Topic: high compression kick start?

[Don R]

 Does anyone kick start a high compression motor?  If so how big a motor can you reliably kick? My 836 12-1 surprised me when the charging system failed and I tried to kick it.

[seanbarney41]

12-1!  Yeah that would be quite a hefty boot...at least it's a 4 cylinder so as one cylinder is coming up on compression while one other is getting forced back down.  Try a big bore single.  Biggest boot I have started was an older Yamaha WR450 with a piston kit and cams that didn't play with the factory compression release.  If you didn't time your kick to just after tdc that kick lever ain't goin nowhere and I weigh 220lb.  My kz1000 is sadly kick only due to a spun alternator rotor wearing out the crank snout where the starter clutch also resides, but I dunno if it's 12-1...at least 10.5-1 and it takes some boot!

[dragracer]

1030cc. Kick only because the rotor snapped the end of the crank off. Low-mid 10 second bike. I make certain the lever is over halfway down before I romp on it.

[C317414]

I've owned a few BSA 500 singles, Ducati 450 singles, a number of British twins, a Husky 510, and a bevelhead Ducati 750.  Plus I worked at a Brit bike shop when I was in college,  so I'm used to kick starting hard to start bikes.  I've found the issue is technique, and not brute strength or weight.  Also, the bike has to be in a good state of tune.  Even then, my old knees are not what they used to be.  I finally gave-in five years ago, and installed a CNW e-start kit on my Norton Commando.

[grcamna2]

Boots with thick soles/motocross boots.

[Tracksnblades1]

I've owned a few BSA 500 singles, Ducati 450 singles, a number of British twins, a Husky 510, and a bevelhead Ducati 750.  Plus I worked at a Brit bike shop when I was in college,  so I'm used to kick starting hard to start bikes.  I've found the issue is technique, and not brute strength or weight.  Also, the bike has to be in a good state of tune.  Even then, my old knees are not what they used to be.  I finally gave-in five years ago, and installed a CNW e-start kit on my Norton Commando.

I can attest.

The BSA 500 Victor without using the handlebar decompression release is a kin to placing a concrete block under the kick starter. Never liked the brake on the left and shifter on the right thing.. By the time you quit shifting down when braking the BSA, you were shifting down when braking on the Japanese bikes later.. 🤪

[C317414]

I've owned a few BSA 500 singles, Ducati 450 singles, a number of British twins, a Husky 510, and a bevelhead Ducati 750.  Plus I worked at a Brit bike shop when I was in college,  so I'm used to kick starting hard to start bikes.  I've found the issue is technique, and not brute strength or weight.  Also, the bike has to be in a good state of tune.  Even then, my old knees are not what they used to be.  I finally gave-in five years ago, and installed a CNW e-start kit on my Norton Commando.

I can attest.

The BSA 500 Victor without using the handlebar decompression release is a kin to placing a concrete block under the kick starter. Never liked the brake on the left and shifter on the right thing.. By the time you quit shifting down when braking the BSA, you were shifting down when braking on the Japanese bikes later.. 🤪

The shifting and braking has never been an issue for me.  I have bikes that shift on the left, and bikes that shift on the right.  Moreover, I have bikes with a up-for-low and bikes with a down-for-low shift pattern.  Somehow, I've always been able to deal with the differences.  My personal preference is right side shift/left side brake, but that's probably because my first few bikes in the late 60s and early 70s were this way.

[bear]

1030cc. Kick only because the rotor snapped the end of the crank off. Low-mid 10 second bike. I make certain the lever is over halfway down before I romp on it.

We used the same method for our 1120cc road race motor's when cold but bump start them when warm. No issues.

[Tim2005]

Years back I did a 475cc conversion on 400f and it ended up with a lot more compression than expected. The starter motor wouldn't turn it over and while it was kick-able I found the kickstart knuckles were not strong enough & would crack. Bump starting it everywhere was a pain too, at fuel stations being the most annoying. On the plus side, it was really quick...

[Tracksnblades1]

Does anyone kick start a high compression motor?  If so how big a motor can you reliably kick? My 836 12-1 surprised me when the charging system failed and I tried to kick it.

My old budy, now long gone,  used to use the electric starter and the kick starter at the same time to get his RC 836 cranked up.. He ran the RC light rotor too. I like the little heavier rotor. The 12:1’s would slide the back tire on an emergency throttle chop engine brake. Not a big deal during normal riding. But it would get your attention if someone pulled out in front of you at the last minute.

He only weighed a buck and a quarter, kidneys never worked right… He would get one of us to kick it if he couldn’t get it started.. He kept it in good tune so he rarely needed help.. 😇

[Don R]

 The guy that bought my sandcast new traded in a BSA kick start bike. He also weighed a buck and a quarter and you never saw him without a cigarette, he was tickled with the cb750's electric start. His son said he had a heck of a time kicking that BSA.
 I left the blue coral wax that is caked on the back of the front turn signals that he coated the bike with when he put away the last time. The chrome got WD40 too.

[C317414]

The guy that bought my sandcast new traded in a BSA kick start bike. He also weighed a buck and a quarter and you never saw him without a cigarette, he was tickled with the cb750's electric start. His son said he had a heck of a time kicking that BSA.
 I left the blue coral wax that is caked on the back of the front turn signals that he coated the bike with when he put away the last time. The chrome got WD40 too.

BSA and Triumph twins are very easy to start, if they are tuned properly and have good compression.  Most of the hard starting issues I've seen have been caused by neglect.  My wife rode a 69 Bonneville for years, and never had any problem starting it.