Kart starters

[ted johnson]

Starting from the flywheel side is most common. If your West Bend is a right hand engine, the crank has left hand threads on both ends of the crank. Therefore, starting from the flywheel end tightens the nut. No further issue. If, for some reason, you are forced to start a RH engine from the clutch end, you must jam the starter nut with a right hand screw or bolt that is screwed into the GEM clutch nut and bears against the end of the crank. If you use a nut starter, just pulling the starter socket off the nut when the engine catches is very easy. Earlier starters had a Bendix overrunning clutch to accommodate the engine starting, but later starters have proven this unnecessary. By the way, Coleman makes a Siamese starter for dual engine karts that has a thru shaft so you can start off either end. this is so you may start one engine off the flywheel nut, and the other off the clutch nut. I've had one for several years, and I won't use anything else. If you are running only a single engine, one extension shaft may be removed so it won't be in your way. It takes three minutes to re-install the extension so you may start your dual kart. Ted