Hard to Kick Start - Make Money!

[Ross]

As a guy who has ridden for close to 40 years I could tell a few stories about the " Art Of Kickstarting". A couple of years ago I won best of show at a show and shine with a Harley 45. It wasn't the prettiest bike there or the most valuable. However throughout the day I started it with my hand. I really think that's the reason it won. Still is a first kick bike.My 25 year old son Cory (AMCA member),might very well have his own kickstarter story. Last year I rode my Ultra to Sturgis and my youngest son rode his new Sporster. Cory was on a 1971 BSA Lightning.We were gone 9 days and on day 2 Cory lost the kickstarter. For the next week at Mt. Rushmore,Deadwood, Needles Highway, Wall Drugs (you get the picture) he had to take 10 to 15 feet and bumpstart the old BZER. It went every time. That old bike drew a crowd where ever it went.( Our over priced Milwaukee iron never got a look) You know how crowded it gets there. My son and I had to clear a path for him at every stop to have enough room for the jumpstart. Perhaps you saw the 3 of us there? I was the goodlooking one.

[c.o.]

Funny you mentioned the Beezer allure Ross. A few years back I had a '69 Lightning that gathered attention everywhere I went. It was a cherry machine and was LOUD! I had Harley buddies complain that they couldn't hear their bikes when they rode with me...har...har... I was at a gas station one time a couple hundred miles from home when I had a "kicker mishap". It was another case of a "watched" bike refusing to start. I booted and booted until my face turned blue. In one final to quote exeric "gorilla kick", the damn thing broke in two! As mad as I was, it couldn't have happened in a better place. A funky chopper dude had witnessed the whole thing and invited me across the alley to use his shop to patch things up. A little work, a lot of B.S. and a couple hours later and it was patched well enough to hit the road. I love the old American bikes, but those Brit machines can be a blast! When they're running that is........

[cheifrider]

Originally posted by Kojack
Hi Martin, glad you were able to join the discussion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

kojak, im a carpenter by trade and after looking at the link you attached ,you have hit the perverbial nail on the head, check out the link guys ...................i think youlll agree,tom

[Paps]

Had a 71 Lighting myself. Loved that bike !! Alas....I traded it as a down payment on a house. Could kick myself in the arse for cutting the rear frame tubes up. I lengthened the swingarm so I could drop the positon of the seat a bit closer to the ground and added a couple of inches by replacing the fork tubes. I'm a bit short legged as well as light on the pounds. After a fresh rebuild on the engine [bored it .040" over], I broke it in. With only a couple of hundred miles on it, my buddy decides to push me into a race against his 900 2 stroke Susuki. We were already cruising at 50 when he pulls along side of me. Teasing and reving his bike, I finally had enough. Didn't know what my BSA would do but I twisted hard on the throttle while in 4th gear and away we went. He dropped a gear for Rs but I only saw him in my mirrors, gradually getting smaller, as we roared down the highway. At the stop sign a mile on down the road, I came to a stop, fired up a butt, and awaited his arrival. The look on his face was a picture to behold !! His jaw was pasted to his chest when he spoke. WOW !!!!!!!!! He still speaks of that day everytime we get together. . Only thing I didn't care for on that bike was the positive ground system and that darn Lucas compasitator(sp). I'll dig out some pics of my butchering and post them sometime. It has been a long time since I owned that scooter. As I recall, the oil tank was part of the frame. Paps

[darrylri]

Not exactly my own story, but... I lived in the Seattle area for 8 years, and there's a great club up there, the Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts. They have a rally every year, the Isle of Vashon TT on one of the little dots in the Puget Sound. Included in the rally is a concours show.

The last year I was living up there, they had a "rat bike" category in the concours. When they got to presenting the trophies at the end of the day, they announced that there were two rat bikes par excellence, and they couldn't decide between them. So they get the owners up and the whole crowd troops over to the bikes.

The judges asked both owners if their bikes really started and ran. They both kinda looked at the ground, but said yeah. So, the judges said, "well, let's see it!".

They both went to their mounts and started kicking. And kicking. And kicking some more. Not even the slightest hint of life from either one.

