Kicked off Bike while starting..

[Bernie_Boy]

Hi all

I have heard tails about this sort of thing happening, but it has not happened to me as yet.

Do you have a story about getting kicked off the Pig while starting it? do tell....I would like (and others) to know what you (maybe ? ) did wrong...

My story: My M8 got his 1998 XR600 off a guy after it was about 1month old, the guy has his leg in plaster.....Yes he got kicked off the new bike..it busted his knee. (knee reco.)

[Dutch]

Honda XR's have an automatic decompressor that is activated when the engine is rotated backwards.

The exhaust valve is lifted so it won't kick back.

Now - that is not to say you can't hurt yourself kick starting this bike------

[qadsan]

An old Suzuki TM400 once launched me into the air back in the 70's when trying to start it ?

http://www.suzukicycles.org/photos/TM/TM400-brochures/1973_TM400K_brochure_800.jpg

[BuddyK]

At the very first MX race I went to on a souped up SL90, there was a grungy, fat, foul mouthed guy kicking & cussing a TM400 with the usual torn off rear fender . It finally fired up & this guy was reving it to the moon trying to get it to clear out. He finally dumped the clutch & found out it was running backwards, it shot a roostertail 30 feet in front of the bike, he weaved & wagged backwards for 10 or 20 feet before he finally ate it. Everybody there was on the ground laughing at this guy, it was hysterical. he loaded it up & left ?

[qadsan]

He finally dumped the clutch & found out it was running backwards

Wow! I've never seen one run backwards to where a person started moving backwards, but I can see where it would be very possible because that stupid TM kicked back like a %@!*&)~

[BuddyK]

I stalled my Penton once on the top of a steep 8' embankement, it slide/rolled back with the the front wheel locked & the clutch out.

It was running at the bottom of the hill, it was running rough (timing retarded instead of advanced) but running backwards. I assume I heard it fire & instinctively pulled in the clutch trying to keep it running, while trying to keep it vertical sliding backwards down the bank. That's the only time it's happened to me. Those old Cyclones were just plain mean, the most popular mod for those was a heavier flywheel ;)those things hurt a lot of people, waaaay too much hard to use power & wicked handling/brakes, especially compared to what we have today.

[SaltyWalrus]

I had an 83 Husky XC500 2 smoke. Chunked the piston. Rebuilt from the crank bearing up. All re-assembled...wouldn't start. Finally, it sneased to life at the end of the umpteenth pop start attempt, just as I grabbed the clutch. Let out clutch and it was running backwards. Needless to say, my timing was a little off.

[NORTEXED]

I had a buddy with a Cyclone, It was a B---- to start too, but in it's powerband, WOH BABY !

[jchantzWR400F]

A guy I work with used to have an xr600. I tried to start it one day in his garage, and the kick start lever sudden shot back into resting position (as in he kicked it down, and it kicked back). The only thing it did was shatter most of the bones and tear most of the ligaments in his ankle. He sold it immediately. He was in a walking cast for a year. He swears up and down that he didn't touch the throttle while kicking.

[qadsan]

as in he kicked it down, and it kicked back

If the XR600 had an aftermarket cam installed and he kicked it over like a two stroke (not from TDC), then it can kick back just as you described. If you kick from TDC, there's much less likelyhood of this happening. Aftermarket cams do not have the auto decompressor mechanism on them to protect against this and you can't usually swap them over from the stock cam.

[Ccarl]

Oh yea, just about been over the bars on my TT500 a couple times before i got the trick to starting it.....kinda scary and I make sure not to let any of my friends try to start the thing ?

[irondude]

My Hodaka Ace 100 used to act up now and then, slamming right back at me...any bike that had points was a candidate for a missfire...

[Bernie_Boy]

Well you learn something every day,

Dutch, what you said about the auto decomp..is that true for all the older XR's? just wondering..

?

[RidesRed]

One interesting thing I am observing here, the old "It kicked back and broke his leg" stories are ALWAYS proceeded by.."Once there was this guy I knew who...".

