Kickstart

[bazza]

Hi guys, just picked up a 2014 300RR and the kickstart does not retract after kicking. I probably wouldn't even have noticed but she blew one of the fuses on the live feed to the starter and I had to resort to the old-fashioned method. I know a couple of you have encountered this issue but I was wondering just how many and are there any fixes for it? I hopefully won't have to kick it again but it looks kinda bad when it happens on a nearly new bike.
Thanks, Baz

[twowheels]

This has popped a couple times on 2013s. First release the torque on the side cover bolts and see if things improve. If not, you may have a sticky seal or a spring not wound tight enough. In a rare instance the side cover itself may not have the hole concentric with the kickstart shaft axis.

In any case your dealer should be able to help you out with this.

[Enmerdeur]

Mine returns but it is pretty lazy about it. It seems to operate smooth. Feels like a spring thing. Will have to see if it it really something to worry about.

[GMP]

Mine had some drag, but always returned. After a few hours it loosened up to normal operation. The return spring seems a little lighter to me than on most other bikes, perhaps this adds to the problem. The whole motor had a new, tight feel, but is perfect now.

[dirtbird]

As i wrote in another thread, just spray some do-it all lube (not chain lube) to the seal-axle area and it will
start working. It happened to mine and i regret pulling apart the side cover as everything
was ok. It happened to a friend's RR300 as well which was sitting for 4 months and
after spraying it, it works perfect.

[GMP]

Odd that that would help, unless the outer lip of the seal was a very tight fit. I know they do that with the wheel spacers/seals (34.5mm in a 34mm seal). Standard practice for me anyway after a wash, maybe thats why no issues.

[flybars]

My '14 300rr doesn't return properly. But have only kicked the bike over once. My dealer hasn't got back to me yet. I'm comforted by Gmp and dirtbirds remedies enough to put it on the backburner for a little while longer.

[Rider793]

Glad to hear the fix is a little lube. I don't have my Beta yet, but the problem sounds a lot like what I had on my Husqvarna TXC450. Turned out to be a bad boss inside the engine case that broke off and blew up the engine cases one day. RIP to the TXC...

Again, very glad that isn't the case with the Betas.

[Mslow]

Having the same issue and tried the lube fix with no success.
Pulled off the kick start itself, and the bolt was super loose. Seal looked good, pit the kicker back on and tries just wearing it in a bit but still no luck.
Feel like there is no spring at all in there.
Guess it's time to call the dealer.....that's 4 hours away...ugh.

[katoom400]

old thread, but I just noticed I have this problems also, feels like there is no spring what so ever in there...I only noticed because my electric start gave me crap on the last ride. I never kick started it before this.