Okay thanks. No left-handed friends around, I'm afraid. I thought for a moment you were going to recommend a left-handed hammer ( bit like a long weight, etc.) But seriously, it's a tricky angle, and of course the surface of the pin I'll be hitting against, which is where it broke off, is uneven. Anyway, I'll see if I can find a parallel punch, take the silencer off, and give it a sharp tap. I've put WD40 on. But it felt very stuck when I was trying to get it out the other day. How I'd love it to pop out, and there be no damage to the shaft. At the moment I can easily move the kickstart both ways about, say, an eigth of a turn with no resistance - so I guess there's something amiss down there - I'm hoping it's just the pin and not the shaft aswell. Of course not knowing anything about kickstart mechanisms doesn't help!