Some time ago I bought a 1968 D14/4. When starting it the kickstarter hits the silencer and did so before I bought it. I am unable to fathom out how to stop this happening. Has anyone come across this problem before and if what is the solution?
Either kickstart is bent or the silencer is wrong. Can you pull the silencer back a bit on the Dow pipe to clear the kickstart? There is a bit of wriggle room in the rear mounting.
Try moving the silencer bracket to the inside of the rear footpeg.
Many thanks but I have tried both of your suggestions. It may be that the silencer is wrong as it doesn't have removable baffles so is obviously a "Patent" and not original.
Could be the exhaust pipe with an inaccurate bend making everything stick out too far. Had this a few years back with a D14/4 and was solved by using a different pipe.
Hi JulianS. Many thanks for the info. I'll try a new exhaust pipe.
Had a simular problem iwth my D13. It was a new kick start lever that cured mine....
On my Bushman the Kickstarter clouted the heat shield. I took a sledge hammer to the kickstart lever and opened out the bend. Don't get too fierce though or you'll wreck it. The number of dented silencers shows this is a very common problem. It's also worth making sure the rear silencer bracket is behind the footrest bracket not in front of it.