Montesa 348 kickstart tension setting on rebuild???

[chappo]

Can anyone help, once the crankcases are split with how to correctly set the kickstart tension.

The one I’m renovating has obviously been split historically and it’s not been set up properly. In that I mean the kickstart goes back wards to the 9 pm position before it engages. The obvious has happened, the owner has been kicking at it and the kickstart stopper has holed the casing. Found a manual on line, but it doesn’t describe the process of setting it to get the correct tension. I’ve done loads of Sherpas, I haven’t split the cases yet, it may be obvious when I see the components face to face.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[riffraffretro]

In my experience with the Cota, it's not so much the kickstart spring tension that determines the kick 'action', more the positioning of the kickstart lever onto the splined shaft.

Locating the spring is pretty easy as there is a hole and lug arrangement to position it correctly - mine is at pretty low tension when installed and I tend to position the kickstart lever at around 10 past the hour when mounting onto the shaft. 

Thereafter, it's a case kicking with firm and even pressure through the kick stroke (I use a decompression valve, also), to complete the process... try not to allow the kickstart lever to spring back without maintaining a degree of foot pressure on the lever as it's this that can cause damage to the case - mine has historically suffered this fate, as have many Cota's.

Keep us posted.

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by riffraffretro

[chappo]

Thanks Riffraffretro, sorry it’s possibly my mistake in using the word tension in the post, on reading it again it makes it misleading.

The issue is the setting of the engagement point whereby the kickstart shaft engages and turns the engine over. With the spring removed the kickstart lever comes back from the resting point of the stopper on the top of the crankcase to the 9 o’clock position before it engages. As I remember from the last one I owned it usually engaged around the 11 o’clock position.

That’s the crux of the matter, once that’s set the actual tensioning of the spring is easy.