Kick Start problems

[CTRukus]

My kick starter doesn't start the Ruckus anymore. The battery is dying but when plugged in over night the electric start will start it. Any idea as to why the kick start won't do it? The battery is $125 and I'm too cheap to buy one. Help please!

[jedisabre7]

why would you spend that much on a battery?

[Dandy Dan]

Why won't the kickstarter do it? Is it siezed? If so, pop the drive cover off and use a bit of lube. Even if it's not seized, doing this will make it easier to use so you can turn the engine over faster. Once you got your kickstarter working smoothly then it should be able to start your Ruckus unless something else is wrong too (like the valves are tight causing you to lose compression). Holding the throttle open makes it easier to start too.

About the electric start, you should get a new battery but do yourself a favour and don't pay $125. You can get other brands of batteries for less than half of that. Check it out:
importationsthibault.com/2007/scooter07_page.php?langue=en&page=391

[Dandy Dan]

Oh and nice to have you around at CTRukus, too bad your avatar isn't showing up because it's one of the best!

[philvanduyn]

Two things: 1. Make sure you hold the left brake lever while you kick. I tried starting mine without the break and it did not start until I held the brake. 2. Try ebay for the battery. I bought one for my Suzuki DRZ 400 there. $40 + shipping. Suzuki wanted $120.

[Antig]

Dude, get it from Walmart -$30-40 bucks...and they're good too

[mudstone]

ok i'm essentially taking over from CTruckus... he informs me you are a great bunch of peoples... i ride his scooter pretty much every day cuz he rides a big gas guzzling motorcycle now. We did get her fixed battery was the problem and everywhere around here it was over 100$ spent 123 on it or something at stamford motorsports. dropped it in and now all is well. Coming up on 1200 miles probably by the end of the week and i understand that oil changes take place every 600mi so i'll be doing that probably this weekend...

[chanito]

Great to hear ;D and

[nobodysdog]

You can get a "Bike Master" battery at just about any dealer for about $70. Exact OEM sealed replacement distributed by Tucker Rocky ->one of the BIG motorcycle parts distributors.

If your Honda shop doesn't have it, try a KTM shop... Some of there Enduro bikes use the same battery.

[8chpl]

As for the kick starter, mine seized up. i removed the cover and cleaned the mechanism off with aerosol carbeurator cleaneer, did a great job. Then I put a very thin layer of White Lithium Grease on the gear parts. About 1/4 bead from the tube and wiped off the excess.

I also find that in addition to using the Park brake lock, I needed to hold on a bit of throttle to get going with the kick start.

Cheers all.

[patricia townsend]

Question..my Ruckus won’t start....electric start essentially dead and kickstart sounds very weak...eventually starts up after about 20 kicks....once it starts up it runs normally and appears to be charging battery....I checked battery and it was not dead. After running for 20 minutes or so, I shut it off and try to immediately restart...same symptoms. Thoughts, anyone?

[Banks]

Take your kick start cover off clean all that bullshit out and lube it up a bit (wd40) works fine for me. Also take the air box cover off and clean or replace ya filter! Usually I got to give it a lil gas when kick starting especially if the crank is jammed up a bit. I've never held the left brake while kickstarting but I'll try it see if it helps.

[michaelwoodcoc]

You will need a bunch of kicks to get it started when your battery is too low to fire the spark plug. Keep the battery charged.