Kick start return position

drones76 · Jun 11, 2012

Does your kick start rubber annoy the crap out of you while you are riding? Mine seems to be about parallel with the frame when it is fully returned, yet it hits the back of my leg when I ride. A friend also has a '74 and his seems to turn in more so it is not in the way. I have considered a little grinding on either the pedal or the arm to allow it to get closer the bike. Any recommendations or alternate ideas?

Hobot · Jun 11, 2012

Ugh, yes its a long Commando tradition to suffer the nagging poking of kicker. Two ways to get away from it, fit rear sets so leg is behind it or grind the peg and lever stops till the peg turns in enough to miss your leg. Then might fiddle the spline position to allow the peg to fold in as far as the relieved stops provide. On Peel I kept grinding till peg turns in like 45'.

rvich · Jun 11, 2012

There are some aftermarket multi-bifurcating kick starters that are reported to avoid this. I have not tried any of them. If you grind the stop, do it on the pedal and not the arm. If in the event you are unhappy with the result the pedal is going to be easier to replace. If the chrome is good on the arm...I would never intentionally scar it.

Russ

swooshdave · Jun 11, 2012

drones76 said:
Does your kick start rubber annoy the crap out of you while you are riding? Mine seems to be about parallel with the frame when it is fully returned, yet it hits the back of my leg when I ride. A friend also has a '74 and his seems to turn in more so it is not in the way. I have considered a little grinding on either the pedal or the arm to allow it to get closer the bike. Any recommendations or alternate ideas?

Rearsets, those will give you a whole 'nuther level of things to complain about. :mrgreen:

kraakevik · Jun 11, 2012

On my Combat I've positioned the kick-start lever forward on the splines so that its curve mirrors that of the inner curve of the Z-plate--this tucks it forward out of the way and provides a little extra travel on the downstroke. The '74 850 needs a MarkIII lever to clear the pipes and sits up almost vertically

Tim Kraakevik
kraakevik@voyager.net

Guido · Jun 11, 2012

Been dealing with it for years. I've got use to kicking it out of the way every time after I come to a stop.
Tried moving it back 1 spline but even 1 spline makes it harder to start so it has become one of the few things that has annoyed me about the Norton.

ashman · Jun 11, 2012

I had suffered this problem for 36 years but now have fixed it by replacing it with a RGM folding kick start lever (T160 with the Norton spline) this is also a longer lever and makes it a lot easer to kick and the best of all it fold right away from your leg, I have had mine on for about 4 months now and I am very happy with the out come.

Ashley

aries · Jun 11, 2012

Yep the RGM folding kickstsrts are good. Had mine for a year before the chrome started to peel off

Diablouph · Jun 11, 2012

Got mine from Commando Specialties and I love it. Solved all the annoyances and makes for a somewhat easier start.

http://www.commandospecialties.com/Prod ... ProdID=173

DogT · Jun 11, 2012

I don't have any trouble with mine, but then the pipes aren't in the way. I just wish it was easier to push, but then you wouldn't feel like you accomplished something. I always thought that rubber on the back of my boot was like an old friend, at least you know it hasn't fallen off yet. I keep mine pretty tight on the nut, it doesn't move once I put it in place. You can add spring washers or pieces of Teflon or whatever.

I think the CS is the same as RGM, interesting about the chrome.

Dave
69S

xbacksideslider · Jun 12, 2012

Two mods.

First, I carefully trimmed the stops on both sides - the lever and the kick pedal - so that the kick pedal folds farther in. It actually tucks behind the upper Z bracket/Iso bolt head, and stays there. The kick pedal no longer touches my calf and I can place the ball of my foot (as opposed to the arch) on the foot peg.

Second, an O-ring placed on/around the lever's upper bolt and under the pedal shaft dampens it and helps hold it in position.

maylar · Jun 12, 2012

One spline to the left can make a big difference. I just wish that the detent ball actually worked in mine, cuz I'm always pushing the pedal back into place.

Kick start return position

Similar threads