But eventually, one of them coughed a few times and then finally lit. The crowd cheered the owner, who was red faced and breathing hard, but smiling.

The other guy kept on kicking. And finally, it too coughed to life. The crowd cheered him, too, even louder.

Because it took him longer, the judges gave the prize to the second guy.

[Carl N. Olsen]

I rode my Knuckle to the Viking chapter meet a few years ago and went to the cafe down the street for breakfast. I had a great meal and while I was eating 3 guys on later Harleys showed up and sat down at a table nearby, we made some small talk and I left after my meal. I went out to kick the Knuckle over and the one piece kick arm broke clean off and fell on the ground. After putting the remains of the arm in the saddlebag, I went into the cafe and walked up to the 3 Harley riders and asked if thier bikes had electric starters. They all said yes and I said mine only had a kick starter and it had just broken off and could they give me a bump start. They gave me a push and off I went back to the meet where I went shopping for the parts and tools to repair it as I did not want to get bump started all the way home. A half an hour later I was all set and changing out the kicker arm and one of the officers cam by to see what was going on and informed me that I should register for the Grey Beard Award, bikes age-riders age-distance ridden, to be awarded as a chapter award after judging. To make a long story shorter I won and when Jerry Richards handed me my award he said all I needed now was a grey beard. I said that is why I shaved it off.
Carl

[23JDCA 808]

Why not use starting fluid?

[militaryrider]

I have to add My 2 cents !
My Pan know when My wife is watching , it will not start .
without fail My wife will ask '' why won't it start ? , you should ask someone in the club to look at it for you ""'
What a vote of confidence !!!!!!
Yes after she leaves , one kick !

[HarleyCreation]

Kicking it

Years ago on a frosty Wisconsin morning I was leaving on a trip with my "stock" '50 Panhead (18" wheels).

I stopped in town at the bank for some cash and upon leaving the darn thing refused to start! Of course I was dressed for a cold ride in layers of wool long underwear, sweaters, leathers, etc. But within a few kicks I was ROASTING like a fiend from Hell inside all of those clothes! Then I could see that everybody in the bank was watching my antics thru the window. What was I going to do then? Strip down in front of all those people and look even more like an idiot?

So I just maintained and acted oblivious like everything was "cool" while silently praying to the battery god: This kick for sure! This one will do it! One more! Please Arthur!

Finally it did start with a blast of stinking smoke, but I was terribly overheated and dizzy. Today I'm sure that would mean a heart-attack and ride to the hospital in an ambulance!

I always told myself: Let the flywheels do the work. But there seemed to be notion that kicking as fiercely as one could against compression gave better results.

I don't know....

[Skip]

I guess the best one I can come up with was Me and Clyde were at a CMA poker run...great bunch of guys by the way...and the old Pan would not start...after about an hour of relentless kicking, I let these old timers talk me into letting them push me around the parking lot...now these guys were no spring chickens...so after they push me the length of the parking lot 2 or 3 times I tell them lets let it set a minute...I was really fearing for their safety...now this next part I have never told anyone but Clyde...as they were pusing me over to park under the only shade tree...I was shutting the gas off, etc...when I noticed that ALL the time these poor guys were pushing me in the hot July sun...I had the switch OFF....I flipped it on and the first kick it fired up and Clyde and I toook off...we bought them refreshments at the next stop...never did tell them what had happened....Skip

[exeric]

Oh yeah, I've done that. It's embarrassing and infuriating at the same time. The only thing that takes the sting out of it, is that when you make the discovery, the bike usually starts right up.

I was just thinking of another aspect of starting that drives me nuts which is poorly maintained or worn out starters. I've already mentioned the Indian starter and you can add the Excelsior quadrant type starter and early Henderson starters. It seems most all early motorcycle starters were weak or prone to rapid wear with the exception of Harley Davidson. H-D got it right in 1916 and continued making a great starter. However, one thing H-D did goof up on was the kicker pedal that superseded the classic bicycle pedal. I'm refering to the rubber pedal that was tapered and slipped over a sawtoothed metal core. That was the most miserable pedal ever used on any motorcycle and probably contributed to much of the scorn H-D suffered in the 60's and 70's. First of all, the pedal had a terrible shape for keeping your foot on the the pedal. The taper just naturally let your foot slide off the pedal and if your shoe was wet you really had a problem. Everyone I knew replaced that pedal with the bicycle type or some kind of a custom pedal. I always wondered how that stupid design got past R&D, then went into production, and finally lasted as long as it did.

