Kick start

Kick start refers to a method of starting an internal combustion engine (usually that of a motorcycle) by pushing a ratcheting lever with one's foot. Kick start mechanisms were almost universally a part of motorcycle engines before the mid-1970s, and were phased out of production over the next twenty years or so as electric starters became standard equipment. There are still some motorcycles produced that have both kick and electric starters.

Many mopeds and scooters also carry both a kick start and an electric start, the former being useful in case the latter fails, as scooter and moped batteries tend to be smaller and, as a result, run down much faster than other forms of automotive batteries. Also, it is usually not possible to push start a moped or scooter with automatic transmission.

Larger motorcycles featured a manual compression release mechanism that made starting easier while modern units did this automatically through a cable attached to the kick start lever.

Today, dedicated off-road motorcycles and many ATVs use kick start systems due to the increased weight of electric starters. The majority of the inexpensive two-wheelers and sometimes three-wheelers in developing countries also use kick start levers.

Kick Start

Kick Start is a best of album by English mod revival band The Lambrettas. It contains the hit singles "Poison Ivy", "Da-a-ance" and the band's first ever single "Go Steady", which until Kick Start had never been released on an album.

Track listing

Kick Start (TV series)

Kick Start was a popular series on BBC television inspired by motorcycle trials riding, a sport akin to horse show jumping, but on motorbikes. The programme was first aired in August 1979 and ran until 1988.

The programme was devised by Nick Brittan and produced by BBC Pebble Mill producer Derek Smith, who also created Top Gear.

The idea for Kick Start originated when the 1978 Lombard RAC Rally organiser, Nick Brittan, realised that top trials motorcyclists, competing over a hazardous track and obstacles, might make exciting television

Run against the clock, the show illustrated some of the skills needed in normal trials riding. In the Kick Start format, the riders went over obstacles such as piles of logs, oil drums, rockeries, water troughs, up a wall, up steep banking or a cliff-face and over a car (VW Beetle). Penalties, in the form of time added to their round time, would be given for putting a foot on the ground while tackling an obstacle or touching or knocking over specified parts of an obstacle (such as the "bunny hop").