Kick starters

[jchesshyre]

Just imagine if our Firestorms had a kick starter, how cool we'd look firing them up successfully and how big our right legs would be

[MacV2]

Just imagine if our Firestorms had a kick starter, how cool we'd look firing them up successfully and how big our right legs would be

Or how stupid you would look when it didnt start after repeated kicks...

Or how you would swear like F*** when it kicked back & smashed your shin...

I'll stick to the leccy start thanks...

[jchesshyre]

Yeah, I chose to ignore these possibilities... but I did mean as well as a nelectric start, so you could pick and choose depending on who was watching.

[podman]

Back in the 80s, my friend had several weeks off work after an XR600 kicked back and ripped the ligaments in his ankle..and I can tell you with some degree of certainty, its impossible to bump start an SP1.

Several of his tried doing this to my friends SP1 when the clutch lever fell off(yes, id have thought it impossible as well) ,bounced down the road and disappeared into the verge .

In the end, we bought a tow rope from Halfords , and using my GSXR with him holding the rope, got him up to around 30MPH and dumped the clutch ...was just a matter of a 120 mile ride back to home without stopping, which he managed, even if it meant use of the pavement on occasion!

[url]

[jchesshyre]

Hahahaha amazing. As I'm sure you realise I was 95% joking. I've only owned one kick started bike, an NSR250, but I have some idea of what a pig a large bike would be with one. I've once successfully bump started my Firestorm soon after I bought it when the battery died but it was not fun.

[fabiostar]

last big bike i had with a kicker was a Ducati Darmah 900.. leftside kick and a total pain in the hole

[VTRDark]

At the same time why not get a starter handle on your car

[KermitLeFrog]

Back in the 80s, my friend had several weeks off work after an XR600 kicked back and ripped the ligaments in his ankle..and I can tell you with some degree of certainty, its impossible to bump start an SP1.

Several of his tried doing this to my friends SP1 when the clutch lever fell off(yes, id have thought it impossible as well) ,bounced down the road and disappeared into the verge .

In the end, we bought a tow rope from Halfords , and using my GSXR with him holding the rope, got him up to around 30MPH and dumped the clutch ...was just a matter of a 120 mile ride back to home without stopping, which he managed, even if it meant use of the pavement on occasion!

Not quite sure how you dumped the clutch without a clutch lever. But, anyhow, the SOP when you are unable to declutch is to start in first gear. Less strain on the starter motor if you are on a down grade.

I exploded my turbo scoobydoo clutch going over a Swiss pass on a saturday afternoon but made it back for work on Monday morning.

[sirch345]

I would have appreciated a kick start on the Storm when I had to run the bike off on my own with only a short and not very steep hill to do it on. It took a few attempts, but I did get it going. The battery had packed up,

Chris.

[podman]

Back in the 80s, my friend had several weeks off work after an XR600 kicked back and ripped the ligaments in his ankle..and I can tell you with some degree of certainty, its impossible to bump start an SP1.

Several of his tried doing this to my friends SP1 when the clutch lever fell off(yes, id have thought it impossible as well) ,bounced down the road and disappeared into the verge .

In the end, we bought a tow rope from Halfords , and using my GSXR with him holding the rope, got him up to around 30MPH and dumped the clutch ...was just a matter of a 120 mile ride back to home without stopping, which he managed, even if it meant use of the pavement on occasion!

Not quite sure how you dumped the clutch without a clutch lever. But, anyhow, the SOP when you are unable to declutch is to start in first gear. Less strain on the starter motor if you are on a down grade.

I exploded my turbo scoobydoo clutch going over a Swiss pass on a saturday afternoon but made it back for work on Monday morning.

As the clutch lever wasnt present, the starter wouldnt engage in gear (switch prevents this and we tried everything we could to push the plunger in) , I dont think a 1000cc V twin would catch on a starter motor anyway..3 blokes pushing it as fast as we could go would just result in the wheel locking as soon as it was booted into gear.we even had a race team stop to try and help us but after 2+ hours stuck by the side of the road in Wisbech, another visit to Halfords ended up with the tow rope solution....towing up to speed, then hoofing it into gear did the job thou..sorry, yes, when I say dumping the clutch, I mean hoofing it into gear.. (this was over 2 years ago now) .

