Hey, that's a good idea!!
Just thought I'd share this experience in case you ever find yourself in the same situation...
Yesterday, I went fishing with a friend. It was a saltwater trip but it could have easily been a crappie run. Anyway, everything was going well until we launched. I guess I flooded my o/b and ended up pullling the starter cord a few extra times. Whatever the cause, the pull handle (or the knot) on the cord picked that moment to give out.
Luckily I saved the cord from being sucked back in all the way and the spring coil did not unravel everything. But we had a problem getting the cord back through the pull handle to retie the knot.
My fishing buddy spoke up..."Why don't you just use the rope"..my reply clearly indicated I was not understanding..."let me show you", he said. We had an extra length of hefty sized line on the boat. He just took a piece of that, tied a loop in it, and tied the pull cord to the loop. No more plastic pull handle needed. It works so well I might just leave it there.