ET: Engine (Twin) Starting a twin

[vibrac]

You could be right Eddie however with twin decompressors in the heads its easy to open the front one at half lever then find the compression on the back one, pull in the lever completely then you are set.
Lot easier than on the Grid at Snetterton trying to find it for the up hill bump start with all the engines having their last rev up before the quick silence.
What a lot of drama we lost when they allowed running engine starts.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I think it is much better for the kickstart also, I did bad bend job on my Special kick lever for Twin exhaust down pipes.
It was fine for me, But I let one of our Big Lads have a go at Curborough Twisty sprint, I think I had fitted it to the L/ning, And he broke it !, It had been like that for years, But he used the finding type of starting.
Cheers Bill.

 

[timetraveller]

I agree with BigEd. I despair when I see people struggling to find the 'correct' position for the engine rotation and then abusing the kick start mechanism by trying to get the engine to turn over. I just turn the engine over with the kick starter and the valve lifter up, to ensure that I am not in gear, or something else silly, and then just boot it and let go of the valve lifter half way down.

 

[mercurycrest]

I don't know why people don't use or a least give this a try rather than faffing about trying to find "the right" cylinder on compression. You do have to get used to letting go of the valve lifter as the kickstart nears the bottom of its stroke but that is simple once you have stroked it a few times.

A long time ago, my valve lifter cable on the D broke when I went to start the bike. I figured I'd better find the long stroke so it would kick through easy and just stood on the kickstart lever. As it passed through tdc the damn thing was running! My friend couldn't believe his eyes! I was just happy I'd forgotten to turn off the key.
Dizzy's Rule!

 

[Bill Thomas]

At my time of life, I should put lower comp' pistons in my bikes, But I don't want to take them apart, While they are still running, In case they don't get put back together !. Cheers Bill.

 

[Chris Launders]

If you're a bit (lot) overweight like me don't bother with the valve lifter or finding compression stroke, just give it a big swing.

 

[Sakura]

My Rapide will not start using the normal procedure of just using the exhaust valve lifter and dropping it at the bottom. It will only start on the long dwell. I'm just delighted the thing will start on the kickstarter, even if it is a bit of a faff. At least no-one is likely to steal it! Some Velos will only start if you follow a set procedure as well. Others start with no problems

 

[Sakura]

If you're a bit (lot) overweight like me don't bother with the valve lifter or finding compression stroke, just give it a big swing.

Likely to result in stripped kickstarter splines or a broken kickstarter shaft and kickstarters are about £500!!

 

[Pete Appleton]

Closed chokes and no throttle provides the least dense mixture. What ignition are you using? Could it be weak sparks?
Is there any suppression in the ht leads, plugs or caps? Resistors wrecking mags is nonsense but they will slow the discharge to the point where the spark is unable to dry out a contaminated plug insulator.

 

[Sakura]

Hi Peter. BTH "magneto" . No suppression, original KLG caps, brass terminals. Come the summer I will come and let you have a look. Check my I'd!