Tranny again . . .

The other day I go to kick the bike over and it jams when the pedal came back up - had to kick the pedal hard a few times to dislodge it. This has happened before.

Then I go to kick it and the pedal goes down crunching all the way and sticks in the bottom position. It did not turn the motor over. Ye Gads. Well, Tattoo came to my rescue and gave me a push start and I rode the beast home, no problems shifting.

Took the side cover off and found that the kicker gear was pretty mangled up on the back side where the "ears" stick out. Also, the bearing retaining plate was chewed up. Then I saw the crack in the inside of the cover and also a crack in the bushing.

Thinking this was going to cost a small fortune to fix, I looked for J&P online and was able to find the three parts I needed for about $75. The polished side cover comes with both bushings and the seal already installed. Ho-Wah!

Parts ought to get here tomorrow or Saturday and Tattoo says he will come out and make sure I put it back together right this time. That's right - the last time I replaced kicker innards was last spring and I put the kicker gear in
the wrong position. When I buttoned everything back up, I had very little tension on the pedal spring. Brought it on myself, thinking it would be okay. Hopefully, there will be better results this time. Thing is, there's no way to know how to position the gear on the square end of the kicker shaft - no marks, and nothing about it in the service manual. So I guessed when I assembled it last time and guessed wrong . . .

Yeah...Live and learn as they say...Glad it didn't cost a small fortune...Now ya can spend it on something else...

Already did . . . went out and got a couple six packs of Red Stripe, one of my favorite beers

I don't think so . The real reason I wanted a kick start bike was to help keep me in shape LOL. So far, it's working real good!

Popeye laig - yikes!

Looks to be nice weather for a few days before the rain returns Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Hoping the parts get here today so I can ride this afternoon and tomorrow. I'm taking the busted parts to Tattoo today so he can show me the right way to assemble the cranking gear to the crank shaft.

Got all my parts from J&P yesterday and put all the stuff together. Man, the new kicker cover looks fantastic and when I gave it the shaft (ha-ha), It was a perfect fit. No honing needed.

What I did wrong last time was that I didn't have enough spring pressure to return the kicker pedal enough. The crack in the case & bushing caused the worst havoc.

Everything is now much better. Went for a ride to Tattoo's shop and when I got there, I checked all my fluid levels - something I should have done before I left home. The oil bag was almost completely EMPTY! I had drained the engine oil the week before and forgot to put fresh oil in. DOH! I estimate there was probably 6 to 8 ounces of oil in the motor/oil bag and that's what kept my engine from blowing up. I only rode about 13 miles. We immediately dropped a quart of Klotz in and I went to Auto Zone and got some SAE 50 racing oil to top it off. What a harrowing experience. What a dimwit!

The motor seems to be fine. I rode another 20 miles before returning home and had no issues . . . thank God.

can you say post it notes stuck to the handle bar that says no oil!!!!!!! so you don't forget. we are not 18 any more! that's not good for the motor . that bottom end is not happy ! or the roller lifters and cams there is a lot of friction in that area . lots of force to over come spring pressure . not trying to preach doom and gloom but its not good bud! glad it did not lock up a piston , lots of freaquent oil changes are in order to make sure there is not metal floating around in the motor

Want some 60 weight oil? I have some for ya?

My memory wasn't so hot even when I was 18! You guys are right. See, I went out and bought beer with all the money I saved on parts. After I drank it all, I forgot all about oil changes. Yup, sticky notes the next time I change it, which will be real soon again . . . or, what I usually do is put the new oil in right after I drain the old oil out. This last time, I didn't have any new oil on hand, so I didn't follow protocol. Dang, I hope I didn't hurt my baby . . .

Put another 40 miles on it today . . .

I have a magnetic drain plug in the oil bag and I'm going to go out this evening and take it out and check for metal .

Yes, I will make that a regular routine, and thanks. I look under the bike before starting off each day to see if there's any oil on the floor, then give it the once over eyeball inspection.

I use Valvoline 75/90 dino gear oil. Don't remember seeing the Red Line brand.

one point for johnny! :roflmao:

hey jb if there is no oil under your shovel it must be a twin cam with shovel valve covers on it or it ran out of oil! they are like pit bulls they mark there spot every place the go !

I read in the Baffled thread why he wants to get rid of it LOL. Think I'll stick with the SAE 50 .

hell we run sae 70 in our shovels down here. they run cooler and the oil don't run out as fast lol!