Kick starting my Patrol

[BillB]

I took delivery of my ’07 Patrol in June of 2007. It has about 5500 km on the odometer. So much for the history.

I am lazy and use the starter to get the bike running. I have on occasion started it with the kick starter. Lately I’ve been more inclined to make sure I can start it with the kick starter. Several times in the last few weeks the electric starter has hiccupped and didn’t fire. I suspect the starter relay might be showing signs of an early demise. I had to replace the headlight relay several months after I bought it. I know the headlight relay can be exchanged for the starter relay.

I’m not overly concerned if the electric starter/ relay fail, there is always the kick starter. That’s my problem. I have been trying to kick start the bike just to be sure I can do it

When the bike is cold, I pull out the enricheners, turn on the ignition, and slowly bring the motor around until it is on the compression stroke. Then I give it the best shot I have. Sometimes it starts on the first try. If it doesn’t, I can’t get it started after that. I’ve tried bringing the motor up on the compression stroke once more and kicking again. I don’t touch the throttle, and I leave the enricheners on. After several tries I stop trying to kick start it and use the electric starter. I’m afraid if I continue trying to kick start it, I will foul the plugs.

Once the bikes start with the electric starter, I let it run a little bit until the engine smooths out, and then shut it off. When I try to kick start it, it starts right up. I don’t have much better luck trying to kick start it after it been run for a while and shut down for a short time.

It seems like I get one shot at starting it with the kick starter or I can’t get it going without using the electric starter.

I must admit that I haven’t completely mastered the side mounted kick start lever. I am used to the “conventional” style some of my other bikes had.

It looks like I could some advice on how start it. Thanks for any suggestions.

Bill

[MartyL]

You have just described my senerio as far as kick starting. Just so you know, it's a good idea to pump the kick starter a couple of times before you engage the electric starter. This will prevent a possible vapor lock issue if fuel gets into the heads (Petcock left in prime with engine off..... Very Bad). Most times I can get her started on the first kick after I do two priming kicks/pumps. If she doesn't fire right off, personally I get lazy and hit the electric and she fires right up. I have the stock jets on my bike so when cold with enrichers on only for maybe 30 sec. Then I shut off enrichers and slightly crack the throttle till she can hold idle by herself. Outside temps around in the 60's to 70's most these days. (I'm a Florida boy you know.)

[Tin Man]

Bill, I been doing the same thing as you, just trying to teach myself how to do a manual start. I have had the most luck with the following procedure.
1) Ignition off
2) Enrichers out
3) Stand with my right foot on left rear footpeg (passenger), this lets me have full range of motion with my left foot thru the entire travel of the kickstarter from top to bottom. Holding onto the passenger seat will keep you steady.
4) Kick engine over twice, do it smartly please
5) Ignition on
6) Left hand on throttle, but just a little, right hand on passenger seat
7) One hard kick and engine has started every time.
Hope this helps

shoemake

[Ragman]

Your problems with not being able to kick, when it failed to start first time, echo the attitude of my rig. If it will kick start, it will do it immediately, after a couple of 'priming' kicks. No matter how more times I kick it, it will NOT start, but the electric at that point, will start it immediately, unless the battery is low, when it won't start, no matter what.

I have taken this to be a personality trait of my rig, and accept it. ( a much better attitude to take, than to jump on the kick start until I expire in a heap.)

[JPanyon]

My rig acts the same as all the above. I have noticed that above 50 degrees, the enrichers hinder, not help, kick starting. Significantly below 50 degrees, enrichers seem mandatory for kick starting.

In every instance, a tiny bit of throttle helps, not hurts. Since I can "lock" my throttle to whatever setting I want, this is easy.

So, I'm thinking that my stock idle jetting is a tad too lean, but the process of improving the situation may be more of a hassle than living with things the way they are.

The rig certainly kicks over more reliably than the '54 HD ex-police I used in college, and no worse than the '72 beemer R75. The Germans didn't even equip the '77 R100 with a kick starter.

Best Wishes To All
John Panyon
'02 750 "Orphanski"

[JohnBG]

What Jpanyon said. When it's warm it's easier to start with the enricheners off.

I also replaced the vacuum operated fuel valve with a gravity one. I just turn the valve and the gas starts flowing. If your rig has been sitting a while the float bowls might be empty which if ya still have the vacuum petcock requires a few slow kicks to get the fuel flowing.

I crack the throttle on mine slightly while kicking (about 1/8 turn) and once ya feel it catch, rev it a tad.

[pidgey]

can't kick over my rig as I busted my femur in '06. It hurts, man..

[a1930ford]

Am I the only person to ever get a charlie horse when kick starting a Ural?

No kidding, that was misery for a couple of weeks afterward, but it did indeed happen.

Any rate, I have had relay problems for a few months, so the kick starter was the answer to get the bike going. I guess I just had dumb luck, but it didn't take much pressure at all and worked pretty much every time, once I learned how to do it. I guess I am not good enough to describe how to do it to someone else, but my biggest problem was getting the rig into nuetral in the first place. I stopped in my drive once, which is on a hill, and like to never got the bike into neutral.

