Series 2 hard to kick over

[Monty]

Could this be the Kickstart shaft kissing the Clutch? The replacement shafts have a bit more meat on the knuckle and doesn't leave a lot of room. They used to sell a reamer tool that skims 1-2mm of the face of the kickstart hole and bush on the side case so it sits back a bit further, and a thicker washer on the outside behind the circlip. I used to grind a similar amount of the face of the bit that holds the piston and its slide. You can normally see witness marks on the top clutch plate.

[wrecklessrobbie]

I have no idea on this.
I have found however i am getting much improved results by pushing down the kickstart til it engages, then letting it come back up and feel it notch again once or twice. Then i kick it over. It seems a lot better this way its not jamming or missing the teeth.
As i wrote earlier it has probably been user error on my part. My s3 175 kit with less compression is very easy to kickstart.

As Warkton says it is probably better to kick start it off the stand but am now at point were its tiring trying to do that.

[MightyGem]

I have a similar problem with my 150 series 2 that was given a stage 4 175 conversion. At times I have to my whole weight on the kickstart to get it to go down.

I find most modified engines have too high a compression ratio.

Finally, my preference with kickstarting is to have the bike off the stand, leant over to the left whilst straddling it so that you can get more 'kick' than when on the stand.

Yes, I've assumed that it's because of high compression. I've started off stand before when I've stalled it and it's hard work.

[Grumpy225]

Could this be the Kickstart shaft kissing the Clutch? The replacement shafts have a bit more meat on the knuckle and doesn't leave a lot of room. They used to sell a reamer tool that skims 1-2mm of the face of the kickstart hole and bush on the side case so it sits back a bit further, and a thicker washer on the outside behind the circlip. I used to grind a similar amount of the face of the bit that holds the piston and its slide. You can normally see witness marks on the top clutch plate.

Maybe, that was going to be the next check. The kick shaft is original Innocenti but its not the one that came with the case cover. I'll hit the clutch top and KSS with some dyechem and look for scratches.

It can't be a compression issue. My RB20 salt racer has 170psi and rolls right over.

[Monty]

You have got a lot of extra adjustments on the ramp on a None GP side case. Personally I prefer the ramp system but it takes a lot of adjustments to get it engaging the gearbox with only the shortest travel and still missing the gear when it's running. You want the piston fully retracted, at rest, but going down the ramp almost immediately. Trial and error with the spline and even trimming the rubber of the bump stop if you have one. A series 1/2 doesn't use the stop but at least it gives a starting point.

[Grumpy225]

I might have found the issue. The rear sprocket was hitting the kick start assembly and causing that to jam up. I swapped out the 1.5mm shim for a .5mm shim, checked to make sure everything still spun and buttoned it back up. Ran out of time but I did a roll over on it by hand and it felt a lot better. Fingers crossed and will see if it kicks like it should tonight.

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

That's good news! Fingers crossed.....

You did check chain alignment though, I hope? I know it can be a pain, but worth doing.

[Grumpy225]

That's good news! Fingers crossed.....

You did check chain alignment though, I hope? I know it can be a pain, but worth doing.

I did check that and they were good. It's still a little tough to roll over but not if you kick it like a grownup. I suspect it's more to do with the series 1ness of it now. I'll keep on it and see what I can make it do.

[Warkton Tornado No.1]

Much as I love Lambrettas, they have their faults. I'm not talking about the kind of self induced 'faults' where perfectly good contact breaker ignitions are ripped out to be replaced by sh1te in the name of reliability.....

The kickstart has to turn all four gears whilst in neutral, then the rest of the transmission & finally the crankshaft. All of that mass conspires to make for a far harder task than the case would be if the kickstart were concentric to the crankshaft, in which case the engine would start in any gear with the clutch pulled in.

Add retarded ignition, a higher than standard compression head, multi plate clutch, an exhaust that relies on Old Skool back pressure & the least user friendly gearing & crankcase cover/endplate kick start control & we turn a silk purse into a pig's ear.