Kickstart Installation Walkthrough

[Yzblue]

Alrighty, here it is. A writeup for those of you wanting to install your own kickstart kit.

I'm installing mine on my '05, which later i plan on adding the YZ ignition, but that'll be a whole different write-up later on.

What you need
Kick start kit
Kick start lever
Metric tools
Impact gun
Snap ring pliers
Assembly Lube
Tourque wrench

You can find the kickstart kit on ebay, thats where i got mine and it was right around $90. Its the GYT-R kit, which they call the Kick Shaft Kit. You will also need the actuall kickstart lever. (you'd think it comes with it right? ) Its called the Kick Start Crank kit, also from GYT-R.

Also, i printed off an exploded parts diagram for the YZ450F Starter. (below) This is the same parts as what comes in the kit, and is good for reference.


So first things first...

I suggest eating a good meal before hand, as well as taking care of any bathroom buissness, it makes the whole process go alot smoother

Also, lay some towels down were you can lay out parts, tools, and to absorb any mess you might make.

K, down to buisness....

-Drain the Oil, and coolant. make sure to get all the oil out of the oil filter area, this makes things a little cleaner when your working. If you cant figure this step out... take up golf.

-Take off your exhaust head pipe, and right radiator shroud. You dont have to remove the engine from the frame, I didn't.

-Once all fluids are removed, and out of the way, Remove the banjo bolt for the hard oil line on top of the side case. As well as removing the lower oil line directly from the case, (8mm). Also remove the coolant line from the water pump. Then start taking off the 10 8mm bolts that border the side case. (Clutch side) as well as the singles from the water pump, oil filter cover, and the two from the clutch cover which are shown below numbers 11-14.


If your engine is still in the frame, it takes some manuvering to get the side cover off, but shouldn't be too bad. once off, place on a towel so it will stay clean(picture, note: you dont have to remove the clutch cover like i did. Also make sure you dont loose any little o-rings, there are a couple of them.


Your next task is easy. You have to remove the plug that is where your kick shaft will later come out of the engine. Flip the case so that the ouside is on the ground, then i used a socket extention, and a hammer to pop it out of its hole.

next, take the oil seal that comes in the kit, and press it in to where the plug once was, the the seal numbers facing the outside. No speacial tools for this, just use your hands to press it in as good as you can. I also rubbed a little grease to the outside of the seal to ensure a good seal.

now that thats done, we can get to the engine.
Remove the 6 clutch spring bolts,

Now you need to bend the small washer type thing back that keeps the nut in place.

Once this is done, use your impact to remove the nut from the inner hub.

Now you can remove the clutch plates, keeping them in exact order they came off. Or if you wanna be smarter then me, just take the inner hub off with them still in place.. im an idiot.
Now remove the inner hub, then the washer, and finally the clutch basket.


And now you should be looking at this:

and i hope you have a nice clean towell with clutch parts on it like this:

Now you need to install the Stopper, and lock washer, with the two supplied bolts.
they are numbers 11-13 in the kickstart diagram above.
these pieces bolt to the two bolt holes, that are just outsided of the round housing on the left. Make sure you put them in the correct order, stopper, then washer...Tourque these two bolts down to 7.2 foot pounds, then bend the tabs up on the washer to prevent the bolts from loosening which is not shown in picture.

Next take the supplied kickstart, the big piece that comes pre-assembled, and the washer number 10 from the diagram. in case your confused, ths is the smaller washer of the two i believe, it is the better fitting one.

Now place the assembly into the housing, dont forget that washer on the inside.
This is kind of hard to explain, but when you put it in, there is a little arm like thing that sticks out of the assembly..

When the assembly is placed in, this arm needs to be in the 12:00 position, then rotate the assembly, the the arm gets placed behind the stopper you installed earlier.

