MOPED ARMY

the pan

Sweet rides Jimmy!

CLASSIC!, Jim

what year is the flathead?, and the shovel?, and what could that partial pic of the blue and white thing be next to the 45?

Rog,

never had to spank em, just kick em. :{)

I have a friend that added the kicker to his too, it's good to have both, especially on those cool mornings when an old battery hasn't the juice.

I put a belt drive primary on my panhead with the option of going to an electric start some day, but never bothered, usually starts on 1-2 kicks, and when your kickstarting 1340cc (punched out), the sooner the better. pant,pant,pant.

As far as street legal bikes miguel... believe it or not... almost NO motorcycles come with kickstarts.

There are probably 200 different street legal motorcycle models sold in the US now... and I bet only 2 or 3 have kickers on them.

I don't like it... I was disapointed when they started eliminating them (in around 1980 ! )

I always liked to kick start them... and liked the fact that you could still start them with a dead battery.

Not any more.

(but... I also bet I could offer you $100 if you could kickstart a couple of my bikes.. and you couldn't do it.. thats one reason they eliminated them.. some bikes are hard to kick start..)

Another of lifes ...'conveniences'.

...and your right knee....

I said.. HE.. couldn't start it... nor you... nor 19 out of any typical 20 men.

.... I .... can start it... these are a particular type of motorcycles... large bore single cylinder 4 stroke motorcycles.

They can be tuned perfectly... in fact... the better thay are tuned (for more HP)... the harder they are to start.

It takes a fair amount of sheer force... but more importantly... it takes an intimate knowledge of the conditions to be met... and a feel for its 'needs' at that moment.

These motors are at the physical limit of what a man can do to start them himself... everything has to be just right or they won't start.

I am sure that in the old days.. people made money by betting others at the bar to start their bikes... for $$$... the amateurs kicked till they were breathing hard and sweating and cursing... and the owner smiled... and fired it off within 2 or 3 kicks.

People sell them sometimes simply because they can't figure out how.

Also... people used to leave their keys in them... because no stranger to the bike was going to start it and ride it... LOL !!

These type of bikes are from the era when men were men.

Wayne:

That's exactly what I would encounter with guys that worked on the 4 cylinder Jap bikes of the 70's and 80's. They would run down the battery and risk burning up the starter instead of figuring out why the damn thing wouldn't start.

My '67 XLCH Sportster with a magneto would start on three kicks max, two usually. If it didn't, you knew to clean the plugs or check the timing. You could kick til you died, or give up riding one.

These devices had a way of filtering out the wimps and the ones who were not serious about their machines. Another added benefit was if you were "impaired", you couldn't start the machine then slam into the next stationary object to become another statistic for the safety Nazis.

Jim

All of the above.. and more.

The throttle position and choke have to be set right(for temp)... or some have a "hot start button".

You also have to get your body in the right position and gather your strength.

(depending on how strong/large you are)

If you show a mechanically inclined person how... and they are fit (and a little patient)... they can get it to start fairly well.

And sometimes.. I think your Karma just better be right too.

Questions like.. "How do I start this G* D* X** X******* THING ! "

Is a regular question... the tone of exasperation and desperation is sometimes just hilarious... I can't help laughing.

Here is an old one........

<IMG src="http://65.42.148.33/webs/site/britbike/library//obrien%20gs%20ra%20lg%20matz.jpg">;

No... not mine ... I don't have anything that nice.

I run premium in mine.

These are 4 strokes I'm talking about.

A Bridgestone 350 was a 2 cylinder 2 stroke... real easy to start.

That's a 48" machine.I hit the wrong button.If it was 48' it would be a concrete `screeding machine'.WHEW!

not that much "cool"

before 65, all harleys were kick start,

after 65, it was "cool" to have a push button electric start,

there were a few times I wished I had a push button...one was when I stalled out at a busy intersection with my ol' lady on the back, but no one behind me dared blow their horns at me.

but as a safety factor, electric start has some advantages.