2003 EC300 Kickstarter

[prunty]

Just a quick question, I know there is loads of threads on kickstarters and swapping them for a YZ250 and so on, but in my case the pedal part of the kickstarter seems to have locked in the folded in position.

It's not seized solid and begins to fold out but only moves a wee bit and then goes no further. What is the issue here and is it repairable or is a it a case of having to replace it??

[cbutler]

I would take it off the bike and disassemble it clean and grease it and see how it works. Make sure not to lose the ball bearing.

[bowhunter007]

Originally Posted by cbutler

I would take it off the bike and disassemble it clean and grease it and see how it works. Make sure not to lose the ball bearing.

A buddy had this happen, while we were riding. We removed the kicker, pulled off the fuel line(let some premix fuel lube it a bit). Fixed for the day. At home disassemble, cleaned(the little ball bearing surface rusted), lubed, reassemble...ride.

[jostby]

yeah, soak it down good with some ATF and work it back and forth, should be good to go.

[prunty]

Originally Posted by bowhunter007

A buddy had this happen, while we were riding. We removed the kicker, pulled off the fuel line(let some premix fuel lube it a bit). Fixed for the day. At home disassemble, cleaned(the little ball bearing surface rusted), lubed, reassemble...ride.

I know how he felt. This happened to me while doing a Cross Country event on Sunday and I couldn't get the bike bump started, these events are usually hard enough to get around the circuit but it is much harder when the engine isn't running...

[prunty]

So this evening I decided to sort out this issue and the pedal worked like it should not seized at all. I don't know what happened between Sunday's event and this evening. Anyway I took it appart and greased the joint and all seems fine.

[bowhunter007]

Originally Posted by prunty

So this evening I decided to sort out this issue and the pedal worked like it should not seized at all. I don't know what happened between Sunday's event and this evening. Anyway I took it appart and greased the joint and all seems fine.

I have only had this issue with the GG kick lever. Once I swapped in a YZ kicker, it never happened again.

[jdosher]

Originally Posted by bowhunter007

A buddy had this happen, while we were riding. We removed the kicker, pulled off the fuel line(let some premix fuel lube it a bit). Fixed for the day. At home disassemble, cleaned(the little ball bearing surface rusted), lubed, reassemble...ride.

Ha! I had this happen to me as well - and I had an auto-clutch in at the time, so push starting wasn't an option. I found a similar solution; I used the small length of hose I carry in my pack to dribble some pre-mix on the pivot. My long term solution was to replace it with a YZ kickstarter and I haven't had any issues since. That stock kicker likes to bind up in wet conditions.