Manual recoil?

[DRH1175]

I have noticed on some of the bigger ATV's that they get rid of this feature and I ask why? How would one start their machine out in a MN Lake in the winter if the battery failed? What is the thinking behind not putting this feature on. I relize not many will ever use it. But what if you are in that predictimant between getting in or being stuck out on the lake? Was wondering others thoughts?

[lancer]

I agree, all machines should have an alternative means to start them. I am not sure why a manufacturer would omit such a feature. I do know that the recoil on my grizzly is completely useless though, especially in cold weather. It takes an act of god to even pull the thing over and I am not exaggerating. I would much prefer a kick starter so I at least have a chance...

[BobT]

I think you answered your own question when you referred to the "bigger ATVs". Probably for the same reason you don't have a manual recoil or pull rope for a 150hp outboard or your car. You wouldn't be able to pull it over anyway. What do you do if your car battery goes dead while out on the lake? Same thing.

Bob

[78cj5]

I have a back-up manual pull start on my 90hp Evinrude Etec. I actually tried pulling it through with the supplied rope for the heck of it and it didn't seem unreasonably tough.

My Kawasaki BF 650 on the other-hand is really tough to pull through.

I like the idea of having the pull start backup even so and had to use one exclusively for a winter when the starter in my Sportsman went out and didn't feel like fixing it. That machine had so many hours on it, there was probably no compression left. That thing would start virtually first pull everytime.

[BobT]

I would imagine that when you wrapped the rope on the flywheel of the 90hp, the diameter was quite a bit larger than the diameter the rope has on the ATV recoil. This gives you a significantly better mechanical advantage (lower gear ratio) against the 90hp. That's why it wasn't too bad to pull over. Imagine putting a recoil on an ATV with a 16" diameter. Where would you put it?

Bob

[78cj5]

I think you make an assumption in your original post... "You wouldn't be able to pull it over anyway". I think your analogy between a 150hp outboard or auto isn’t analogous to 45-55hp ATV’s… I said my Kawi was tough, not impossible…

[lancer]

I remember back in the day the honda 300's had a kick start. Anyone know why they went away from this technology. I would sure think it would be an improvement on my grizzly.

[burl]

The recoils on most of the machines that have them are not to impressive.The battery on my 400 outlander started going bad so i used the manual recoil about six times to start it.The last time i used it it just disintegrated.This was even being carefull to pull on the decompresed side of the stroke.When i took the recoil off to repair it suprised me to see how many of the parts were made out of plastic.The cost of the new parts was crazy.I ended up making some of the parts out of aluminum and has been bullet proof since.Burl.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I have tested the recoil starter on my 06 AC500 and it works fine both warm and cold engine. However the mfg is quick to point out it should not be used often. As the above post points out they are not very stout.

[dogs]

Have a 650 H1 cat and trying to pull start that... well you might as well just rip your arm of with something less painfull. If anything push your start button in when trying to pull start the big ones maybe you will get some help. Me i am thinking with a big machine just slip another battery somewhere if your going some place where being dead is a bad thing.

[knoppers]

the bad thing about ATV's are that most are single cylinders. lots of compression. I have a 660 grizz, and for giggles I tryed to pull the cord. Its not too much, but you have to get ready for the yank. just pull the cord till you can feel the compression, then giver heil.

I remember some of the old ski-doo snowmobile TNT sleds that had one big cylinder. the same thing, if you did it wrong, you felt like you just pulled your arm out of its socket.

[hill7410]

On wednesday i decided to start my 06 rincon because it had been sitting for a couple weeks and just wanted to hear it run. Then on friday i was getting ready for the weekend and i must have left the key on or somebody else did and she was dead. i tried the recoil. i think i need shoulder surgery after that ordeal, but got her going. After the first couple pulls you have to get angry in order to pull it out. My dads honda 300 has the kick start which i love. I agree why cant they make the bigger machines with a kick start, much easier alternative.

[jltimm]

I wonder how kickstarting a 600-700cc machine would feel on the old leg? Heck, you might get launched up high enough to dunk a basketball!

[hill7410]

Yeah that could happen too!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

This cold weekend I went to start my quad after plugging in engine heater and click, click. Battery was frozen solid. Primed the heck out of it and manual recoil fired it right up. Problem was I still couldnt use the plow since the winch depends on battery power. Ended up going to the store and buying another battery. I'm keeping in indoors the rest of the winter when not in use.

[BobT]

Are you sure the charging system is working properly? The fact that the battery was frozen points to this possibility. A fully charged battery is not likely to freeze at these temperatures. Since yours did freeze, it your system may not be maintaining it properly. I think I'd check out the system to be sure it's functioning properly. Of course, it could just have been your battery's time.

Bob

[78cj5]

I think a Battery Tender is almost mandatory this time of year... It's cheap insurance.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

It was showing signs end of summer. Not sure if there is a small drain on it sitting or not. 2 years old so I think it was the batteries time. I dont use the wheeler very often so I will take special care of the battery moving forwad by keeping it charged when not it use for long periods of time and especailly after using the winch/plow. Thanks.

[mnmarlin]

My cousins were big into Harleys in the 70's, when men were men and Harley electrical systems weren't, well, up to par. I learned some pretty cool words watching them trying to kick start a 1000 cc v twin, and that was in the summer, and they were some pretty big guys. My Grizzly 660 has always started, I do have to play with the choke and throttle a little to keep it running for the first couple minutes if its really cold, like -10.

[loosegoose]

I have a sportsman 500 and it does have a recoil starter on it and that one will even about pull your shoulder off. What I do is pull it over slow until the engine completes the compression cycle then give a good yank. It will very seldom kick back at ya then. This is the same thing when using the flywheel to start older tractors. If it's tuned right it shouldn't take more than a couple of pulls to get her running.

So does anyone know whey they don't/can't put decompression levers on ATVs?

[arctic_scrap1]

Everything that has to be engineered into a new design adds to the cost. Thats why you don't see decompression levers or pull/kick starts on a lot of newer machines. Also like everyone else has already said its not fun pull starting a big motor. On my old '02 sportsman 500 the battery quit on it but I was stubborn and just used the pull start all winter long. It wasn't to bad. On the '05 sportsman 700 I recently sold it didnt even have a backup.

[jltimm]

I think most atv's nowadays have an automatic decompression on them.