Suzuki 2 Strokes

I'm rebuilding my gt380 and may as well tackle this problem also. So what should I look for to be an issue or wear point that would occasionally cause the kicker to come free while kicking??? This is a kick only bike so reliability of the kicker is a big deal.

There is a dowel pin on the shaft within the cases that keeps it aligned. I had this problem with my 550 and found that by tapping it on the end it worked ok. Then i discovered that under the clutch cover on the end of the kickstart shaft was a missing thrust washer which holds it in when the clutch cover is on.

Can also be caused by bad cylinder compression. Due to worn rings or cylinders caused by insufficient oil or worn due to high mileage since last top end rebuild. Due a compression test. Takes 10 minutes. If a motor has good compression, it should be harder to kick.

+1 on the thrust washer. Easily lost, because commonly it remains stuck to the inside of the clutch cover during dismantling. If its missing, the cogs move rightward just a mm or two and it disengages and the kick shaft can hang down...
Mike

Would that washer be the #4? It doesn't hang down it just occasionally looses grip while kicking. The motor is getting a new top end so I can compare the compression soon but the old one had 125psi across all three.

No the washer we are talking about isn't on that diagram. It fits over the end of the kickstart shaft and a ridge prevents the washer going more than about an inch down the shaft. Then when you fit the outer cover it keeps the shaft pushed in.My apologies i have checked and that washer i was referring to was NOT fitted to your bike but only to the GT185 and GT550 but i can tell you the symptoms were the same so i would look to see if there is any lateral movement it only needs to be a few mm and it will miss the pinion

My GT500 does exactly the same thing, sorry I don't have an answer to the problem though

GT500 could be a worn kickstart pawl. Full strip to replace a 50cent part. Don't know about the 380 though.