Starter and other questions

Hey Guys I am recently re-introduced to motorcycles and although I have ridden alot not the 100cu Vtwin that I recently purchased I have a few questions.

The starter sounds as if it is stripping when I start the bike, If I put the bike in and then back out of gear she starts right Up. Should I be starting this Bike fully choked or not and what are the blue plugs near the spark plugs that move up and down. Sorry to be such a novice.

Also I need to put in a speedo and turn signals can anyone suggest a complete kit and where I might buy. I am a computer guy and electrical work and light fab work does not freighten me unless somebody who has done this before suggests otherwise

Reply to my own question

It must be a compression issue. I have to put the bike in gear, push it forward which must engage the piston and she cranks perfectly. Is this normal on a new bike ?

Blue buttons

The blue buttons are compression release buttons. I am guessing you have a Revtech. I went through this with a Revtech and installed those buttons to help resolve the problem. Push them in before starting and it will help. If the bike doesn't start on the first try, you'll have to push them in again.

Do you have cranking problems too or just the grinding? I also had to upgrade the battery and cables because the battery seemed under powered and the cables got hot to the point that the insulation on the ground wire completely melted over time. There was too much resistance when cranking over the high compression motor.

Hope this helps.

Choke

I forgot to respond to the choke. Do you have a choke knob or an enrichener? If it is a Revtech, it probably has a Mikuni Carb with a choke knob. If this is the case, pull out the choke cable fully when starting cold. Once warmed up it should be fine.

Thanks !!

Yes that should do it. I actually was guessing that the blue knobs were to release pressure, but I was pulling them out. Go figure, I was fixing the problem by putting the bike in gear and pusshing forward and it would release the compression I guess in the chamber. She starts fine cold even with the choke knob down in what I would call "running" condition. I have an SS carb jiust fo info's sake.

thanks so much, Any idea what is involved in a speedometer install ? and where I could best get the parts