Can kick-starting damage my bike? Or does it take load off the battery in the cold?

[iridiumblue]

Hey scoot people!

As winter weather grips the American North-East, I got to wondering about an old habit of mine : I often kick-start the bike first thing in the morning, so the battery doesn't have to put in all that work.

But I see warnings on the web about how this can stress/break the variator or some such thing.

What say you, scooter tribe?

[wheelbender6]

I have never heard about variator problems from kick starting. I use the kick start a lot too.

[tknj99]

The only tidbit i can add was that on my son's Tao DBX1 it started leaking oil around the kickstart shaft seal (a black rubber gasket piece) after about a month of ownership or so. Now my son was new to dirtbikes and it took him many kicks to start at first (and id try to refrain from helping him as much as possible) so that probably made it wear out faster.

[iridiumblue]

OK,

So far it sounds like kick-starting is fine under normal circumstances (doesn't take 25 frustrated kicks, etc.) I'll see if anyone else chimes in. (I find this forum is a good "Snopes for scoots" when it comes to sorting through all the BS on the web ...)

[cheesy]

That's a new one.

[iridiumblue]

It may just be urban legend with its roots in this sort of thing ...

Hazards of kick starting (https://youtu.be/c_vUYk8XzdI)

[cheesy]

:hehe:

[TxTaoRider]

After watching the video I forgot the question. Lol!

[wheelbender6]

I asked the same question on a scooter forum that I haunt after reading your post.
-Nobody there knew of any cvt problems related to kick starting.

[GronkFries]

After watching the video I forgot the question. Lol!

Similar thoughts but also "hey at least she got it started!"

[grumpyunk]

I think it depends on the bike in question. Many of the China bikes have a kick starter that should be labeled 'for emergency use only'. The mechanism on the 139QMB machines is functional, but klunky. I have seen CVT covers broken, with chunks of the case hanging loose(broken out of place anyway) where the kick start lever pivot is. A good strong kick can break the case as the case seems to be made of very thin material.(pot metal or aluminum?)
The larger ones may have stronger cases and not break or wear out under regular use.
tom