Kick it!

what separates the man from the boys? what draws a crowd at a bike event? what can seriously fuck up your knee?
A Kickstarter!
the old greybeards of bikers all know the "sportster knee" , a painful result of kickstarting an old Iron Head and over stretching your knee or being kicked back because of wrong ign. timing.
the sportster knee is somewhat a right of passage.. you are only a real sportster rider if you have experienced the sportster knee personally.
and yups.. i want to be a true ironhead rider!
time to make a kickstarter on Daddy Cool!

the engine is a '79 and this was the last year a kickstarter could be placed on an ironhead, the cases were still the kickstart type but the kicker hole was just plugged.
the sprocket cover was designed so a kickstarter could be adapted through it. (hence the strange place for the master brake cylinder)

i got a kickstarter kit and started the build.
first   part is actually pretty straight forward:
open up the primary and gut it out..

the hole for the kickershaft is plugged with a plug (obvious) and comes with the bushing already installed.

time to slide in the gears.

after the straight forward work, the more fabbing work starts.
drilling the clutch basket for the ratchet gear.

and riveting the gear into place.

after that the primary internals could go back and all torqued to specs, and close the primary again.

drill a hole for the kickshaft (and add a bushing) and drill and tap a hole for the kick return spring.

and presto! kick starter ready to give me some knee pain!