ET: Engine (Twin) Stripped Splines on Kickstart Shaft and Lever (Weep)

[Bill Thomas]

This is a Kickstart we made earlier, To miss the pipes .

 

[Starry Knight.]

Thanks Bill - the longer one it is

Perhaps failing kickstarters are due to previous owners having under-judicious use of their valve lifters when attempting starting?

 

[Peter Holmes]

I have seen folks doing this in the past, I have always thought they must have very soft engines, or brains!

 

[Nigel Spaxman]

I have a Triumph 750 with 10:1 pistons. At one time I had 10.8:1. It can lift the front wheel in first gear just by a quick twist of the throttle (and pulling back on the bars) I had a lot of trouble with the kickstarter on that one. I had a special kick start lever that was bent to a similar shape to a Vincent one, it was about twice as thick as a normal Triumph lever because when I had a thinner one it bent. I would make my own taper pins from grade 8 bolts. That held but eventually the shaft developed a bend and a twist and some cracks, so I had to install new parts. The shaft is 3/4" diameter hard steel but it still bent anyway. I think this bike needed a 7/8 diameter kick shaft really.