[alanfjones1411]

The last bike i had with a kicker was a Triumph Bonneville.Wish i still had it.

[KermitLeFrog]

Back in the 80s, my friend had several weeks off work after an XR600 kicked back and ripped the ligaments in his ankle..and I can tell you with some degree of certainty, its impossible to bump start an SP1.

Several of his tried doing this to my friends SP1 when the clutch lever fell off(yes, id have thought it impossible as well) ,bounced down the road and disappeared into the verge .

In the end, we bought a tow rope from Halfords , and using my GSXR with him holding the rope, got him up to around 30MPH and dumped the clutch ...was just a matter of a 120 mile ride back to home without stopping, which he managed, even if it meant use of the pavement on occasion!

Not quite sure how you dumped the clutch without a clutch lever. But, anyhow, the SOP when you are unable to declutch is to start in first gear. Less strain on the starter motor if you are on a down grade.

I exploded my turbo scoobydoo clutch going over a Swiss pass on a saturday afternoon but made it back for work on Monday morning.

As the clutch lever wasnt present, the starter wouldnt engage in gear (switch prevents this and we tried everything we could to push the plunger in) , I dont think a 1000cc V twin would catch on a starter motor anyway..3 blokes pushing it as fast as we could go would just result in the wheel locking as soon as it was booted into gear.we even had a race team stop to try and help us but after 2+ hours stuck by the side of the road in Wisbech, another visit to Halfords ended up with the tow rope solution....towing up to speed, then hoofing it into gear did the job thou..sorry, yes, when I say dumping the clutch, I mean hoofing it into gear.. (this was over 2 years ago now) .

Aaaah, that makes sense.

Tricky job, towing a bike, especially at that speed. Well done!

[kenmoore]

A decompression valve would be necessary if our bikes had a kick starter.

I owned numerous kickers in the 70s & 80s and suffered some injuries as well,but have fond memories.

I do appreciate an "electric Leg " these days though and am happy that the VTR has one !

Still,

It would be the ultimate mod to have a Kick Start and even though I am heavily afflicted with the OCMD I am leaving that alone .

Shite, I wonder if that is achievable?

[fatfreddy000]

Back in the 80s, my friend had several weeks off work after an XR600 kicked back and ripped the ligaments in his ankle..and I can tell you with some degree of certainty, its impossible to bump start an SP1.

Several of his tried doing this to my friends SP1 when the clutch lever fell off(yes, id have thought it impossible as well) ,bounced down the road and disappeared into the verge .

In the end, we bought a tow rope from Halfords , and using my GSXR with him holding the rope, got him up to around 30MPH and dumped the clutch ...was just a matter of a 120 mile ride back to home without stopping, which he managed, even if it meant use of the pavement on occasion!

[url]

i actually did manage to bump start my firestorm a couple of months back when the battery didn't have enough juice to turn it over fast enough. Its true that i was parked at the top of a right big hill in london (the road is actually called 'big hill'!). i think i did it in 2nd gear but can't be sure. it took about 10 attempts and i had all but given up. my trick was to get as much speed up as possible and jump as far back onto the pillon seat as possible while dumping the clutch, most the time the back wheel would just lock or turn the engine over one compression stroke and lunge then lock.. i wouldn't want to try again, dunno if i would succeed.
i love kickstart bikes, I've been lucky enough to have no injuries but I've never had a big single.
The last i owned was a 1980 z1000 US import about 15 years ago that i lovingly converted from a rusty custom chrome thing into an absurdly fat mat black and gold powder coat cafe racer with ace bars etc, that bike was was great fun to start- lean it over a bit, prime with a couple of gentle kick start cycles, then half throttle and one almighty boot and vroooom!.. loved it. Used to soar unto 140mph on that heavy old beast..