Kick Starting Problem 1979 Honda cm400a
 

Wall of text alert.

Not sure if anyone on this board is familiar with this particular bike, but I figured it couldn't hurt to address a problem I've been having with it here.

The main issue is this, the push start doesn't function at all (which I'm having trouble finding parts to fix it), so I have to rely solely on a kick start. Which is fine by me, I've always thought kick starting a bike was more pleasing anyway.

The problem comes in when the bike is running hot. If she's cold I can kick start her without any problems. If she's been running for a half an hour or more and stops (say to get gas, or if I'm visiting a friend), she will not kick start at all.

I've been told this is likely a carb issue, but the mechanic I went to took care of the carbs, which leads me to believe I may need to go somewhere else.

To add insult to injury, while I was having this problem, said mechanic was able to kick start the bike. Looked like he kicked it three times before even pulling the throttle. He tells me I just need to kick it harder.

Unfortunately I'm a deadly trio of problems, a new rider, the owner of an older bike, and a small fella. I'm only 5'5" and 130lbs soaking wet, which doesn't give me a lot of power behind my kicks. I tried different kicking techniques to get more power, but none seem to work when the engine is hot.

Someone I spoke with online suggest I keep the throttle wide open when kicking my bike after it's been running for awhile. He admittedly also said he doesn't know a thing about Hondas. So naturally, I came here.

If anyone can help give me some pointers that would be absolutely amazing. I love my bike, she's my first, and my mechanic suggests I sell her to get a newer model. But I love older bikes and really don't wanna just give up on her all together when I know there's gotta be some way to handle this issue.

Thanks again guys, I truly appreciate all the help I can get.

- Sean / Flaros