Barn find... sorta

[WBN3]

This is a video of our 1985 Honda 250ES Big Red. It has sat for several years in the barn at my wife's grandfather's farm. He passed about a year ago, and her mother lives there now. She wants this gone, so I recently got it running again in order to try to sell it.

The video linked below leaves little room for doubt what my question is - what's that noise?!?!? I have done an oil change and it made no difference in the sound... it sounds like a bearing, but I'm not an expert on the clutch/transmission area of motorized equipment so not really sure what exact part it is. I've done lots of research here and am very grateful for the diagrams and manuals that I've been able to get. This isn't something I think I can research my way throug, so decided to join to (a) say "thanks" to all the smart people here, and (b) ask for your help...

Without further ado, here's the video:

https://youtu.be/FksJZanVWUk

[wonderboy]

It almost sounds like the kick starter ratcheting. If you kick start it and don't release the kick starter, you typically hear a ratcheting sound (until the kicker returns to its starting position). I wonder if something is maybe not right in the kickstarter, or check to see if something is holding it down a bit.

[ironchop]

It almost sounds like the kick starter ratcheting. If you kick start it and don't release the kick starter, you typically hear a ratcheting sound (until the kicker returns to its starting position). I wonder if something is maybe not right in the kickstarter, or check to see if something is holding it down a bit.

I agree with Wonderboy. Sounds like the kicker ratchet is stuck

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[WBN3]

You nailed it! That was exactly the problem, and I think I have an idea how it might have happened. Here are links to the before and after...

Before: https://youtu.be/kyv4SH4M_wI

After: https://youtu.be/tjWxkKbvlsE

I'm wondering if, when I replaced the starter, I somehow made the shaft of the kick-starter rotate back a little. To get the old starter out, I had to take the cover off the gears that mesh it to the rest of the transmission/flywheel/clutch/etc. When I did that, is it possible that something happened that caused the kick-start pedal to have to rotate in order to fit behind the plastic cover? All I ended up having to do to fix it was remove the 12mm bolt and pull the pedal off, re-position it to the correct location and reinstall the bolt. Easy peasy!

[wonderboy]

Well, first I'm happy that was it. I've not been inside the side cover on that motor so I don't know exactly how the guts go together. About rotating the kicker arm on the shaft: typically, there is a punch mark on the end of the shaft and also (usually) a corresponding punch mark on the kicker arm hub. This lets you line them up. So, if the position it is in now to make the noise go away has them misaligned, then something inside is probably a bit off.

The service manual should have a good explanation on how to put it all together correctly. I'll have to search for the latest site where they manuals are to give you the link... or somebody can post the link. There have been a few different sites over the years come and go, and I don't have the latest site bookmarked.

[ironchop]

Free manuals
https://threewheelermanuals.com/

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[sledcrazyinCT]

Free manuals
https://threewheelermanuals.com/

Thanks for the link!

[WBN3]

I do have a copy of the service manual, and you are correct - there are punch marks for aligning the shaft of the kick starter with the pedal. I'll have to look at it tomorrow and see if my adjustment ended up putting it back where it's supposed to be, or if somehow there's something else that rotated internally to cause the problem. I don't know if someone else may have worked on it in the past and done something to mess up the installation internally... I'm not too concerned at this point, just happy it's resolved.