[9fingers]

Hello all, I am posting a couple of pics of my bent kickstart lever and hope someone will post a pic of what it should look like tucked in, so I can bend it back in the right spot. I took a recent 900 mile trip and had some bike issues.........more on that in another post..........and the electric start was not working from before my trip began. Normally one or two kicks and it is running so no biggie. But in two days I probably kicked it 200 times.....in 90 degree F heat........not fun. I am about 210 lbs and I do remember one or two times when it spit back and that must have bent it. it is thick steel so a bit surprised it is even possible to bend it. But now it hits my calf while riding and kicking it is even worse.........and it is still not starting or idling correctly, though it runs well once warmed up. So, If anyone has a chance, can you take a pic or two of how it is supposed to look folded in? Thanks in advance. Oh, I plan on heating it with Map gas and bending it back in a vise. Any other ideas welcome.
9fingers

[axman88]

900 miles in two days is a lot of riding.  When mine started taking more than one kick during the summer, it has meant that the plug is dirty, or the high tension lead connection at the cap was going bad.  One other instance was just poor quality gasoline.

I'd personally be ordering my replacement, just in case.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Royal-Enfield-UCE-3500-500CC-Classic-Foldway-Kick-Start-Lever-Pedal-Chrome/193200984406?hash=item2cfbad1156:g:sK4AAOSw0Uddxubu   Too bad for us that the cheap parts take so long to arrive and the parts already imported are so much more $$.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/08-12-Royal-Enfield-Bullet-EFI-500-KICK-STARTER-PEDAL-LEVER/202820011140?hash=item2f3903c484

Definitely looks bent back in the top view.  I'd guess as much as an inch.  I'll try to post some pics by the weekend, if you don't get the info you need before that.

Do you think the chrome will survive heating?  Are you going to try to reharden after bending?

[tooseevee]

Hello all, I am posting a couple of pics of my bent kickstart lever and hope someone will post a pic of what it should look like tucked in, so I can bend it back in the right spot. Thanks in advance. Oh, I plan on heating it with Map gas and bending it back in a vise. Any other ideas welcome.
9fingers

        You ought to just buy a new one, I think. Here's what the flip-out one looks like on my '08 AVL if it helps. BTW it's the same one that came stock on the '70s & '80s FX shovelheads.

[Rattlebattle]

Is the pedal shaft itself bent or is it that the metal on the stop where it folds out has worn? TBH I’d replace it anyway, or better still fix the electric foot and use that. Personally I feel that the k/s shaft lacks proper support. I’ve stopped using my kickstart since I rebuilt the engine, which starts instantly hot or cold anyway, as yours should.

[9fingers]

Thanks for the link Axman. $9.49 shipped? How can they ship a 2lb part from India for $9.49? Must be a $1 item! I am not sure if that is an OEM part but worth getting one for that price. Heck the Map gas kit is around $35 if I recall. And yes, I was going to dip it in cold water after the heating to try to anneal it.........hopefully not too brittle then. And when I figure out how to trouble shoot the E start I will do that. I was intermittent before it failed totally. And I did not not 900 in 2 days......only about 200 each day, on the Blue Ridge Parkway, speed limit 45. The problem occurred on the way back, over two days, and resulted in me finally giving up and getting flat bedded the last 43 miles, thankfully covered by insurance., but still a rotten day. I will do a separate post on the cause of my troubles, which I did locate and fix.
9fingers

[Bilgemaster]

Sorry for your hopefully temporary woes, but if you're gonna get shlepped home forty-something miles, at the very tail end of a 900 mile frolic along the Blue Ridge Parkway is just how you'd want to do it. Talk about a stretch of road made for a Bullet...

[axman88]

I was going to dip it in cold water after the heating to try to anneal it.........hopefully not too brittle then. And when I figure out how to trouble shoot the E start I will do that. I was intermittent before it failed totally.

Heating it will likely take away hardness, if it was ever hard in the first place.  Annealing removes hardness, hardening adds it.  You can tell how hard steel is by how it reacts to being filed or ground.

If I was to try to harden, I'd probably drop into oil, rather than water, it's gentler.  Water hardening can cause cracks as it shocks the metal.  I've had some good luck with flame hardening stuff with my acetylene torch.  It's very unscientific the way I do it, but clearly harder than the mild steel I'm fabricating with.

My E starter on my C5 is problematic.  I'm 95% sure that the problem is at the connector for the clutch switch.  By manipulating the green and black wires coming out of the connector, I can get it to work.  My neutral sensor is dead so the clutch switch signal is essential.

