The Hodaka Club Forum

The pedal on my CW kick-starter broke. I removed the lever assembly repaired and reinstalled. Now my kick-start will engage for about one kick then not engage for subsequent start attempts. Sometimes I will get a couple of kicks before it will stop engaging. Suggestions/fixes would be greatly appreciated.
#60L 50+ Intermediate

Make sure the kick spring is oriented correctly and not warped. Make sure your clutch free play all checks out. Assuming the shaft splines are good and not slipping.
Do you hear anything rattle when you kick? Sometimes the kick roller retainer (the cage that surrounds the kick rollers in the case) can be damaged, or excessive wear on the kick shaft (where it meets the rollers) - means splitting the cases to find out, but an easy repair.
As an aside, kicking over the Hodakas should be a pretty gentle affair - just a quick stab, not necessary to throw a lot of weight into it and certainly no reason to kick it all the way until it bottoms out. Not accusing you of this abuse, but it always makes me cringe seeing someone slam kick a little Hodaka.
There's probably some better advice coming from others...
-Laurie

Laurie you gave Henry good info.
If it sounds squich or scritch when you kick it over it is the kick roller retainer that expanded, very common. This can be caused by kicking too hard, also this can cause the kick shaft to gall and become pitted once pitted they will slip, always check the shaft and retainer when putting an engine together. Clarence