For those of you who have never seen someone kick start a motorcycle here is one youtube video on someone doing it:
How To Kick Start A Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic Motorcycle ... | |||||
www.youtube.com/watch?v=41igYhb_XDgJun 26, 2009 - 3 min - Uploaded by hoohoohoblin
How To Kick Start A Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic Motorcycle With An Amal 930 Carb ... Some people say ...
end quote from Youtube.
Also, in regard to kick starting my 1974 Honda XL250 dualsport was much easier than this to start. All I had to do was to turn on the gas cock to full open and not to reserve, turn on the ignition, put on the choke to full (if it hadn't been started recently) and kick it over and if the day wasn't too wet or cold it would usually start up on the first or second try and almost always the first time if it had been run within the previous hour or two. Sometimes if I hadn't run it in a few weeks or even months in a few cases it might take more kicks or even running down the road and pop starting it in 2nd gear by popping the clutch. The easiest bike to kick start I've ever seen was my BSA 500 World War II veteran motorcycle. That thing was amazing the way it started almost always right away and it didn't even have a battery it only had a magneto for electricity. But that was enough to also run a headlight when the engine was running. I got this one in about 1970 and kept it until around 1985 when my father passed away and his desert home was sold.
So, when I bought my motorcycle(KLR 650) I realized later that there were many things I didn't take into consideration. The first one since I am almost 6 foot 5 inches tall is that I weighed about 100 pounds more than I did when I used to ride motorcycles regularly primarily in the dirt but sometimes in the street as well. So, in the old days my favorite motorcycle was a 1974 Honda XL 250 which was a really sweet ride. My only complaint about it would be that if you were on a freeway with it you really didn't have the power to power out of bad situations for safety like you do with most bikes over 500 cc on a freeway because the top useful speed was only in the 70s without going into the red. But off road the Honda XL250 was the sweetest ride that I owned from 1975 until 1989. I also owned when I was 12 to 35 or older a Wren by Bird 2 1/2 horsepower mini-bike whose top speed was about 30 mph that I rode and had my kids ride for at least 20 years in the desert on dirt roads. Another bike I owned for a short time until I blew it up accidentally one day was a Matchless 600 thumper that was modified for Hill Climbing. However, that bike you couldn't easily start out in 1st or 2nd gear because of the large rear sprocket without flipping the bike on its tail with you on it from the incredible torque. So, I usually had to start out in 3rd gear to keep from getting hurt in starting out. Once you got going you could then shift down for hill climbing when needed. But with that huge rear sprocket the stop speed was only about 40 to 45. It still had it's headlight but had a straight tailpipe with no muffler that blew out blue flame at night. This was in the late 1960s.
So, anyway, regarding my present KLR 650 I realized after I bought it that I was about 120 pounds more than was safe to go over jumps with it without modifying the front suspension with progressive springs. So, my wife has been trying to get me to do that. Instead I haven't gone off road as much as I would have wanted to. However, I am also 64 years old now too and not someone anymore who is in their teens, twenties, or even thirties anymore.
So, I have chosen to ride the bike mostly on paved roads as a result even though I have taken it into the back country on paved roads a lot too. Since I live in Northern California on the ocean there are a lot of really beautiful roads to ride on when it is warm enough to enjoy it. I prefer to ride in temperatures above about 60 degrees Fahrenheit because of my age and the fact that if you get too cold from wind at low temperatures it is harder to warm up again when you are above 50 or so for most people. So, if I'm riding it around where I live and not trailering it to the Sierras or Cascades to ride I can usually ride out for awhile and then come back and get into my hot tub spa to warm up fairly quickly.
Riding a motorcycle for me keeps me feeling young and alive. I prefer not to ride on busy streets or in heavy traffic because I don't feel safe doing that. But I love to ride with little to no traffic on beautiful scenic roads along the ocean or in the coastal ranges of California. Remember, there are still an incredible amount of beautiful paved roads in California and throughout the U.S. And whenever you take your bike off road you have to think about where the dust is going especially on your chain (if your bike is chain drive).
I have greatly enjoyed my KLR 650 but now that I have talked to other men who are tall and big like me many have chosen Husqvarna and BMW bikes because they are built more for bigger people to begin with. However, because my youth I have always ridden Japanese bikes more except for my Matchless and my BSA 500 World War II motorcycle used in North Africa.
However, I have also considered buying a Husqvarna or BMW motorcycle since I found this out. However, the more you learn about motorcycles before you buy one the better it can meet your needs including safety and staying alive ongoing while enjoying riding.
Also, since I have lost 30 pounds in the last week on a diet I am finally successful on likely the 100 pounds total will be gone in a few months and I will then be in a weight range to jump my KLR 650 in the dirt if I want to. However, maybe I'll buy a Honda 350 or 250 or something like that which was what I used to ride when I was younger and lighter because a lighter bike like that is much more maneuverable in the dirt because you can throw your hips for quick changes in direction on something smaller like that. Whereas a bike 500 cc or over is just too heavy to do that easily. In my teens and twenties I was really good at riding down a sandy dry wash in the desert. So, even though the sand might be 2 feet deep I had developed a technique of weaving back and forth to stay upright even in deep sand. Though you would almost always have a sand rooster tail going up and out behind you one could ride like this for miles unless you hit a rock or bush or something like that. It was great fun and I learned to do this on my BSA 500 and my Honda XL 250 in the 1960s and 1970s. Also, here is a lady kickstarting a Honda Motorcycle. But, for it to start this easily without a choke you know it was started recently before the video. But, this is really great to show ladies kick starting bikes!
More videos for kickstarting hondas »
Another thing about riding on dirt roads or trails. The first thing to know is NEVER to use your front brake unless you like to eat dirt because the first thing your bike will do in the dirt with a front brake on is lay down at any speed. So, if you want to stay alive in the dirt don't use your front brake except when you are stationary on a hill to keep the bike from moving or on the level stationary or on a slant to keep from moving. Any other time above about 10 to 20 miles per hour might be injurious or even fatal. The second thing to know if your are going off road (off pavement) is to have the right bike for doing this. If you are really good on your street bike you might manage off road okay depending upon what you are riding. But, if you are going to do this all the time you then need a single cylinder bike that is fairly high off the ground with knobby tires that is designed for dual sport or off road use. Otherwise, if you are on too much of a street bike you might get into trouble without knobby tires, longer suspension and single cylinder quick response. Also, bikes not designed for off road might not run right if they aren't set up for dust and dirt and the dust gets into the carburetor and chokes it out. For example, a four cylinder street bike that is a heavy motorcycle might just lay down in the dirt almost no matter how good a rider you are. | |||||
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