[Land O Aches]

Thanks for the tip re: clutch shaft ball bearing. I ordered one from https://www.acerracing.com/ - cost was $1.60. Looks like they do free shipping on just about everything...

[Ice]

Not me, thank AceCafe and Chumma for that one. They were the first.

[Land O Aches]

OK, let's recap.

After removing the offending starter gear cluster and reassembling the gear case, it still wouldn't start with the kicker.

The previous owner suggested that the fuel might be past it's prime, so drained and poured in a gallon of fresh 91 Octane and a tablespoon of StaBil. Still, no start.

Tested spark plug, seemed weak and ineffective, replaced it with a new one. Reviewed youtube video on starting procedure. Still nothing.

Called Vince's Motorcycle Shop in Lacey, expressed my frustration and plan to bring the bike in for him to look over.

Thursday afternoon - Vince rolled the bike off the rental trailer and into his shop. As I was rolling up the ratcheting straps and tossing them into the back of the sled, I hear a motorcycle start up.

Yes, my motorcycle. It was idling fine, a little smoky at first. Vince looked at me and shrugged. "Did you turn the fuel tap to Reserve? Maybe that's what it needed."

After some coaching from Vince and a few practice starts, I left the bike there. I want Vince to do a thorough service and look over everything.

Lessons learned: When you buy a bike with 635 miles on it for 500 bucks, expect problems. Be especially alert for problems related to your own stupidity. If this is your first RE, read every post on every forum related to your new ride.

Converting your Iron Barrel from an Electric Start to Kick Start is as simple as removing the starting gear cluster. Tedious, lotta fasteners and clutch plates to keep track of, but really, not that hard to do.

I'll pick up the bike in a week or two, Vince had a lot of bikes in front of mine. More later...

Lando

[D the D]

Did you take pictures of the conversion process?