Fix kickstart play Ural and Dnepr

 At F2 Motorcycles we sometimes work on older Urals and Dneprs. We are often asked to fix them on a limited budget. These bikes may have not functioned well for some time and one of the things that fails is the kickstart shaft where the kick start attaches using a wedge bolt. They may have been kicked and kicked in desperation as the owner tries to start a bike with underlying running issues. 

The flat part of the kickstart shaft and the wedge bolt both start to wear and the kickstart starts to slip. Once this happens the kickstart shaft wears very quickly and it's not too long before most of the kickstart movement is simply damaging the shaft rather than turning the engine over. 

For comparison this is what one looks like with no wear. 

Obviously the correct fix is to take the gearbox apart and replace the kickstart shaft then refit the kick start with a nice new wedge bolt. There is a low budget fix which we have used many times and if done correctly lasts for many years. You will need some metal loaded epoxy glue such as JB Weld and an old feeler gauge. These feelers are made from a very hard metal that does not crush easily. Cutting them is fairly difficult, but we find a Dremel with a cutting disc works well. You only need a piece large enough to cover the damaged area of the kick start shaft. 0.3mm to 0.5mm thick seems about the correct thickness but this will depend on the amount of damage to the kick start shaft. 

Degrease the kickstart shaft and then glue the piece of feeler onto the damaged surface using a high quality metal load epoxy such as JB Weld. 

Allow the epoxy to fully cure and then carefully file the excess away so the kickstart lever and wedge bolt can be refitted to the kickstart shaft. 

Refit the kickstart lever using a new wedge bolt. There should be zero play, If there is any at all it will wear quickly, We have carried out t repair many times with good results allowing many more years of use without going to the expense of a new kickstart shaft and the labour cost of fitting it. 

We have carried out this repair many times in order to keep our customers on the road while keeping the repair cost low. Many are still functioning perfectly years later.