Why have kick starters gone extinct?

[the Ferret]

Toddman, my first Harley was a 59 XLCH Sportster in 1969, and I can tell you as a 19 year old weighing maybe 120# it was all I could do (and sometimes more than I could do) to kick start that thing. One time, after an unsuccessful kicking exercise, I had my brother tow me with his 64 Ford with the windows down while I rode along side him holding on to the pillar between the windows. When we got up to about 20 mph I let go, shifted it up into second (on the 4 speed trans) an let out the clutch. The rear tire skidded for awhile and then rolled over and it fired up. I'm not sure I turned it off all day. Sometimes I would go into someplace and leave it sitting outside idling. Wonder it wasn't stolen, but then kicking it over would have been someone else's problem lol.