Kick Start Jams

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 11:09 pm

Now that I finally got on my new knobby tires, my kick start decides do not work. When I go to kick it, it will jam up and have to be forcefully pulled back up before it even goes all the way down. Also, there is an aweful grinding sound being made on the kick starter's way down. I pulled the kick start case off and found that the teeth on the little gear, that extends out to the crank shaft had been getting rounded off, so I squared it back to normal, and the darn thing still jams. Can someone please help me? I really don't know what I've done to deserve this abuse, I mean I just put NEW Knmobby Tires on it. And this is how it repays me?

Shane4188 · Post by **Shane4188** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:51 am

There is a simple fix to this. Take the bigger gear and push the kickstart down a little. Put that smaller gear that inserts into that hole in. Rotate the smaller gear counterclockwise until it slides into the bigger gear and get the smaller gear past the larger rounded gears. When you let off the kickstart the rounded gears should stop before they get all the way down. That should work. I tried to explain that the best I could, lol. Good luck!

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:14 am

I'll look into your post in more detail l*er, but it sounds confusing.

vette76 · Post by **vette76** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:12 pm

i have a friends spree at my house and that is the problem. it will only take a few more kicks before it completely goes. sorry to say but it looks like you will be buying another gear. dont you have a starter anyway?

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:23 pm

I do have and electric start, but my battery is f'ed. Which gear is it? The big one or the small one? Does anybody have an extra kick start gear?

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:37 pm

vette76 wrote:i have a friends spree at my house and that is the problem. it will only take a few more kicks before it completely goes. sorry to say but it looks like you will be buying another gear. dont you have a starter anyway?

What causes this?

vette76 · Post by **vette76** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 6:26 pm

its the big gear i think. it looks like a half circle. this is caused by wear and tear, bushings wearing out, or just abuse. if you slam your foot down on it thats usually how it happens in my case. you are supposed to place your foot on it and give it a quick jab down. isnt it ironic/ a pain in the * when the backup fails as well.lol

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:15 pm

I'll look at everything and clean everything up and see what happens.

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:47 pm

Okay, I tried the washer thing and all it did is slow me down on acceleration. When you put the washer between the twp pieces, you're spacing it out causing the belt to have less tension. I do however believe the mod would work if you had a slightly shorter belt, because then you'd have the tension on the belt and the change in ratio.

Post by **noiseguy** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:19 pm

How thick of a washer did you use, and what does the back pulley look like? Is the outer belt riding outside the rear pulley diameter? Good info, got pics?

vette76 · Post by **vette76** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:57 am

throw an idler pulley on it/tensioner.

Post by **noiseguy** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:06 am

No, tensioners eat power. Besides, the Spree already has a tensioner, the rear pulley halves are spring loaded to do this job.

If he's having problem with belt slack, the best thing to do is to get a different belt. I'm just surprized that that's necessary.

vette76 · Post by **vette76** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:41 pm

oh i didnt know that

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 8:40 pm

The washer i used was like 1/16" - 1/32" wide, so I believe there is no room for that type of mod. A far as pictures go, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get the pictures of the slack in the belt, but what I can do is ake a picture of me pinching the belt as hard as I can together with the washer, and then do the same w/o the washer. It may not be a big difference, but you know as well as I do, that the belt doesn't have much tension to begin with. So any spacer at all will just make it have that much less tension.

BluPhire · Post by **BluPhire** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:05 pm

vette76 wrote:its the big gear i think. it looks like a half circle. this is caused by wear and tear, bushings wearing out, or just abuse. if you slam your foot down on it thats usually how it happens in my case. you are supposed to place your foot on it and give it a quick jab down. isnt it ironic/ a pain in the a.. when the backup fails as well.lol

Okay, what I've noticed is, on the outer half of the pully system (the one with the teeth), the little teeth that the kick start catches on are being rounded off. Is this the only thing I will need to replace? It is not on the the kick start case itself, it is the part that mounts onto the drive shaft.