First off, Thanks everyone very much for all your help, I can tell this forum will be a great resource in my ownership of the awesome bike that is, Royal Enfield.
I live in Pittsburgh, PA so if anyone is around this area, please let me know I'd love to pick your brain about maintenance & such.
Quick question about the "decompression lever"- were is it on a 2000 Bullet 500? And, is this something that you do before kicking over?
Thanks again for your continued support!
Tim
Tim,
To simplify the thought process - in case you hadn't picked it up from the detailed procedures is this:
The main theme here is to just get through the compression prior to kicking it.
This is where the decomp lever comes in. It releases the compression so that your leg muscle doesn't have to push through it.
*HOWEVER* even without the decomp lever it is really not difficult to do. It's all technique:
Centerstand.
Slowly kick through until you hit compression.
Release the lever and let it come back up fully.
Now stand on it and use your weight and a little muscle to slowly *push* through compression.
As soon as it has eased through, release the lever and let it come back up fully.
Now it is set to kickstart. Lever is fully up and it is just through compression.
This is the point you give it a mighty kick.
I've used this technique with many thumpers.
A couple of tips to help it light up on that one kick:
It's worth it to kick through with ignition off 3, 4 or a half dozen times.
If you've located the decomp lever, use it engaged to kick through.
It takes experience to know the correct choke (or lack thereof) to use.
Some ignitions get a fatter spark if you have your headlights off. Not sure if that's the case with the Classics, but I always have my lights off when kickstarting.
Make certain your spark plug is good. When in doubt, don't mess around, just replace it.
Matt