  The pion decay constants of the lowest orbitally excited states of the
nucleon and the $\Delta(1232)$ along with the corresponding axial transition
form factors are calculated with Poincar\'e covariant constituent-quark models
with instant, point and front forms of relativistic kinematics. The model wave
functions are chosen such that the calculated electromagnetic and axial form
factors of the nucleon represent the empirical values in all three forms of
kinematics, when calculated with single-constituent currents. The pion decay
widths calculated with the three forms of kinematics are smaller than the
empirical values. Front and instant form kinematics provide a similar
description, with a slight preference for front form, while the point form
values are significantly smaller in the case of the lowest positive parity
resonances.
