kick start

I just picked up a 78 650 Special. It has been sitting for 30 years. I hope to rebuild it with my son (for as long as his patience lasts anyway). In any event, I am a total noob here. New to bikes, relatively new to vehicles (I putter on some cars and "figure stuff out"). As such, if you...

Afternoon fellas, need some help on modding my kickstart or buying one that will work. Just bought my custom xs650 and having a right f*****g nightmare starting to wish I didn't buy the thing. Loads of niggly problems to sort on it. The right exhaust runs under the kickstart and catches on the...

Just bought a 78 and haven't had time to get into the engine. The clutch cable is broke and has a gas leak in the petcock, so I haven't put gas in it yet. So my question is, is it possible to turn the engine over with the starter and have the kick start pretty much stuck in the 12 o'clock...

First off I have a 78 XS650 Special. I am in the process of building my brat. The plan is to go kick only, and with a Hughs Hand Built complete CDI. Here in Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) to be road legal (74 and lower don't need signals I THINK) I need turn signals. So my question is, what are...

hey guys, Just a pre-requisite, I’m a rookie motorcycle mechanic, just done simple fixes and changed oil before this. I replaced my tach cable and in the process my tach drive slid out (again, rookie) so I had to pull off my right cover to fish for the washer at the bottom. Pulled the cover...

Hello everyone! I'm new to this site and, in fact, pretty new to riding as well. So, I have a problem I hope you can help with. I have a 1981 XS650SH that rode beautifully apart from it's typically lazy charging system. I bit the bullet and installed a new PMA from xs charge. Since I put the...

hey guys Hope everyone is riding while the weather is great! I have a 1978 Yamaha Xs650 bored out to the 707cc. I have currently made the bike into a chopper after the fong bros XS650 style. I am currently running stock pipes without mufflers. My electrical system is the Boyer ignition system...

Hey there guys. This is my first post on here and I am ready to dive into this world of the xs650. Here's a little background on me: I'm 26, have never owned or ridden a motorcycle (only dirt bikes years ago). I've always loved the looks of them and finally decided to pick one up. I'm not a...

I bought this 77 as a complete bike, but with a hole in a piston, so have never had it started. Tearing it down for a 750 conversion, opened up side cover and a large JB coated chuck of metal is loose inside. It appears to be the anchor for the kickstart spring, broken off the case. The...

When i bought the bike, the seller cranked it up (took a good 7-8 kicks) but it eventually started, then the next day i got it running (yet again a good 10-12 kicks that time). And ever since then i have not been able to get her started. I have tried to kick start that thing until my legs have...

Ok been building my bike for a while now. Just got it off the bench. Ive had it running a bunch of times on the bench and once I got it off the bench. Engine runs and everything is fine. So I am all excited to give it a rip down the road.... I fire it up, hold in clutch, put in first...

I apologize if there has been an answer in the past. I bought a 78' xs650 and have been trying to get the damn thing started. I know it starts because we had it running two days ago and again yesterday. Today, I just can't seem to get it in the position to fire it up. I turn the thing on, put...

Up until I got this bike, I had never kick started anything but a 200cc two stroke. I've never had a problem starting that, no matter where I kicked it from. I have been told and read on here to lightly kick it around until it is towards the top of the compression stroke. Well apparently...

Hi guys, I was wondering what I can take out of the wiring harness if I'm going with only a kick start. I have an 81 650 and don't want to stuff unnessisary wires and whatnot into my battery/ electric box. Im running a battery still and just want to get rid of anything I don't need. Not looking...

Hey Guys, I have an issue with my kickstart. When I kick it, it works sometimes but other times it just drops with no compression. Could it be that the clutch is not disengaging all the way? Im unsure where to start here. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!