Has anyone tried to convert a non kick start sporty to a kick start sporty?

Is it possible with avalable parts or would it be a totaly custom fab?

I think a old school chopper build using a newer sportster would look great with a kicker, but I would not want to put the pedal on there if it didn't actualy function.

Why would anyone even consider it?

I've looked before and didn't find anything
and as for home built , it would be a lot of work (clutchbasket,kickershaft,cases,covers,ratchet,ect ,ect,ect) now don't get me wrong , I'm not saying there is nothing or it can't be done , I just haven't seen anything as for kits

seems like to me if you can push start it, you can kick start it, but i dunno. To answer you question though, I have never seen anything like that.

I have never seen anything like that.

and quite likely ya never will ;)

a kick starter works off a ratchet on the clutch hub evo sportys don't have this ratchet, so no just cause you can push it doesn't mean ya can install a kicker

get an ironhead and kick away , most people woun't get a kicker bike cause it can be hell to get started not to mention the blown out knees from a stuborn starting bike that wants to kick your ass

xlCH isn't nicknamed "charleyhorse" for nothing

I remember those days well. Kick startin' wuz all we had. I hated the wimps that had the electric starts. In '72 my buddy shows up with one on his sporty. I teased him unmercifully, that is till I got one myself.

Why would anyone wanna go backwards?

Why would anyone wanna go backwards?

could be a cute chick back there. =D

could be a cute chick back there. =D

$hit, I just spewed my coffee all over the place. Warn me when yer gonna do that again... :laugh :laugh :laugh

Why would anyone even consider it?

Will,

As previously entered

"I think a old school chopper build using a newer sportster would look great with a kicker."

That is why "anyone" (me) would consider it!

I think if you have to ask a question like that then you probably wouldnt understand, anyway.

will is like me , we already went through the old school trip , back when it was still preschool and I'm sure he has bad knees like I do cause of the dreaded xlch brutal and ill designed kicker , but like he said "its all we had" so we treat our bad knee's as badges of honor to the few who would not bend to the pussy button , girls bike

Why would anyone even consider it?
My thoughts exactly why bother

the few who would not bend to the pussy button

So why is it so outragious to think that a "youngster" such as myself wouldn't apreciate the nostalgia in havin a 21st century bike complete with kicker.

I mean, for cripes sake, if no one was interested in the way things used to be then would we know about people like Indian Larry(GRHS) and Billy Lane who have built countless bikes, some new some old, but all with remnants of the past incorporated into their design?

You have to at least see my point.

Will,

if you have to ask a question like that then you probably wouldnt understand, anyway.

You have no idea :laugh ... read what flathead has to say.

Well that does it!

If its the last thing I do I'm putting a kicker on my bike. If nothing else, I'll be the first to do it,
and that is reason enough for me!

Thanks for the input guys!

I don't know fellas, I like a kick-start!! Theres something about the whole proceedure I go thru to start my 74XLCH that makes it cool, nostalgic, dare I say even Romantic??....well you ought to see the look on my wifes face when I fire it up on the first kick!!.... I kind of akin it to Philo Beddo hanging off the shandelar as he shows off for his girlfriend Lynn Halsey Taylor in the movie 'Every Which Way You Can'.....Or perhaps I look more like Clyde....anyway, she likes it when I do these He-Man stuff... :clap

If its crazy to want a kick start then just call me F :censor G CRAZY ....cause as I type this I'm building my BIG TWIN Harley, Hardtail 'Bobber' with 4spd kick-Start transmission......

Hey Cul8R...nothing wrong with a you......

50 YEARS OLD AND STILL F :censor G CRAZY...... :smoke

I would thinka kickstart would be pretty sweet, except I would probably find a way to eliminate the electric too.

If its the last thing I do

and well it may be. I've heard of a lotta winter projects that I thought weird but this takes the cake.

Good luck wih the knee!

Thanks Will!

Why would anyone even consider it?



