You can remove it by removing the primary chaincase, unscrewing the cover plate on the back of the inner chaincase half, and withdrawing the sprag gear cluster from it. Then just put it back together without the sprag gear cluster. Keep the starter motor where it normally is so that it covers the hole and looks normal.
That is the cheapest and easiest way out.
Just use the kicker after that.
Yeah, that's just where I think I'm gonna take my poor stricken beast for the time being. I haven't dived into it yet, but it seems a double-helping of stupid that something so prone to failure as to almost rate as a "consumable" (and long known by RE to be so) as that sprag apparently requires the complete dismantling of the whole primary chain case and all its contents just to remove or service it. You'd think they'd have had the sense under the circumstances to somehow make it more easily serviceable as a bolt-on unit directly accessible from the starter motor side.
There is this (ouch - $$$):
http://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/accessory-shop/ignition/34789
There was something on the Hitchcocks' forum about a Borg Warner (someone else can do the Star Trek reference) sprag clutch which is a direct replacement.
A.
Thanks for the tips! No way am I shoveling out over 500 quid for something likely to crap out again by design. That's more than half what I paid for it to begin with, and I can live without a starter for now. In a pinch, with 500 quid in hand I could just hand random guys passing by fivers to push me around to jump-start the thing for a good long while...maybe save a bit on fuel while I'm at it.
In the meantime, that BorgWarner angle you mention is interesting in its own right. I mean, I'd
like to have a functional starter assembly, if only in a box for the "next guy." I assume you may have recalled a posting like
this one on the Hitchcocks Forum. The BorgWarner Part No. BW-SP-2 is mentioned. Also mentioned is the German-made Stieber Clutch Part No. DC-4127-N [3C]. Below is a picture of the BorgWarner one followed by its specs, as
described here. Look right for a 2005 Bullet 500ES? The thread there commences describing the sprag woes of a 2005 Electra X, so I'm just guessing it might work for other models.
A5HF1, A6LF3, A6MF2, TF-80SC, TR-80SD (0C8)
Sprag
Part No. BW-SP-2
TF-80SC, AF40-6
Sonnax 24-Element, double cage design sprag BW-SP-2 is a Borg Warner direct replacement for Aisin AW TF-80SC, AF40-6 converters used in Saab, Opel, Fiat and many other vehicles.
Specs:
Sprag Element Count: 24
Width: 0.336"
Race Outer Dia.: 2.747"
Race Inner Dia.: 2.087"
Just for a gag, I contacted BorgWarner through their website as follows to perhaps clarify matters--maybe even cadge a sample freebie slag...I mean skank...No,
SPRAG. That's right, "sprag":
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am led to understand from its published measurements (Outer Dia: 2.747", Inner Dia: 2.087", Width: 0.336") that your Sprag (Part No. BW-SP-2), a direct replacement part for those found in torque converters used in Saab, Opel, Fiat and many other vehicles, may also serve as a direct replacement for the electric starter clutch sprag found in some Indian-made Royal Enfield "Bullet" motorcycles manufactured before 2008. I am wondering if you might be able to confirm this application for that part.
If your records cannot confirm this additional use, I would be happy to compare a sample of your part BW-SP-2 with the OEM sprag currently in place in my own vehicle's starter assembly. As it happens, the OEM sprag found in this starter assembly of these rather primitively-designed 350cc and 500cc single-cylinder motorcycles, manufactured virtually unchanged from 1948 until 2008 based on a British model, is somewhat prone to failure due to the stresses of occasional engine kickbacks and the sometimes less than stellar metallurgy of the OEM parts, certainly when compared with those of BorgWarner.
One imagines that if one were able to confirm the use of your part BW-SP-2 in this new context, it might well become one of your more popular aftermarket items, seeing as how despite its relative rarity in the USA, the Royal Enfield "Bullet" is actually the longest-produced model of vehicle ever produced in history, with hundreds of thousands of examples on the roads of the world--a good number of them, like mine, which might benefit from a fresh BorgWarner sprag of known quality.
With Regards,
William Connelly
Obligatory "Borg Sprag" Measurements Image