Need a recommendation for kickstart lever - rearsets

[Tim of DO THE TON]

So I'm running Tarozzi rearset footpegs/levers on my XS650 (1972 frame) cafe racer. The brackets are custom, but based on the spacing of the Omar's brackets, which do not fit the earlier XS1/1b frames.

Everything is great, except of course the stock kicker doesn't clear the brake pedal. The footpeg itself is fine as it folds up, but the pedal is in the way.

So I'm into bending the kicker, but have heard there might be a better option to start with. XS750 maybe? Need to bring it out about another 1" to clear the pedal.

Glad to see the old 650rider forum has been resurrected. Good to have forums specific to a bike for detailed techie info like this

My bike / footpeg problem:

 

[ryan79]

pics are not good,but you get the idea. later style kicker is easier to bend.get two I messed up my first one. a vice two cans of map gas ,a buddy to hold torches wile you bend with big pipe wrench on foot part of lever. paint to hide torch marks. works great. if you need better pics i,ll take some. I had these so figured I would give you an idea. ryan

 

[angus67]

i think the sr500 has the same splines? and stick out further? but dont know if it sticks out further that close to the pivot point.

 

[inxs]

- SR500...will still be tight, but closer

 

[angus67]

inxs, his footstay isnt at 6o'clock like the picture you posted. more like 7 or 8. He hits the peg at the end of the kick.

 

[inxs]

- yes i know...but if you compare his original photo and ryans you will see that although it will still connect with the lever it wouldnt require so much modification

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Thanks guys for the responses! I actually own an SR500 but haven't looked at it in the 6 months since I bought it. It, along with a 1966 Honda CA95 and another XS650 (girder front end bobber type thing) are the next projects in line after this.

It's basically the same as the first picture Ryan posted - that bike has the Omar's rearset plates / Tarozzi pegs on it. You can see the bends they did in the kickstart lever. That's about what I've got to do. I was hoping (and still am) that there's a magic bullet out there - the right kicker for the job, with minor mods.

I'll have a closer look at the SR's kicker. TC Bros has a good picture of some bends required in the stock kicker to clear their rearsets, but the less bending I have to do the better, as I don't have a torch Will have to rely on the kindness of others to get this done. Somehow I don't think my little propane torches for soldering copper piping will do the trick.

I might also look at the Honda CB750 kickers. They're long and skinny, but the splines don't match. It may be though that the lever itself has the same diameter hole for the XS's kicker base (if that makes sense). I may be able to make a hybrid.

 

[twinsarehot]

Hey, Tim, it's ericngsta from DTT. Nice to see you on here too, your bike looks beautiful. Will it be ready for this season?

I have a buddy who uses tarozzi's on his 650, not the ones you have, but he swapped the kick lever from a sr500, worked for him. I'll see if I can get some more info, but previous posts have efficient information.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Hey - yeah, I'm hoping to have it on the road VERY soon.

I pulled my SR500 lever off that bike from my downtown storage area this morning and will see if it requires less bending and might be lighter weight material to make it easier.

Looking into this mapp gas business. Looks like handheld torch kind of stuff like the propane torches but higher temp. Might be torching this weekend

 

[80xs650]

Tim:

I have Raask rearsets with my own plates on my XS650D. My kicker wouldn't clear either, so I had one modified by one of the mechanics at work. He cut it at the bottom, welded in a length of round bar to extend it, then welded some angle stock outside of that to beef it up a bit. He filled and smoothed out the welds nicely. He is a picture of it on the bike:

I had to rotate it back a spline or two when I mounted it in order to clear the engine case when it's folded in. I have since had it chrome powdercoated, and it looks good. The best part? Only cost me a pizza!

Wade Dunham

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

I'll have a pizza delivered if he whips up another one! That's pretty much exactly what I need to turn mine into. Looks like he knew what he was doing. I know a guy with a welder, so maybe I'll have a look at doing something similar.

 

[inxs]

- another bending option

 

[ryan79]

you are correct. map gas is hand held and mounts to bottom of soldering torch. around 12.00 dollars a can. two cans going and is enough heat and plenty enough gas in can.you can get them a home depo or any plumber supply house. the bending is easier than you might think.just requires a helper to hold heat to it wile you apply preasure in the right starting direction. when it get hot enough you will feel it give then go with it. cool with cold towel. mount on bike and plan your next bend.I think it took me two bends. one down then one back up.

 

[ryan79]

kicker does not hit anywhere.pegs fold up

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

So I got the SR kicker on, and it does give better clearance but not all the way. For the moment, I've disconnected my brake pedal linkage so I can start the bike and begin tuning.

It's not the footpeg I have issues with, as mine folds up (it would hit it if it didn't fold). It's the actual pedal where the kicker has issues. I might be able to rotate it down a bit and get just enough clearance, but then I'm into not enough travel before I'm hitting my pipes, and not a good angle for leverage when applying the rear brake. With a front drum, my read brake is much more important than if I had dual front discs with 6 pot calipers

This is the end of a 3 year long project So I'm anxious to get it on the road now. With a bit of a bend the SR kicker will clear my brake pedal and I'm in good shape (till I need to get my SR on the road).

I should have left the electric starter on

 

[Travis]

It's not the footpeg I have issues with, as mine folds up (it would hit it if it didn't fold). It's the actual pedal where the kicker has issues.

Ever thought of making a brake pedal where the end folds up like the foot peg does? Would that solve your problem? You might be able to take a peg off a sport bike and put it where the brake pedal end is now. Trim the peg a little shorter and you have a folding pedal end.

 

[Travis]

Here's one with the tip already broken off

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Mine's a Tarozzi lever - quite different from the Raask or whatever that broken one was

I had considered that, but frankly, bending the kicker will be easier than making my brake pedal flip up. And with my luck it will be up when I go to slam on my weak drum brakes

I'll sort things out - I'm going to get things into final position this weekend and next week I'll have my friendly welder / machinist make my bends etc for me. Might end up costing me $50 but 3 years and $1000's into the project, I'm not going to waste days/weeks trying to sort out the kicker to save $50.

 

[Travis]

inxs just posted this in another thread

That is exactly what I was talking about. Except you would need the hinge part to be a little closer to the foot peg to clear the base of the kicker.

Did you get that kicker lever bent up yet?

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Got things sorted - added 1 inch of material to the kicker, to have it extend further from the engine when swung out. It clears the pedal, and almost the footpeg (which folds up anyhow).

Will post pics soon - still tuning the carbs. VM34's. Tried 22.5 pilots / 180 mains but I think the pilots will be better at 25.