By Bullet Whisperer - Mon Dec 17, 2018 7:15 pm
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.
