kickstart spring

[DucMonzter]

I've recently reinstalled the kickstarter mechanism on a narrowcase engine. After assembly, the lever no longer returns to the vertical position without some help. How far should the return spring be wound? Right now it's only wound a partial turn beyond its relaxed position. I've tried unsuccessfully to wind it an extra turn for more pre-load. Should this be necessary? If so, how is this done? Is a special tool or technique required? Thanks in advance for your help.

Jeff

[double diamond]

If you look on the next post (new 250 project adventure), page 2, there is a good view of the kickstarter spring. Your spring should be wound up the same amount. If the kickstart shaft won’t return with this amount of tension on the spring you may have a shimming issue. You could assemble the kickstarter without the spring, install the clutch cover and see if the shaft turns freely. Matt

[DucMonzter]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your suggestions. I had just replaced the leaf springs that press against the face of the starter gear with the coil spring/bridge upgrade. The kick starter had been returning fine before I disassembled the mechanism and the shims have not changed. The last time I had the engine apart was so long ago that I've forgotten how much preload was on the return spring. It now appears, visually, to be wound approximately the same amount as in the photo you've referred to. I've tried winding the return spring an extra turn but this has proven to be very difficult and somewhat unsafe. I considered using the kickstart lever as a crank to help wind the spring but I'm concerned about possibly applying too much sideload and possibly breaking the inner mounting boss.

I've been doing some digging through older posts and found some references to the starter gear and the kickstart pin having mismatched numbers of gear teeth. I'm wondering if I may have the teeth engaged in the wrong position. I'll check that once I have a chance to remove the primary cover again. I'll also try your suggestion to reassemble the kickstart mechanism without the return spring and check for binding.

If anyone has any other thoughts, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks again,
Jeff

[ducwiz]

Hi,

this is what the workshop manual says:

Assembling the Kick-Starter gear

Fit the kick-starter gear and the starter spindle
assembly complete with spring, spacer, and thrust
washer and sector lock plate, as showed in the
figure 78.
Wind the spring until it fits the anchorage pin.
Install the leaf spring that presses the starting
gear and secure with the plate 040088.010 which
is not seen in fig. 78, the lock washer and TE
screw.
Care must be taken when tightening the bolt that
the fingers of the spring are equidistant from the
center of the shaft.
Lock the bolt by lifting a tab over its head and
lowering the other tab onto the crankcase.

NOTE! - In neither of the above cases must force
be applied on the starter spindle with
the special tool, otherwise spindle seat-
ing in the crankcase will be damaged.
Rotate the clutch drum to make sure it runs
smoothly and there is no end play.

- no explicit rule for the spring preload with an extra-turn
- see fig. 78 for gear teeth engagement

cheers Hans

[double diamond]

Checking tooth engagement as illustrated in Hans’ post is the first step. If you’ve changed the leaf spring arrangement for the coil spring, the added thrust load on the starter gear may be making it more difficult for the starter gear to retract up the ramp on the back side of the starter gear. The kickstarter return spring has to have enough tension to 1) return the kickstart shaft to the retracted position and 2) overcome spring tension to make the starter gear retract from the engaged position with the ratchet teeth that engage 1st gear. I’ve never looked to see if there is a different part number for the kickstarter return spiral spring with the leaf spring vs. coil spring design. You should not give the kickstart shaft another turn to wind up the spiral spring; it might coil bind at the bottom of the kickstart lever stroke (if it would even rotate that far). The first thing I would try is to make sure everything in the kisckstart mechanism is rotating smoothly. No binding anywhere, bushings in good condition. Inspect the ramp on the back of the kickstart gear and the retractor plate on the center case. Maybe even polish these two so they slide with minimum effort. If that doesn’t work, you might try a new spiral spring or a lighter coil under the bridge. Matt