Forum

[potboiler]

I was wondering is it bad practice to allow the kickstarter to 'fly back' by taking your foot off it immediately at the bottom of the stroke? I sometimes do this to prevent injury from a possible kickback( not that I've experienced a kickback, yet!). However, can anyone tell me if you hold the kickstarter down at the bottom of it's stroke with your foot has it dis-connected with the engine at this position - thus if the engine does kickback then you would be safe from injury anyway?

[Thack]

No, it isn't disconnected, so you will feel the kickback should one arise.



Realistically you aren't going to do any harm by letting it fly back under its own spring.

[PeteF]

I wish it wasn't known as a kick starter.
I good SWING is what you need. From as far up as it will engage all the way to the bottom with all your weight behind it.
Taking your foot off at the bottom is also not a good idea as it's not disengaged, and any kickback will bang it back up very quickly.
I also doubt you'd get your foot off in time. It's safer to keep your weight on it.

[Norm]

I had to put a new end case on a box because the owner was letting it fling back. Couldn't believe it when I watched him go to start it after fitting the new cover. I had to show him the damage he had done to it by letting it fling back. This was obviously some trait he had picked up in India

[Gwilly]

+1 Pete and Norm, never let it fly back on its own..

Might also suggest never finish the swing with your leg straight and all your weight on it.. shortest way to a broken ankle or hip.

Slight bend at the knee and if it does kick back your muscles will absorb the shock, not the joint..
Think landing paratrooper...

[Thack]

potboiler: I'm sorry - it looks like our experts have some real world experience of this, and I was wrong to say letting it fly back doesn't do any harm.



I'm doing an engineering degree at the moment, and I have to say that if the gearbox can be damaged by letting the lever fly back, then it's pretty crap engineering! The designer is supposed to anticipate the range of useage it might see in the real world, and allow for it. Although letting the lever fly back might be unusual, it's difficult to claim it would amount to "abuse", so really it ought to be designed to cope.



I think in reality it might reflect how much of the bike wasn't so much designed as evolved over the years and decades. Quite often good engineering principles get forgotten as the evolution takes place.



For what it's worth, I bet you can't do any harm to a Japanese bike by letting the kickstart fly back!

[John R]

When i first had a Bullet, I had no starting technique and the ignition timing was all wrong. I limped about with a strained ankle most of the time. Now my bike very rarely kicks back. But I still learned to use my instep on the kick starter, which puts much less strain on your ankle!

[Scalyback]

Never let the 'kick' fly back,
or it might give you quite a whack
The your'll find you start to moan
Because it gave you broken bone



You have to do it right you see?

end up the stroke with bended knee

everytime you want a run,
then you and bike will have such fun!

[Norm]

I still can't understand why anybody would want to let anything fling back, regardless of what it is, eventually it will do damage

[Bullet Whisperer]

Thack, you are wrong. I am a Honda CB500T fan [amongst other bikes] and owner of one for many years now, as well as a few others along the way and one machine I bought to restore a few years ago turned out to have a broken crankcase as a result of a violent kickback where someone had fitted electronic ignition and set it up wrong. Some old Brit gearboxes have a stop for the kickstart mechanism which has a bonded in rubber bush, to cushion the quadrant as it comes to a stop, eg pre unit Triumph, Burman etc, but the Enfields are pure metal to metal where the kickstart comes to rest, so perhaps damage can result in extreme circumstances. Cheers, Paul.