Can I put a kickstart or electric on it if not what can I do to make it easier to pull without it catching and tearing my hand up everytime

 

I kind of think I know what your talking about. I have a 1982 185s and the first 3 or so inches of the pull when starting seam to de pressurize the cylinder. Some times I"ll start the pull and the pressure recoils and rips the "T" Handel right out of my grip and it hurts like a mother especially on cold days.

What I do now, is ALWAYS wear leather work gloves when riding and pull that first 3 inches slowly until the release valve engages and the pressure is released. But every once in a while it still gets me good!

As for the kick start... I haven't found a kit yet but would like to have one too. I recently broke the original 30-year-old starting rope at the bottom of a big hill I was riding on. I really wished I had a kick start then. It took 3 of us to push it back up the hill to the trailer.


Good luck.

Naz

 

Without a decompression system even though its a 200 its harder to pull over then a 500 with one.

My 250 Moto4 was a mother to pull over while my SP500 is easy. I was lucky the 250 started up on one or two pulls at most.

 

I had an 82 185s those do have a compression release that works off of the pull start.
There is a cable that comes off of the top of the case by the pull start and goes to the cylinder head to work the compression release holding the valve part way open until engine fires and kicks it out.
I would make sure it is working properly.
But even when working properly they will pull the pull start handle out of your hand some times yea it hurts.
I also believe the compression release operation is covered in the manual.
Good luck
Ray

 

The cable from the pullstarter to the head is missing on my 1985 200s. I just flip the decompression lever back by hand. 9 times out of 10 it starts on the first pull and I don't have to worry about it ripping my fingers off.

 

change your starter handle from a T handle to a D shaped handle, it makes a big difference

 

but you never know who may have same problem. I have an 80 ATC185 (no "s") as a large man I can pull it off w/o the compression release but my friend had the same problem you do. After teaching him he rarely has the handle yanked out his hand (happens to everyone at some point).

1) turn on choke
2) Grab pull rope between first two fingers
3) pull gently (roughly as hard as starting a mower) til it stops
4) flip compression release valve
5) Grab firmly and give a short (2-3 ft) HARD pull

step 3 gets the piston near TDC on the compression stroke step 4 makes it easy to pull and all you are really doing in step 5 is 'snapping' the engine over though it wont be much the cylinder will fire giving it momentum to help make the next cycle easy if you are strong enough to skip step 4 it works better.
Also for it to work best you need a pull rope at least 5-6 ft. If it has "fixed" too much get a new one. Cause, though you don't pull it that far you don't wanna hit the end of the rope or you will have a sore hand.

 

How does it run? It shouldn't rip the pullstart out of your hand. It sounds like your timing is off a bit.

 

I'd check your timing like kormos said. That and set your valve clearance to spec. Then see if it gives you the same issue. You could have a crud load of carbon build up from someone running the machine rich for a prolonged period of time (or simply because it's a 30 year old machine). I never flipped the compression lever over on my '85 200s and it's a breeze to pull.

 

There is an electric start upgrade made for older quads and some
dirt bikes, but they cost more than the old Honda is likely worth. I
do not know it they make one for your machine.

Made by Goki in LA, I had one on one of my Suzuki LT230S ATVs. It
worked, but not perfectly. The maker provided tech help while I
was working on it.