Incredibly hard pull start 1980 Honda 185

[Scoby101]

Just purchased 1980 Honda 185 atc
It is nearly impossible to pull start it. It will start if pushed and popped into gear.
I believe it is a compression problem. It does have a manual compression release lever.
However it doesn’t seem to make any difference if the lever is released or not.
It is still very hard to pull the rope out.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I was thinking of getting an electric starter for it.
Not sure if they even make one for it

[Tri-Z 250]

Take the recoil off look for broken fingers. Get back to us.

[shortline10]

Cam may have been replaced causing the compression release non functional .
Pull the recoil just past the compression stroke before trying to start it , much easier this way .

[Scoby101]

Pulled recoil assembly off and it works as it should.
Used drill to spin flywheel and it spins easily if I hold decompression lever in the open position.
Release decompression lever and there is compression as engine cranks over.
Reinstalled recoil assembly and the same problem exists.
Still very Hard to pull rope. I can’t hold decompression lever open and try to pull rope at same time.

In addition
I removed and cleaned carb. I have noticed that the butterfly plate wants to stay in the open position due to a spring.
Shouldn’t the plate want to stay in the closed/choke position? The choke lever is then used to open the plate to the run position. It operates opposite of how it should. Please see pics of plate held in the open position.

[Scoby101]

259646259645259645

[Scoby101]

Ok I fixed the plate issue. Spring wasn’t engaged properly. It now closes the plate to its default position like it should.
259647

[350for350]

If you're having trouble pulling the rope and holding the decomp lever open at the same time, you could get someone else to help you. Have that person hold the decomp lever so that you can feel the resistance on the rope.

[Jakester202]

I’m making a YouTube series on how to build your own diy automatic compression release system. I’m basically showing you how to make each part in the recoil decompression assembly as those parts are over priced and hard to find on eBay here’s the link to part 1 were I make the decompression hook plate. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FXkBpKWvvgg
hope this vid helps people feel free to give me any feed back.