Lots of R80G/S came with a kickstart. It was an option in many countries, although not in the US.
Best way to get the kickstart is to do a complete transmission exchange - but this will COST.
Parts needed are significant, the outer cover alone is £65 used. There are many internal bits needed, as well as the lever. £350-500 wouldn't surprise me in the least. And while you are in there definitely replace all the bearings, and if it's a 89-90 series approx. check the mainshaft to see if it has the pressed-on gear or the gear with the circlip to hold it in place. The pressed-on one will fail eventually.
Motobins says they will only do a like-for-like exchange at £335 for your worn out / broken box. You may be able to do a deal, or find one from a wrecker. All 1981 on 2 valve twins use the same gearbox, the only differences was in 82 they improved the shifing (there is a shiftkit available for retrofitting, and most 81s should already have it by now) and with/without kickstart.
You should also make sure you can actually kickstart one first. If you've never kickstarted a big bike before - and many people haven't - you may not be able to. It's a bit of an art to k/s one of these. The kickstarter is not very good - the stroke is limited, and as it swings out, is awkward. I have demonstrated at length to a number of people, and only about half were ever successful, esp. on the R100.
If you have the R80GS paralever with the big battery, I'm not sure I would go to the expense, especially if my ability to actually kick it was suspect.
You might want to ensure you have a Bosch not Valeo electric starter if you decide to forgo the kickstarter. Also take a spare starter solenoid (the little square one under the tank) and you will have covered 95% of starter failures.
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Grant Johnson
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at:
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com
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