2021 GG TXT Racing 300 Kickstarter Fouls with Peg

[TominSEVA]

First post here on trialscentral forum.  So bike is new, a 2021 TXT Racing 300.  This is the first trials bike I have owned.  Having a lot of fun on it already. 

However, very disappointed to find that the kick starter fouls at end of travel with the foot peg.  In first 2 days of riding, kick starter has significant gouges and foot peg shows contact as well.  Apparently this must be an engineering design shortcoming (or necessary evil) due to need to locate the foot peg in travel path of the kick starter at its final down stroke.  If this is considered "normal", then I suspect the kick start internals (bushings/seals/gears) will eventually suffer premature failure due to constant "hard contact striking", a result of repetitive starting of the engine. 

As a temporary fix I have rounded off the top of one foot peg tooth so it does not continue to gouge into the kick start.  It now more so cradles the lever where it contacts and doesn't allow the lever to "stick" in the full down position imbedded in the foot peg opening.  I am considering also adding a rubber sheath to the foot portion of the kick start lever or a piece of Teflon epoxied to the foot peg. 

Looking for anyone who has similar frustration and better ideas on a fix for this?  Thanks in advance.  Tom

[Mikhail]

mate you are worried about something completely meaningless...just ride it! there wont be any impact on internals, just a cosmetic issue...

[faussy]

I wouldn't worry about engine internals, although the gouging can get bad enough after a couple of years that you think the kickstart end piece might break off. Never has with me. My latest bike ive put a piece of heavy fuel piping over the kickstart as you said

Edited February 27, 2021 by faussy

[Strutty]

I've run my 2011 without anything on kickstart. It's fouled for 10 years still fine just has a chunk out. You'll do more damage dropping it  

[Sum]

Hi Tomin,

I'm also new (2020 280 TXT) and was surprised how the kickstart hit the peg.

Yes, it sounds and feels terrible, but I believe it is deigned in that way.

If that amount of the force hits the end of the travel in the internal structure (instead of the peg), it may cause greater damages.

As other mates said, I now completely forgot about it, but I want to share some experiences that might help you;

1) The starts will become easier over the time and require less force

2) If you engage the gear and roll back the bike, it stops at the top of the cylinder from the back side of the cycle. Then the kick becomes VERY easy. Almost too easy to kick with a good speed. In this say, the kick hits the peg with much less force

The downside of this method is, you need to put the gear back to neutral every time you find the top cylinder position. I often just grab the clutch to kickstart. This works but when the gear is cold, my bike has a significant amount of drag and it may make the engine harder to start. With this method with just grabbing the clutch, I usually need 3-5 kicks when the bike is cold. Once warmed up, it works with one kick. 

3) Some suggested iridium plug makes the start easier

4) After 6 months of break in, I would say, the engine starts with one kick (neutral, choke pulled) at 2/3 of times but without #2 trick, I need to use my full body weight for a good kick and yes, the kickstart hits the peg hard!

[zippy]

My 2003 Pro had the kickstart hit the peg, and my current 2015 Pro kickstart hits the peg.

Basically the peg is used as a stop instead of some part of the frame, some bikes have a metal stop on the frame that the kickstart hits (TLR200 Reflex I think had one)

It's a design of the GasGas Pro engine.  Internally there is "stop" for the kickstart as well.  Pro engine has been mostly the same design with upgrades to internal components that retro-fit from 2003 - 2015, I am not sure about retro-compatibility with 2017 -2021 models

All credit to The Hell Team: https://www.thehellteam.com/technical-support/gas-gas-parts-and-service-manuals.html   

 

My advice: (yeah like anyone listens to me) ride it, enjoy it, crash it, pick it up, repeat.

starting procedure, stand on pegs (lean bike against tree, etc; bike on stand; balance on pegs), slowly bring kicker to where it engages, kick firmly and smoothly,  DO NOT STAB AT IT - for some owners that has caused problems with breaking the clutch cover.

most often starts 1st kick, sometimes 2nd kick.  same way for the 2003 I had as well as the current 2015.