YZ450F kickstart lever problem

[tri-mx'er]

I recently bought a new YZ450F, and love it despite a few bugs. However, this weekend the kickstart lever seemed to "slip" or jump a tooth when I started it. It was one of those things where "I thought I felt something, but I'm not quite sure". Well, when I washed the bike I noticed that the kickstart lever has rotated back to the point it is touching the frame when turned in to the "ride" position. I removed the lever figuring the splines on the thing had stripped, but that wasn't the case. I rotated the lever 2 splines clockwise and re-installed. Its now in the correct position, but I know this isn't the problem. Something has slipped internally, and I am wondering what it could be. My biggest concern is having something break inside and trashing the motor. Is this a valid concern, or if the thing really breaks will the filter catch any particles before I do big damage? What all is involved in removing the kickstart shaft and inspecting it to see what the problem is?
Thanks.
Tri-mx'er

 

[mackay]

Sounds like the same problem that others on thumpertalk.com have encountered. Go to the yz450 forum and see a post by "fofiveoh ". They seem to have encountered the same thing and have pics posted of the cracked shaft. Hope this helps you get the blue monster back in service soon