones go missing but not the other models. I figure that due to the little buggers being finicky with carb/points adjustments, the pull starters fail by them being pulled to death for no starts, removed and lost/forgotten about. Just a thought.

[aldochina]

I see countless machines for sale on craigs with no pullstarts, or pullstarts in a box. Especially the 70's and 200's. So gotta figure demand is high between those looking for one because they just picked up a cheap machine thats missing the pullstart, and those who wont attempt to rebuild the ones with busted components.

[shortline10]

Ahhh yes that's why I have a box full of nos recoils , better than money in the bank !

[86Rrider]

Funny that I find this post since I have one going in the same section looking for parts to repair the recoil on the '84 200S I just bought last week. I too was wondering the same thing as to why the complete recoil assemblies on E-bay that I saw were $125+. So what is the alternative? Does someone have a pile of recoils with a foot of rope hanging out of them that need to be re-wound or the spring repaired?

Unfortunately, I am now looking for parts to repair the recoil on this 200S becasue the spot welds broke on the steel piece that guides the "dogs" - free from the pulley and it looks like several "repair" attempts were made (i.e. bending up many parts with hammer) so now that I have the piece welded back to the pulley, it still does not work right.

[3wheeledfanatic]

A guy on a facebook trader tried to sell me a 200s pullstart for 150 dollars. I took my time and found a whole 200s from a farmer for that price. I knew 70 ones were high but 200 ones too? I try not to buy any 200s around here if their missing pullstart because their so high

[Dirtcrasher]

I wish they would reproduce them with a chinese knockoff like the motors, carbs and light switches.....

[blue27]

Yep everyone takes them off, can't fix them and forgets where they left them or they are still at the local lawn mower shop waiting to be picked up. You can buy most of the internals for the 90s and 200s aftermarket. Not for the 70s. I have a large box full of pull starters waiting to be rebuilt and put on ebay, with new decals,lol but I haven't gotten to that project yet. I buy them at motorcycle swap meets when I see them. The ATC70 ones I keep because they never have them when you buy one.

[Billy Golightly]

I wish they would reproduce them with a chinese knockoff like the motors, carbs and light switches.....

Thats kind of where I'm going with this Steve - are there that many components inside that are discontinued driving the price up, or is it purely peoples laziness and lack of knowledge?

Its been years since I had one apart and seriously looked at it - but I know of nothing off of the top of my head that wouldn't be fairly easy to repop from what I can remember...

[86T3]

I found a nos one for a 125m quad on ebay a couple yeara ago for $45 bucks and it fit the atc 125m motor perfectly. The only difference is that the writing is red on it. For the people looking for 125 or 110 pull starters those may be a viable option if they're still available

[DasUberKraut]

Geeze... a recoil only takes 15 minutes to clean and reassemble.

[Flossyb20]

Geeze... a recoil only takes 15 minutes to clean and reassemble.
Only if you don't pop out the recoil spring....that thing is a pain to put back in:p

[MRSOUND]

I just attempted my first rebuild of a 200s recoil a few weeks back for a machine sitting in my trailer. It needed a new pull rope as the decomp was not working when starting. I would manually lift the decomp but as soon as I hit the compression stroke it would rip your arm off. Anyway replaced cord after it tore and decomp still did not work. Pulled up a utube video and found out starer was missing the decompression spring. Found (1) and only (1) on ebay and promptly bought it. (Not even weezy had one loose to sell) Part is discontinued. I agree with Blue27. Folks trying to repair it, can't, tossed it, and bought a working one somewhere. Could be becoming the next high ticket item (recoils or recoil parts) of a growing list items we can no longer get. Mine was also missing the rubber stopper that keeps the decompression cable in the plastic ring inside the recoil. Still have not found one of those.

