is it possible to put a kick start

i thought to test a ignition pickup you passed a screwdriver over it and got spark......

 

I would only consider a mod that has at least one redeeming feature.

Changing to points would be a totally negative mod.

 

Sounds like an awful lot of work for a kick start. As long as you have a good battery and starter why spend all that money machining cases and gears and hoping you got everything correct so nothing brakes when your kicking it. Wouldn't be a good thing to get it started with the kick start and a piece of aluminum falls in and ruins the motor.

 

Another downside is the fact you are removing the electric starter.

Not to mention how painful it would be if (or when) the starter clutch skips

 

Dark, what's so hard about removing a starter, after the cable is removed, pull 2 bolts out and pull straight back( a 5 minute job ). As far as a slipping starter clutch, just have an adequate lever stop installed on the down side( no pun intended ).

 

The downside of not having and electric starter, is not having an electric starter.

As for a slipping starter clutch, it depends on how much force is required. If it was easy to kick over it would be fine if it slipped, but if it was a brute to kick over you could hurt yourself.

Not being a single cylinder it should be easy to kick over though.

 

Ahh, kickstarting singles...

So here's a 17-year old Fitz, way too sure of himself, riding his buddy's uncle's BSA Victor 441 single that had been kitted to a 600, with NO knowledge of how to properly start a big single or even what that other lever on the bars was for.

I had jumped on the bike when it was running, and hadn't been paying attention when it was started.

Stopped by my house, and shut the bike off. Did my thing, came back out and jumped on the bike.

Switched on the ignition, and jumped on the kickstarter with all the force I could bring to bear. There was a loud "pop" when the big thumper kicked back and launched my 120lb self over the handlebars and against the garage door upside down like a rag doll.

That was when I learned about the concept of a compression release.

 

It would probably bo more practical to install a recoil starter (pull cord) like your lawn mower! You'd need pretty heavy duty cord however.

 

haha! yeah Fitz I had a GN 400. I learned alot on that one, I was 19, GREEN, and free.
My shin remembers that bike too!

 

That info is either deeply buried in Chacal's vast info, or it came from a motorcycle magazine's archives.

There's a joke about old Mercury outboards - - to pull start them, the rope is 30 feet long and the guy runs down the dock.

 

I also stand corrected it was electronic ignition, not electric start.

 

Not funny nor is this too far off. Last summer I had taken my two favorite girls out in my boat, equiped with a 85HP outboard. The starter was binding bad due to a misalignment(didn't know at the time) and I noted the cutouts on the top of the flywheel. After puttering for around 20 minutes while we floated in the Chesepeake Bay, the girls were begining to get nervous so I took a section of rope, wrapped around 4-5 wraps and told my daughter to hit the starter button at the same time I pulled, for that little bit of help.....the first pull it popped...the 2nd it started....we went STRAIGHT to the dock after we got it running.The engine is a triple cylinder 2 stroke, around 900cc.....and it was not fun pulling it with a rope wrapped around your hand but it did work.

And to whoever mentioned going back to breaker points....after owning 2 1972 H1's, each with 3 set of points, NOTHANK YOU!!

The whole kickstart mechanism for one of my triples consists of a shaft, the return spring wrapped around that shaft, a groove for the end of the spring to sit it and an actuator gear that turns 1st gear....very simple. Not sure if it could work on a XJ but this is an interseting discussion.

I also had a GS750 suzuki inline 4 cylinder that had both electric and kick....and it was easier to start than almost ANY thumper. Not quite as easy as a 2 stroke but not very much more difficult then my 350 Honda twin either.

Fitz....I was laughing before I even finished reading about your Victor experience.....<LOL>.....guys, he's not exagerating a bit.....guys would actually be launched if they didn't A use the release and B kick it only on the compression stroke!
jeff

P.S. this pic is as the cases are reassembled so you are looking at the top of the case laying upsidedown. IE: the kick shaft extends out on the right side of the engine when it is installed.

 

May sound stupid but why not just install a fake one with an electric switch on the down stroke of the kickstart? If it's just for looks (apart from everyone on here knowing it was fake of course!) ???

 

The idea was to install a functional one. It wasn't about looks, it was about not wanting to keep on top of <<ahem er> rely on>>the alternator and battery.

 

Just learned (since I bought 2 XT500's) that the kick-to-crank ratio happens to be 9:1 on that particular bike. Which is close to my previous guess of the gear-up necessary. You would still need to kick the hell out of it IMHO.

A tuned-up XJ bump starts with little effort, for those who really (REALLY) want to eliminate the starter and big battery. A Lithium Ion pak weighs 3 LBS.

 

Haha just my view on so many people into the whole "ol school" bobber/chopper look going around at the mo (me included!) and just going for a look rather than functionality. My view is to get the right bike in the first place, but I admire the way you guys on this site try and solve things, good work!

 

I know I'm raising an old thread here, but I'm wondering why an XJ is so easy to push start, if it requires two engine cycles before the TCI will give spark? As long as its not super cold out, or it hasn't been ridden recently, mine will start pretty much immediately with just a bit of push.

 

Until recently all my bikes were kickers;DT250, RD350, & SR500. My XS850 has a kick starter and I use it often ...it's a satisfying feeling. I wish my XJ's had one.

 

This would be stupid funny. I want it.

 

Possibly stupid question.
If its kick start, what does that implicate as to the battery requirements?