Kick start Lever fitting and removal

concours · Jul 13, 2014

I was directed by one of the old masters to remove four splines on both sides of the split on the kicker. I added a grade 8 bolt and it's been tight for 15K miles. YMMV

kerinorton · Jul 13, 2014

bpatton said:
As far as levers that won't tighten goes, there was a tip on one of the lists that worked for me. Use a rat tail file or grinder to remove two of the splines on each side of the split in the lever. It sounds all wrong but those splines aren't doing much and might be actually getting in the way. If the splines are so worn that the lever is clamping shut before it's tightening its grip then put 2 hacksaw blades together on a saw and run them through the seam in the lever. It's worked well on a couple bikes I've seen. Anti seize on the bolt threads probably helps. I know of one guy that used a stainless bolt, it may still be stuck in there.

Stainless is too brittle and may break with the tension required to clamp that lever. Stainless is also very hard and difficult to drill, so if it breaks off, you may be in the shit.

kerinorton · Jul 13, 2014

Marc Sullivan said:
L.A.B. said:

Marc Sullivan said:

I have inserted a metal rod all the way through the bolt hole. As I pull (or tug left and right) on both the lever arm and the metal rod I cannot get the arm all the way off.

Click to expand...

You won't get the kickstart lever off with a rod through the bolt hole as it will lock the lever to the shaft.

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Are you sure about that? It's not a threaded rod and it's only 1/4" thick. That's about 6.25 mm. The bolt itself is is 3/8" (9.525 mm) by my measurement. It wobbles like hell in the bolt hole. I'm just using it as a extra handle to pull on. Please explain to me how this will lock the lever to the shaft. Thank you.

I usually get a large screw driver and jam it in the split, then use a hammer to drive the screw driver downwards to open the spline. [ I am not hit in towards the g/box nor belting it that hard ] the lever usually falls of then.

kerinorton · Jul 13, 2014

concours said:
I was directed by one of the old masters to remove four splines on both sides of the split on the kicker. I added a grade 8 bolt and it's been tight for 15K miles. YMMV

that the stuff. good quality bolts and a 2 ft long strong bar will tighten that sucker up tight. Cutting material from the non threaded part of the lever is good as well.

auldblue · Jul 18, 2014

Hi
Found my new kickstart spring and stuck it on my new Andover Norton kickstart shaft( No Blood ) and was looking for a kickstart to try it out , found the new pattern one that would not fit the new RGM shaft that I put in my last box . Tried it bit of a wiggle and it was on , sprung back fine. So I tightened it up full then slackened it , few taps shake all about off in two ticks . Got to say , Andover Parts for me are the best
Not withstanding specialist parts. The bolt is slack in this photo but it was horsed right up.

lwmcd1 · Jul 19, 2014

Torontonian said:
Thanks from the frozen north , mine gets loose from time to time as well , any tips to avoid the retightening ? Loctite has been a failure. Once I saw a kicker spot welded to the shaft end believe it or not.

I got so tired of it coming loose that I tried that. It actually worked great as long as I didn't tighten the bolt much. Of course opening the gear box becomes problematic. I didn't push the lever all the way on so as to leave a recess around the shaft so the weld would cause as little damage to the splines on the shaft as possible.

kerinorton · Jul 20, 2014

lwmcd1 said:
Torontonian said:

Thanks from the frozen north , mine gets loose from time to time as well , any tips to avoid the retightening ? Loctite has been a failure. Once I saw a kicker spot welded to the shaft end believe it or not.

Click to expand...

I got so tired of it coming loose that I tried that. It actually worked great as long as I didn't tighten the bolt much. Of course opening the gear box becomes problematic. I didn't push the lever all the way on so as to leave a recess around the shaft so the weld would cause as little damage to the splines on the shaft as possible.

What a f.....g butcherous thing to do. See my comments about drilling the front hole in the lever and if you can make a stepped bolt, then the 7/16 section on the bolt will engage with the groove in the shaft and prevent the kick starter sliding off like they usually do. You also need a 2 ft long strong bar to tighten that bolt up because of the mass of the gear lever boss area.
regards, Dereck.

Hobot · Jul 21, 2014

I run a grade 8 bolt all the way though and bevel its nut to trap on back side of lever. Makes more sense to me to grind out the groove to accept larger bolt for wedge trapping. Someone needs to come up with a puller mod solution to avoid stress of not marring shell with levers on slightly buggered but stubborn spline distortion, even on one hand easy starters. Welding solution has sure tempted me.

Kick start Lever fitting and removal

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