kickstarter loose

Peter R

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
505
Country flag
The kicksarter is a bit loose on its spindle, no matter how hard I tighten the bolt.
Does any of you know a cure for this (apart fron buying a new pedal and spindle)
 
I can remember (old wive's?) tales of binding two hacksaw blades side by side to make the slot a little wider, but those were desperate strokes for desperate folks!!
 
Also a bit of dremel work to the last spline either side of the pinch slot to allow more complete clamping action.

Further, some use a hardened bolt to pass fully through the pinch clamp, then a washer and nut tp give a stronger tension on the clamp.

I used a little epoxy on my loose KS splines to help take up any slop. Worked well and just needed a bit of propane heat to remove next disassembly.
 
Peter,
Try grinding the splines out of your kickstart lever around the bolt holes. Here is a picture of an Andover-Norton kickstart lever. You can see that there are no splines around the kickstart pinch bolt holes. I did something similar with my kickstart lever and it fixed the problem. Those splines around the pinch bolt holes prevent further tightening on the kickstart shaft no matter how much you tighten the pinch bolt.

Peter Firkins
 
Several yrs ago , like Torry , I used a hardened bolt and put some careful muscle into tightening with a bar , last time I had that problem ….
 
This is how I fixed my lose kick starter the bolt that tighten it up is short, what I did was drill the end of the kicker so a longer bolt could be threaded through and on the end of the bolt put a nut on as well, I also cut the split wider on the kicker with doing this was able to tighten the kicker bolt up tighter and the nut at the end locked it all up.
I have now replaced the stock kicker with a RGM T160 folding kicker and so far the new kicker hasn't come lose in the 12 years it's been on the spline.

Ashley
 
The kicksarter is a bit loose on its spindle, no matter how hard I tighten the bolt.

I found that widening the slot worked up to a point after which the clamp would only tighten just so far before the ends became distorted enough to jam the bolt.
The (oversized) bolt in the picture below is fully tightened but the distortion is literally bending the bolt causing the threads to lock solid. The cure in this instance was a new kickstart lever.

kickstarter loose
 
I found that widening the slot worked up to a point after which the clamp would only tighten just so far before the ends became distorted enough to jam the bolt.
The (oversized) bolt in the picture below is fully tightened but the distortion is literally bending the bolt causing the threads to lock solid. The cure in this instance was a new kickstart lever.

kickstarter loose
You could do away with the threaded bolt and just use a longer bolt with a spring washer and nut to tighten the kicker up and could use a undersize bolt and nut system the tighter you can get the cut spline on the kicker the better it will work, I used the longer bolt and nut on my kicker for over 30 years and it worked good, but still had to tighten it every so often but not all the time, but since putting the RGM folding kicker I haven't had any problems with a loose kicker.
 
You could do away with the threaded bolt and just use a longer bolt with a spring washer and nut to tighten the kicker up and could use a undersize bolt and nut system the tighter you can get the cut spline on the kicker the better it will work,

I expect I could, but the splines are in poor shape and, as mentioned, I fitted a new lever some years ago which I'm careful to keep tight plus I usually use the little green button to start my Mk3 Commando.
 
I think the main cause is the one piece kick start lever is, has to be made from good quality carbon steel and as such the splines have to have a near perfect fit.

The first proto types of the T160 folding kick start lever I made the splined mount was made from 304 stainless. Roger wasn't to sure and went with carbon steel. My way of thinking the toughness and relative malleability of 304 would allow it mould its self to the male spline giving perfect contact. That first proto type is still on my 850 and has never shown signs of slackening.
 
Peter R wrote: "The kickstarter is a bit loose on its spindle, no matter how hard I tighten the bolt."
Different people have different ideas of what tight is.
Assuming the splines are compromised but not totally buggered, I would replace the bolt with a grade 8 bolt, and use a two foot breaker bar to tighten it just short of shearing.
If that doesn't work, time for some new parts.
 
Peter R wrote: "The kickstarter is a bit loose on its spindle, no matter how hard I tighten the bolt."
Different people have different ideas of what tight is.
Assuming the splines are compromised but not totally buggered, I would replace the bolt with a grade 8 bolt, and use a two foot breaker bar to tighten it just short of shearing.
If that doesn't work, time for some new parts.
A two foot bar might be a little over the top even for a grade 8 3/8" bolt. I've just spent a morning breaking rusty grade five bolts on an old pickup fender. It took a long 9/16 combination spanner wedged against the frame and an 18" bar. I use a grade 8 bolt and two nuts on my Matchless KS lever. Tightening as much as I dare it still works loose. I like the grind a couple of splines method. I think I'll try that.
 
If grade 8 breaks there is always grade 12, roll formed threads not cut if possible.
 
Don't forget the last ditch option: weld the sucker on!
Hmm, now what rod should you use? :)
More HOW MUCH to use ... 2002 on our way out to the Norton Rally in British Columbia my buddy had the kick start strip the splines out enough that no matter how much you tightened it , it would just spin around .. This all happened around 4:45 pm in a small town .. By good luck there just happened to be a shop down the street that just happened to have a welder.. Seeing as the splines on the shaft were still ok we decided to keep the kick start out to the end and welded it to the end of the shaft .. Worked like magic .. When he got home it was just a matter of grinding of the weld and installing a new kick start .
 
After the second time I managed to break the bolt, I was fed up and looked for alternatives.
When looking at the kick starter eye, my thought was that a lot of force goes wasted in the bending of the top part.
This has quite a cross sectional area, perhaps a bit over the top, and as such is hard to bend.
Just to test it, I deepened 4 of the splines in the top part of the kick starter hole with a hacksaw to about 2 mm.
Well, it helped to tighten the bolt sufficiently with less force, and there is now some spare force left to periodically retighten without breaking.
Picture is not to good, but anyway.
Added better picture.
I think even cutting the splines a bit deeper is possible.

kickstarter loose
 
Last edited:
Back
Top