a question for you 2 stroke guys

[applejack]

i have 3, old 2 stroke harley davidson 250cc golf carts with dual polarity starter generators. to go forward you start the engine in "F" position on polarity switch. to go backwards start engine in "R" position. the starter/generator belt drives a pulley on the back of the primary clutch.

now the question. will a kawasaki 440 snowmobile engine runs backwards if the same setup is used on it?

[spookum]

my gut instinct is "maybe" but you would have to use the old clutch. Newer helixes only go "forward" Try it and let us know if it does, that could be WAY COOL. To test it you could get the kawasaki engine runing normal. Shut it off, CAREFULY run a rope around the cluch and "pull" start it in reverse. I dont know if the stator will work in reverse??

[gearhead1937]

Not a 2-Stroke guy, but wouldn't there be a timing issue? Assuming it set to fire a few degrees before top dead center. Running it backwards would have the timing retarded. Guessing on the engines made to run both ways the timing is pretty close to heads up.

[spookum]

it should be fun to see! i know the new machiens do it....

[Joe H]

I am going to say no, some of the old sno-way replacement electric starters for JLO's would turn the wrong way and if you would happen to put one on the engine would not run.

[Don]

It seems like it would run badly if it ran at all. The timing would be way retarded in reverse, and the mechanical advance (if it's an older one with point ignition) would make it worse.