photo credit : KTM America to stand on to help start the bike : Trailers , rocks , stumps , downed riders , etc . I wasn ’ t alone either . I recall many a dead-engine hare scramble start with half the field boosting themselves on milk crates in order to assure a first-kick fire . And how about the brave wives , girlfriends , and crew buddies who , after the racers blasted off , had to run across the starting area and retrieve the crates before the next classes were flagged away .
An old Honda CB350 ’ s kickstarter nearly crippled me last summer . The bike is just a beater , and was given to me by a friend . But heck , I ’ m a sucker for old bikes in need of TLC , so I ’ m working on the thing to see if I can get it to run . I cleaned the carbs ,
put in points and plugs , and go to fire it up . The electric starter doesn ’ t seem to want to work ( hmmm ), so I flip out the kicker and heave at it . Well , that old twin was so primed to run that it tried to fire just halfway through the third or fourth kick .
However , when it did , the resistance to my he-man-like leg force disappeared . Not prepared for this , my knee hyper-extended , then slammed to a sudden stop at the bottom of the stroke . You know those injuries that aren ’ t funny , no matter who they happen to ? Take it from me , this was one of them . I don ’ t mind telling you , it brought tears to my eyes , and still makes me squirm just thinking about it .
VOL . 6 ISSUE 7 - JULY 2021 // PAGE 173