norton starter motor

[allan the bus driver]

Can anybody help with the starter on my Norton I am trying to put 4 brushes in but i'm not doing very well, I bought the 4 brushes and took the starter motor to an auto electrician and he made a right mess of it,And he still could'nt do it so im back to square one again,Any help would be great
                                           Allan the bus driver

[L.A.B.]

I fitted the RGM 4 brush kit to my Norton Commando's starter motor-which seemed to be a reasonably straightforward job, so what part of the installation is it that you are having problems with? Is it the RGM 4 brush kit you have? 

[allan the bus driver]

I bought the 4 brush type took it too an auto electrian and he mad a right mess of it, He cut the 2 brush that fit onto the live post then he realised that he made a mistake and solderd it back together, then he could'nt get the 4 brushes to fit so he only put the 2 back in and i told him that is the same as what i already had so in effect he did'nt really do it,So i have one starter with 2 brushes and 2 brushes soldered together in my hand so i paid nearly £60 for 4 brushes and only used 2 

[L.A.B.]

If you are unable to make the brushes reach the holders because the auto electrician(?) messed it up, then perhaps it would be possible to extend the brush tails with some extra lengths of braided wire soldered on the ends?

[Rex]

allan the bus driver link=topic=3638.msg12453#msg12453 date=1303067526]
I bought the 4 brush type took it too an auto electrian and he mad a right mess of it,

I hate people like this . If they can't do the job, why not just say so? Taking someone's money and bodging the job is disgusting...

[L.A.B.]

I hate people like this . If they can't do the job, why not just say so? Taking someone's money and bodging the job is disgusting...

I sincerely hope the person did not expect to be paid any money and I hope Allan didn't pay him-considering he damaged the parts and couldn't repair them! I would expect the person to pay for a replacement.

Allan,

I think the brush plate and brush set in the 'Norton starter 4 brush conversion kit' are standard Harley Davidson Prestolite starter parts (as some Harleys used a slightly different version of the Prestolite starter*). The 4 brush set appears to be available seperately under H-D part number 31541-66 so you may be able to get a replacement brush set from a Harley-D parts supplier for less than the cost of a replacement conversion kit?

(The Harley-D Prestolite starters contain 4 field coils (instead of only two used in the Norton starter) which considerably improves the starter's efficiency, and it is possible to convert the Norton starter motor to 4-brush 4-field coil operation.)