Indeed, although the romance of the old kickers holds a great apeal to many enthusiasts, just like the suicide clutch and hand shift does. both are totally obsolete but so is a 37 knucklehead. That doesn't stop people seeking them out and spending outrageous sums to restore them. Personally I like the idea of a kicker as a back up incase you run your battery down to the point that it will not kick out the 300 or so amps it takes to turn it over. A kicker could concievably keep you from getting stranded.

Now see, that's where we differ...I think the Electric Starter is the Back-Up... :smoke

Indeed, although the romance of the old kickers holds a great apeal to many enthusiasts, just like the suicide clutch and hand shift does. both are totally obsolete but so is a 37 knucklehead. That doesn't stop people seeking them out and spending outrageous sums to restore them. Personally I like the idea of a kicker as a back up incase you run your battery down to the point that it will not kick out the 300 or so amps it takes to turn it over. A kicker could concievably keep you from getting stranded.

Perhaps, but if the battery gets too low, even a kicker won't help you. I like the idea from the original post, but I've read on other forums that it can't be done. Would be cool though, and I believe if you had the money and the time, it could be done. As far as obsolete... I run jockey shift and really dig the "way things used to be", hell if it weren't for us young guns keeping the shit alive, all we'd have would be pictures and stories from the old timers. Go for it!!

I can get behind a restoration project but to re-install an obsolete part? Gimmie a break. :p

All the money yer gonna blow puttin' that kicker on could be spent on a decent battery every coupla years. Yeesh! :frownthre

fugettaboutit!

Now see, that's where we differ...I think the Electric Starter is the Back-Up... :smoke




I hear ya :laugh :laugh :laugh Most of my previous bikes had both. from my old Sprint to my k750 Honda. I loved the kicker. I never had any problems with them doing in my knees. I even had a 61 Panhead for a short time and even that didn't bother me. I think many knee injuries (I could be wrong though) occur from straddling the bike while kick starting it. The panhead had a compression release on it to ease things but it would still kick back. I learned in Europe and the standard procedure there is to stand beside the bike and kick it. If it kicks back the force is not transfered straight up through the legwith all your weight on it.

FLATHEAD!!!!! Talk ta dese guys.

It's really whatever flips your switch. Strange how guys with foot clutch and stick shift rave about them (and God bless 'em every one) but will rail against a kick starter.

Yes, stand beside the bike and kick it that way....but you'll still bust up the knee...only takes a couple 'Slips' of the kicker gear and when the weight of your body, combined with the downforce you exert on the kicker as you kick it thru can bend that knee backwards (not designed to do that) with a snap and man, your ass does the 'Bunny Hop' for the next ten minutes while all your buddies look at you like some friggin a-hole......which doesn't bother me, but damned if there isn't always some asswipe 'side-walk-commando' nearby whos only to happy to quip so dumbass remark..... :redmad

I think its a legitimate defense for shooting the bastard point blank.... :smoke

ok , I don't have a problem with kickers , every bike I own right now has one and only my sporty has a pussy button as a matter of fact the first time I ever started my sporty (after I rebuilt it) I used the kicker (pride don't ya know) but to tell ya the truth , now that I have a bike with a button I use it almost all the time
I'm only 40 so I'm still a young one (and I act 18 most the time) but after 25 years of kickin' trumpits, flattys, shovels, yammies, even the odd kz900 a time or two I kinda like having to ability to get off down the road while I can still breath and not have to rest after kickin' the beast 50-60 times cause I messed up on the routine

ya you bet nothing looks kooler than givin' the ol' harley stomp to breath life into your mill in front of all your freinds at the bar , but nothing looks more stupid than sweat drippin' off every inch of your body cause ya forgot to turn the key on after you spent the last 1/2 hour vainly kickin' for all its worth

if ya want a kicker , get it , more power to ya
but don't ever come back here and complaine cause your bike just won't start and your all worn out from kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin, and pukin,and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin, and kickin and kickin, and kickin,

I think its a legitimate defense for shooting the bastard point blank.... :smoke

gawd help me... I luv it!!! :clap :clap

FLATHEAD!!!!! Talk ta dese guys.


