Kickstart EVO
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,306
Likes: 5
From: Bellville, Tx
RE: Kickstart EVO
Been screwed, pushed my 80 flt a number of times. OK if you get some help. My present chopper is an 80in EVO kick only. Was a bitch until broken in, is now relatively easy to start.
4 spd, S+S E carb, Crane 356B cam. Been kickin' since I was a baby. Mine is not cosmetic.
I'd like to add some of my experiences with this bike. Have observed that the 12.5v static may not be enough to give good spark on kicking a newer engine. The bike would fire first hit if pushed, but you could kick all day and not get a poof. Turns out(no pun) that the rpm required for the alt to hit 14v was just over what the kicker would provide. A better coil might have helped, but breaking in the motor has solved that. Spinning more freely provides the power to fire it up with no problem now. You do find out who your real bro's are when you ride a kick only bike.
4 spd, S+S E carb, Crane 356B cam. Been kickin' since I was a baby. Mine is not cosmetic.
I'd like to add some of my experiences with this bike. Have observed that the 12.5v static may not be enough to give good spark on kicking a newer engine. The bike would fire first hit if pushed, but you could kick all day and not get a poof. Turns out(no pun) that the rpm required for the alt to hit 14v was just over what the kicker would provide. A better coil might have helped, but breaking in the motor has solved that. Spinning more freely provides the power to fire it up with no problem now. You do find out who your real bro's are when you ride a kick only bike.
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Kickstart EVO
Did you ever get the kick'r. Had one on my '85 softail (original factory installed), tried kickin it several times with no success...not really designed for kickin with the electric start (straight from the dealer). However, if you got one your right about it lookin cool.
Thread Starter
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Banned
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,397
Likes: 2
From:
RE: Kickstart EVO
No, I never got it..but I still want it, eventually. It will be awhile though. If it wasn't a bitch to kickstart (if it'd start within 5-6 kicks) i'd probably use it all the time if I had it.
Intermediate
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Kickstart EVO
I contacted a guy on ebay who had installed several of the aftermarket kickers. He said the gears are crap and that the mainshaft keeps coming unscrewed. THe fix for the aftermarket kicker on a 5 speed is buy the $200 gear from Baker and then weld the mainshaft extension on instead of bolting it. After hearing that I figured I would have at least 600 bucks in a kicker and I just can't justify that right now
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 130
Likes: 1
From: Whitley Bay, North-East England
RE: Kickstart EVO
with the Crane Hi4, on 'kickstart' setting, you will not go wrong when you eventually add the kicker.
With the stock ignition.......it will rarely start on the pedal.
There is a lot of Korean/Taiwanese junk in bolt-on kicker kits.
Mokey is right. Baker. You get what you pay for.
With the stock ignition.......it will rarely start on the pedal.
There is a lot of Korean/Taiwanese junk in bolt-on kicker kits.
Mokey is right. Baker. You get what you pay for.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,008
Likes: 464
RE: Kickstart EVO
ORIGINAL: michaelbarry
No, I never got it..but I still want it, eventually. It will be awhile though. If it wasn't a bitch to kickstart (if it'd start within 5-6 kicks) i'd probably use it all the time if I had it.
No, I never got it..but I still want it, eventually. It will be awhile though. If it wasn't a bitch to kickstart (if it'd start within 5-6 kicks) i'd probably use it all the time if I had it.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,008
Likes: 464
RE: Kickstart EVO
ORIGINAL: Locutions
Did you ever get the kick'r. Had one on my '85 softail (original factory installed), tried kickin it several times with no success...not really designed for kickin with the electric start (straight from the dealer). However, if you got one your right about it lookin cool.
Did you ever get the kick'r. Had one on my '85 softail (original factory installed), tried kickin it several times with no success...not really designed for kickin with the electric start (straight from the dealer). However, if you got one your right about it lookin cool.
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Tourer
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 272
Likes: 5
From: pomgolia
I don't swear to this since this occured 25 years ago and I am only pulling this from my memory.
I believe it was in the fall of 1983 and I was at the Ford Dealership getting something done to my truck. A guy pulled up on a Softail and he came inside.....I asked him, "Is that the new Softail?" He said, yes it was.
I left and walked by the bike.....but I would almost swear it had the Shovelhead in it. I know it had the old ugly air cleaner on it and not the round one. That was the first Softail I ever saw...but all the others were EVO's though.
Supposedly, there never were any Shovelhead Softails. Perhaps, they made just a few before they switched to the EVO. This was in late 1983, before the EVO.
I might be mistaken.....but I KNOW it had the old ugly air cleaner cover.
I believe it was in the fall of 1983 and I was at the Ford Dealership getting something done to my truck. A guy pulled up on a Softail and he came inside.....I asked him, "Is that the new Softail?" He said, yes it was.
I left and walked by the bike.....but I would almost swear it had the Shovelhead in it. I know it had the old ugly air cleaner on it and not the round one. That was the first Softail I ever saw...but all the others were EVO's though.
Supposedly, there never were any Shovelhead Softails. Perhaps, they made just a few before they switched to the EVO. This was in late 1983, before the EVO.
I might be mistaken.....but I KNOW it had the old ugly air cleaner cover.
harley made a few pre production evos in 83, rip from easy riders magazine ended up with one of them
Harley put a lot of road miles in on the evo to get it right from day 1, unlike the twin cams that were never right
the FXR and FLT frames were designed with the evo in mind , that's way they have lots of daylight above the rocker covers to accommodate the taller evo motors