This is bad info on the ignition, it's not true. The stock ignition works just fine. I have an 81, 83, and 84, and they all came with factory kickers and all start in one kick with the stock oem electronic ignition. The reason people had issues is that they didn't understand how the ignition worked. It has a timeout function, (without looking it up) I believe it's 5 seconds. If the bike doesn't fire within the time allotment, it will not spark until the ignition is turned off and back on to reset the timer. You can kick it all day and it won't do anything. You simply need to do your priming kicks with the ignition off, get it to the top, then turn it on and give it a good kick and it will light.

 

very cool, thanks.

is there anyway to tell what transmission is on my bike? serial #s... ?????????
been looking at pics of trannys and it's pretty tough to tell what i have

 

Well, I can tell you it's not a Harley 4 speed (so it's not a 5 into 4 conversion), and it's not out of an early FXR as stated above, those have a release arm, not a ball/ramp release like the one you have, which didn't come in a big twin until 1987.

I'd try and find a new tranny, you probably can get the right 4 speed with a stock kicker for not much more than the kit you were looking at.

 

Exactly. Owning each of those models, it's looks like a 5 speed Evo transmission side cover. Personally, other than the cool factor of kicking they can be a real PITA. If the kicker free-falls it can jam your knee. Or compression can toss your *** over the handlebars. Big Ouch!