Would you rather kick start you Motorcycle or just push a button?
November 11, 2009 | Motorcycles
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Re: “Would you rather kick start you Motorcycle or just push a button?”
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I ride a 61 panhead so ya know what I like! Real choppers dont have electric start! Or front a front brake! and ya better have open primary! no turn signals either!
Kickstart all the way. If you’re physically able it’s far better than electric start. Electric starting adds weight, complexity, and dependance on the battery and a more complicated electrical system, as well as being easier to silently hotwire. Kickstarting does connect you more to your bike, and apart from the other benefits (light weight, reliability , and extreme simplicity) offers a truly unique feeling you can’t get anywhere else.
I think both should be available.
If for some reason the starter goes out, you can still start the bike.
I can’t start a big bike by pushing it.
In theory, kick starting is fine, but I have shredded the cartilage in my right knee from kicking big singles and brits, and the cartilage in my left knee plus a chronic high ankle sprain from starting high compression East Euro 2-strokes. Plus, when I come off on a steep side slope, I am too old and fat and stubby-legged to wrestle my bike around to where I can kick it, so I’ll take the button, thank you. I have already become one with my bike by lifting it out of my lap in the bottom of a mud hole.
I always tuned my old Triumphs and Nortons so that all it took was a soft kick to free the clutch and prime the carbs, and then another firm kick to start. My last Triumph, a Thunderbird Sport did not have the kick start, just a wimpy sounding starter and button. I sure did miss that kick start when the battery died one cold morning.
I think bikes should have both. Then you have a choice, the easy way, or the macho man way.
my first street bike had both. i almost always used my kick. now i have a sportster that only has electric
My first street bike had a kick start. I really enjoyed bringing my bike to life that way. Nothing felt better than to hear that engine roar to life after a good kick. It really made me feel like we were a team. My Harley today only has the electric start. It’s just not the same.
I think the fun of having a motorcycle is getting some wind in my face and sun on my head. I don’t care what it takes to get me there.
Does your pickup have a crank handle too?