hangin out at my buddy;'s shop and i saw an old trumpet just lyin there all mournful like gathering dust in the corner. Felt a pang of something inside me so i wlaked over to the old warhorse and straddled her a bit. man, that old kickstart brought back happy memories of teenage testosterone and bruised shins. My first bike was an old monstrously orange Honda hawk 400 with a kick start. From ther it was a kawa Gpz 550 then a Honda CB650. But that first kickstart will always remain fondly in my heart.

Yep, remember my old Honda 350CL from high school days. When it didn't want to start I would wind up with blisters on the bottom of my foot. But when it did start, what a great feeling to kick it and give a quick twist of the throttle to let everyone know it started!!!

Gotta admit it was always a rush (especially in front of a group of men), when  I could get the old ironhead to come to life.Even better when I got it down to one kick.:)

I got a buddy 8Ball whose been tryin to unload his old ironhead......no luck yet. yeah, those kickers were absolutely wonderful........(maybe it all seems fonder now with the passing of years..lol)

I think we all found our niche or repsective grooves in the universe when we all gravitated to those two wheeled beasts in our younger days,huh

Absolutly no way do I miss them. Had old Kwakers...Z1000's Z650's and the dirtiest bitch of a bike you ever met an LTD650, kick start was OK ..until a cold morning or a late night (after a few) kick,kick flood,kick, kick, torn shins, busted ankles, broken relationships threats of murder and mayhem..........thank God for the RED button.

I used to race in the open class reliability trials on a TT500. One lung and a lot of compression. Sometimes I would jump on that kick start and it would be so backed up it wouldn't even move. Just about tossed me over the handlebars once or twice... good times... good times. All things being equal - kick starts make great backups to dead batteries - unless you like bump starting a 750lb bike. Thanks for the memories!

 MIKE                   "I'm... a... high... way... STAR..."   

Don't miss them at all. I don't miss the kick, kick, kick, then compression start it on a hill. Or getting thrown over the handlebars because I didn't have on the compression stroke. Etc. etc.
I like technology. I like fuel injection, I like it to start and run with just a quick touch of the button, I like 54 MPG.

Just my opinion. Ymmv

Still ride a kick-start. "73 shovel chopper. I just don't ride it much.

lol...c'mon Rory n Nofrets..lol....you all were just 'payin your dues'..lol.....Yeah, i remember woozily tryin to navigate myself ( back in the days...) to the parked bike after a few ( and then some more) and tryin my damndest to focus on the task at hand....Im sure i left a few shin splinters spread out around there....
Big Willie, you sound like a 'classic' ol timer. I tip my hat to you sho'nuff....would love to see your sled....

love my 69 kick only Ironhead. Most of the time she will start with 1 or 2 kicks when its worm. Just something about knowing you bring it to life with your power, seems a bit more manly than the push of a button or turn of a key

firing on 1st kick:  priceless

Don't miss 'em. Ragedy ass Keihin carbs.

All my early Jap bikes were kick start. My Duc was too. My favorite was the Bonneville, vintage 73. Always started on first or second kick. Except she would NEVER start below 30 degrees. I guess she thought it was too cold to ride. But to be honest I like my Push Button start. There must be a god for who else would have created electric start.

Hell yes I miss kick starts.
Most of my bikes were recovered junk & I was too cheap to put a good battery in them, w/ a kick start I could limp along w/ a 10 yr. old battery.

Been ther done that got the t-shirt and the brusies. Installed a 5 speed in a 4 speed case and left the kick start on the bench. see pics not there.

What I miss is those bikes that were kick only that I should have never sold. Oh well, brings back memories.

Had a 74 HD Sportster with a kicker on it. Throught it was pretty cool back in the 70's to go out and jump on that bad boy. I remembered big guys could stand on the ground and either kick one off with the left or right foot. I had to do the left knee on the seat thing and come down with the right foot.
Well getting a little older now and it's only takes about 1/2 pound to push the start button, as opposed to blowing out a knee with a kicker.
How many out there have either owned or at least rode a sucide clutch......They called it sucide for a reason. Last year I had a brain fart and almost converted the Dragon over to a sucide and jocky shift. So I decided I would ride the bike for a week as if I had a sucide clutch on it. Shit just about every time I came to a stop no matter how hard I tried I seem to want to lean to the left......which means you gotta put your left foot down.....which means unless you can find netural before the stop your F#%ked.

Dragon

I haven't had one but always wanted one... one with a front brake, dragon......I'm not that sucidale.

Yea when I sold my Sportster and bought a 1964 Pan Head that had a front brake.......I throught I was shitting in tall cotton then.

Dragon