These bikes really aren't that hard to kick. Now my 95" shovel head, that's a different story.....
Anyway, IMHO there is no need to have the compression release for kick only, unless you are built like a 12yr old school girl. Not saying that you are....
You can do nothing with the compression release or take it off and replace it with a later year square tappet cover that doesn't have provisions for the compression release.
The whole reason Yamaha has the one square tappet cover is because of the compression release that they introduced early on after the XS1. Later they found that they didn't need it with the newer starters but never changed the design back to 4 triangular tappet covers (XS1 style) and just left the one square. You will find that later bikes then yours have one square cover but with no compression release.
Kind of a long winded answer I realize, but I hope it helps. Good luck with the project.