Hello all,

 

This spring we went to Logan, West Virginia to ride the Hatfieldd McCoy trails. We were riding the enduro bikes and my son wanted to ride the trials bike one day.  We were doing easy trail riding for about 15 miles.  I knew we would ride some faster sections so I added a little more oil than recommended so my ratio was about 60:1.  At one point I switched bikes with my son and I rode the TXT and it ran great!  We loaded it back up on the trailer and did not ride it again until we took it out a couple weeks ago. 

 

I went to start it and the kickstarter would not budge.  I put the bike into 3th gear and rocked it back and forth and it is locked solid.  I read about the cold seize issue so I warmed the cylinder with a torch and it is still locked solid.   I have not opened the engine yet and I am looking for some guidance.  I find this really odd as it ran perfectly last time we had her out.  I am the third owner of this bike and I am not sure if it has been upgraded with a new shift drum.  We have been very careful with both the shifter and kickstarter as we have been told they are fragile on this year.

 

Any thoughts and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 It could be the kick start  shaft bound up. But the rocking back and forth should have loosened it up. I would try again the rocking, then remove the clutch side first to look for problems.

 Also did you wash the bikes afterward and not start them? The main bearings can rust up pretty quick that way.

Edited August 23, 201511 yr by lineaway

Thank you for the info.  We did not wash the bike but it did get rained on pretty well on the way home from WV.  Do these ingest water that easily?

 Well was it in or outside?  If it has been months since you started it,  not so much it ingested it as it just stayed humid enough to rust. I had a friend wash his bike at a National in Washington state and the next week when he started it, the mains just screamed. The bike was two months old and Aprilia was it`s name.

While it was inside it was not heated.  Sounds like I have some work to do.

Did you remove the sparkplg and try again? Could be that your engine is full of gas or cool liquid.

 

 

Had the same problem a couple of times with older bikes (non pro's) but rocking it in a high gear solved that.

 

 

It could be a broken piston spring or something, but thats not logical since you cut the engine of while it was still working and it did not start since.

Edited August 24, 201511 yr by crazybond700

I did pull the plug and it looked fine. I would normally have take care of this already, but I have been busy with rebuilds on 3 other GG enduro bikes so the trials bike will need to wait her turn.  Is there an easy way to tell if mine has the updated shift drum?

I mean did the engine go around without the plug more easy.

 

If it does find neutral there should be no problem, it should atleast start.

Edited August 24, 201511 yr by crazybond700

In neutral it rolls just fine. With the spark plug out it is still locked solid and it does not budge at all.

So its the piston that is fried somehow, or the kickstarter mechanism is stuck. I would start by laying bike on its side, and take the clutch cover off. (basically my usual starting point with those pro bikes)

That sounds like a good plan. Thank you.

Make sure to let the waterpump sit and aligned, so you dont kill it with mounting back. Just take a piece of wire or something and use it too mount the kickstartercover to frontfork leg or something, all hoses can stay seated. Make sure the ring around the kickstarter is probably sticking to the cover, put it back on the kickstart shaft, and mind the bearing and plate on the clutch piston.

Unusual but worth checking is if there is heavy corrosion between the flywheel and the engine casing.

I had one that was locked solid and only found this when I went to take the flywheel off to strip the engine right down.

Easy fix but wish I had checked before I took it out of the frame.

Make sure to let the waterpump sit and aligned, so you dont kill it with mounting back. Just take a piece of wire or something and use it too mount the kickstartercover to frontfork leg or something, all hoses can stay seated. Make sure the ring around the kickstarter is probably sticking to the cover, put it back on the kickstart shaft, and mind the bearing and plate on the clutch piston.

 Funny that was the first post. First thing is not to loose the small washer on the kick start shaft. You do not need to drain the radiator fluid. Just fold the whole case over to the right and tie it to the exhaust. You are looking for the kick start pawl (elephant ear to be locked up jammed or broke. Also the idler gear under the clutch could be bad, The original clutch spring bolts would strip the allen heads just breathing on them. A good wack with a chisel is the best way to loosen them. Good luck. Takes 15 minutes to do this. The hard part would be a gasket for the `02. It was different from all other years as a lot of other parts.

That is great info to save time and cash.  Thanks again.