Kickstart

Started by Andy Cubin, November 07, 2015, 07:54:18 PM

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Andy Cubin

Fixed it!

Thanks to you folks and tutelage by my chum Chris Roberts.  A wonderful 2 hours of engineering and I am the better for it.  Putting the girl back together in the morning.

Cheers all,

Andy

iansoady

If it's like my Model 10 that is in fact part of the primary chaincase outer cover. And no, there won't be a shower of springs but there probably will be a tide of filthy oil......

Andy Cubin

Huge thanks for all your replies.

I am now about to jump in the deep end and start taking off covers.  If I follow the kickstart shaft through it comes out on the nearside on the attached photograph as marked by the red arrow.

Can someone reassure me that if I remove this cover, a whole bunch of springs, cogs and washers is not going to fly all over the inside of the garage, never to be seen again?  :-[

phutton

You should also check the spring that pushes the ratchet pinion into engagement with the ratchet on the clutch plate.

P.

singleminded

I assume that the kickstart comes back up again on it's own so the quadrant is still on the kickstart shaft.
I had to put washers between the quadrant and the kickstart tube where it enters the primary case as a spacer to get the quadrant to line up with the loose ratchet on the back of the clutch as Ian has suggested already it most likely is not in line..John

iansoady

The Sunbeam kickstart mechanism is very "vintage" in that the opposite end of the kickstart shaft has a toothed quadrant that engages with a pinion which then turns the clutch drum by means of a ratchet arrangement (at least that's the layout on my 1931 Model 10 and I believe others are similar). Unlike more modern bikes it's all external so no gearbox dismantling is necessary. I suspect something is misaligned in the quadrant / pinion area (inside the primary chaincase) so that's where I'd look first.

Andy Cubin

After my initial euphoria, something is definitely amiss.

When I push down on the kickstart, it falls with a ratchet sound and doesn't engage so I am sure the exposed spring is telling me the shaft is not engaging.

Scary stuff - any ideas?

Andy

Andy Cubin

Thanks Gents - onward and upward then.

Cheers

Andy

iansoady

Mine looks similar to that. I also found the tube was wobbling about but discovered a small grub screw that holds it in was loose and tightening that up seemed to fix it.

singleminded

I'ts not unusual to see that.
Over the years the tube can wear. I also found that the 2 I have are different lengths.
If the kickstart quadrant is correctly aligned with the ratchet gear on the back of the clutch I personally wouldn't worry..There will now appear other views ;D..john

Andy Cubin

Evening all - the new guy again!

My kickstart looks wrong - attached is a shot.  The spring mechanism is visible on the shaft - should it be?

Cheers in advance

Andy