I had read that someone used to entertain folks with starting their rig with their hand at the kick starter. I didn't actually believe it, but many times my rig did it just as easy. I usually give a couple of twists at the throttle before I try, but so far it has cranked easily and I have not experienced the problems some others have. I use the enrichers as well, but just for a very minimal amount of time. I am not sure I could say the engine even knows rich from lean on start up though.

I actually did get the charlie horse I mentioned. I have had problems with the achiles tendon in the past, so it was brought on by that problem, I suppose, but, man, did it ever let me know I had done something wrong at the time. Over stretched muscles are no fun at all. This was something that made kick starting a chore for a bit, but the rig fired up quickly, as I mentioned. Actually, I am glad I was a bit lazy in replacement of the starter relay, as, if you don't use the kick starter from time to time, you forget just how to do it. I sort of enjoyed using it more than the electric starter at times. Just something that was sort of challenging or seemed really retro when doing, so it was fun.

It is like an art, but I am not so sure others can actually read about it and go out and make it work as well as they want. Maybe it is something that just has to be shown for the best results, but I am lucky enough to live in an area where it is warm much more than it is cold.
Good luck in learning the trick of kick starting.

[George Butz]

You have just described my senerio as far as kick starting. Just so you know, it's a good idea to pump the kick starter a couple of times before you engage the electric starter. This will prevent a possible vapor lock issue if fuel gets into the heads (Petcock left in prime with engine off..... Very Bad). Most times I can get her started on the first kick after I do two priming kicks/pumps. If she doesn't fire right off, personally I get lazy and hit the electric and she fires right up. I have the stock jets on my bike so when cold with enrichers on only for maybe 30 sec. Then I shut off enrichers and slightly crack the throttle till she can hold idle by herself. Outside temps around in the 60's to 70's most these days. (I'm a Florida boy you know.)

I use the easy button only when the ankle is really bothering me, but always kick it through once before using it. If you have a non-vac petcock of leave it on prime, you can fill a cylinder up with gas quite quickly. [ Don't ask ]
I knew this could happen and carefully pulled the carb and the intake port was indeed full of gasoline. If not for reading about this, here, I'm sure disaster would have followed if I had pushed that button. It pays to read all those H&W'n posts when you first get one of these beasts.

[Ragman]

Since my last post on this thread:

My rig now starts first time, every time, with the kicker..

The only difference is that the rig is now back in the Great Nor Wet, and the battery died. But now, I leave everything off, kick it over four times, turn everything on, and kick it once.. fires up every time.

Before this, it would NEVER start on the kicker.

[jerbunch]

Yep! Mine won't start with the enricheners on. I have to kick it with them off, and let it idle for a bit. If I choke it, she won't kick over It has to be 45 or cooler before the enrichers work for me on a kick start

[johnR]

Okay Dnepr owners......we should all pile on this one!!!!
John

[jeep44]

Urals come with electric starters? Why wasn't I notified?

[Scott]

As a guy who owns two K-750's with no "electric leg", your new Ural bikes should all start with just a couple kicks. You shouldn't ever need enricheners unless Santa Clause is your neighbor or your hackdog is a penguin. The pull up enricheners (on K-65's and K-68's is the limit of my experience) seem to just mess thing up even in freezing weather. Choking is a necessity on K-301/K-302 carbs, however.

Both my K-750's, when running properly, will start in just a kick or two. Even the screwed up flathead that was knocking like a jackhammer that I sent off to Ken to fix would still turn over in two kicks or less.

The "new" Ural 650 (on the old K-750 frame) is the easiest one I've had to start yet, thanks to that sweet-banging electronic ignition instead of points and distributor. Before I really got it firing, I rolled rolled the engine with the kicker and thought the pistons maybe had holes in 'em. It felt like the was zero compression in there. Finger over the hole made me think the same thing. This thing rolls over so easy, there's no reason anyone can't fire it up. Even with a busted femur, you could start it by hand!

The only time it has failed to start when I thought it should was due to fuel flow and carb settings once then a bad plug wire on one side and stripped out spark plug hole that happened at the same time. Once we worked through that, it has started first time, every time.

I took it to a bike show on Sunday and folks were in awe of the kickstart. Lots commented that they have new lawn mowers, chainsaws and weed-eaters that don't start that easy!

It's probably something simple, in this case with a running bike you know it can only be fuel flow.
If you don't fire it in a couple kicks, it's probably flooded. Open the throttle wide open and kick it a several times and try to start it again. At WOT, you are just sucking air through the carbs and heads but not gas.
If it's not that, then it's the other extreme, starved for fuel. Hold down the ticklers (if you got 'em) for several seconds until you think the bowls are full.

[WEGUNTER]

My bike is already starting to develop its own personality in regards to the kick start. When I go to work in the morning, I kick start it and it fires right up on the first or second kick. When I leave work in the evening I generally have to resort to the electric start......maybe the bike doesn't want to go home. Go figure.
If the temps are above 40+ I don't pull the enricheners. Bike seems to like it that way.

Bill