He who Rideith a 45 Kick-Startith Old Iron Horse Shall Pass No Judement On Thoseith That kicketh Thy Sportyith.....

So Let It Be Written, So Mindeth His Own Busineth..... :p

He who Rideith a 45 Kick-Startith Old Iron Horse Shall Pass No Judement On Thoseith That kicketh Thy Sportyith.....

So Let It Be Written, So Mindeth His Own Busineth..... :p
ya know , a 45 has soo little compression that you can start it just by twistin the timming grip , I've also kicked it over by hand

so I won't compare starting a flatty to starting a sporty , apples and oranges

if I have to kick it , I will but it sure is nice having a button to hit when I snub it at a light and there are a load of cars behind me :smoke

well saidith!

Stall??...that never happens right..... :shhhh

I do tend to piss-off a driver or two in their cars behind me now and then.....

......and you know I've been known to kick it thru about a half dozen or so times when it happens......without getting out of the way.........

CAN YOU SAY HORN...... ;) OLD AND IN THE WAY

CAN YOU SAY OLD AND IN THE WAY

HEY!! ya young whippersnapper :soap

He who Rideith

Now that is funny $**T!

You go Hrdly!!!!!!1

All kidding aside CuL8R.....it would be difficult and likely expensive to covert the newer Evo Sportster motors to a kick starter.

Whether it has been done already, I don't know and I can't remember reading any articles on how to do it. Keep searhing the web and something may show up.

At this time I don't know of anyone making any kind of Retro-kit for it.

Had a bike in college with a fried starter..I pushstarted that 700lb beast for 9 months..hence my screename :)

My next bike will definitely be a kick-start IronHead. No more pussy buttons for IronMick the man.

Times have a changed so lets go with the flow.
Kicking or pushing I dont give a dam riding a harley your still the man.

I had this 1976 Honda CJ360T (Kick start ONLY) and by God that sombitch was a BIATCH to kick. Like to take my leg off, it was. Yeh, buddy, that sucker would kick back with the force of a bucking bronco, and I tell you what, buddy, that thing screwed up my knee for LIFE, I tell ya.

Yup, don't miss those days at all. Nope. Phew, get tired just thinking about it.

:D

But...everyone knows that chicks only go for kickers! I'm gonna put a fake one on my sporty and right as the kicker hits bottom, I push the start button! They'll never know! I'll even paint a bruise on my calf so they'll think it bit me! I can't remember if it was my BSA or Bultaco, but one of them had the kicker on the left side...just didn't seem natural to me! I do remember the BSA having a compression release which really saved my bacon after a night out! :)

But...everyone knows that chicks only go for kickers! I'm gonna put a fake one on my sporty and right as the kicker hits bottom, I push the start button! They'll never know! I'll even paint a bruise on my calf so they'll think it bit me! I can't remember if it was my BSA or Bultaco, but one of them had the kicker on the left side...just didn't seem natural to me! I do remember the BSA having a compression release which really saved my bacon after a night out! :)

BSA and a valve lifter now that takes me back :smoke :smoke

I've dona alot of things in my life I'm ashamed of. Owning a BSA ain't one of 'em. (sorry the smileys ain't workin')

I bought my BSA new in the box while stationed down in Panama in '69...it was duty free there...ended up selling it for twice what I paid for it after I got back to the states eighteen months later...and like most of us, am kicking myself for selling a lot of my bikes now! And I wonder why I envy Jay Leno's collection!

I had a 1973 Triumph Trident that was "kick start" only. I don't know if my leg will ever be the same. I got rid of that SOB 20 some years ago. Thank God my new Sportster has the magic button.

I can remember kicking my 68 XLCH w/Magneto over and over and over on many a 90+ Summer Day....my leg aching like hell and all the while cussing up a storm and threatening my 68 with the most grave consequences.....Namely threatening to sell her and get a ELECTRIC START SUPERGLIDE!!

