Hey all,got a 79 sporty,elect start only,years and beers ago I had a chopped 75 kick only,and was always satisfying when it would fire up w/2-3 kicks. Would like to put a kicker on my 79,(which starts great w/elect.)for ol times sake.Been workin on a friends 73 w/elct-kick and I still get a little bit of a woody when it fires up after the 2-3 kicks.Anyhow found a complete kicker set up(so they say) @legends mc for 264.00.Good price???? Do you suppose ALL the parts will be included?? Your thoughts and opinion apreciated.

 

I have seen two different "complete" kicker kits. The complete complete one includes a sprocket cover, clutch basket with ratchet attached, etc. The less complete kit does not contain all of the parts. Do they have a pic on the web site? Check the J&P site catalog for pics of various kits for comparison. The legends kit would be the same as one of theirs.

It helps greatly to have the factory parts catalog 99451-85A and the factory service manual 99484-85. You should have both of these in hand before you start this project. The parts catalog contains a schematic of all of the parts, and their order of installation - essential to have. The service manual contains the install instructions - again essential.

The new kits have some parts that may be substandard. You will need a replacement sprocket cover as the XLH one is not strongly enough supported, and may not have the bushing for the shaft. Aftermarket covers generally do not fit as well as OEM and may require spacers and a few hours of fiddling to get it on with no binding of the kicker shaft. I have heard of the kicker shaft not being well made.

Examine the parts carefully when you get them. I recently installed a kicker on my '78 - i found everything on eBay or NOSParts so i have all OEM NOS for mine - just got lucky.

When you are ready to install i can give you a link to a thread on another forum with pics etc of the process.

 

Before you get too serious about this I suggest you take a careful look at your frame.
I am unfamiliar with a 1979 frame except to know they are quite different than earlier models which had the kickstart.
You will have to have the two holes in your frame to allow the kickstart shaft to go from right to left into the back of the primary case.
Here is a pic of the 1974 frame. See the hole? I am referring to the one that sits .578 inch above the engine centerline.........



pg

 

I wasn't aware that any of them passed through the frame at all. I know they pass through the motor mount and the holes that you are pointing out are for the swing arm to mount to the frame not for the kicker shaft.

 

1979 was the last year for the kick/electric XLCH, so fitting a kicker to a '79 XLH should be a matter of just buying the right parts and bolting it up. I'd assume both the '79 XLH and XLCH had the same frame.

 

+1 on this.

 

Well guys thanx for the info,I have the service manual,but not the parts manual.Bike bandit has a parts schematic online seems like for every bike,havent checked if their detailed to the extent I would need tho.Legends is telling me the cover is nos but not necsassarily the rest is.Guess I'll try and get em on the phone and ask questions.Would the parts manual have 2 different illustrations,one w/kicker,one w/o so you could see just which parts are diff.-needed? I will try and contact legend and let y'all know whats what.

 

BikeBandit schematic is exactly from the parts catalog. The parts manual, and probably BikeBandit, has a separate page for kicker.

Getting that NOS kicker cover, in my experience, is a very important step. I paid over $100 for my NOS cover, and it is worth every penny. The rest of the parts are the same regardless of where you order from. The alternative is to search eBay but it could be months or years before anything turns up.

I would get their parts; if the kicker shaft, for example, is not good enough i would look for that part on eBay. Most likely everything will be OK.

 

Mick,just emailed em for list of parts and or illustration,will let you know what I find out.