Now take the loose end of the spring, and place it in the hole to the lower left of the housing

Now thats done... almost there...
Now remove the stock Snap ring from the shaft that is between your kickstart shaft, and the shaft the clutch basket was on. This is wear snap-ring pliers come in handy

with the snap ring removed.. remove the stock spacer.
Now install the supplied Idle gear.
Make sure that the depressed side of the gear is facing you.
Then install the remaining washer, and snap ring that is supplied


So now you have this:

Now all that's left is re-installing everything!
Tough part...
re-installing the clutch basket is kind of a pain in the ass since there is now a new gear it has to interlock teeth with.
just start wiggling the gears around until you feel it fit into place, then give some encouraging taps with a rubber mallet.
Now follow the begining steps backwards to to put everything back togethor.
The Side case will also require a couple taps from a rubber mallet to fit togethor.
Make sure you did not loose any O-rings in the process.

Well i hope this helped, i know it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be.

when all is said and done, the finished result looks like this, note this is my other bike, not the one that was pictured during the steps.
When kicking, there is kind of a certain way to do it.
I like to "ease" the lever down, until i feel a solid click. this means the engine is at Top Dead Center, then i raise the lever back up, and kick the piss out of it. starts like a charm...


Any questions, dont be afraid to ask. I know I probobly forgot things... and probobly confused some people...lol

[Duane]

Nice write-up...very detailed for an easy install and I'm sure it will help alot of people out installing the kickstart kit.


Like promised....."pinned"!

[Earnhard3]

great job!

[quadracer420]

good job man ,

good job thanks that will help me install mine or i might have someone else do it for me install i and do the cammod how easy does it kick like 1-10 1 being you can do it with your hand 10 being it takes a sumo wrestler to kick it for you that is with the cam mod done to it

[blaknblu]

Great job on the write up.

[smokeum99ta]

I didn't see anywhere if your using both kick and electric start or just kick now. I won't mine being able to have both.

[Yzblue]

well my electric start broke...so rather than fix it i just put in the kicker kit. but like i said, im planning on installing the YZ ignition.

As far as kicking ease, i'd say its a 5 based on a 1-10 scale.
Once you get used to it and get a rythem, its pretty easy.

[smokeum99ta]

I just wanted to use the kick start as a back-up. So will I be able to use both?

[Yzblue]

um... the kickstart will start it... im not sure if its really the proper way to do it elecrically, couldn't really tell you, sorry

[Duane]

You can run both and not do anything electrically.....using the kickstart with the electric start would be just like bump starting your motor. Just turn on the key and kick away. I may install one in the near future for a back-up.

[kb motorsports]

Thanks for the review. I have it on my site in a couple hours!!
If you have any more detailed reviews send me another PM.

[gone450]

Originally posted by Yzblue@Aug 6 2006, 07:26 PM
well my electric start broke...so rather than fix it i just put in the kicker kit. but like i said, im planning on installing the YZ ignition.

As far as kicking ease, i'd say its a 5 based on a 1-10 scale.
Once you get used to it and get a rythem, its pretty easy.

[snapback]465647[/snapback]

i did mine a few weeks ago and noticed it was a B*TCH to kick over!!!
then i did the cam mod and made it way easier...

[Yfzdunejumper]

Thanks a lot I will use it this weekend and install mine.

[yfz_nz]

Nice clear write up! what are the advantages of using a yz ignition? and what about the hot start? did you install one and/or do you need one? thanks

[Yfzdunejumper]

I installed mine this weekend thanks to this write up. I tried to be smarter than you and not remove my clutch plates but when I went to put it back together needed to remove them anyway. Is there any quick fix with the rear tail light wire? I just had to remove it. Not that big of a deal if I stop I always use my fronts anyway. Just curious if anyone did a reroute?

[Yzblue]

i just took tail light sensor thing off

[civic_bryan@]

I was just wandering if anyone new where i could get the kick start kick, and how much it ran.

[gone450]

get the internal gear from the dealer....about $100
get the '98 yz250 dirtbike kick lever w/screw & washer from Bob at Magnolia Tractor.....about $99 (1 870 234 5003)
wouldn't hurt to change the oil and coolant (50/50 mix)

USE LOCTITE!

[yfz_nz]

Hey, I was just wondering if you installed a hot start? Cheers.