Then she would fire up and I'd swing my sore leg over the saddle and forget all about those "stupid ELECTRIC START BIKES"....I told her as we motored into the sunset...... :tour

I had a 1973 Triumph Trident that was "kick start" only. I don't know if my leg will ever be the same. I got rid of that SOB 20 some years ago. Thank God my new Sportster has the magic button. Started laughing a little when I saw this post.Back in the early 80's had a buddy who had an old Triumph that used to have a real bad time trying to get her to "catch".Poor sonofabitch DID blow his knee out one night and was out of commision for about a month.That's one frickin sound I won't forget.

what do you think about the easier way:
put modern cylinders on a kick start bike... :D

what do you think about the easier way:
put modern cylinders on a kick start bike... :D
thats still gonna require a lot of machining

just get an older engine and have it rebuilt to like new spec.s and you'll be kooler in the long run

Well that does it!

If its the last thing I do I'm putting a kicker on my bike. If nothing else, I'll be the first to do it,
and that is reason enough for me!

Thanks for the input guys!


Are you kickin' yet?

When I was a kid living in the Detroit area, say around '65-'66, my friends and I would see some poor soul kicking a bike over and over we would yell "get a horse" and run like hell laughing our fool heads off. Usually the kicker was too tired to do anything but give us a look and give the bike another fruitless kick. What fun!!

I haven't kick a bike in 20 years, at least....I'll be damned if I'd go back.....

Cool? perhaps when I was 20... :)

I haven't kick a bike in 20 years, at least....I'll be damned if I'd go back.....

Cool? perhaps when I was 20... :)


Someof us are still in our 20s :)

Whats Electric Start??....I only know Kick Start!!

My dad still has his 1st bike a 57 sporty XLCH, if you gotta kick it more than 3 times you either flooded it or your scrawny ass needs to eats a few more carbs!!!!

There is a company making kickers for big twins. Would I be correct in assuming that it's probably much easier to kick start an Evo than it is to kick start a shovel or iron? What about when it's 40 degrees out? If one could somehow do without that heavy battery and still get going easy, well that would be pure chopper to me.

I remember in the 70s a bike with an electric start was looked at as so cool. Now with the term OLD SCHOOL everybody wants to kickstart their motorcycle. As handy as a kicker is I wish HD had installed them on sporties or at least made provisions to install one. But having a Kicker just to be able to say a term like Old School is laughable. Talk to people that kickstarted their bikes for years and find out how their knees are holding out and how many times they bit their lip when things went wrong and you may only use a kickpedal only in emergency sake or to keep the oil flowing during the off season. after this many years of kickstarting other bikes in the past , I like the electric kicker best

Okay, here ya go,

Open Primary, Evo Sporty with a real functional kicker. Go to www.ledsledcustoms.com. Seems they cut the stock Sporty Trans off and went with a Big Twin Tranny. So it CAN be done. Very damn cool, and unique as hell if you ask me.

Might as well just use big twin motor and tranny, it would be way less work.
Interesting bike there although I don't like the rust look.

I had a kicker on my '81 Super Glide and I LOVED it. Almost always started on 1 kick, and if it didn't dtart in 2 or 3, I just used the button in order to save my leg! It was most impressive in front of a crowd, they would always want to see if it would start. I used the leg on the seat method, because I was not real heavy. I wish they still put them on bikes, but with electric start so reliable, you don't really need one.

They seem like an anachronism to me. I mean you haven't seen hand cranks on cars for a long time. Don't get me wrong, they do have a certain nostalgic charm, but I wouldn't want to fight one on a day to day basis. Would be good for a back up.

You can only fit a kicker on 79 and younger Xl's. 80 and later aren't machined to except kicker componants.

It's not the kicking to start that got me, it was trying to figure out what was wrong with it when it didn't start. An electric starter sure makes trouble shooting a whole lot easier.

