Kick Idler Gear Failure
 

Ridding back into Hancock to finish day one of the dual sport my engine seized. After doing some road side trouble shooting I was able to narrow it down to the transmission. After draining the oil I pulled the clutch out to have a look and found that the kick idler gear is seized (welded) solid to the main shaft. The bike is a 2008 EC 300 with over 100 hours on it and never had any issues. Has anyone had a similar experience? Any thoughts on what caused the failure?

Jason

Possibly low oil level. Since the kick start driven gear is at the highestpoint in the transmission.

Gear on the kick shaft, or the intermediate idler gear? I know the idler has a bronze bushing, not sure about the other gear. Only starter related mfg fault I know for sure was a too soft kickstarter spring in '07 that did not put enough force on the ratchet, causing the teeth to round off an slip.

Why would a bearing surface with 100 hrs on it decide to seize now?

gasgasman,
That was my first thought also. I checked the oil level before draining and it was correct.

GMP,
It's the intermediate idler gear that rides on the transmission main shaft.

I believe I've found the cause of the failure. One of the wedges in my Rekluse core exp clutch broke. I can account for most of the broken tab but not all of it.