185 decompression cable

[DAM shop]

Does anyone know why the 185 on the early years didn’t have a decompression cable but on the later years they did? Was the compression not the same? We don’t work on these enough to know the difference. We have a customer trike that has the lever on the head but the wrong recoil with a fresh top end done to it and it pulls tight.

[350for350]

I think that the compression ratio was the same. I'm guessing that it was switched to automatic release for ease of use. I don't use the decomp lever on my stock compression 185s.

[ATC King]

I prefer the manual lever instead of the recoil actuated one, for the ease of clearing a flooded engine. Just reach over, hold it up and pull the rope a few times. I put my elbow on the throttle to hold that open. I also like doing that before I start them if they've been sitting a while, to splash a little oil around before they fire.

If the mismatched parts bothers them, see if they want to pony up what it takes for the correct recoil. Otherwise, watch them start it, to see if they could use some refinement on their technique.

[DAM shop]

I prefer the manual lever instead of the recoil actuated one, for the ease of clearing a flooded engine. Just reach over, hold it up and pull the rope a few times. I put my elbow on the throttle to hold that open. I also like doing that before I start them if they've been sitting a while, to splash a little oil around before they fire.

If the mismatched parts bothers them, see if they want to pony up what it takes for the correct recoil. Otherwise, watch them start it, to see if they could use some refinement on their technique.

Yeah good thoughts. We haven’t tried starting it yet but are hoping for a 1/2 pull start if everything is set right