Too close for comfort

[panomania]

saturday, i was going down the freeway at a 60 mph rate of speed and something went bad! it felt like a giant wind gust was pushing the bike to the left into oncoming traffic exept the wind wasnt blowing. about that time my rear tire locked up. i was looking for a good spot to bail and all of a sudden every thing straightned back up, the wheel freed and i gathered control of the ol'gal. after pulling over to inspect i the only thing i noticed was the rubber boot on the kicker was gone. i didnt think much about it and went on. soon afterwards when i tried to start the bike again, there was nothing. the kicker isnt engauging with anything. the top bolt on the kicked is almost ground completely off. so i guess going down the road something came apart in my kicker cover causing the rear wheel to lock and sending the kicker arm down to the pavement.? ??? i havent pulled it apart yet. any ideas what to check other than my pants? thanks, pano

[57Kicker]

that was a close call! Glad your ok except for the shorts and your kicker. Interested to find out what happened.

[Jonderson]

pano: Glad you are ok!

On my bike if the kicker were to come forward it would at the very least give my leg a nasty smack. I am assuming that you didn't feel anything like that, or had it immediately tossed from your mind when the bike began to list. My guess is that once all the teeth stripped off the kicker gear it flipped back up and released your wheel as well. It does sound like for some reason your kicker engaged the drive though. Scary!

[DuoDave]

You've had a lucky escape Pano. Norton Commandos suffer exactly the same symptoms when the gearbox layshaft bearing gives up the ghost. Until you have had a look in your gearbox you won't know for sure, but it sounds like something similar has happened in there.

[sleeper]

Pano, That sounds like it "Could" have gotten real ugly real fast. Glad you're OK...
methinks a looksee in the box is in order, & all around the scoot for that matter...
You must be living right. Sounds like anyhow!!

[dereborn]

PHEW! Good to hear you & the pan is (at least relatively) OK! Let us know how everything proceeds - and remember: If it don't kill you, it'll just make you stronger! Guess that goes for the pan as well...

[panomania]

well, after inspection it seems as though i have no major damage. the starter gear was frozen to the shaft/bushing. it was stuck all the way up against the tranny case with the spring compressed. when i pulled the gear off, it pulled of the bushing and i had to cut the bushing off the shaft. i went ahead and replaced the clutch/starter gear set. no other problem found. im not sure what went awry. thanks guys, pano

[PanPal]

The first time I started mine it ran for about 15 minutes. My kicker arm then started moving down and the bike died. No hard shut down or bang. I'm sure glad it was sitting there idling and I wasn't doing 60 on the freeway when this happened. The kicker was not engaging afterwards. I found the same thing on mine. The shaft is always spinning in this bushing so it heated up and seized. When I rebuilt the transmission initially, I used a sunnen hone and thought the fit was perfect. After this I put in a used gear with a lot of clearance on the shaft. and the shaft cleaned up nicely after pulling the old bushing off. No problem since. Does anyone know what the proper clearance is for this bushing?

[Cotten]

Although I have ever encountered such a 'catastrophic' failure, I still remember the first time I tried to hone the bushing to a sweet fit.
I had to open it back up, again and again, to where it was nearly as loose as the original to get it to work properly.
Ever since, I only replace the bushing if it appears egged to the eye. And even then, I have left them loose as a goose (.005")
The variable to worry about might actually be the pawl on the kickgear itself. Often kickshaft bushing wear allows it to 'walk' up upon the teeth of the kickclutch gear (the one with the bushing) and damage it with teeth marks.
The design is very forgiving, unless we decide to fix it. Then everything must be brought back to spec, as any loose end disagrees with the rest.

[panomania]

after replacing the gears ive noticed that when i start the bike, with it idling, i can push the kicker arm back with my finger about 1/4 inch and it feels like some gears are bumping. i dont remember it being this close before. the only thing i wasnt completlly comfy with the torque instructions on the clutch gear. tighten untill the nut face was even with the case? something like that...dont remember without looking it up again. anyhow i hope it doesnt happen again.

[haggis]

Holy crap Pano....glad you made it safe my friend... that musta scared the bejesus out of you! Hope you had a wee dram...for the nerves! haggis

[Sidecar]

Glad to see you came out on top !!!!!
Had the rear wheel lock on me twice. 1st time was over 20 years ago (street) drag racing someone with my Superhawk. Did it last year again on my Pan kit. I hate to think that the 3rd time is the charm.

Keep the faith !!!!
Randy