Wow, hard to believe there are motorcyclists that have never dealt with kick starters, carburators and primitive magneto or points and condesor ignition systems.
Until the Japanese brought in Keihen and Mikuni carbs, metering fuel for a motorcycle was a rather haphazard affair, and until the intoduction of electronic ignition rather than points and condensor, a strong reliable spark was a bit of a mystery at times too.
Then again the man in the story was butting up against winter and gas atomizes more slowly when it's cold, and the old leaded fuel had less volatility as well.
Combine all those things and starting a motorcycle with a few prods of a kick was often a bit of good luck, and an excercise in frustration.
Some bikes required a certain drill. I had a 59 Harley Sporster. IF you put the choke on, kick 3 times, turn the choke off, turn ignition on, it would generally start on first kick. Didn't follow that procedure and best of luck. you might kick for 15 or 20 minutes.
Can't tell you how many times in the early days you'd get dressed for a ride, roll the bike out, kick the starter once, twice... ten times, start taking off gear because you were starting to over heat, kick ten more times. Then give up and go inside for awhile until you cooled off and come back out and start the drill again lol.
Still I lamented when they started leaving kick starters off of bikes, but in the end it turned out to be pretty much a non issue.
We really are lucky these days.
