So here's where I am....
I am about done with the paint on my tins and figured why not put the tank on and fillher with fuel and kick her over. I mean after all, I got it back from the shop where they replaced the kicker assembly, pushrod adjustment,and some other minor things over this past late winter.
The guy comes very highly recommended and is the best at old Iron and Shovel work. He told me when he dropped it back off to me a couple months ago to call him when the paint work was done and he would come over at no charge to make sure everything was sound before putting her on the road....he also said he wanted to show me how to "properly" kick it over.
Now anyone that knows me can tell you that 1. I don't like putting people out and 2. I am very impatient.
So this weekendI get the tank on and fill her with fuel. Petcock on, and get ready to start kicking. The kicker is so hard to kick I can't believe it. I tried every way, gentle, hard, topdead kick, midway kick and the tension or compression, or whatever is crazy. Keep in mind, my neighbor, a life-long Harley guy who weighs a good 250 and is a monster of a guy could not even kick it. We tried push starting it....nothing. Then we tried retarding the timing a bit........no difference. So I remembered the mechanic's offer to come over and I just let it go for the rest of the weekend till I call him on Monday.
I left a message and he called me back to let me know "that's why I told you to call me before you tried starting it....I had the timing at dead nuts and you may have ruined the timing.....those old Ironheads have a special way to kick them....if you know how to properly kick it you wouldn't have had those problems....." I did not like the whole tone of the conversation mostly because I did not want him to think I was some typical a-hole that has no idea from a dipstick or a link of chain, so I told him I did not ruin the timing at all and put it back the 1 or 2 millimeters I moved it and that was that. So he's coming over later in the week to start it right up.
To make a long story longer my whole question is.....is there really a "special" way of starting the Ironheads or is this guy justthinking that I'm some yuppie yahoo with absolutely no clue at all?
Any input would be appreciated......

 

Every bike has it's own special way to start and you learn that with trial and error, however, I got to call at least a partial B.S. to his story.

One thing I learned from timing mine is that you can't get perfect. There's either "No, that don't sound right and I don't see nuthin'" or "Yup,I think I see the markbehind the oil on the timing plug that keeps rattalin' and it looks real close to the same place every time I see it." And if he presses on about the slight adjustment with the timing plate, I got more movement than that just by tightening the plate screws. I was able to retard the timing plate all the way to the end of the adjustment and it continued to run, like ****, but it ran.

Far be it from me to to call this guy an outright lier, but I'm with you, it just don't sound right.

Rich

 

Gino......That is nothing but a very large pile of BS! There is no 'special way' you have to use to start a Sporty.
From your description of you and the neighbor trying to start it, the result sounded to me like the engine will not turn over? I hope I misread that.
Anyway, continue to be cautious with this fellow. There is something wrong with his comment about the situation.
I'll stay tuned to this thread, any if there is anything you need just let me know....Blake

 

Guys, let me just clarify that it definately did turn over, but not without a great amount of effort and literally "jumping" on the kicker. Now I weigh 175 and figured, "maybe I just have to get a stronger leg", but when my monster of a man neighbor had a hard time getting that kicker to turn, I thought something was wrong.
Also, just to clarify, the mechanic says that these babies need a certain finesse in starting them....is this possible? I thought that they are like any other Harley kick-start motor............

 

Guys....another item I did not mention....we removed the plugs to see if the engine was seized and I could very easily kick the motor over with no resistance at all.....then put the plugs back in and the problem still existed...

 

Other than 'bumping' it up to a compression stroke, there ain't no trick to kick starting a Sportie. Sounds like it was just plain tight.I've weighed 175 lbsfor 40 years and never had trouble with either a 55 or 74 cubic inch engine.

Back years ago when I was riding with the club, one of our sportster members had a '68 that his wife could start."Course it'd spit back once in a while... Busted busted her ankle one time, and she didn't wanna start the bike anymore.

 

I would rest the valves.
Old kicker Sportys should kick over rather easy and start easy if you find the pump,cuss and kick factor out.Ussually 2 pumps ,top compression and a solid push through using your weight not your leg.
My old Sporty was a one kick wonder.........unless I braged about her[]

 

Like most of the guy's here I would have to say that this guys ranting about a (special) way to start her is a little far fecthed. Sounds to me like you have a lot of compression, You said you could kick her over with ease with the plugs out? But when you put them back you had a hard time, you might try putting a compression release on her. I think that might help. Other than that I at a loss.. Good luck and keep us informed.