I had a friend who had a 1968 Shovel with that tapered kicker pedal. His bike was hard to start and always required too many kicks to start. There were a lot of reasons for this including a poorly maintained bike and a lack of mechanical ability on his part. I would always wait for him to get his bike running before I would start mine. The poor guy would be huffing and puffing after 20 kicks but he always stayed with it until it started. On this one occasion the bike was kicking back but close to starting. He increased the authority of his kicks until the rubber slipped off the sawtoothed core. The engine kicked back and the jagged pedal core caught him in the calf cutting through his jeans and layed him open. Man, what a mess. Needless to say, we didn't go anywhere that day. Eventually, he forgave his motorcycle but that blood thirsty pedal got deep sixed and replaced with the bicycle pedal.

[HarleyCreation]

The bicycle pedal really was the best. But it had been around SO long Harley probably figured they needed something new and different just like they modernized the Bar & Shield around that same time period. But as we all know: Change isn't always good.

One of my favorite photos is the four Founders of H-D standing around the 36EL Knucklehead. In one version Bill Harley has a little smile on his face and Arthur is reaching out touching the bicycle pedal on the kick-starter. I don't know if they planned it that way or not, but the symbolism of past and present coming together in that moment was pretty effective and still is.

[mmoore]

sorry you feel that way martin BUT back in the early days I went over the handle bars on a bike with a windshield that episode was witnessed by 5 guys watching who all said i cleared the windshield without touching it (that would be at least 2 feet!!!!)granted i was only about 145 lbs at the time it still happened.... we all made mistakes in life and we choose to learn and laugh at ourselfs rather be haunted by them. HOWEVER I have never felt the need to call anybody a moron or disrespect anybody here even tho i might not agree with them. just lighten up on us guy and spike I know the feeling, one kick in front of the twinkies is worth countless hours working on it that is something no one can take from you ride on!

[D.Mac]

kicker stories

Hi all,
It always seems I come across these threads after the topic has drifted , but I just read Paul's comment early in the thread about significant others helping with the kicking chores, and I thouigh I had to put my two cents in. Back in the early seventies, I had banged up my right ankle real bad, and although I could still kick the ol pan over it was very painfull. The ol pan was a real easy start, so I thought heck, my girl could start it for me. No problem, she kicked it and we rode- went like that for several days. Got some double takes to be sure, but the best one was after gassing-up at one stop, she kicked it to life, I got on and she climbed on the back, and the old sevice attendant just about went nuts! He said allright man! you really got it goin' down!, and several other choice comments. We laughed for the rest of the day!
My other "kicker story", is about the same vintage. We were headed home from a July 4th camping trip, bikes loaded with sleeping bags and stuff. We stopped a rural diner for breakfast, parked right in front of the picture windows, and when we went out to leave, I jumped on the kicker and.... the side stand snapped! A 6" over frontend put the bike just high enough for a good fall- must have been good the way my buds were rolling on the ground laughing! So much for my "biker image" that day! I still prefer starting my bikes "straight-up" to this day.
Doug.

[King T]

One of my worst was a few years ago (actually almost a generation ago) when I spied a group of young ladies at the local Dairy Queen in Durand WI and decided to get a better look. To be cool I locked the back wheel of the Pan in the gravel covered lot to make a “sliding stop”. Of course it kicked right out and I dumped it. There I was on my a double s in front of probably the most spectacular display of young goddesses I have ever seen assembled (a volleyball team from a school in Iowa). They got a good titter out of that one

Getting back to kicking. Herb’s “Let the flywheels do the work” got me thinking of a concept Mr. Cotten came up with recently on another site. Depleted Uranium Flywheels. They might be a bit tough to get going, but think of the benefits. You could shut down the ignition, fill up with gas, turn her back on and off you go. With a well broken in 45 you could probably even have a couple of beers and they would still be rotating.

King