Author Topic: Kickstart nasty noise  (Read 532 times)

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Phil C

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Kickstart nasty noise
« on: 20 March, 2022, 15:23:35 »
Hello everyone,
Having fitted my new cut-out oil tap (see photo for interest), I was operating the kickstart (spark plug out, and trying to feel my way with it rather than jumping on it brutally) to check the oil was returning to the tank. It needs quite a lot of kicks to get the oil through. A few times there was a rather nasty metallic cracking sound, which I thought sounded a bit like tips of teeth breaking. I'm wondering if quadrant teeth or ratchet teeth have been damaged. I guess I'm going to have to remove the outer casing to have a look. In the meantime, any thoughts about what it could be? And if it is what I suspect, could running the bike before I get to look at it pose any risk, eg a broken tooth causing any damage anywhere?
Phil

Phil C

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Re: Kickstart nasty noise
« Reply #1 on: 20 March, 2022, 18:11:52 »
Further to my previous message, if the kickstart ratchet teeth are damaged I'll be a bit disappointed as it's only just over a year since I replaced the ratchet (and the bike's hardly been used since.) At that time I didn't replace the spring, and I wonder if maybe I should have, even though it seemed okay.  Could that be causing a problem, I wonder. Looking back at discussions I had on this forum at the time, I see that I found broken teeth in the bottom of the outer casing. Maybe I'll find the same again.   But given that the kickstart is still working okay, maybe there's no need to replace the ratchet again, even if a couple of teeth are damaged. All thoughts appreciated and of interest. Phil

Phil C

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Re: Kickstart nasty noise
« Reply #2 on: 21 March, 2022, 17:14:47 »
Hello again all,
No replies so far but thought I'd update you and see if there are any comments. Took the outer casing off this afternoon, to have a look in case there are any broken teeth or anything, having, as I explained previously, recently heard an unhealthy-sounding metallic graunching/cracking sound a few times when kicking over (most times it's okay.) Anyway, please see photo. I think everything looks fairly okay, but then what do I know. Ratchet teeth all appear intact, quadrant also, not sure whether tops of pinion teeth are a bit worn or not? But generally things look not too bad to me. I found a very very tiny bit of metal in the bottom of the casing. I guess there could be more in the dregs of oil under the quadrant etc in the bottom, but I dragged a scriber through there and it didn't pick anything up. Two questions I'm pondering are: 1. does it all look okay? and 2. should I take it apart to have a more thorough look? Any thoughts please?  Phil

Spaceman

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Re: Kickstart nasty noise
« Reply #3 on: 21 March, 2022, 17:34:51 »
The problem with the quadrant normally after a bit of wear is that its teeth don't mesh smoothly as they engage with the pinion teeth and can even jam. To some extent, it is better in practice to rotate the kickstart lever slightly until you feel quadrant teeth begin to mesh before kicking the engine over. If you just kick down straightaway, this can easily damage the quadrant leading teeth after a bit of use. If the problem is with the initial meshing, this should be obvious now that the outer timing cover is off.