Kick Start

[Mike]

Just starting a teardown of a 1963 305 Superhawk that's been sitting in a garage for 20 years. I got it from a friend and I know very little about these bikes. I notice the kick start seems to be backwards meaning that the lever pivots forward rather than towards the rear. Is this normal or is this bike even more screwed up than I thought ?<br />

[wyztek]

Of course, that's the way it was supposed to be <br /><br />Well sorta... The problem is that when they took the Dream engine and put it into the sportier CB frame with a more rear set footrest position, the original kickstarter would hit the footpeg. So they replaced the kickstarter with an idler gear and put a forward swinging new kickstart that drove the idler gear that drove the original kickstart pawl.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the case wasn't really beefy enough and the case would crack usually within two years. Of course it didn't help if you dropped the bike on that side, because the kickstarter would usually sacrifice itself and the case trying to protect the footpeg from any damage. <br /><br />Since it was my first bike, I've always thought that was the natural way to kick start a motorcycle. But now that you mention it, I am hitting my shins a lot.<br /><br />

[mabailey]

I remember cracking my shins a lot on my Superhawk when using the kick-starter. I originally got the bike free from a friend of my brother’s sometime between 1976 and 1978 because he didn’t want to spend any more money on it and it wouldn’t run. I spent a lot of time and effort (and as little money as I could – not having much money at the time) getting it running. Problem was that the eclectic start clutch was shot (actually the whole bike was suffering from abuse and neglect). At any rate, not knowing how week the case was and not wanting to spend money on the starter I used the kick-start, with the obvious results, I cracked the case. I also smacked my shin to the point that I still have a hollow spot where the stupid thing would smack me. The other issue I had was that the ears of the kick pedal and kick-starter shaft got rounded, so it would ride over the top (there is a spring between the kick pedal and washer held in place with a clip that is supposed to stop it from doing this), this would also cause me to curse in pain. My solution to this problem was to replace the spring with a bunch of washers I had in my garage, and mushroom the end of the kick-starter shaft (kind of like the end of a rivet) to hold the washers with minimal clearance to the kick pedal so it wouldn’t ride over (Mickey Mouse strikes again), this is how the kick-starter is to this day. However I only use it now to show those not familiar with the 305 how peculiar it is. As far as the cracked case goes I ended up buying a $75 parts bike because the Honda dealer told me I wasn’t likely to get one (I think he probably hated dealing with me too because when did buy parts he always had to back order them).

[bobmelko]

I found out the hard way- don't use the kick start if you don't have to! It took me 2 years to find a replacement side case for mine. There are a number of different versions, even within the same model (mine's a '66 cb77e) . I found one in a bone yard for $35 and still had to file the clutch cable opening larger to allow mine to work. You can't tell by looking unless you really know what you're looking at. New ones are over $200 if you can find them.<br /><br />A good place to call is Sport Wheels in Jordan, Mn. for any bike parts. Check out their website at www.sportwheel.com. Those things in the photo that look like ants aren't people, they're cars and trucks! I spent many weekends browsing there being alternately fascinated and terrified by what I saw.