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I have the oposite problem on my 78 Shovel,
I have the Swing out kicker and it clears the pipes well, but due to me having 2 screwed up hips & a crocked knee, I cannot ride my Shovel with the kicker on it as it sticks out too far for me to get my leg on the floor without the kicker jamming painfully into my knee,
so what I will be doing next Tuesday is using a buddies Oxy Acet torch and will be putting an 'S' bend in the kicker shaft, to bring the pedal inboard about another 2inches,
being a swing out, it wont effect the pipe clearence but will give my leg plenty of room without being painful...
So which way does your kicker arm mount to the transmission. Like the first example that I show or the second?
So i guess no one knows if there is a difference in how far the these two different late style arms stick out ?
Both the folding arm kickers clear pipes that the popsicle pedal kicker won't clear. The folding arm kicker in your first picture that attaches to the perpendicular mount will swing out farther than the folding arm (2nd picture) that attaches directly to the kicker shaft.
The second folding kicker also provides more leg room when riding vs. the other kickers pictured. If the kicker didn't hit the pipe, I've found that the kicker arm with the folding pedal is a better device for actually starting the engine. The folding arm kicker tends to try and fold back up at the bottom of the stroke, scratching the front muffler and in my case injuring my knee. YMMV.
Last edited by 84 Shovel; Jul 7, 2023 at 07:27 PM.
Never got along with the later folding kick arm but I used mine regular too. I put the extended shaft in the cover instead, sticks the kick arm out more. Zero issues and I trust the kicker unlike the folding ones.
mine is the second type you posted, the first brings the kicker out even further and would be a bigger pain to get your leg around at lights etc, but will or should clear pipes easier if you have a problem with one hitting the pipes
you can see how far my kicker sticks out in the folded position in this pic, I will be putting an 'S' bend in it so it roughly lines up with the inboard Plug lead off of the Magneto, if not closer in
Last edited by magnum45pete; Jul 8, 2023 at 04:59 AM.
Never got along with the later folding kick arm but I used mine regular too. I put the extended shaft in the cover instead, sticks the kick arm out more. Zero issues and I trust the kicker unlike the folding ones.
Yet, I prefer the folders...the old Popsicle style have to have the Pedal Out for me...always... if in, they rub back of my leg too hard!
I have had the folder, Fold, when at bottom of kick stroke...so...I don't use it on Hard Kickers.. '80's stuff, Stock, no problems.
Or...as said... the proper exhaust and all is Great!!!
I spent quite a bit of time looking at part numbers and matching them up to pictures of the part to figure out what I should chase after. The one that sticks out the furthest seems to be an earlier version. After looking at many photos on line and factory pictures it seems that my '81 should have the one that sits in further and that one is the later style. Now all I have to do is find one. A lot of the ones on E-Bay are not in the best of shape and I am not sure if I want a re-pop. With all the information I have learned on this post I have enough information that I can get something to work. I will start by getting one like the bike came with.
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