I just bought my first Harley 73 sportster xlch kick start only. The first day I spent cleaning it and practicing kick starting the bike. Unfortunately I only was able to get it to start 3 times. I have noticed the headlight is very weak now when I turn on the power, so I 'm assuming the battery is getting weak from all my failed attempts to kick start the bike. Will a weak battery prevent me from kick starting the bike? Thanks in advance!

Tom(TWDJR)

P.S. When I bought the bike the guy I bought it from started on the 2nd kick.

 

Yep, a weak battery will make it hard to start. And since the bike is an XLCH, it has a wee battery, and doesn't have much reserve. A kick-only bike forces you to keep it in good tune, too. One thing that'll help is to wire the ignition switch so that the headlight does not come on when you turn the bike on to start it. That is how they used to be wired, and especially on a CH, is how they need to be wired.

 

Thanks! Yeah I was planning on adding a switch on the head light. I just kicked it over on the 3rd or 4th kick and ran for 2-3 minutes then stalled it weening it off the choke. I tried kicking it over again but it wouldn't start but I didn't try more than 5-6 kicks. I'm going to search the board for cold starts and warm start methods and see what works good for this particular bike. On my cold start I kicked a few small kicks with no power to prime, choked it and turn on the power and kicked it 3-4 times and whallah! The light looks bright now. I think I'm just going to have get the feel of starting this particular bike but thanks for your response.

Tom(TWDJR)

 

man thats a nice bike. it will take time but you will learn all the little quirks.

just make sure to keep on top of it every single day, inspect everything for wear and dont let anything slip by you, it adds up to huge problems down the road.

 

Next thing is to find an owners manuel...These Harleys are all new to me but I do have friends and relatives with them and purchased the bike from someone works on these old school bikes out of his own garage and knows how to get parts etc. A close co-worker of mine also had a 74 which he rebuilt himself so I do have some other resources to try to keep this bike tuned, but I appreciate the advice. Your bike is cool, a like the old school race theme, which is unique. That's why I bought this old ironhead, I was lookin for a bobber exactly this style. I just have to get my kick start technique down.

Later,
Tom (TWDJR)

 

Would be a kewl thing to tool around on. Post some pics when ya get a chance

 

after I get it registered and on the road. Thanks for the kind words.

Tom(TWDJR)