blackarrow
Well-known member
Someone once said the only good thing about the good ole' days is they are good and gone. There's a lot of truth in that statement. But at odd moments I find myself mourning the passing of the kickstarter. I'm all for technological innovation and progress or I wouldn't be riding an FJR. One of the sweetest sounds around is the one or two second starter squeal and the FJR purr that follows.
What I miss is the visceral, mechanical, and satisfying experience of kickstarting a motorcycle. It's also really nice to know it's there as a backup, especially when the battery goes low.
When I first started riding there weren't electric starters. Technological innovation was a compression release for the thumpers. It was always entertaining to see someone launched like a ground to air missile when their big incher kicked back. An eccentric acquaintance of mine had an old Harley 74 which had, so help me, what looked like a Schwinn bicycle peddle on his kickstarter which always looked like it was about to break. What a character...not to be seen riding around town without his chihuahua sitting on the tank and a six gun strapped to his side. But I digress.
My first electric starter was a Honda CB450. It's electricals were so weak best practice was to only push the button when the engine was already warm. At all other times use the kickstarter. My first reliable electric starter was a Honda CB750. I used the kickstarter sometimes just for grins, and was really glad for it during the perilous time between noticing my battery was low and getting a new one. My '79 Honda GL1000 was my first motocycle with no provision for a kickstarter (though the very first ones had one in the toolkit). I didn't really want to run 'n bump that one, and thankfully never had to.
Some will probably (maybe rightly so) think this is a ridiculous train of thought, like missing hand cranks on cars. Admittedly the FJR would not be a good candidate for an auxiliary kickstarter, but I think riders of many other bikes could still benefit from the security and satisfaction of the good old fashioned kickstarter.
What I miss is the visceral, mechanical, and satisfying experience of kickstarting a motorcycle. It's also really nice to know it's there as a backup, especially when the battery goes low.
When I first started riding there weren't electric starters. Technological innovation was a compression release for the thumpers. It was always entertaining to see someone launched like a ground to air missile when their big incher kicked back. An eccentric acquaintance of mine had an old Harley 74 which had, so help me, what looked like a Schwinn bicycle peddle on his kickstarter which always looked like it was about to break. What a character...not to be seen riding around town without his chihuahua sitting on the tank and a six gun strapped to his side. But I digress.
My first electric starter was a Honda CB450. It's electricals were so weak best practice was to only push the button when the engine was already warm. At all other times use the kickstarter. My first reliable electric starter was a Honda CB750. I used the kickstarter sometimes just for grins, and was really glad for it during the perilous time between noticing my battery was low and getting a new one. My '79 Honda GL1000 was my first motocycle with no provision for a kickstarter (though the very first ones had one in the toolkit). I didn't really want to run 'n bump that one, and thankfully never had to.
Some will probably (maybe rightly so) think this is a ridiculous train of thought, like missing hand cranks on cars. Admittedly the FJR would not be a good candidate for an auxiliary kickstarter, but I think riders of many other bikes could still benefit from the security and satisfaction of the good old fashioned kickstarter.
