Classic Triumph Bonneville

[KungFooBob]

Stand back Princess, let one of the old codgers here start it for you

[Rockburner]

I've flooded the hell out of it, so much so I wonder if I've gone too far. From dry it takes about 2s for the fuel to start pissing out the tickler so it seems to have a nice healthy flow

Julian is right that it seems to work better if you kick and don't jump. However I'm not that heavy and I do have to leap on it a bit Definitely gets closer if you make the conscious effort to go all the way through the bottom half of the stroke on the lever though.

The low clip-ons and rear sets mean it is quite hard to hold the throttle steady while kicking. At the moment I have to do it on the centrestand, so I'm leaning forward quite a lot if I stand on the pegs and hang onto the bars.

IIRC I tend to try to kick 'through' the lever - ie lift weight off lever, straighten leg, and keep leg straight all the way through until the kicklever disengages at the end of the stroke - a bit like including 'follow through' on a sport-bat/club strike. Obviously it increases the danger of pain if the bike kicks back, but it's a good way to actually get the thing spinning properly so it 'won't' kick back. Kicking it gingerly is actually more likely to cause a kick back because the engine isn't spinning fast enough to get over the firing stroke.

[Rockburner]

I've tried it both ways, like I said my technique needs work

The only way I can get any momentum behind the kick is to use my body weight too. Even when it was on 9:1s the kicker would just about hold my weight. So with these 11:1s it's going nowhere unless I jump on it to some extent.

I'm reasonably sure the kicker gear is a bit buggered too. The first tooth on the quadrant is not fully formed (by design) to help it engage, apparently that aspect of it isn't great and the lever will jam. Quite often you can feel that a lot of the resistance is "something wrong" rather than just being hard to turn over. It gets past the first part of the stroke and then works much eaiser. In that situation I find it best to pull the clutch and have another go.

I'm tempted to say I'll come over and have a go, but I'm not sure when I'm next up that way (could be a month or few). (and when I am up that way, I have my own old ratter to kick at! )

[Mr. Dazzle]

I just had another go at it - I think maybe there's something wrong with the kickstart itself.

I did manage to get a couple of engine revs but it didn't hold. After that I was too knackered to make it go again. However, during my attempts I took the plugs out just to confirm I still had sparks (I do). Even with the plugs out the kicker was a bitch to turn over, it'd hold my weight even then. I also had a couple of times when it disconnected mid-kick. Not like the clutch was moving - you still feel some drag in that case - but complete free-fall.

I know the engine itself is pretty free. When I took the primary drive apart and put it back together again I had to do up the nut on the end of the crank. In that case the engine span over very easily when turning that nut, so I don't think there's anything disastrously wrong inside it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Big hill and bump start it, have a van ready to take it back up the big hill when it won't start.

Or http://www.alfmossellracing.co.uk/products.php

In a bit of weirdness I met Alf Mossell on Saturday, he was riding a TR750 at Cadwell

[JackyJoll]

Kickstart going loose occasionally can be a broken ratchet spring on that end of the gearbox mainshaft.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Looks like I'm taking some covers off on the other side of the engine then!

[Rockburner]

Looks like I'm taking some covers off on the other side of the engine then!

Yup, that's life with a classic!

[Nidge]

They’re all a bit different but if mine hasn’t started after a couple of kicks it’s flooded, a firm kick with WOT cures it.

I bet those 9:1s are looking attractive now…;)

[Taipan]

Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices

[Nidge]

Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices

Let’s Use Cheese As Solder

[Mr. Dazzle]

They’re all a bit different but if mine hasn’t started after a couple of kicks it’s flooded, a firm kick with WOT cures it.

I bet those 9:1s are looking attractive now…;)

As above, I'm not convinced it's the high comp...it doesn't feel massively different with the plugs out. If it was purely about the high compression I'd expect a marked difference when they come out. It was also fairly easily to turn the engine over with plugs in using a socket on the crank - albeit it with quite a big breaker bar.

[JackyJoll]

Looks like I'm taking some covers off on the other side of the engine then!

You can take the outer gearbox cover off with the gear pedal and kickstart still attached. Hold the kickstart against the spring.

[JackyJoll]

Stand back Princess, let one of the old codgers here start it for you

If it wasn’t for my bad back...

[Mr. Dazzle]

How wobbly should the kickstart lever be? 'cause mine's pretty darned wobbly.

[Nidge]

Not wobbly at all IME. There can be play in the cotter pin, and as you pointed out, the quadrant can sometimes cause problems but neither of my T140s have "wobbly" kickstarts

[Mr. Dazzle]

I imagine the footpegs on this bike don't help - the right rearset has to fold up to let the kickstart past, but said lever doesn't quite clear the folded up peg. It means the first 1/8th or so of the kick is being forced 'outwards' by the peg.

[weeksy]

Excuses

[Hairybiker84]

I imagine the footpegs on this bike don't help - the right rearset has to fold up to let the kickstart past, but said lever doesn't quite clear the folded up peg. It means the first 1/8th or so of the kick is being forced 'outwards' by the peg.

Doesn't sound good.
Back in the dim distant past of my memory I seem to recall that any of the brit iron I owned or worked on would kick over pretty easy with the plugs out, somethings gotta be boloxed inside. Ideally you need to find a way of getting the lever to clear the footpeg, if it's not already the bushing or casting where the kick start goes through will soon wear out, that definitely won't help alignment of the teeth inside.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Outer gearbox cover.




And gearbox outer.



That big nut with the tab washer goes to the clutch. Putting a socket on that and turning it is replicating what the kicker does. Its fairly hard to turn the engine over with a wrench on there, although it does get quite a bit easier with the plugs out.

I can't turn the engine over via the rear wheel with the bike in 4th, plugs in or out. I'm turning hard enough that I'm in danger of pushing it off the centrestand.