Occasionally the kick start doesn't return when kicking he engine over, other times it jams, any ideas or do I need to have the clutch cover off? Will I need to have the engine out of the frame?

Its going to be a case off job, everything is inside there.

its not catching anywhere is it ?

I had the same problem with my Beamish Suzuki, it turned out to be the wrong size washer on the bolt that was catching on the frame

Edited November 1, 20169 yr by shakennstirred

It had the wrong kick start on when I got the bike - no stop on the knuckle. Hoping that this hasn't caused the problem.

I will check that nothing external is catching, hadn't thought of that.

 Honda out did themselves on this one. To replace the spring it`s a whole engine rebuild. Hopefully you can find something binding within the cover.

check the valve lifter lever  - I had this jam once

 Honda out did themselves on this one. To replace the spring it`s a whole engine rebuild. Hopefully you can find something binding within the cover.

That's what I didn't want to hear!

 How do I know, bought one for my wife and it broke. So I bought two springs and two gasket sets. I still have not seen another one break. That was 15+ years now. I still have that spare!

Thanks for the advice everyone, I was hoping it would be something simple. I'll continue my rebuild, to test the repositioned foot pegs and then when I strip it back down for frame painting I'll have a look at the kick start problem.