I am thinking about putting a kick starter kit on my 02 Dyna Twin Cam. If any body has done this install can you tell me the pro's and con's? How hard is the engine to kick over, does the kicker stick out to far and or in the way when riding? etc. Any info on the subject will be appreciated. Thanks, Lou

 

What for?

 

I've readin another forum of a couple of problems. 1) The exhaust, providing it's stock orfollows the stock lines interfers with the kickstart lever and 2) probably the more serious problem is the crank position sensor works off the notches and the missing ones on the flywheel to initiate the firing impulses for the ignition, an individual tried a kickstarter and it seems the flywheel wasn't wasn't being spun fast enough with the kickstarter for the sensor to work properly. Just my 2 cents.

 

Local wrenches said the changes to the TC88/96 make kickstart practically impossible. I sort of miss it, too, cuz I've needed it on my WideGlide (an 85 Evo).

Looks like we're hosed.

 

Theres another thing. Friend a mine had a 57 pan used to swap w/ my bike every now and then. Mine was electric his was kick (obviously) Wasnt so easy to get her started in the cold or a.m. And she WAS well tuned. (maybe a magneto coulda helped) Not to mention getting slapped in the back of the leg. Or once stupidly lockin my knee on the way down and almost getting catapulted over the handle bars.Now that was just a 1200 (or was it a thousnd cc?) your talkin about putting a kick on a 1500+ cc? I dunno I think kicks are super cool. But the only way I would have one, is if i go back to a pan, or the engine I always wanted.........A KNUCK.
Just my .02 on a boring and cold sunday morning.

 

Pros...I cant think of any other than a dead battery......Good maintenance will deter that.
Cons... Its reverse technology, its a huge engine compared to the original kickers.

Just my 2 cents...

 

one. magnetos are worse.
and back then, we ran 70 weight oil.
when the temps dropped, nearly impossible.

two. woulda been 1200, unless it had stroker wheels etc.

three. compression release valves.

I didn't even know what an electric start button looked like
until about my 4th or 5thsickle.

No way I would wanna kick my machine over nowadaze.

grizzly, if you gotta dead battery,
you're gonna be kickin for awhile.
unless of course, you may fit a magneto to that TwinCam.

mud

 

AHH. Thats his bikeexactly Mudd. Fish tails, seat and all. Only fat bobs and a girder front end. Is that a wishbone i see?
Just outta curiosity..........why are mags worse? I was always under the impression they made easier starts. Only kick starts I ever owned were japster dirts. (RM 125 and beautiful elsinore 250)And they were mostly point and condenser.Hell, i coulda kicked both those over w/ my hand.Almost bought a 73 shovel. b4 i went new and gotta XL in 89. The shovel,that was electric too.so my only real experiances w/ kicks was my dirts and the pan iused to trade of w/ my buddy. Who incidently only swapped w/ me so his wife wouldent see his pan parked in front of a motel along route 1. Other than that, nobody even sat on that bad boy.

 

I just got a kicker kit for my 94 Heritage. Im not to stoked with the polishing job that it came with and will be fixing that myself. I am going to get the cover chromed before I mount it on my bike. I don't know if I will ever even try to kick the damn thing over though. But its all about the look for me anyhow. I have always wanted an old FLH with a modern engine. I have the old style FLH headlight bucket on her now as well. The kicker is going to be the icing on the cake.

 

I was thinking about putting an old crank start on the front of my car sticking out of the grill...