1982 YZ250 kick starter issue

[bultaco4ever]

I have a YZ250J. First year of water cooling. I'm having some trouble with the kick starter. It doesn't want to engage properly. I have to use my hand to get it in just the right position. Otherwise it just wants to spin freely. Is there some assembly process that I don't get?

 

[bultaco4ever]

OK, nobody knows much about the YZ250J. I'll figure it out. How about throttle cable lengths? The P.O. had a cable with 5" of excess inner cable length. When the handle bars turned to full left the cable would stretch and pull the slide up in the carb raising the RPM'S (not good). I'm guessing they used the wrong cable. Need one with longer inner cable.

 

[2strokerfun]

Not familiar with your bike but generally: On the starter, have you taken the side cover off and inspected inside?? If you don't have a manual, sometimes you can look up online parts microfiches and kind of tell how things are suppposed to go together. Something is worn or wrong inside where your starter engages. But manual is really what you need or maybe go to local shop and see if they will let you look at their manual. On the cable, there is a right way to route a throttle cable and about 200 wrong ways to route them. As you know, it shouldn't do what you're experiencing. Very dangerous. See if there is a another way to route your cable so it doesn't do this (again, manual probably has diagram). If the cable is just flat wrong, you can probably still order a new cable for this application, either through dealer or one of the many vintage bike online shops. There is some adustment built into the cable, but I suspect you've already decided not enough to get rid of your problem.

 

[bultaco4ever]

Thanks for the advice. I do have a manual and I have had the side cover off. The kick start gear/spring assembly can just fall out when the cover is off. It really can't move around when the cover is on. But something has to slide the gear over to the clutch hub when you rate the lever. It's not doing the slide. I checked the cable routing diagram in the manual and yes, I have it routed as recommended. The manual doesn't say how long the cable should be. I'm getting a longer one. I think the newer YZ use flat slide carbs and don't need as long of inner cable than the round slide Mikuni's. It has to be too short. P.O. must have bought the wrong cable.

 

[bultaco4ever]

Update: well, it's been a while since I visited here. I figured out my kick start gear issue. I ended up taking the clutch basket off completely and positioning the kick start gear correctly. All is well there now. My throttle cable issue kind of fixed itself. I decided to put new grips on and, after cutting the old grips off, I noticed that for some reason the PO had the throttle only half way on the bar. Meaning that half of the twist grip extended over the end of the bar. That stretched the cable more than it should have. The PO even moved the front brake perch thinking that the throttle should be mounted that way. What a goof.