Kickstart failure

[Deleted User]

Hi Folks,

I now seem to have a problem with the kickstart mechanism on my DPY. 😥

The pawl only seems to engage with the lever half way through its travel (lever horizontal) and it isn’t keen to return to the normal vertical ‘parked’ position. I can push it back up to vertical but there is resistance and it then seems to be keen on staying vertical (it sticks!).

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Any hints as to the best way of dismantling the mechanism (and gotchas to be wary of) would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Pete P.

1936 DPY

[Anonymous]

Hi Peter,

There shuld be a pressed steel cover about 2″ diameter held with a screw in the centre. Remove this and the kickstart spring is behind it. There could be dirt etc in here or the spring could have slipped off the pin it locates on. Either way take off the spring, being careful as it is tensioned and can fly off. You remove it by prising the outer coil endoff the pin going though the kickstart lever, rolling the tension off, then it should fall off the centre pin.

You now unscrew the centre nut, noting it is a left hand thread! Note any shims. Now you can take the kickstart lever, pawl and pawl spring (finger type spring runnign down the middle of the kickstart lever round boss) off.

Clean everything in petrol or paraffin or something. Check the kickstart lever for cracks which are common near the square corners of the pawl cutout. Check pawl for wear or damage, check pawl pin for wear. Check the pawl engagement gear on the gearbox and clean out the notches if they are full of dirt as this stops the pawl engaging. If it all appears okay then regrease and reassemble. If the spring tension appears weak you can change the number of shims to adjust where the lever return spring starts.

Take it to bits and let us know…!

Best regards,
Richard

[Deleted User]

Brilliant, thanks for that.

I’ve printed off your notes and I’ll have a crack at it this evening (if our 3 year old daughter goes to bed when she is supposed to otherwise time could be in short supply!)

I did think about taking the spring cover off yesterday but I wasn’t sure if I would end up with a face full of bits!

Cheers,

Pete P.

[Eddie Shermer]

Hi Pete,

Sounds like the Kick start boss could have rotated in the case. This is a common problem as the boss is held by a small peg into the soft alloy case cover. Later models have a strap across the top of the case held by the top two cover nuts with a projection fitting into a slot in the boss see pic.

You should check the boss carefully for cracks at the corners of the pawl slot as they often fail here. Graham has new bosses in the spares scheme.
Removal is straight forward just remembering that the large bronze nut that holds the K/start on and has the peg for the spring is left hand thread.

Eddie

[Deleted User]

I popped the spring cover off (and the spring seemed to be correctly attached at both ends) but the ‘shaft’ underneath the cover doesn’t have any kind of hex on it so I don’t see how to further dismantle the assembly.

‘Challenging’ these Scotts aren’t they … I just hope I like it weh its all sorted and I finally get to ride it!

-Pete P.

[Deleted User]

Happened on my brum when the tip of the pawl was worn

[Deleted User]

Eddie,

It looks like you were right. The slot in the kickstart boss that the pawl sits in has rotated to the bottom of the boss which doesn’t look right!

Photo 1

The question now is how do I get the boss back where it should be? There doesn’t seem to be any visible means of stopping the boss from rotating.

Photo 2

Any suggestions most welcome.

Pete P.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hello Pete.
On the hidden rear face of the kickstart boss there is a 1/8″ diameter hole into which fits a 1/8″ x 1/8″ small dowel, (actually the same as a clutch roller). This engages into a hole in the gearbox end cover, and what has probably happened is that the dowel has gouged it’s way out of it’s locating hole ripping a groove into the end cover, and allowing the kickstart boss to partly rotate to the wrong position. This is a very common problem on the older boxes, and it was not cured until the later boxes had a different idea consisting of a cutout in the top edge of the boss into which a tongue engages that is part of the kickstart stop. This can be seen in Eddie Shermer’s photo.
The root cause of this slight disaster is operating the kickstart whilst the bike is on the rear stand instead of the correct way of having the bike off the stand and you astride it. Is this what you have been doing?!
Unfortunately this is now a gearbox stripdown job to remedy, and if you don’t feel confident to do that then a Scott specialist like Eddie can do it for you. If the end cover comes off easily it is possible to do this repair without taking the gearbox out of the bike. I suggest that you have a chat to Eddie about it ASAP.
Good luck!
Brian M

[Deleted User]

Thanks Brian. The bike is due to have a professional engine/gearbox rebuild early in the new year so I will leave it till then.

I’m still pottering on the bike as it is a useful learning opportunity. By the way, how does starting the bike on the stand cause the boss to rotate?

-Pete P.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hello again..
Operating the kickstart when the bike is on the rear stand allows a longer swing on the kickstart, which goes to the limit of it’s travel and your weight bears on that tiny little dowel. When standing astride the bike your foot tends to stop at the bottom of the swing instead of going too far round. This is also the cause of two speeder kickstart breakage, but for totally different mechanical reasons.
Cheers.
Brian

[Deleted User]

Out of interest, can this problem be repaired with the ‘box still in the frame and if so, what would be required in terms of parts and special tools (and/or mechanical ability)?

-Pete P.

[Author]

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