KZ440 no kickstart?!

[samsquantch]

What kind of bunk is that? Should be getting the 440 on Thurs.

I was planning on pulling the elec starter and selling it. Turns out I'd have to bump-start it if I did that because there's no friggin' kicker!

I got on the kawasaki twins site and found one guy who swapped in a kick-starter, but you have to split the cases to do it. It's on the list.

This cheap 440 is starting to accumulate features/attributes that I don't dig on too much...

 

[jelloelstone]

Did you see that in a picture or did the soon to be PO tell you that?

 

[samsquantch]

He's only given me one photo- of the shifter side of the bike. I randomly discovered it on kz400.com:

And then found this:
http://www.kz400.com/Technicaldata%20bilder/13.jpg

That is the info for the 1981 kz440 -the bike I'm talking about, listed as only elec start.

I guess I don't know 100%, I'll ask him in an email, but all the evidence points to no kicker...

I don't get how that is a good idea from the factory.

 

[jasonkz440rider]

Iv got an 80 kz440 your right no kick start. but i love it very easy to work on. any qustions let me know ill do my best to reply.

 

[samsquantch]

Thanks man- nice bike! That's some good inspiration. I'm still a little on the fence about whether or not I'll build it up or part it out. I can't lose either way and I think being on the fence will let me make a smarter decision money-wise.

I'm planning on parting out a lot of it and building it up flat-tracker style. That is dependent on the condition of a lot of things.

It is possible to add a kick-starter, but you have to split the cases and find some somewhat rare parts..

 

[samsquantch]

Found out for sure- no kickstarter. Parts are hard to find, but motors aren't really. I might end up putting an older kz400 motor into it, possible with the 440 top end. I'll see how things go and where my money ends up.

In the long run, it would save me a ton of time to swap motors than to tear down and rebuild this one with sourced kicker parts...

 

[flaco]

i have a 1978 zk 400 with no kickstarter