Kickstarter woes

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 4:38 pm

So, my wife's buddy has an ailing battery. We keep it fairly tended but not daily, so it died. No big deal, kickstart, right?

Not so much. she couldn't get it started, the lever 'made a noise', and now it's stuck in front of the stand!

I assume you can take the lever off via a bolt or something if it's jammed?

Here's to hoping we can get it working right. new battery is on order.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 7:35 pm

It's attached to the CVT cover, so if you take the dozen or two screws out the cover and kickstart lever should come off as one.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 8:21 pm

the lever itself looks like it's on with an allenbolt. I'll try that. before/after pictures to follow this evening.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 8:52 pm

I've seen this happen on Sprees and Elite Es before. Does the Buddy have a snap ring in the kickstarter shaft (between the kicker and the case)? If the snap ring goes, the kicker arm can push in and cause the return spring to jump and jam the kicker up.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:09 pm

I think the same thing happened to you that also left me stranded. My 07 125 Buddy had a weak battery and one night it got too cold and when I went to kick it, the arm made a crunch noise and got jammed in the down position. I know from past experience that you gotta jab the kickstart hard and fast to start it, but this was different. Upon tacking the cover off (I think it was 7 or 8 bolts total) I found that assembly inside just needed a re-lube. I have not used the kickstart in 3 years so it just kinda frooze into place. Total time to rehab was like 20minutes. Now it kickstarts just in case. Also replaced my battery.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:12 pm

good to know. I know the kickstart was seldom used before it came to use 9 months ago, and never since, so....

New battery should help. we're charging the old one for backup but her commute is so short, and the '06 had smaller charging systems, so...whatever. It will be OK if we can just move the stupid lever

.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:32 pm

You should make sure there are no loose parts inside the CVT cover. A loose piece of metal would not be a good thing to have bouncing around with your belt and rollers.

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:21 am

Yeah, my kickstarter rarely gets used either and it acts like a little bitch sometimes. It feels like it misses the engage gear and sounds like the teeth are stripped when it misses.

I've taken to inspecting and lubing the mechanism whenever I'm in the CVT to clean it or replace parts. Be careful operating the kickstart lever with the CVT cover off; there's a splined gear that will rise up and try and pop off its shaft. No big deal; just something to watch for. Watch for the return spring, too.
Chances are, you just need to put things right in there and lube it with a little grease. But be sure to check for wayward bits of metal as Syd suggested.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:29 pm

Thanks team!

For now I just removed the kickstart lever and replaced the battery. Put the old battery on the tender to see if we could use it as a spare, but when I came back in the afternoon, the tender gave no light and the battery was hot! that'll be recycled!

Fought the snow last night to put in her battery, and unfortunately she had to work so early that she didn't want to risk riding, so now I get to pull it back out to complete the charge. I need to remember to put a string in there to assist in getting the battery OUT. Always so hard to grip.

In the spring she'll be due for a shop service and at least a new rear if not both tires, so I'll have them take a look.

One day I want a garage

.

michelle_7728 · Post by **michelle_7728** » Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:13 am

Jeez Skully, you are having a run of bad scooter luck.

Best wishes getting both your scooters fixed.