Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board stuck kickstart pin

hey guys, helping a friend clean up his triumph 650. Lots of weathered parts on the external. For the life of me I can not get the kickstart pin out on the bike. Gave it a couple of taps, soaked it in penetrating solution, even put a big C clamp and socket to try and ease it out. Any ideas?? it will be replaced, but still don't want to damage it too much. I think my next step is heat, but wanted to check if anyone else has run into this.

Thanks in advance!!!

The pin is likely pretty deformed by now by repeated kick starts. Move the kick start lever forward with some force. Then try again.
Cheers,
Bill

Sometimes they are put in backwards which jams them in there. Try some heat.

Use a plastic hammer on the lever forward then put the nut flush with the end of the thread and hit it with a steel punch and hammer.

Thanks yall!!

Jack--this is not a delicate job.
Don't use a clamp and try to force it out.
You need to shock and jar the fit.
So follow Dave Ms method but don't be afraid to give the pin a big whack to shock it out.
Best of luck!

This is a good time to recommend a good quality pin for these bikes. I've run across a lot of them in the past that were soft as cheese. They get mangled immediately and need repeated tightening until they are no good at all. I still have a small supply of them that are of a harder steel that seem to last forever, but for the life of me, I cannot remember where I got them. I even have had the good ones re-plated and I have several of them.
Cheers,
Bill

does anybody besides me still have a bicycle with cotters in the pedal cranks?

just curious. mine is an old tandem i've owned since i bought it for 7/6 back when wilson was PM. the guy i bought it from told me it was a sturmey archer, but i have no lnowledge of them ever building a push bike.

Thanks Bill and Trident.. yes I had to order 3 from different dealers for my other bike before I found ones hard enough to work.

.
Is the nut in front ... correct
Or nut in back ...

Something like this might work

Yes,we have two 1960's British bicycles, a Hercules and Raleigh...

Quinten, that is exactly what I tried first. No luck

Yes--I have a 1950s Triumph bicycle.
Bought it in Maine for $100.
Complete with Triumph badge on the headstock.

Had them in the past. I have a '79 Raleigh with cotterless crank now. Replaced the crank bearings a couple of years ago, loosen one nut and the crank pulls off.

Pushbike cotters are no good these days because they are all metric and so undersize. Coupled to this the metal used in them is too soft. I'm in the same boat as Bill, I have a small finite supply of the correct hard ones, but have no idea where I got them from - reality is it was so long ago, that business is probably long gone anyway. So I'm ok for now, but one day not too far away I will look in my spares tray and panic

Just another rumour started because people are frightened of standing in queue next to a man who's wearing tight Lycra shorts

Pushbike cotter pins work fine , It's true they're 'slightly' undersize but they still do the job ok ..
The only draw back I've ever noticed (if it is one?) they just pull in flush to the surface when they're fully tightened up , So no little titty hanging out the back of the kickstart

I've been using them for years on my bikes .. Fact the last one I changed must be about 5 yrs ago and it's still going good , No signs of any wear at all yet , The quickest death for a cotter pin is putting it in backwards . From what I can guess is they don't fit down onto the flat on the kickstart shaft very well & then the edge of the 'flat' just chews into them a little like a bolt cutter .. Into Cheese ..

Rocket 3 Kickstart cotter pin is flush ~>

If things get really bad, you can get them out as follows:
jar the kick starter forward numerous time to ensure it has broken off the taper. This may need paint marks to check movement.
cut the threaded portion of the pin off close to the lever
Drive the pin back using 1/4" pin punch, large ball peen hammer. and solid blows (this often needs two people - one to hold the lever forward, the other to drive pin out) The punch needs to be centred on threaded portion every time to stop it mushrooming.

Sometimes best to hold the pin punch with pliers to reduce jarring. Also need to be very careful of backswing on hammer.

Thinking financially here...

The cotter pin is disposable. The kicker shaft is less so.

The cotter pin is softer than the hardened shaft so it should give first. With penetrating oil and time. Also hammers and punches.

Too much heat will take the hardening out of the kicker shaft.

As has been said, the cotter will be mushroomed or deformed. Cut it, drill it, bash it, but protect the shaft.

I was thinking that maybe Quinten's set up would work in combination with a hammer strike. It would be similar to using the tool for removing the clutch hub where you aren't supposed to just keep turning it rather you tension it and then tap to free the taper.

I noticed that the non nut end of my cotter pin has disappeared into the kick start lever quite a way rather than being level or a bit proud.

As to push bikes I am pretty sure Sturmey Archer did make bikes but are more famous for their hub gears.

Dave

Ginge plus 1, have plenty of soft cotters and change often before they deform too much, if you get ones with the correct flat for your shaft, that helps them last longer. The flat size is different BSA to Triumph, you can buy them with no flat and then add one to suit the application.

Strange as it may seem but the last cotters I bought from Wassels are pretty good and well plated! unlike some of the softer items previously fitted.

Some tips, I was raised on cheap bicycles with cotters.
Nut to front , it has to be , nut to back will drive the wedge out.

To extract an old notched cotter, push lever forward, slacken nut to flush with cotter end.
Important if you want to save your casings and prevent the nut from getting mashed.
Use a long approx 3/8" BRASS drift, this keeps the hammer away from the cases and prevents the nut from getting peened. use a big hammer , one good dunt is better than several taps. This works 9 times out of ten, but sometimes......
If it is really in there, saw the end off flush. Centre pop the stub and drill out as much as you can from each end , then get medieval with a small punch to drive out the waste.

Do not use the nut to draw in the new pin, knock the pin onto its wedge from the butt end , again , use a brass drift. Snug up the nut. After a few kicks , do this again.
The cotter pin is a sacrificial item ,using a hardened pin would damage the flats on the KS spindle.

Bicycle purists shudder at the hammer method and prefer the correct cotter press tool, they are out there, and are a good thing, hammer blows are not good for bottom bracket bearings, however , the kickstart action of a motorcycle usually creates a deep bite in the pin face that is reluctant to press out, hence the shock tactic.

Lovely turn of phrase Gavin. Sometimes you’ve gotta get medieval!

Plus 1 for the method.

The 60's Hercules I have has what appears to be a Sturmey Archer 3 speed that has Hercules name on it..The decal on the seat down tube states "Guaranteed finest steel hand braised and bonderized"...all original and ridable for a mere $60...I remember BSA bicycles with a twist grip gear change...

IIRC bonderising was an internal coating so the tubes didnt rot from the inside out.

I had an English bike that had an automatic three speed transmission. It worked pretty good and the gear change points could be adjusted, but not on the fly. I really should have kept that bike.
Cheers,
Bill