Kick start

[xxtremexs]

Was just finishing a tranny job and was wondering if its worth my wild to put a kicker on while its opened up?..also is it a straight swap from a 78,79 to an 80, which is what i have?..is it as easy as it seems...i have the gear in mine but doesn't have the spring..thanks in advance

[crazy steve]

Now's the time while it's open....

You need the rachet, inner spring, outer spring and gear, etc. Keep in mind that the kicker wasn't designed for everyday use, as there's no bushing in the clutch cover.

[James England]

Personally, I don't see the point in there being a kickstart on an XS1100, other than to cover the unlikely event of a starter motor failure. You can't kickstart an XS1100 if it has a flat battery... or even a moderately flat battery. Once the voltage drops below a certain voltage (which eludes me but Steve will come back with....) then the TCI doesn't work and there's no spark. No amount of kicking will get the engine running.

I always thought that the kickstart acted like a car starting handle... you know, flat battery and you just wind the handle (I had a car like this... very useful) but, I learned from the forum that this is not the case.

So, I wonder, why have one at all?

[xxtremexs]

Very valid point and thank you for your point..never did think of that....but it would look and be bad ass to kick over sometimes..I duno..will a 79 assy work I'm my 80 midnight....?
Thanks

[James England]

Very valid point and thank you for your point..never did think of that....but it would look and be bad ass to kick over sometimes..I duno..will a 79 assy work I'm my 80 midnight....?
Thanks

Yes, but would very non-badass if you're seen kicking, and kicking, and kicking......... almost as un-badass as when I stopped at traffic lights with a cool blip of the throttle in front of a crowd of admirers (when the XS1100 was first made). I put my left foot down, got the bottom of my trouser leg caught on the footpeg and went crashing over onto the left side.

[ManagerMike]

Personally, I don't see the point in there being a kickstart on an XS1100, other than to cover the unlikely event of a starter motor failure. You can't kickstart an XS1100 if it has a flat battery... or even a moderately flat battery. Once the voltage drops below a certain voltage (which eludes me but Steve will come back with....) then the TCI doesn't work and there's no spark. No amount of kicking will get the engine running.

I always thought that the kickstart acted like a car starting handle... you know, flat battery and you just wind the handle (I had a car like this... very useful) but, I learned from the forum that this is not the case.

So, I wonder, why have one at all?

Steve hasn't come back on this one yet, so I'll take a shot at it... Unlike a magneto / contact ignition system, which creates its own electrical energy, the transistor controlled ignition (or whatever the particular acronym you prefer for a solid state ignition control device) is a piece of electronics that requires an external source of electricity to function. Below a given supply voltage (aka threshold voltage) it cannot perform its duty, which in simplest description, is to interpret the signal from the pickup coil(s) and translate that into the pulses that fire the ignition coils.

[BA80]

The ignition needs 12 volts to fire. High amps aren't necessary.

I have kick started mine when the battery didn't have the amps to even BEGIN to turn the starter but the dash lights came on.

[DiverRay]

The bike will fire at 10.5V, plus or minus .1V. Special Ed used his kick starter a LOT, as he liked to have it fire on the first kick. Keep in mind, he is 125Lbs. You will need to find a kick starter that will "fit" the bike, as the factory is a non folding one that WILL hurt you if you try and ride with it bolted on. I think the XS650 or XS750 will work.
The parts from a '78 or '79 will fit into your cases, but you will need to make sure you get ALL of the parts.

[BA80]

I think it's the Suzuki GS folding kick starts that will fit on our bikes. There was a thread on that a few years back. Do a search.

[conquest87tsi]

Kick it good

Is there clearence to install a bushing in the clutch cover? Now I'll have to look. Does anyone know if anyone has attempted to bore the hole and install a brass bushing?

I use my kicker constantly. My battery can start it, but is on its last legs and I don't want to put a new battery in at the end of the season, so I have been kicking it everytime. I love it. Maybe it's because I'm younger and love the novelty of it, and the looks I get from people that see me do it at the gas station.

Usually she starts on the first kick, but you do feel like a schmuck when you have to kick a couple times.

Something is just bad ass about kicking a liter bike.

[conquest87tsi]

Oh, and I used a XS850 kicker.

I do wish it was as easy to get the bike on the center stand with cafe bars as it is to kick it over.

[crazy steve]

Is there clearence to install a bushing in the clutch cover? Now I'll have to look. Does anyone know if anyone has attempted to bore the hole and install a brass bushing?..

Nope, not really enough meat around the hole in the cover unless you can find a really thin-wall bushing, which probably won't have the needed rigidity to properly reinforce the cover. Yamaha never intended the kicker to used as the primary starting means. Rumor has it that they only installed one because of the somewhat poor reputation their older starters had for not being always able to start the bikes... something my XS2 suffered from.

[James England]

Nope, not really enough meat around the hole in the cover unless you can find a really thin-wall bushing, which probably won't have the needed rigidity to properly reinforce the cover. Yamaha never intended the kicker to used as the primary starting means. Rumor has it that they only installed one because of the somewhat poor reputation their older starters had for not being always able to start the bikes... something my XS2 suffered from.

It wouldn't be hard to do though. The modified engine cases on my XJR have had alloy rings welded inside them (support collars for perspex 'windows'). They are thinner than the XS1100 casting and yet have still been welded perfectly.

If one were to do the above, I would look into a small bearing with a seal. The XJR has a needle roller bearing on the gearchange shaft and it makes a difference to gearchanging. Something similar might work well on the kickstart.

[conquest87tsi]

Thanks James,

Maybe I'll play around with the clutch cover from my parts bike.

[tarzan]

You might be able install a small bushing in the cover and machine down the diameter that rides inside the bushing.