Woods riding no electric start

[Mushnnnnn]

A few older bikes have no kickstart, how is it when your woods or enduro riding with only a kickstart is it a nightmare or still doable.

[shrubitup]

You can do it!

[RichieGoatGruff]

Nope, just annoying. Never had estart until recently... Grew up with kick only.

[TigerTanker]

8 minutes ago, Mushnnnnn said:

 

A few older bikes have no kickstart, how is it when your woods or enduro riding with only a kickstart is it a nightmare or still doable.

 

If the riding is technical, then you'll absolutely hate it and you'll be exhausted before everyone else. I took a guy on a really gnarly ride recently, I'm 52, he is about 30. He must have kick started that yamaha about 40-50 times and was making me worried that I'd have to drag him out of the woods, was exhibiting some signs of heat exhaustion. I hear that he's stuck to the track since, will not go back to the evil woods... 

[RichieGoatGruff]

32 minutes ago, TigerTanker said:

If the riding is technical, then you'll absolutely hate it and you'll be exhausted before everyone else. I took a guy on a really gnarly ride recently, I'm 52, he is about 30. He must have kick started that yamaha about 40-50 times and was making me worried that I'd have to drag him out of the woods, was exhibiting some signs of heat exhaustion. I hear that he's stuck to the track since, will not go back to the evil woods... 

Buncha pussiy cats, these days!

?

Estart has ruined dirt biking... 

[zomby woof]

4 strokes

Liquid cooling

E start

EFI

Next thing you know they'll have air conditioning, cruise control and cup holders

 

[TigerTanker]

1 minute ago, RichBaker said:

Buncha pussiy cats, these days!

?

Estart has ruined dirt biking... 

Come on up and ride then.... Just let me know where to send your body and bike parts.  

 

 

[TrailerParkMethChef]

My Kawasaki doesn’t have electric start and I ride that thing on 95% of the same trails I ride my Beta on. Unfortunately, my left knee is not what it used to be and I prefer electric start on anything I buy now. However, there is no way I see myself getting rid of my Kawasaki. 

And for those wondering why my left knee makes bikes hard to kickstart, it just does for some reason, especially on hills. 

If you are worried about it tiring you out, don’t stall it and you’ll be fine. It will help you develop better clutch control.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Grimlock

[Elias B Story]

If you are worried about it, get a Rekluse or EFM Auto Clutch.
Then you won’t stall your bike and won’t have to start it as often.
Plus, the perfect clutch work in the tight technical stuff is always awesome.

[adam728]

Completely doable without e start. Bought a KTM 300 that the previous owner removed e start from (to have spare parts for his other bike). I have zero desire to bother adding it back on.

4 strokes on the other hand are a bit more finicky (carbeureted models) and I would want the button.

[BOAB]

I can't really believe this question was asked. I guess no one rode in the woods until dirt bikes started coming with e start. Good grief, learn to ride and learn to use the clutch and you won't have to start it every 30 seconds.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but c'mon.

[PaulDWR250]

Depends a lot on the bike. My Husky WR250 was almost impossible to stall. Very forgiving with heavy enduro flywheel. Motocross bikes especially 4 strokes flame out really easy.

[Chuck.]

Proper jetting eliminates a lot of flameouts and clutch skills eliminate the rest. I tried a Reckluse but prefer a manual clutch. Proper jetting also helps restarts. That makes estart nice to have instead of a bandaid.

I started riding dirt bikes in the mid sixties and purchased my first estart dirt bike in 2014; nice to have but I continue to ride my XR more.

[highmarker]

Thought efi would make fourstroke' kicking easier and I'd be ok losing the estart. Didn't work out that way, they don't start any easier and they are all dropping the kick not the E.

Edited August 22, 2019 by highmarker

[Vermillionx]

I have tried to kick my old 450 when it stalled out on my and the battery went dead trying to restart it. Let me just say that was the worst thing I have tried to do in a long time. Now that I have a 2T kicking is a lot easier. I have yet to miss the e-start. 

[Dangerranger1973]

3 hours ago, TigerTanker said:

If the riding is technical, then you'll absolutely hate it and you'll be exhausted before everyone else. I took a guy on a really gnarly ride recently, I'm 52, he is about 30. He must have kick started that yamaha about 40-50 times and was making me worried that I'd have to drag him out of the woods, was exhibiting some signs of heat exhaustion. I hear that he's stuck to the track since, will not go back to the evil woods... 

Haven’t rode with him since that day. He went to the track a couple weeks later and wadded up in the whoops. 

I have only had a hand full of situations that an e start bike would have made it easier to get out of where I was. When I was looking at bikes this year not new models e-start was not even on a must have item. Ended up with it because I bought a ktm but still use the kick most of the time. 

 

When the e start fails that’s just shaving weight in my opinion. No need for it with a well tuned bike. 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Dangerranger1973

[LSHD]

This is a question that wouldn't have even been considered when I was a lad. Strange to hear it now in any case. Maybe question was generated by a forum-BOT.  

FIFTY PERCENT of all internet posts are generated by AI BOTS = not real people. Seeing this type of crazy question on forums makes my spidey sense tingle. Then again there are some youngsters out there who aren't familiar with our very recent history of no electric starters on dirtbikes. 

[76xtdrvr]

2 hours ago, Zomby woof said:

4 strokes

Liquid cooling

E start

EFI

Next thing you know they'll have air conditioning, cruise control and cup holders

 

Yeah. And what about all this nonsense of long travel suspension, electronic ignition, water cooling, and plastic fenders? 

[Chuck.]

New tech is nice but the fact remains that when you are 50 miles out you do need to have several ways to restart the bike.  My XR has a handle bar compression release lever and I can bump start it in two bike lengths. My CRF250X has an auto CR that also makes bump starting easy. My Trials bike has neither but I won't take it on a long ride for other reasons.  After all of these years my fav trail bike bike is still a very modded XR200R because the frame geometry suits my riding terrain, but it needed help with suspension and engine power. 

[Singletrack_rider]

Oh my God what the hell was I thinking. I must have lost my mind buying a new bike without e-start.

If I can't kick start it I shouldn't be riding.