Motolectric HICAP starter circuit

[916bi]

Has anyone tried the Motolectric HICAP starter circuit ?

If so what are your results?

[rubber duckie]

i have only heard good things, but since i have access to all the parts and time, i was thinking of making my own.

[drdave39]

I had their setup installed when I had the 1200 in for the hands-free recall. The bike definitely starts several seconds faster than before- it used to take 8-10 seconds, now it is running in 5 or less. I got to compare the actual wiring to the old starter harness- its about 30% larger in diameter, and the brackets are solid copper and larger as well.

The concept makes sense- the larger diameter wiring will have lower resistance, so more current will get to the starter motor. It works!

[Northlight]

I did the Motolectric HiCap install on my 2011 base model Multistrada.

Pretty simple to do actually. I was able to remove the stock harness and feed the Motolectric version in and around the frame.

The bike starts in less time.....definitely worth the effort.

Northlight

[motolectric]

Originally Posted by 916bi

Has anyone tried the Motolectric HICAP starter circuit ?

If so what are your results?

Hiya,

I'm biased but I think you'll find virtually everyone who buys the kit feels they received good results from the investment.

I have only had a couple of riders say they were still having issues with starting their bike.

A few found that their starters had become damaged through overuse (long cranking) and that even with the HICAP the starters pulled so much current that they were starving the rest of the electrical circuits (ECU and ignition systems).

A couple others had installed a LiFePO4 battery with the same amp hour rating battery as their OEM Yuasa. Under normal warm weather conditions that will work fine.

But in the colder months when you pull the bike out of the garage and the ambient temp is say 65F the battery internals are probably much closer to the coldest temp of the previous night and that means they are not as robust in starting.

So going up 1-2 ratings (i.e. 14 AH up to 18 or 21 AH) seems to clear that up.

You can get a listing of unbiased feedback from the riders who have bought the kit on Ebay here

eBay Feedback Profile for motolectric

As you know they're not obligated to even leave any feedback so it's generally considered useful for evaluating a product.

I was going to reply to your other post asking about the different model starters. I have seen no information that they are different. They are all 700 watt Denso starter motors. The only thing I think you might need to keep an eye out for is the gear on the end of the shaft. They might have changed that around to change the torque but I have never seen any references to that having been done.

HTH

[Mr Sunshine]

I've never had an issue starting my bike even at 30 degrees with the stock system. 2-3 seconds max of cranking and it fires right up.

[motolectric]

Originally Posted by Mr Sunshine

I've never had an issue starting my bike even at 30 degrees with the stock system. 2-3 seconds max of cranking and it fires right up.

Yes, very possible.

The problems with getting a bike to start, like anything in life, would be distributed over a bell curve.

On one end is a bike with every possible variable off just enough to make getting the bike to start a royal pain.

You would be on the other end where you have little to no problems.

In the middle (on the big bulge of the bell) is where most of us are.

I do end up selling kits to riders who have just bought a new bike so they can try and maintain the new bike starting capability.

A bike with no issues whatsoever will start in less than 1 second.

A bike that is allowed to crank for a long time tends to degrade the starter motor such that it draws more current than it should.

Then even with the HICAP the bike doesn’t start instantly like it could have with an undamaged starter motor.

So some riders want to prevent that slow deterioration from getting started.

Since the kit tends to pay for itself in longer battery life they look at is as an investment that will zero out at some point in the future.

And if they keep the bike long enough it will actually have saved them money in overall cost of ownership.

HTH

[HYPERR]

I installed it on my 900SS with hi comp big bore kit and it starts instantaneously. Actually quicker than my Honda CBR600RR!

[HYPERR]

Originally Posted by HYPERR

I installed it on my 900SS with hi comp big bore kit and it starts instantaneously. Actually quicker than my Honda CBR600RR!

I also wanted to add that before the Motolectric, it would take several tries to start the bike and often the POS stock Ducati wiring (ok granted it is a 16 year old Cagiva-era bike) would smoke from the ultra high resistance! Now the bike literally starts with just a quick tap. The difference is that immense!

[JDP]

I would have problems after long rides. Stop bike to fill up, go to to start it and click, click. Sucks balls to try and push start these L-twin motors. Replaced battery, masked the problem for a little while, then the problem came back. Bought the Motolectric 749 starter wire kit and voila! No more starter blues.