[ebaccm26]

I have bought quite a few machines that had broken pull starters still on them and I would guess that it is just because people have no clue how to rebuild them. Usually it is nothing but a broken rope. I imagine most people just don't bother trying because if they did they would know it is not difficult, takes me about 5-10 minutes typically. I sometimes get machines that are missing the pull starter all together and I think that is probably also because people failed to fix them and they end up in a box or who knows where in pieces. It definitely can get pricey if you have to buy another pull starter or if you are missing certain parts.

[muthey]

shoot MRSOUND I have about three decomp setups sitting in a box in my shed right now I prefer not to put them back in as half the time when a friend of mine does his famous superman pull he breaks the ropes and I am in a hurry to repair the pull start, as he is not mechanically inclined enough to repair anything on his 185s. Mabey I should start putting some of my honda parts up on ebay or make a list with pics in the sales page. I don't have a lot of parts, but enough just sitting here, And I have one of those famous lil 70's with a missing pull start, mine is a 1978, and it makes no sense to me why people take them off and just leave them that way.

[atc007]

Wow,,this thread hooked right up!. As a dealer who did these week in and week out back in the day. This is my perspective. All the good parts are dc. You can buy everything but the case chinese. I could be wrong ,and someone HAS done the case? I know Shortline would know :) The main pulley being the "heart". These are garbage. { Chinese} Yes,,you can put one in there and make it work just like new,,for a while. 25 years like Hondas?? Nope. Not even close. While the springs and dogs are just a few bucks. Usually a crack around a dog on the main pulley or,,a stripped/broken/slightly bent main pole of the case is the culprit. I have welded and repaired Honda pulleys to "work" for a while...Year maybe? But if it went out of here,my Name was on it. Not "the Boss'". So,that kind of repair was simply not done very often. I am obviously speaking of 185S,200S. I Very rarely got into the 70/s and 110's??. Anyone "thinking" of getting into them will quickly find there were a couple variations that will bite you. 125's do not fit 110. 185S,200S do not fit elec start models. etc. Then Yammie,,,reverse 2 strokes, different 4 strokes,,Suzukis looked similar lol.. It was fun. I can't begin to count how many 125,175 Yammies I re,rewound after the customer did them backwards :)

[Billy Golightly]

I was looking on the pars fiche this morning for the 185/200's and noticed that pretty much everything except some of the bolts, like 2 springs, and the stopper pawls are the only things not discontinued. So it looks like it might be a supply thing after all.

Bill, do you know who is making those replacement parts? I looked on ebay some more and didn't see any kind of a stand-alone kit, just something someone has gotten the chi-coms to reproduce individually part wise I guess? I keep looking at the pieces, if everything isn't already made, but I bet between me, swiney, and a few other guys here, we could probably crank out the entire assembly. Housing too maybe even, I made a good contact with an aluminum foundry recently... :D

Rubber and plastic components - not a problem.

Springs might be a little bit tricky, but definitely doable.

Housing would be tricky, but doable for sure.

The actual "reel" I think is possible to make out of a good hard plastic or rubber, aluminum (foundry, again) is definitely a possibility also I think.


I'm serious about this, this seems like something that really needs to be investigated a bit further...

[blue27]

WPS and Parts Unlimted have parts. I talked with the rep at the Parts Unlimited show about these parts and asked if there was any interest in 70 pieces. They said they would be interested if there was a demand. I have his contact info at home.
http://www.parts-unlimited.com/products/?productId=196379

[86Rrider]

If you search: "1984 Honda ATC 200S recoil" on Ebay, there should be a bunch of listings, 2 of which are buy it now listings from some shop's ebay store. Sorry, can't remember the shops name and I can't get to ebay on this PC, but the listings are for a recoil rebuild kit. The picture in the listing shows all the internal parts except for the housing. It has a $89 price on them.

