[Andy Cubin]

Fixed it!

Thanks to you folks and tutelage by my chum Chris Roberts.  A wonderful 2 hours of engineering and I am the better for it.  Putting the girl back together in the morning.

Cheers all,

Andy

[iansoady]

If it's like my Model 10 that is in fact part of the primary chaincase outer cover. And no, there won't be a shower of springs but there probably will be a tide of filthy oil......

[Andy Cubin]

Huge thanks for all your replies.

I am now about to jump in the deep end and start taking off covers.  If I follow the kickstart shaft through it comes out on the nearside on the attached photograph as marked by the red arrow.

Can someone reassure me that if I remove this cover, a whole bunch of springs, cogs and washers is not going to fly all over the inside of the garage, never to be seen again? 

[phutton]

You should also check the spring that pushes the ratchet pinion into engagement with the ratchet on the clutch plate.

P.

[singleminded]

I assume that the kickstart comes back up again on it's own so the quadrant is still on the kickstart shaft.
I had to put washers between the quadrant and the kickstart tube where it enters the primary case as a spacer to get the quadrant to line up with the loose ratchet on the back of the clutch as Ian has suggested already it most likely is not in line..John

[iansoady]

The Sunbeam kickstart mechanism is very "vintage" in that the opposite end of the kickstart shaft has a toothed quadrant that engages with a pinion which then turns the clutch drum by means of a ratchet arrangement (at least that's the layout on my 1931 Model 10 and I believe others are similar). Unlike more modern bikes it's all external so no gearbox dismantling is necessary. I suspect something is misaligned in the quadrant / pinion area (inside the primary chaincase) so that's where I'd look first.

[Andy Cubin]

After my initial euphoria, something is definitely amiss.

When I push down on the kickstart, it falls with a ratchet sound and doesn't engage so I am sure the exposed spring is telling me the shaft is not engaging.

Scary stuff - any ideas?

Andy

[Andy Cubin]

Thanks Gents - onward and upward then.

Cheers

Andy

[iansoady]

Mine looks similar to that. I also found the tube was wobbling about but discovered a small grub screw that holds it in was loose and tightening that up seemed to fix it.

[singleminded]

I'ts not unusual to see that.
Over the years the tube can wear. I also found that the 2 I have are different lengths.
If the kickstart quadrant is correctly aligned with the ratchet gear on the back of the clutch I personally wouldn't worry..There will now appear other views ..john

[Andy Cubin]

Evening all - the new guy again!

My kickstart looks wrong - attached is a shot.  The spring mechanism is visible on the shaft - should it be?

Cheers in advance

Andy