Kick starter

[psycoreefer]

I'll second that my kicker contacted the same spot as yours, I ground off the offending bit on my bench grinder and re-installed...

[Nubian]

Hi Folks. Can someone please tell me what the point of the emergency kickstart is? On later bikes, as we all know, there isn't even the facility to have a kickstart and the shaft hole is blocked up.

As far as I understand, the TCI on the bike won't spark at anything less than 10.5v.... right? So, in the event of a flat battery, will using the kickstart actually start the bike? My bike is fitted with one (bolted out of the way across the frame, not permanently mounted) but I'm wondering if it would be any use whatsoever in the event of a completely flat battery, or battery that's too low to crank the engine over..........

I'd obviously be leaving the kickstart mounted on the bike but I really would like to know whether I can count on if the battery's flat!

Never mind the battery, my starter clutch just went bad, that is reason alone for me. You just never know.

[BA80]

Sorry to hear that Nub. Not an easy fix. If your any where near DAVINCI he has a lot of experience with that and could probably give you some good advice.

If not on how to fix the starter clutch, at least on kick starting technique.

[blkryno]

Just a quick question on this subject. In order to start these bikes or any with a dead battery or no battery wouldn't you need a magneto instead of the charging system we do have ? Isn't the reason that vehicle manufacturers changed from magneto's is because of the growing need to operate electrical items, lights and such without a fluctuating power supply ?

blkryno

81 11 SH (83 Venture cct )
79 11 SF (83 Venture cct on the shelf for it.)

Semper Fi

[crazy steve]

No, magnetos' biggest problem is their output varies according to rpm, so low-speed output can be poor leading to fouled plugs and other ills. They're self-contained units, so the charging system has no effect on them.

With most alternators, they're not self-exciting so you need an external voltage source before they generate any power; the exception is the permanent-magnet type. Most generators will give output if you spin them without an external source, but that's because they retain some residual magnetism in the field poles, something alternators don't do...

[cywelchjr]

Never mind the battery, my starter clutch just went bad, that is reason alone for me. You just never know.

Worse yet, the 81 motors don't have any of the parts needed to install a kick start, requiring splitting the cases to install the gears in the transmission required for a kick start, at which time you can replace the starter clutch, IF you can find one, which Davinci found is pretty close to impossible to do. Operation of the starter clutch can also be affected somewhat by the oil you run, but I don't think it will cause total failure, just less reliable operation. When it gets cold (for this area, this means low 30's) with 20w50 oil my doesn't work very reliably first thing in the morning, as soon as temps go above about 40 it goes back to complete reliability.