What causes the kick starter to drop out while kicking

[hahahaurugly]

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.

[GTandcbr]

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.

[pearljam724]

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.

[yeadon_m]

+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

[hahahaurugly]

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.

[GTandcbr]

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

[johnu]

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

[rider]

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