I have hurt my foot pretty bad starting up the 500 before. Mostly this happens when I am riding in some mud and have to restart the beast. Then my foot slips off the kickstarter and the point of it smashs into the arch of my foot.
One really muddy day I bruised my whole foot because of this, and just a week ago the kickstarter actually went through my boot!
Any suggestions of boots with a very stiff (even metal?) inner arch?
It's not the initial kick that causes the problems, it's when the kickstart lever abruptly slams against the footpeg. You need a tremendeous amount of downward force to kick a 5, and then to all of a sudden slam to a stop.... thats also why the kick levers are prone to snapping. (and why you right foot KILLS at the end of the day). I ride with my 11 year old son, so I frequently have stop and re-start my 5 many times.
I am trying to think of some modification to "soften" the impact when the kick lever slams the foot peg (like a hard rubber bumper or something similar). Problem is there is not a lot of area right where the kick lever hits the peg.
