I think this is exactly what was happening.I'm surprised the pawl is able to still work well with that much end play. I wonder if it is sliding in too far and missing the stop, which would take all the tension off the spring and it could come out of either the shaft or the inner cover hole. Of course that's all my guess work BS.
I think there are springs on the market that are too short on the "extension" that goes in the hole in the box inner case. I had your problem on a '92 Atlas and finally solved it with a new spring. The early pre-Commando design without the peg on the gearbox inner seems inferior but it obviously worked for lots of bikes. IIRC I inserted the spring into the hole on the inner case first and then used a large screw driver to lever the other end into the kickstarter shaft.Yeah. This is the pre ‘63 gearbox.
I'm hoping you meant .057", NOT .570"So it’s all wound with good tension.
Checking with the dial gauge after a brief search it’s moving, yes I believe that to be true 0.57” in and out.
So I think when I’m coming down on the i
Kick it’s pushing the shaft out.
Something must not have been seated correctly when i had checked it before.
I'm hoping you meant .057", NOT .570"
-George
Nope. No love.
Spring just unseated again. Beyond pissed now. Wish I still had the old spring I “replaced”
Just try a different spring from a reliable supplier. I've been told by several people that there was a batch of bad springs and that was my experience as well. Short of that you could try "bushing" the hole in the aluminum of the inner case with something like a pop rivet thimble but, honestly, I just think it's a poor repro spring. It did work with the original spring?That is not good news.
That spring looks really wound up to me. You aren't able to wind that spring all the way around the shaft when installing it are you? Probably impossible. It should do the job of returning the kick start just being brought back enough to get it in the last hole it needs to get in. No extra winding. Just a thought
When I tried installing my spring on the case first (actually on the post pre-Commando) the angle of the bend that went into the shaft was not correct and it barely went into the shaft before getting hung up due to the angle. Installing the spring in the shaft first was a big improvement for the shaft end of the spring.
Too bad that spring steel can't be easily bent. A little bit of decreasing radius on the bend that keeps popping out might fix it.
Here is some shade tree engineering thinking. If the kick stroke is shortened does the spring stay in place? You could move the kick start further back on the splines to reduce your typical kick stroke a little. that may be on the borderline of being ridiculous though.
I know the feeling of tossing something out I didn't think I'd need anymore. Not a pleasant one.
BTW you want to get this right. Otherwise the kickstarter can drop down while you're riding. DAMHIKNope. No love.
Spring just unseated again. Beyond pissed now. Wish I still had the old spring I “replaced”
So a bit more on this. I turned back the kickstart lever about 30degrees. That has shortened its throw, and seems that the spring is staying retained. I have in the meantime ordered a replacement spring from Baxter's Cycle, and I'm hoping this would be the cure. I'm also using a later Commando Kick arm, not the straight up and down style that was on these early AMC boxes. So my logic that the commando arm has a bit more rotation to it, and Maybe that's why it's popping out.That spring looks really wound up to me. You aren't able to wind that spring all the way around the shaft when installing it are you? Probably impossible. It should do the job of returning the kick start just being brought back enough to get it in the last hole it needs to get in. No extra winding. Just a thought
Here is some shade tree engineering thinking. If the kick stroke is shortened does the spring stay in place? You could move the kick start further back on the splines to reduce your typical kick stroke a little. that may be on the borderline of being ridiculous though.
I know the feeling of tossing something out I didn't think I'd need anymore. Not a pleasant one.
No, the early kickers are more up and down. This was before I realized it doesn't work with these rear sets.Is kickshaft on the early bike the same as in the video?
From what I recall my kicker was just like the video, shaft hole at about 8 or 9 o'clock when against the stop.
It doesn't get a huge preload, as you can see in the video when he uses the puller to hook the other end over the peg.
I seem to remember it is not. From when I had my issues I seem to remember that switching to a Commando spring required a Commando inner gearbox cover and kickstarter shaft.Sorry, I should have said Kick start shaft.
Is the hole for the spring oriented the same way as the Commando KS shaft in the Hemmings video?
There is only a small amount of spring windup needed in the video.