"Honey is that plug getting fire when I kick this?"

"Plug?"

My dad still has his 1st bike a 57 sporty XLCH, if you gotta kick it more than 3 times you either flooded it or your scrawny ass needs to eats a few more carbs!!!!

Just curious, what do you weigh?

CJ

Arent Carbs Antiquated? ;)

I have often thought a kicker would be a good emergency backup, for a dead battery. For the same reason, I have wished my truck had a crank in the front bumper one or two times, LOL!...BTW, how bad is it really to jump start a bike from a car? I mean, In an emergency?

Not bad - I accidentilly welded a little bit of the pipe though... Damn thing came uncliped and nailed the pipe. That sucked


Just remember, you gotta ride it for it to charge, it wont just idling.

A kickstart is a breeze on a well tuned engine, electric start has brought alot of people to motorcycling that should otherwise need more training. I'm glad they have not gone mainstream automatic transmissions like cars.

Okay, here ya go,

Open Primary, Evo Sporty with a real functional kicker. Go to www.ledsledcustoms.com. Seems they cut the stock Sporty Trans off and went with a Big Twin Tranny. So it CAN be done. Very damn cool, and unique as hell if you ask me.

That's interesting. Back in the mid 80s when HD built the last kicker/electric combination (I believe it was on the '85 Wide Glide), I was trading in my '74 XLCH. Since I was used to ONLY having a kicker, I inquired about adding a kicker to the bike I eventually bought ('86 FXR). They told me that with the introduction of the five speed tranny, the kicker would stick too far out. Sounded like a plausible explanantion.

Something cool I saw this year at the rats hole show in daytona. This dude took an evo sporty, cut off the tranny, moved the lower rear motor mounts foward, and resealed the cases. Then he added a 5 in a 4 spd kicker with an open primary in a big twin style frame but he modified the front motor mounts. It was pretty wicked. I took a picture of it, I'd love to post it/ share it w/ all of you. Maybe I can get my wife to help me w/ this computer. I know my bikes alot better than computers. I'm still learning this computer stuff, when I figure it out I'll put up some pics.

boy, does this brings back lots of memories!! i have "sportster knee" from starting my 64 xlch back in the late sixties. i also have owned several big twins with kickers & they were all easier to start than that magneto fired xlch. (used to have to pull the coil out of the magneto & bake it in the oven to dry it out everytime it rained for any length of time!!)
anyway, i just got my '68 project xlch motor together --i used a spyke single fire electronic ignition instead of the magneto & a s&s super e. it fired on the 4th or 5th kick & since i learned the starting drill it'll fire on the 1st or 2nd kick so easily that i started it with sneakers on couple of days ago!! been several years since i had a kicker except on my observed trials bike & i am absolutely thrilled every time i start it--the old lady & neighbors are gonna kill me if i don't stop firing it up, but the evos & the twin cam that i now have just don't compare to the sound of the xlch!!! been looking at my '99 road king exhaust to see what mods it would take to put a kicker on it!! i guess some of us "pre-schoolers" just never grow up.
frank
:tour

Just to let you folks know... cutting the tranny off a sporty is nothing new. They used to do it for drag motors.

I have a kicker (1971 triumph) and an electric start on my sporty. The kicker is cool for the first 3 or 4 kicks. After that, it gets to be a hassle, especially when it's 90 degrees, 95% humidity, a flooded carb, and everybody is watchin.

I like the electric in situations like that. Makes life allot easier. Kevin

my uncle just had his 69 triumph "chopper" restored. It's a kicker. watched him kick it for hours..... I'd STILL like to give it a try just for the experiance!!!!

Good luck wih the knee!

You got that right...I "Don't have" the cartilage to prove it!

For the money and time you would spend on that one, you would be better off to buy an Ironhead project and build a kick-only.

well if anyone ever figures out an economical way to do it let me know it would look cool on my sled

You will get one here
http://www.wwag.com/index-e.html
:clap