Electric Start on Small Outboards

[NeilR]

This post concerns installing electric start on my 2016 Yamaha 8hp 2 stroke outboard.

Due to recurring tendonitis I'm always looking for ways to do "normal" things without aggravating it by coming up with workarounds. My outboard motor is in as new condition so replacing it is out of the question for now. Besides, when it does come time to replace, I'll be going all electric no doubt. 

I contacted Yamaha in Australia and Japan and received the same answers. You cannot electric start my engine. This confused me as there was clearly provision for a starter motor mount on the engine block so I delved a little deeper. The key was to find a flywheel with ring gear and in about five minutes online I found several second hand listings in the USA for the 6 and 8 hp 2 stroke models. I ordered one. Next was the starter motor which Yamaha DID want to sell me (it's generic I think) for $350 AU. Being a little more than I thought it was worth I kept looking around. I found an AliExpress seller who sells electric start kits for a range of motors. I asked about the 8hp options and was told again, no, it can't be done. I took a gamble and bought a kit that suited the 9.9 and 15hp 2 strokes without flywheel for $180AU.

Everything arrived two months later and was installed in a day. I had my local Yamaha dealer fit the flywheel in case there was a problem but there wasn't.

So, I'm now the happy owner of a rare electric start AND pull start 2016 Yamaha 8hp 2 stroke outboard and the perfect auxiliary for my Tiki26. I'll link a short video below.

Hope this helps someone else.

https://youtu.be/VTDccvIvrJI