There was a suggestion on the Yahoo R E site today that might be useful to you all. It suggest that, in order to remove the chance of damaging the sprgue clutch (whatever that is) you begin electric starting it with the decompression open a little and the engine gets turning, then kick in the compression. Is that a good idea?
Sort of like bikes like the Moto Guzzi that have fairly large Bosch type starter motors. Seem a lot more rugged to me, but how could one be fit?