Longer Kicker for an 01' YZ250?

[CarnageZ28]

Longer Kicker for 01 YZ250? Someone has to have something!

My bike has a hi-comp piston in it. Combine that with Yamaha's 6 inch kick starter, and it is a REAL challenge to start. Ive had many of seasoned riders tell me its the hardest 2-Stroke they've ever had to kick over.

With ease, on my friends RM250, that I cant touch ground on (He is a pretty large dude), I can kick it over, fresh top end on it good compression.

My bike it takes everything I have, same with my buddy, against a tree or something to really get a strong enough kick on it.

Does ANYONE make a longer kickstart that would fit? I mean I am willing to try anything that will fit the thing whether it is from a YZ85 or a WR250 ... you name it.

This is ruining an otherwise devastatingly fast 250 lol.

 

[88'cr250r]

cr250 kick starts are good they should work but dont force it on i pass the 1 stroke then kick it thats what i do on my cr250 and im 14 5'11 170..all rebuilt engine

 

[CarnageZ28]

I'll have to count the splines and maybe post it back up on here so some other people with diff. brands can measure plines and diameters for me to see what would work.

I know the YZ's have, by far, the shortest kick starter I have ever seen on a 250. My friends RM, EASY ...

I am 5'8", 155lbs, 22, and in pretty decent shape. I mean, im not saying I am super ripped, but certainly am not flabby and am fairly strong for my size ... Bike is just a mo-fo to start.

 

[88'cr250r]

I'll have to count the splines and maybe post it back up on here so some other people with diff. brands can measure plines and diameters for me to see what would work.

I know the YZ's have, by far, the shortest kick starter I have ever seen on a 250. My friends RM, EASY ...

I am 5'8", 155lbs, 22, and in pretty decent shape. I mean, im not saying I am super ripped, but certainly am not flabby and am fairly strong for my size ... Bike is just a mo-fo to start.

if you think thats hard try kicking it on the left side thats what this ktm250 has its a left kicker.my dad is probably the same size as you he has problems startin his rm250 and my cr250..my uncle is 120 and can kick any bike its not about size not about how ripped you are..

 

[CarnageZ28]

Hey what year is it? My buddy has one of them with the left kick lol. So hard to get used to aint it! I never even heard of left kick til he got this bike ... chain is on the left side as well for obvious reasons ...

And I see where your coming from, but size does make a difference. I think if I touched the ground flat foot like some huge guy, it would make it ALOT easier.

As for the actual kicker though, its simple math, you have a 8 inch kicker versus the factory 6 inch one, it is 33% longer. You get 33% more leverage. Therefore it takes less effort to turn it over. Its the same concept of using a breaker bar to break lug nuts loose. The longer the bar (or kicker) the more leverage you have. This makes it easier to break the nuts loose (or turn the motor over).

This motor really is a workout to kick though seriously. And this is coming from someone who has fired up numerous 250's with ease, numerous 125's, four stroke 230's, 250's, and 450's, etc. This thing is just brutal to kick. If the kicker from my Quadracer fit this, that would be golden lol.

So anyone know anything that fits the splines/diameter?

 

[88'cr250r]

i dont kick the ktm250 my dad does lol can you pls post me a pic of the rear brake pls of your buddys ktm..check out my pic of my cr250 kick starter its not that big..the rm250 is a 1989 that think is beastly killed 3 people people called it christian the one guy got killed by racing a banshee on the street but he didnt tell us the rest..the length wouldn't matter the width to where you put your foot would matter..450's have the compression release i think

 

[CarnageZ28]

Yea when I said length, thats what I meant. The distance between where it connects to the pivot point, and where your foot rests.

Buddys bike is an 87' KTM 250 MXC. Email me at [email protected] and I will forward it to him so he can take some pics for you. Im sure he'll get around to it eventually for you.

 

[88'cr250r]

the length of mine is 9" and 3" wide where you put your foot

 

[CarnageZ28]

Ahh gotcha, I def. gotta look into it cause mine is no more than 6, 6 and a half inches long. and its around 2 and a half inches wide where you put your foot, but there is def. room to fit a much larger kicker on it before you start running into clearance issues with the gas tank, frame, etc.

 

[88'cr250r]

you can always adjust it before you put the bolt in it to where you like it..sounds like a 125 kick starter

 

[CarnageZ28]

Yea actually the kick start lever on my RM125 is larger. The one on my friends RM's are like a good 3-4 inches longer. I wonder if its even the right kick starter for the bike?

