Need starting options/ideas - 1977 WR360

I took my 360 WR to my friend's farm to play a bit with another guy that has a mid-90s Honda 250 CR. I had drained the carb/tank, and sprayed fogging oil in the cylinder (winterize), so it was a little hard to start. I had my friend tow me on his tractor for the cold start. That I can live with. Once fired, I can start her myself. I do so by standing on the left of the bike on my cycle stand, and kick her over with my right leg--I'm 5'6" and old (59).

Once in the woods I shut the bike down to BS/rest. When we took off again, I had to push the bike over to a rotted stump, stand on the stump, to kick her over. While that worked there, we're talking about taking our bikes on a more adventurous ride--like a 15 mile trail loop.

I'm afraid that I could be 7 miles out, stall or drop her, and not be able to start the bike. I really do need something to stand on to kick her over. Any ideas? The head has one plug hole, so she doesn't have a compression release. Would a compression release help? Can I get the head machined? Is that a stupid thing to do? I haven't been able to get a longer kick start lever. Would that help? Any leads?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Compression release will help, your not spinning the flywheel fast enough to make electricity. Now I find any small hill on the trail was my friend, if I stalled my 390 I’d push it up a hill coast down in second gear and pop it. Warning first gear doesn’t work. I pushed it up the same hill twice to find that out. Or wait till my son came by to start my bike. But I’d rather do it myself. My next bikes will have compression releases.

I’m sure the gurus will chime in with timing suggestions.

I feel your pain I'm 60 and 5'11 and i always look for a stump, rock ,mound of dirt,what ever i can find to get an advantage heck i was doing that when i was in my 20s If you can find the new style kickstart lever buy it they don't seem to come up very often any more and if they do they are pricey.The last one i saw was 180 bucks but that's the way to go.Maybe the bike needs a little tune up.I have the same bike you have and once it's running it starts fine whether i stop for a break or tip over and then stop for a break usually 1 maybe 2 kicks and it running.Good Luck.
Tom

I would be looking for a kickstart and a new ignition. The old Motoplats don't age well. You have to have a very quick sharp kick to get them going, and they only get worse as time goes on. It's that slow that I never noticed mine took more effort over the 15 odd years I've had it.

I agree with Grouty about the motoplat, but don't forget the carb. The correct pilot, air screw and needle jet can mean a lot when trying to start the big bores. I also like to run an extra grounding wire.

I have got into the habit of using an ohm meter to check my grounding on any bike that I've built . I've been testing from the stator to the coil to get the lowest resistance possible , been able to get down to about .3 ohms . Worth a try .

When everything is right the bike should start relatively easy. My experience with an ML 360 comes from owning a 75 360CR. Same motor as yours except mine had a Femsa ignition and a Bing 54 carb. When the motor was in prime condition it would always fire up on two kicks even with a left leg kick.

These guys have made some good points about problems with an old Motoplat and dirty carb. I have no experience with your Gurtner carb but have heard their performance isn't the best. When it comes to an aging motorcycle engine there are many worn out, leaky, dirty, out of adjustment parts that can contribute to a stubborn starting 2 stroke.

Basically the ignition and carb must be adjusted to factory specs, at least to start with. The kick start lever adjusted on the spline shaft to give the maximum amount of motor spin. The spark should be blue, the carb internals must be free of dirt and varnish, and the motor must be free of air leaks.

I can’t kick I have no knee left they took the cartilage out. She doesn’t like to hinge anymore. In the past the bike was my legs for a walk in the woods. Lol

The problem with starting any Husky before 78, especially 360s and 390s, is the terrible kick lever that bottoms your foot on the peg before you get half a stroke in. If you have one of those bikes, and you want an easy (but not cheap) fix to your hard starting you need to get rid of that abomination Husky called a kick lever



and put the 78+ lever on it like I have on my '76 250.



Every person I have told this to wont believe me, then when I loan them one of my levers to prove my point they are blown away at the difference it makes. The trick is they are not easy to find and are never cheap when you do find one, but they are worth every penny if you want easier starting.

I have a spare one of those, and when I get around to it I am going to experiment fitting one to my 390 Auto. I should just need to weld the boss to the side cover with the rubber bumper.

bring a friend along and make him start it for you.

The newer kick levers are better but hard to find one not worn out. One thing to make sure is that the kicker is engaging as far up the stroke as possible. You need a full swing to get the motor spinning. My 360 engaged right near the top. A good swift kick and it would start.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll make sure the Mikuni is clean. What year kick start levers should I look for? 1978 to ? The spark looks ok and she runs great one started. Is there a way to check the motoplat to see if it needs a new ignition?

There is a thread here on the test values for the Motoplat
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/motoplat-issue.20604/#post-182458

Thanks for the link on the Motoplat. I should've searched.

Any idea on the years for the kick start lever. I got that its got to be at least 1978, but 1978 through?

Thanks

John

Pic attached shows minor differences between 78 and 79 thru 81/82. Maybe someone can clarify if both or one or the other is preferred.

Either of the fine spline will work and I'll add that the 125 kept the fine spline kicker up to 83.

http://motoplatrepair.tripod.com/index.html