How do you start a 1983 Honda XL 600?

Answer 1

How to start a 1983 Honda XL600 1983 through 1987 were basicallay all the same. If you have any of these years, this should work. First some mythbusting: Myth #1 - Honda XL600 is a finicky starter, a real pain to get going. FALSE. Get to know your bike and how to start it, and you should find it no problem Myth #2 - You have to be big or strong to get it going. FALSE. While you need a leg long enough to give the kickstarter a full stroke, you need not be beefy or heavy. I'm kinda scrawny and have no probs. In my experience, trouble starting the Honda XL600, provided that there is nothing actually mechanically wrong with the bike has mostly to do with knowing when to kick. That is to say, that if the piston is in the wrong part of the stroke, it doesn't matter how strong you are or how hard you kick, the bike will not start. Once you learn to feel where the piston is, you can usually start it first time, every time. Here's how it works for me, hopefully your bike works the same: 1) Ignore the decompression lever - I have NEVER found this to be helpful in starting the bike. 2) Unless it's a very cold start, ignore the choke too. I have found that at least with my XL600, the choke is really unnecessary. 3) Dont give it throttle. If you're kicking in the right place, the throttle is unnecessary and you certainly don't want to be pushing high RPMs right at startup. 4) Sounds silly, but before you go kicking the thing, make sure your fuel, key, and kill switch are all ON. Now it's time use the kick starter. Rotate the motor a few times with the kick starter. Don't try to start it, just gently push the kick starter through the stroke several times to feel the difference in resistance. You will notice that some strokes of the kickstarter are easy and meet little resistance, some of them are harder and have much resistance. What you're looking for here, is a stroke where the kickstarter moves down VERY easily with little more pressure than the weight of your foot - for quite a bit - usually a full stroke to a stroke and a half of travel of the kickstarter. Where this super easy stroke finally hits resistance again, is what you're looking for. Just when your kickstarter hits resistance again after that easy stroke, STOP pushing the kickstarter. Do not push through that resistance. When you feel that resistance, let your kick starter come back to the top of its stroke, do a final check that all your switches are ready to go, and give a little jump up and come down hard on that kickstarter. Your bike should start. If it does not start, re-check your kill switch, key and fuel, and do not kick it again! Your piston is not in the right place since you kicked it. Sit back down on the seat and again start slowly pushing the kickstarter through its stroke again and again, feeling the resistance until you feel the almost no resistance stroke. As soon as that almost no resistance just hits compression resistance again, STOP pushing, let the kick starter back up to the top, and kick it hard. Doing this correctly, your bike should start in one or two tries. If it does not, check or replace your spark plug, your carbs might be gummed up, get it looked at. Despite all the popular rumors and folklore, The Honda XL600r is not and should not be hard to start, provided that you know what to do. Don't get me wrong, I dreaded starting my bike when I first had it and it was a total mystery to me when it would start and when it wouldn't. I thought there was something wrong with it until I finally figured out what people meant when they were telling me that I needed to find the right part of the piston stroke and how to do that. Big problems come when you just kick and hope and keep on kicking. You get tired, frustrated and sweaty that way and then when the piston finally is in the right place, you're too tired to kick the thing over strongly enough. There you go. Take your time, be patient and get to know your bike and soon it will all be second nature. Have fun.