Kicker won't engage on '92 KX250

[Plowboy]

 When I bought the bike the seller claimed to have sent the ratchet gear(s) to a machine shop to fix the slipping problem. I assumed they had back cut the ratchet gear teeth. I haven't opened it up to see what's going on yet.

 It won't lock up/engage but for maybe 1-2 good full kicks out of 35 attempts, making it near impossible to start in  20-degree weather.  I don't have the spare change to buy a new set of gears so I was hoping for some tips on what really may be the problem and the best way to cheaply cure the problem.

 I'm thinking that the spring forcing the ratchet gears together may be weak, or that the teeth need to be filed on a bit more(or a bit better).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Danger4u2]

I had kick starter issues 3 months after I bought my KX 500 new.

http://www.kxriders.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=80

[Wizzy214]

once its apart you can try and file the teeth  so their back to angled/flat again. and do it to both ends. or use a dremmel.

i had a kx with a big bore and only one tooth would catch... it was hell to start.

keep a look out on ebay and craigslist in your area.

[Hillclimb#42]

It could be any part of the kick starter. Pull it out and check all the parts. Mine gave me problems once, and it was the plastic collar broken. Oil sludge can cause issues. Usually you can tell by a good visual inspection. If the teeth are so worn, you need to file them back to square, I would consider replacing that gear. Pull the cover off and put the kicker back on and look at it during operation. Do you have the thin washer on last, where it only hits the cover? It seems like the only misplaceable part.

[Stevo]

I wanted to touch on this topic a bit more since the kicker on my 89 250 is to the point where it just won't start it anymore.  It used to miss a lot but once I got it started as long as I ran it for 10 to 15 minutes and it got warmed up it'd catch every single time.  Which leads me to believe it's a clearance issue in the teeth and heat expansion closes them up.  When we replaced the bottom end in it we looked at the gears closely and there was nothing glaringly defect on the gears althought I'm not denying that they can be past their wear limit.  We replaced the small spring after the ratchet gear and washer and circlip at the end of the shaft.  The only other thing I can think of is the area in which the assembly sits in the case is worn and isn't allowing the gear to come fully forward to engage.  I'm fairly positive it's assembled correctly we used a clymer and looked it over a few times before sealing it up.  Anyone notice the same symptom with once up to normal operating temps the problem goes away?  Oh and last thought on it. if it helps anyone, my trick to getting it to catch was start really slow at the top of the stroke and push the lever in and make slow downward movements eventually it would catch and I could get a full kick.

I'm obviously going to dig into it once it warms up but its at least something to ponder on a snowy/icy day here.