Hope you get it all fixed satisfactorily.  I hate giving up, but 40 miles is a long way to push.  As I tell my Harley buddy, I'd rather you push your Harley, than me push my Enfield.   Around 5 miles is my personal record.  He's pushed further.

[9fingers]

Thanks Axman, well, at almost 63 (next month) and 90s temps...........I won't be pushing my bike very far! As it was I ditched the backroads where cell signals were iffy, and took it out on a highway, where I was able to do 25 or so, in 5th gear, riding along the shoulder, with it choking and bucking, the whole way, and with trucks and cars zooming by at 65mph. A cop passed me and did not bother to stop and check.........figured he would give a guy from NJ a ticket for being a danger. And it was getting later and there was no way I would ride the bike if it were getting dark. I did pull into a motorcycle/quad shop and as no luck would have it both of their mechanics were out sick. The manager was kind enough to allow me to charge my phone for a bit and even called around for a Uhaul rental truck or if any of his friends would give me a ride for $100. I figured with people unemployed, SOMEONE would not mind making $100 for 2 hours drive..........no takers, of course.  I think even if I upped it to $150, it would not have mattered. And I would have gladly paid that in the condition my bike was in. As it was, it ended up being a 12 hour day for me on the road, including waiting for the flatbed, and the ride to Charlottesville. I was happy to make it to the hotel until I saw the place. Will NEVER EVER again stay at an Econolodge. It may have been a cheap sleep at only $65, but I could have stayed in a less skeevy place for another $20.....
9fingers

[GlennF]

..and it is still not starting or idling correctly, though it runs well once warmed up.

Possibly a plug fouling n startup that clears once its hot ?

[oldphart]

Flippin' dog biscuits, these things are so benign to kick start you must've really struck some trouble to bend that lever. I'd have suggested abuse but you obviously used it a fair bit and THEN struck trouble so it's not that. You have my sympathy... and you probably have thighs like my son (who's a weight lifter).

Personally, I'd be looking at buying a new one and bending the old one to the right shape before fitting the new one. Why? Because bending the old one will result in a softened lever and a possible repeat of the issue. Of course, getting the engine behaving so you don't need it is also a good option.

On a positive note, we look at these funny levers and then wonder why we've got the electric leg. Well, I think you just answered that question.

[Guaire]

I got one of these for my GT 535. My kick lever looks like yours. This should get the lever to the right angle.
Bill
https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/30905?custcol_realbaseprice=16.50

[axman88]

Here's a couple of pictures I took of my 2012 C5 for reference.

Regarding heating and bending your kick lever back into shape.  I had some experience earlier today, bending a chrome plated bicycle crank on a rather beat up 2004 Schwinn Orange County Sting Ray chopper style bike that somebody gave a buddy of mine.  Heated it with a large propane torch I use for sweating pipe and general heating, then bent it with a large pipe.  We did it without removing the crank, on the premise that the bearings would be rebuilt after.  Bent it about an inch, it was interfering with the chain, so you couldn't pedal the bike.  Heated it a few minutes, but not to dull red, just till it felt ready to bend.  The chrome survived with a little bluing, and we agreed it was a great success.  Also heated and bent the handlebar back into shape.

[9fingers]

Those pictures are PERFECT Axmann, thank you so much! I will do a bit of examination and try to figure if the actual lever is twisted/bent, or if it is the knuckle at the pivot, which seemed tight and correct on first examination. And I have a propane torch and won't have to spring for the map gas kit, all good! The bicycle is pretty cool. Hard to imagine how someone bent a bicycle crank.......usually pretty tough.
9fingers

[axman88]

And I have a propane torch and won't have to spring for the map gas kit, all good!

Hard to imagine how someone bent a bicycle crank.......usually pretty tough.

Just FYI, the propane torch we used is pretty big, the nozzle is almost 5/8" diameter and it hooks up to a regulator on a gas grill cylinder.  Still, the mass of your kick lever is a lot less than the crank we were bending.  If you isolate the component you want to heat from other metal, and heat it long enough, you should be good with a small propane torch.  Another trick is to surround the workpiece with a "U" bent sheet metal sleeve to reflect heat back at it.  Remember the vise is a heat sink, so you can heat more effectively with the part NOT locked into the vise, like hanging from a piece of coat hanger which is hanging from a bungee right above the vise so you can lock it down and bend it before it cools too much.   Wear your heaviest leather gloves.

That bike had a hard life.  Its last home was unlocked in a backyard on Chicago's south side.  Like most two wheelers with a lot of rake, it is pretty squirrely at low speed.  The rear brakes were completely missing, and the front brakes were not very effective.  The 66cc engine was the only source of motion, and I imagine it went down a few times at full speed.