starting...

[frogdink]

on the side fo the bike it has a spot that says it is the area for the kickstart, if you were to have one....is this something that can accually be hooked up, is it hard/expensive/how...etc?? thanks.

[mro]

getting a kick outa an XS

78 and 9 came with the kick start parts installed. The kick start lever it'self is stored on the frame when not in use.

You can install a kick start on your XJ, just need a few parts.


mro

[frogdink]

ideas

any idea where to start looking for one? good site recomendations? thank you for the help

[randy]

frogdink,

PM andreashweiss he usually has a bunch of parts.

[Snow]

IIRC, you'll need the clutch cover, the kickstart gear and shaft (w/ spring), and of course the external lever and holder...not sure if you'd have to modify the XJ's frame to accept the lever and holder or if the holes are already drilled/tapped as I've only ever seen an XJ in person once at the junkyard when I was stealing the engine bolt that runs through the footpegs...

[TopCatGr58]

A slight detail left out!

Hey Frogdink,

There is a slight detail that has been left out of this thread regarding adding the kickstart mechanism to your XJ. You'll need to pull the engine and split the cases to add the shafts and gears!

Also, IF you're thinking that having the kick start would be a good thing IF the battery were low is not totally true, cause the TCI unit needs ~10.5 volts to work properly, and IF you battery is too low to turn the bike over adequately, it may also be too low to energize the TCI, so you could be kicking all day and it wouldn't fire! Might be better to just keep a set of jumper cables in the toolbox!

Food for thought!
T.C.

[mro]

A slight detail

Have had the 78's and 9's apart.
There are two shafts for the kick starter.
Was not paying too much attention to see if internal shaft was installed on 80's when had the clutch cover off. If not, cases would have to be split. Not a particular hard job but would expect to take at about twelve hours to do (includes R & R engine) and a few gaskets.....


mro
Food for thought!......Bananas???

[TopCatGr58]

Here's the view of an XJ under the clutch cover, note the large hole to the left of the clutch basket!

T.C.

[mro]

Yup, need to split the cases and fill that ho....
and the second shaft fits in the ho... below and then thru the side of the case


mro

[xswilly]

also the kick starter is pretty uneffective

i weigh over 200 pounds and with all my weight, can't turn it over very fast.

i can start it with a kick starter, but it had a good batt and is running ok, just tried to see if i could do it

best to find a hill and push start it

[trbig]

My XJ HAD a '78 motor with the kickstarter in it when I got my bike. It's kind of cool in theory, and you can find a fold-up style lever for it (Don't ask me what fits it) but the frame isn't made to hold the solid kickstarter like the 78's and 9's did. BUT... As TC stated. If the bike is so dead that the battery won't start it, chances are that the kickstarter may not either. These bikes push start pretty easily if the starter were to ever go out, and I didn't want to have to carry around the kickstarter since I got the solid mounted one.
When I installed this XJ motor, we forgot to add in the gears and shaft internally, but I had already polished up the sidecover that allows the shaft to stick out... so.. I have the shaft sticking out, but it doesn't go to anything inside the cover. I could sell you the rest of the assembly pretty cheap, but it would be missing that shaft.... making it useless. You'd be better getting the whole thing from Andreas as stated if he has one.

And as stated... you would have to remove the engine and split the cases. That's why mine never got put back in.






Tod

[frogdink]

.

OK this answered my question, not something i want to get into. thanks for the help.

[HobbyMan]

AS I recall Tod, you have a few pushstarts left in the Andrew bank. Umm yeah, the kickstarter is useless unless you want to look cool in frot of your 650 buddies. Look I can kickstart too. Personally, I think there is a reason they got rid of it in 80.

[randy]

Hobbyman,

I beg to differ.

I fit a kickstarer from an XS850 to my 79F and it kicks over first time every time.

What with the XS's anemic charging system, I believe it helps extend the life of the battery.

[Snow]

On several occasions, I have been able to push start or kick start my bike (kick starting is easier with my 240+ pound mass) when it would not even turn over...