How do you kick start a bike

[stuartadair]

Hello all

No1 daughter has finally got her provisional licence and takes her CBT on 2nd Jan.

She's bought a really nice CG125 but as its an older model it has a kick start. 95% of the time it starts up on 1st kick and runs really nice, however sometimes it kicks back and feels like it will take your leg off.

I've never owned a kick-start bike before and I suspect that its something we're doing wrong - So, how do you kick start a bike ?

Stu

[-Savage-]

The way I have always done it is to cycle the kickstart once, slowly, and then give it a fast kick.
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[Peterthepillo...]

That's most interesting, thank you, I have endless hassle trying to cold kickstart my monkey which has a 110 pitbike motor. Hot it's no trouble but cold is a bitch, very tight and kicks back horribly. I'll give your method a go.
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[olionel]

there ya go

this is the google search

https://www.google.co.uk/search?aq=0&oq=how+to+kickstart+a+motor&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=how+to+kickstart+a+motorbike

this is what came up when I clicked on one of the links

https://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/03/10/learn-something-how-to-kick-start-a-motorcycle/

also for the theory this is the wiki link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_start

also if you'd like to "read around" the topic

here is push start
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_start

and here is jump start
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_start_(vehicle)

it's wonderful tis tinterwebz shiz innit?

my old cg used to hate starting in the winter, just kicked and kicked it eventually started.. make sure the spark plug is clean aswell..
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1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)

[Pol Anorl]

kickback on a cg125? try a bsa b50
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[Ariel Badger]

I have kicked thousands of bikes over but no more!
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Ariel Badger]

That is not my actual hip, wrong side and mine has no screws! I now use This rather than kick A British 500 single at 11-1 compression hurts!
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[stinkwheel]

Kick it over gently until it is just past top dead centre (so use the kickstart to turn the engine until you feel compression then take it a tiny smidgin further). Now turn the ignition on, allow the kickstart to return to the top of its arc and give it one firm kick all the way down.

Should start. If it doesn't, take it back to just past TDC again and try again.

A kick back happens when the piston hasn't made it all the way to the top of its stroke and a spark ignites the fuel in sending it back the way it came. Kicking from just over TDC and using the full swing of the starter means it has to do a full revolution in the correct direction before it'll fire. Very unlikely to come back at you that way.

It'll kick back if you poke at it or make a half-arsed attempt. Do not be afraid of it, they can smell fear and will attack.
This man is afraid of his XT500

This small lass starts her harley like a boss
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[moppy]

I dont understand why kick starting a bike is some kinda mystery, maybe its cos I grew up in India where bikes have only recently started to get electric starts.

I was back there this summer and rented out a beat up Royal Enfield for a couple of days, no electric start - it also had no front brakes, the fuel lock didn't work, no brake lights, no dials, so you can guess the state of the bike - but it was a fairly simple matter of sticking it in neutral, whacking the kick start down, giving it a little bit of gas and there you are.

No one taught it to me, I didn't have to look online to see how to do it, it just seemed like the obvious way to do it.

Not saying this to big myself up, I just dont understand how its something you can get confused about.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[ninja_butler]

Some bikes do have a habit of trying to bite you when you start them up, TG for electric starters. Is there a manual choke on the CG 125? You might need to put the choke on for a minute to get it running.

[Paulington]

My Father taught me how to kick start bikes and he's been doing it for decades, what he taught me works so I use it. .

He taught me to put the ball of my foot on the lever, and with kickstarts there is a little bit of movement with no resistance until the resistance starts, you need to take that up so you push down lightly until the resistance is there.

Then, in one big motion, you heave yourself up and kick down in an explosive way, combining your kick and the movement of your body so you have more power, that way your leg doesn't tire out as quick and they are easier to start.

My Father used to have a Husqvarna 500 and on regular occasions that would kick back and push him, one legged, up into the garage roof where he'd smack his head. ! They can hurt, complete shinbreakers haha.

However, the smaller the capacity the easier it is to kickstart generally due to the decreased resistance, unless you have something with a crazy compression ratio. !

Hope that helps. !
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CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[drzsta]

It's a 125, kicking it ain't rocking science...
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Current Bikes - BMW S1000RR ‘17 & KTM 690 SMC-R ‘12

[Ariel Badger]

[Serendipity]

[Pete.]

A cg shouldn't present any problems even if the engine's hot, but if she's struggling then as said above she should ease it over compression then bring the kicksarter back up to the top and give it a hearty bootfull.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Polarbear]

[Gothtec]

[Snodvan]

As Stinkwheel said "
It'll kick back if you poke at it or make a half-arsed attempt. Do not be afraid of it, they can smell fear and will attack. "

True, very true. I used to have a Velocette Venom (500 single for the youngsters). How to start it? Set aside 30 mins, say a few prayers and as stated - just past tdc then give it an almighty kick. With a big bike the bugger may still kick back a few times but on a 125 should be ok

Personally I would LOVE to have a kickstart on my BMW 650CS (as well as the battery of course). I never feel quite safe having to rely only on the battery

Have fun

Snod
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04 (UK Reg) BMW F650cs, but really 02 first Reg in Holland

[johnsmith222]

pull out kickstart. Kick down kickstart. Bike is now started.

There is no need to piss about with gently kicking it or whatever. It's a CG125.

My experience is countlessly kickstarting my CG and RXS.

[temeluchus]

Learned the hard way on a two stroke mz not to panzy around with a kickstarter!
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[stinkwheel]

[MarJay]

[Robby]

Having the bike in a good state of tune helps massively with kick starting.

I recently starting riding my CB250RSA again, for winter. It's a kick start only 250cc single with a valve lifter, so not big power and no worry about a nasty kickback.

It was being an absolute bastard to start though, and is very fussy about choke settings on a cold engine. Has to be just right to keep running, so I tend to get it going and then push the choke in and keeps the revs up for the first couple of miles.

I found out why it was so bad when I serviced it. The engine was taken out of a crashed one and fitted over the summer, I changed the oil when I fitted it but it was clearly quite dirty inside, seeing as the oil was black and knackered after 500 miles. The air filter was also filthy, it hadn't done many miles since the last clean but has been sitting in a garage with assorted wildlife passing through for 8 months. Being a foam type you wash it in petrol then oil with engine oil. Plug benefitted from a clean up as well.

Now starts easily, has a lot more power, and reaches a steady tickover too.

Totally aside from the starting, I aligned the wheels using the plank of wood method. Found out the swingarm marks are a joke, and are out by half a notch. Handles a lot better now that the front wheel isn't offset from the rear by a full inch.