I have never heard anyone say they themselves actually broke a leg.....all sounds like the makings of an urban legend......Okay, I admit I actually DID sprain my very own ankle on my TT500...but thats not quite the same as breaking a leg. I think I read somewhere the human leg bone has something like 18,000 psi compression strength. Concrete has 15,000 psi. I am trying to think of when I actually knew someone who broke a leg during a kickback...maybe it will come to me later. Anyways, as for going over the bars, thats ENTIRELY possible, and quite fun at times. No, really. Big Fun. Not very likely on an auto-decompressor equipped bike though. My IT465 yamaha 2 stroke has kicked back (it has no auto-decompressor...is this a coincidence?) only once since I bought it new in 1981. And when it did, I went right over the bars and landed on my BRAND NEW bell helmet. I guess that new helmet paid for itself quickly. But other than being embarrassed,I escaped serious injury. I also learned to NEVER lock my knee when kick-starting a bike. Don't get me wrong, a big thumper kick-back is nothing to laugh at. I just wonder about all the bone-crushing tales I hear now and again.

[Bernie_Boy]

Its Like this one time at Band Camp I stuck a XR600 in my .......... ummm no that doesn't work...

The 18,000 PSI stuff....how can you explain when Kick Boxers Get their leg's broken from a swinging leg? (Stan the Man!!) Also, what about in the Movies when Jean claude van dam in "Blood Sports" killed that Guy with a round house Kick?? YEAH WHAT ABOUT THAT!!! ?

Life is like a Box of chocolates, you never know when a Break is just around the corner.

Cheers All. Ride Safe.

[RidesRed]

Say Bernie, that Van-Dam movie reminds me of the time that this cop pulled me over . When he saw my bike (a KTM 950 v-twin dakar racer)in the back of my rusty-but-trusty '66 Chevy Corvair van, he told me this story about his brothers girlfriend. She had a cousin, who was married to this lady. The lady (the cousins ex wife) sold him (the cop) a like-new Bultaco because it broke the girlfiends cousins leg when it kicked back on him. He kept the bike in like new condition for 29 years, having never actually ridden it (it broke his leg the first time he ever tried to start it). The cop saw an ad one day that read "Used, 30 year old dirt bike, please take it for free". When the cop saw the bike, he was shocked to see it was an original condition Bultaco. Major collectors item. The Ex-wife of the cops brothers girlfriends cousin gave the bike away just to piss off her ex-husband (the girlfriends cousin), who teasured the bike dearly. He had left the bike at the house during the trial seperation, and was going to pick it up the following day. The poor soon-to-be-ex-husband had to take it up the This whole thing is just like the van-dam movie. I guess life really does imitate art. ?

[Winkel]

One time at band camp.............LOL ....I love that lead in.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! ?

[PoorLilRich]

One time at band camp.............LOL ....I love that lead in.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! ?

1 time at band camp i got stuck in my bikes exhaust :D

[smashinz2002]

Either these people are extremely weak like a kitten, or they don't know how to kick a bike over, or both.

In any case, most of those stories are BS!!! Yeah, any bike might kick back on you, but it's not going to launch you into the air, that's just total BS. In order to do that, you would have to keep your quads totally tight, your knee completely locked out, get ready, and help yourself launch yourself with some sort of unknown and very excessive forces applying to only one leg, (while keeping your quads, calves, and ankles completely stiff, and knee locked at full extension). This sounds pretty hokey, so I think it's BS.

If it does kick back, you can expect a severely bruised calf and ankle, and maybe even a broken bone if you're weak and old.

The 650R you don't have to worry about though, just give it a good solid kick all the way through the arc and don't stab at it like a 2-stroke, and it's not a problem.

[xr650Lroostnya]

Back in the early 80's when my dad bought his brand new '82 XL500 when they were getting it ready for him this short guy was trying to get it started and all of a sudden it kicked back really bad and it must have eaither broke his leg or sprained it ? real bad cause they had to get a chair for him to sit on cause he couldnt walk.

Thats the only story i've heard of bikes kicking back.