KDX 220 kickstarter woes

S

stevied

Member

Nov 29, 2001

20

0

• Apr 25, 2002

• #1

My friend needs help he's got a 2000 kdx220r. At the last race kickstarter gained about 2" of free travel before it catches. We pulled cover and examined mechanism and found nothing apparent. No stripped gears or broken teeth. put cover back on and hand engaged lever several times and then all of a sudden boom same problem. We've hadd it apart 3 times and still see nothing wrong. Any ideas short of buying the whole assembly new?

 

B

BRush

LIFETIME SPONSOR

Jun 5, 2000

1,100

0

• Apr 25, 2002

• #2

What oil are you running? Too thick oil on a cool day can cause this. Before you do anything too expensive, you might try a test with plain 10W-40 motor oil (or ATF, type F – also thinner). I’ve experienced this running Mobil 1 15w-50 on cool (40-50 deg F) days. Changing to a thinner weight oil fixed it instantly. It may not fix *your* problem, but one thing about troubleshooting I’ve learned over the years - try the cheap and easy stuff first!

 

B

Bread

Member

Mar 1, 2002

21

0

• Apr 26, 2002

• #3

Hey to each his own and everything...but I'd rather take a butt kicking before I put motor oil or atf in my case. I've never had a problem like that but I just cant see how oil is gonna get your starter to do that. Ask C-Dave or give Fredette a call first.

 

B

BRush

LIFETIME SPONSOR

Jun 5, 2000

1,100

0

• Apr 26, 2002

• #4

Originally posted by Bread
Hey to each his own and everything...but I'd rather take a butt kicking before I put motor oil or atf in my case.

Click to expand...

While I agree it would be mighty interesting to see Bread on NBC's "Fear Factor" agonizing with the Host about whether to avoid putting 10w-40 in his gear box or suffer a butt-kicking , you don’t need to worry that you’ll hurt anything using 10w-40 or ATF type F in your gearbox. 10w-40 is the OEM recommendation and many, many riders (myself included) have used Type F ATF with no harm.

ps. the tip about thick oil causing engagement problems originated with Fredette and was passed onto me when it happened on my bike. Let us know what you find out.

 

M

msuriani

Member

Nov 20, 2001

5

0

• Apr 26, 2002

• #5

Don't believe oil's the long term answer; did fix my son's '92 that got progressively worse, thinking it was the shaft & ratchet gears. We had an older thread on this and mail ordered parts from Florida. Ultimately ended getting all the springs & shims---done! P/Ns on buykawasaki.com

 

T

t_price

Member

May 9, 2002

1

0

• May 9, 2002

• #6

kdx200 kick starter

OK, Now please help me. I just bought an 89 KDX200. It started fine when the owner started it and I test rode it. Now at home it has A LOT of free play in the kick starter. Where do I start? When I brought it home I checked the fluids and the crack oil seemd low so I added some. Could I have put in too much?

 

3

3KDXXR2

~SPONSOR~

Mi. Trail Riders

Jan 3, 2002

603

0

• May 13, 2002

• #7

I had the same problem with my 1990. I was using 20w50. After I drained it & replaced with 10w40 ,Problem gone! Freddette recomends 10w40.