Hitchcocks Forum

This might be of interest to some ... https://youtu.be/axOs4qRkob8

I was shown how to kick start a bike by a mate with a slope engine panther 650. Three main things he recommended.



1) Stand astride the bike. Then if something does go wrong, you are much less likely to drop it. It's not entirely unheard of for a returning kickstart to bump a bike into gear among other things (especially on an Albion 4-speed, a bit of grit between the levers will do it).



2) Swing it over, never prod the kickstart or it'll prod you back. (This will be the "long swinging kick" the man in the video referrs to).



3) Swing the kickstart through the full arc and (this is the key part which people miss out) hold it there at the 6 0'clock position. Only once you are satisfied it has either started or not started should you allow it to return. If it kicks back with the starter lever fully vertical, it wont have enough leverage to do you a nasty. You get hurt when they kick back with the lever horizontal.



All that said, he could never start my Jawa, couldn't get the hang of using a left hand kickstart.

To quote an Indian gentleman, always make sure it is past Top Dead Centre before you kick it, or it will bite you.

This is no new discovery; it is in the instruction handbook/workshop manual, eg. slowly move the piston until just over TDC, then give a long swift kick. Not exactly verbatim, as the books went with the Bullet when I sold it. As the old saying goes, Read the instructions first.

Sorry Leon, only trying to help, maybe I shouldn't have bothered.

I wouldn't say that. It was well explained and eloquently put.

I apologize,Bullet Whisperer,I didn`t mean to seem critical of your post. I am sure others will benefit from it.

With older Indian Bullets possibly having had several different owners by now, there is of course no guarantee that a manual will still come with the bike, so any help might be appreciated by those who are new to this lark, or who overlooked this bit of the manual!



A.

Thank you papasmurf for this helpful video. I have become lazy after many years using electric start with my kick start technique and no doubt one day I will get my ancient shins bashed if I don't follow your advice.