Hi,
I need to put an 'S' bent in my swing out Shovelhead kickstart lever.
as I suffer from bad Hips & knees, i find that the stock position of the swing out type kicker gets in the way & is painful & awkward to put my right leg down at lights and when just sitting on the bike,
my idea is to put an 'S' bend in it starting just above the swing out portion going inward about 45* and then reverse the next bend so it goes straight up, but about 2'' closer to the bike, i know it will make the kicker slightly shorter and a bit further forward when folded out for use,but still able to clear the exhaust, which wont be the case if i were to bend a lollypop type non swing out kicker. but i can live with that.
well today I took it to a welders I know of to get them to heat it up with an oxy acetaline torch, then put the first bend inwards, & then to heat it again further up and put the second bend to bring it virtical again,
but the fella,

said that you cant heat & bend cast steel & not to bother,
is he correct or can they be bent with gas or is it a no no ?
has anyone here had a kicker altered with gas ?
This is a drawing of how I need it to look like after bending, is it doable ?

 

Many an Early kicker lever been heated and Bent...then invariably...Broken...only broken kicker levers I have seen...had been heated!!!
But...They worked for a time!!!

 

Sounds like you need an electric start bike. Too much trouble IMO, easier to “live with it” than all these questions.

You say you know the welder shop but refer to the guy who says, in his experience it’s not practical, as ‘fella says’.

Hip and knee problems don’t get better regardless of any lever mods.

Its not the lever.

 

If you are never going to use the kicker, based on your medical issue, maybe easier to just leave it off, just a thought. Good luck.

 

Given your physical condition I'd not take a chance on it ... If it fails ( read when ) you'll be in trouble ... If you are that set on the Shovel why not seek out electric start parts

 

If yer not going to use the thing...put the old Style (popscicle) lever on and leave it Out...like most do!
They look better anyway!!! The reason it is the preferred lever on those "fake" evo kickers!!!

 

as it goes, I have a Cannonball Stealth starter on it, so starting is not a problem,
I'd like to keep the kicker for two reasons, one is for use, & the other is looks,...
reason one is so I can easily turn the motor over to set the Magneto timing, & to set the pushrod/tappets when needed at maintainance time,
i find it easier than putting in gear and moving the bike or by turning the rear wheel by hand.
plus as it is, in my eyes it will never look 'finished' in my book it looks like somethigs missing, which it is.
& as I have put a lot of time in hand polishing a genuine old Jammer finned kicker cover & would like to keep it
rather than start swapping parts out for an FL type without kicker ability,
so 1/2 and 1/2 for practicality & for looks & style
1/2 the reason the kicker gets in the way is that when you use the Cannonball starters you bring the kicker cover outboard about an inch more than stock as the drive unit sandwiches between the trans case & the kicker cover.

cannonball stealth starter

fitted to trans

without a kicker,looks unfinishd

with looks better & easier to time & set tappets but hits leg,..

 

How you liking the Cannonball starter? Doing one on my niece's chopped 50.

 

Pictures of my 1970 with the FLH style kicker. It looks to me like it would be further back and as stated you could let it swing out for more clearance. As your bike is a full custom, period correct/stock is irrelevant, just what works for you.

 

Two more cents, I like this without. Cleaner, something looks amiss with kicker on it. Again, another .02 of mine fwiw.