Kickstarter? Call me crazy

I would like to add a kickstarter to my 2011 te 511.

Does anybody know if this is possible?

Any gems of advice would be appreciated. Cheers.

You will have to develop it.

Not a chance, unless you design a set of new cases. The current cases design and primary drive will not accommodate a kicker. The Kymco 449/511 engines clutch is mounted directly to the crankshaft and the crankshaft rotates backwards. This, I imagine would present many problems in functional design. Or the engine would have had one to begin with when "BMW" designed it with the "Kymco" Factory.

Why do you want, or need a kicker? Is it just for peace of mind? Or have you had starting issues? If so have you checked or replaced the left side exhaust cam lobes decompressor lever. Its centrifugally activated. Its easy to replace and it does or can wear and cause some starting issues. Especially with an older, or weak battery.

You could carry a small battery booster pack if needed. Not much bigger than a wallet. Get a good Lithium battery and call it a day. Keep it plugged in on a battery maintainer.

Cars have had electric starters for years. So have several motorcycles had electric starters without kickers. Off road bikes included. I have 2 of these Kymco engines. I swap back and fourth in one of my bikes and have never had a starter issue on either of these engines. My Current "Shorai" lithium battery is more than a few years old and is working just fine and it only weighs about 13 oz. I installed the old original lead acid battery in my house alarm box, LOL !

However, that all being said I also have an FE 501 Husky and it still has the original battery in it. I actually thought the same as you and bought the KTM complete Kicker assembly for it before I even got the bike. It took several months to get it and it remains in the box in my shop. There's just no need for it.

Maybe someday I'll install it when I have the engine torn down. At this time I see no need to do this though and even when I do replace the battery with a better quality, longer lasting lithium iron phosphate unit I'm sure I won't worry about a kicker then either.

Thanks for the good advice Timmy. This would have been essentially for peace of mind. Im not an amazing rider and before i replaced the original weak battery I found myself stalled at the bottom of a valley. Had to change the battery with a mates ktm because he had the kick and elec start. After that I got thinking about how convenient that combo is.

On a related note i still havent successfully roll started it yet. I've roll started my share of bikes in the past but cannot seem to do it on the TE. Being my first fuel injected moto does this change the process?

no, but the ECU doesn't come on until the starter button is pushed. right before you dump the clutch, flash the starter button (0.25secs- there's usually enough juice to turn it on) and it'll start when you let the clutch out. the ecu will stay on as long as you're rolling, IIRC.

The fact that my 310r has a kicker and a battery was important to me- in fact, with the big capacitor it has... I betcha it'll start w/o a battery at all. No doubt the regulator will get hot.

Thanks trenchcoat. Its so good how much know how floats around this site.