From having mine apart, the housing is a stamped steel piece, with the shaft the assembly spins on welded to it, with a cast aluminum piece in the bottom (I think held by snap ring or pressed in) that is the seat for the coil spring. A bushing on the shaft, then the stamped steel "pulley" that consists of 4 pieces welded together as an assembly. The 3 dogs, 3 springs, the short coil sping that goes on the shaft, the stamped steel cover that goes over the dogs, the washer with "D" slot in it and the E-clip. Of course the rope and handle. That's it. I even took the recoil off my 90 just to make sure all the parts were still in the 200's recoil and they are. It was just the piece of steel that the dogs pivot on that was broke loose of it's spot welds was the only thing I could find wrong. Fixed that, but recoil still does not work. Pull the rope and the dogs do not extend out of the cover like they should.

So if someone could possibly explain why mine is not working, that would be great! Otherwise, I'm seriously looking at buying one of those "kits" off ebay.

[atc007]

I honestly haven't ordered these pieces in a cpl years. Last I knew,,And as far as I know,,STILL are available.. J&M supply in Tenessee,and Mcdonald ATV in Arkansas,,both dealer only distributors... Stock these kits,,around $65 dealer for every single piece except the housing. As far as the pulley goes. You are defenitely onto something. 99% of sleds 81 and newer use a plastic pulley. Starting sleds up to 1000cc's.. Def doable,and a great idea. It would have to be strong though! Get Shortlines 185 for testing,,if it will start that 100 times. It'll last forever! I have a couple kits/pulleys left in stock I could lend... But they are chi,not Honda. You would want Honda obviously for a mold.

[Kickstand 1]

I have over 100 70/90/110 pull starts. I'm with shortline "better than money in the bank" I buy bikes all the time just for the parts. Scrap the plastics, forks and frames. There worth nothing on 90/110's. 70's frame and forks sell. I buy bikes all the time with the pull starts in a box. People just can't get them back together, or the tabs broke. I simply heat up the spring end and bend a new tab and drill a hole back in them. I paint some up real nice when I go to a local swap meet in WI. If I took ten a day For the 3 day swap I would sell each one for 80.00. I put them out there just to pay for my swap spaces.
People just can't fix them cause they are to lazy! It's Easyer to spend the money on one that works and get back to playing x-box till it shows up. People are just lazy!!!

[86Rrider]

I did blue27's recommendation and looked at the Parts Unlimited site and it looks like you can get individual pieces or an entire kit to repair a recoil. Further, I looked into the company that makes the part that P-U sells: company called Cycle Pro LLC. They look pretty legit and the pictures on their site looks like the pieces are pretty close reproductions. Maybe 3-Wheeler World could negotiate some deal with this company to get the price down?

[ironchop]

"So whats the deal with pull starters - why are they so much $$$ on ebay?"


because you need one, that`s why........."murphy`s law"

[Mr. Clean]

This pull start is reasonably priced. :D listed for a second time even.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390897615390?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

[rdlsz24]

I've rebuilt and sold quite a few of these over the last 7 months or so. It's weird the recoils with plastic internal parts hold up better than the ones with all metal internals. I can sell the rebuilt 185/200/200s recoils as fast as I can get them and rebuild. The 70's sell pretty quick also but they are the hardest to rebuild because they use an extra spring inside to retract the dogs. 200es/200m recoils sell pretty quick too (I'm assuming to people that don't want to bother fixing their e-start). The 110/125m recoils meh they take longer to sell and don't bring as much.

Here is the web page I made as I rebuilt them so I could keep all the info straight: http://atcvin.webs.com/recoilinfo

Rob

[atcdude0]

I had no idea pull starters were worth much much anything. I have a 125m with a bent frame and its just been sitting for so long. It sounds like i need to start putting up parts, starting with the pull starter.

[El Camexican]

Good thread. I totally agree that many a starter has hit the scrap bin because the owners didn’t know how or want to fix them. Reading this reminded me of always having a spare rope in the snowmobile to wind on and do it the old fashioned way when the recoils failed or the ropes broke. Fast forward to today when most e-start bikes don’t even have kick starters and I can’t help but wonder what it’s going to be like trying to start my buddy’s 450 XC when the starter fails in creek one day.