 

[flyingfuzzball]

what year is the KTM mine and my friends (a 99 i think) are both right sides.

 

[CarnageZ28]

Hahah well this was on a 1987' !!!

 

[CarnageZ28]

Need a longer YZ250 Kicker - 01'

***** UPDATE *****

So I looked on BikeBandit.com and have seen that the kicker that is on my bike is the incorrect kicker. It is only around 6" long, short, fat. The proper kicker looks to be a few inches longer.

It makes my bike absurdly hard to kick the way it is though, with the hi-comp piston and everything. It actually feels worse than a 450 does! And no 2-stroke should ever be that bad to kick over lol.

My question, if I remove the kick lever from the Boss (Part that bolts to splined shaft), will the lever from a newer 02+ YZ250 fit it? These are significantly longer than even what is SUPPOSED to be on the bike. So if one of these will swap on, that would be awesome.

 

[89RM]

It should fit the shaft, but you might have clearence problems with it.

 

[CarnageZ28]

There's alot of room to the fuel tank. I wonder if there is somewhere that I can purchase one, that I would be able to return it instead of having to eBay it ... ???

 

[Solid State]

The correct stock kick lever works just fine. It's a safe bet.

 

[CarnageZ28]

Im Short! I have complications with the kicker that is on my 2001 YZ250. Its rebuilt with milled head, ported, hi-comp piston, etc. But its HORRIBLE to start. I can hop on my friends RM's YZ's, etc. and fire them right up. Their kickers are all substantially longer (Like 4-stroke long) and mine has a kicker from what appears to be like a 95-96 YZ250. Its short, fat, and sloppy.

I thought about swapping in a factory kicker, but thier not much longer, (Not sloppy though so I could get a full kick at least) so I was hoping there was a way to retrofit a kicker from a never YZ like an 2002-present on it. Do you know if it will fit on the kick start lever boss? If not, are the bosses the same spline so that I could just buy the assembly and swap it on? It looks like it will definately clear my gas tank.

I would like pull the kicker off my friends 03' RM250 and see if it fits as well. His bike is ALOT taller than mine, and I can fire that bitch up first kick, no problem at all.

Its frustrating having a killer bike, with a phenominal engine, and even better revalved/sprung suspension, that I struggle to start inless I can lean it against a tree ... lol. Plus it makes trail blazing a bitch where your turning the bike off alot.

 

[tweek49]

Wait... if your a little on the short side why would you want a kicker that you really have to lift your leg up for? Unless I'm totally missing something...

 

[headbanger]

I believe the GasGas has the same spline on their kickers. The older Gassers had short kickers but the new ones are longer. Why not just modify your existing one by welding in a
piece to make it as long as you need?
Good Luck!

 

[schmanman]

There's alot of room to the fuel tank. I wonder if there is somewhere that I can purchase one, that I would be able to return it instead of having to eBay it ... ???

I know this is kinda a ghetto solution, but....

why not cut the kicker in half, and weld a section of barstock in? It's cheap, and as long as you are a decent welder, or know a decent welder, it should hold up just fine...

I know I'm gonna get some crap for this.... ;)


I have an extra kicker for my yz, measure the splines and the diameter of the shaft and we can see if it'll fit.....

 

[CarnageZ28]

Ill measure it up later this evening. Im at work rite now.

Longer kicker gives you more leverage. Its the wrong kicker for the bike and EVERYONE I know has a brutal time kicking it with it cause its short/sort of sloppy. The worst part is that its sort of sloppy. It makes it hard cause you cant get a full kick. And its a high compression engine so it just makes it worse. Ive kicked over a ton of 250's that are a good bit higher than mine, but have longer kickers and it was easy for me to fire it up even though my leg has to go up further. The actual height maybe is less of an issue than I am making of it. Its more that it is a stubby kicker with tons of free play in it, from the wrong bike. Its shorter than the kicker on my 125!

I thought about taking it to a welding shop and havingthem weld in a piece of aluminum on it, but I didnt want something that looked hacked up.

 

[schmanman]

the worst I've seen was a guy who had re-bar bent and welded onto the kicker shaft, and a guy with a bike pedal welded on the shaft.

 

[CarnageZ28]

Yea both of those would look pretty ghetto!

My bike is a extremely clean 01' YZ250. I've had a few people who arent up to date with how YZ's look, ask me if it was brand new! And they always look surprised when I tell them its an 01'

 

[MikeT]

What ever came of this? I have a 2000 YZ250 and was wondering if anyone came up with a solution for this same problem. I know this is an older thread but I am Searching for a solution.