Kick start stuck

Discussion specific to the 1989 - 1994 (E Series) KDX200 model sold in the USA
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CAKELIE
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Kick start stuck

Post by CAKELIE »

Hi everyone,

First I want to say a big thank you to all the members on here. This site has a ton of good info that has helped me tremendously when working on my bike.

Now onto the issue,

I recently did some work to the bike including a stator rewind and new KIPS gears. At some point during this process, my kick starter stopped working. It starts to move down, and then just stops. I have not tried to put a crazy amount of force on it, but I can tell it's not right.

The motor will turn over if I put a wrench on the flywheel. There is no resistance and everything works smoothly.

The KIPS rod actuates back and forth smoothly.

With the clutch basket removed, the kick starter turns over freely.

The transmission input shaft turns freely.

As soon as the clutch basket is installed, the kick starter will stick. All the gears look fine. The gears on the basket have a tiny amount of play, relative to the basket. I assume this is normal, but someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Any info or troubleshooting steps anyone can provide would be great.

Thanks!
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KDXGarage
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by KDXGarage »

Welcome to kdxrider.net.
Thank you for participating on kdxrider.net. :bravo:
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kdxsully
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by kdxsully »

Welcome. Kick starter gears can be very fussy. Look at how well the gears are meshing. Might have to take the Kickstarter assembly in and out a couple times. Put it in meticulously. If it worked before you took the side cover off, it probably just got off a little bit :smile:
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CAKELIE
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by CAKELIE »

It's tough to see how well the gears are meshing with the basket since I just have the clutch cover off. But it looks like it wouldn't be too much more work to remove the larger part of the right side cover. This can be done without splitting the cases, correct?

When you say "Take the assembly in and out a couple times," wouldn't that require splitting the cases? If that's what it comes to, that's okay. But I don't want to disassemble more than I need to.
kdxsully
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by kdxsully »

You just need to take that side cover off, not split the cases.. Do you have a manual? It’ll help. Once you have the side cover off you can see and access the Kickstarter assembly and see what’s going on. You’ll need to unbolt the rear brake and Kickstarter.
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bigdhusker
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by bigdhusker »

There is a mark on the inside spur gear on the kickstarter that has to be aligned with the mark on the shaft or the assembly will not work properly. I would start there.
CAKELIE
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by CAKELIE »

Gotcha. Yes I have a service manual. I think my brain was just fried from working on other projects all day. I will come back at it tomorrow morning with a fresh set of eyes. I will look for the mark on the spur gear as well. Thank you all for the responses.
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bufftester
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by bufftester »

Also, if your KIPS rod actuates smoothly back and forth by hand with nothing removed then you need to pull the right side cover off and find where the Governor actuator pin has ended up. That pawl should not move easily by hand.
CAKELIE
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Re: Kick start stuck

Post by CAKELIE »

It looks like the tip of the KIPS governor arm has broken off. When I install the gear in the side cover, it doesn't appear long enough to fit in the groove of the KIPS gear. Can someone confirm?

Image

EDIT**

Good news, I'm an idiot! I did not have proper clearance behind the flywheel. And while it WOULD turn when only turning the flywheel, it would NOT turn when trying to kick the bike. I took the flywheel off and now the bike will kick over just fine. Very silly of me.

So it looks like I just need to get a new KIPS governor shaft and I will be good to go.
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