Kickstarter hitting silencer

I have the same problem with a Dominator. I resolved it by the judicious positioning of a large jubilee clip round the pipe and lower frame rail just behind the footrest where it cannot easily be spotted (wouldn't want to upset the rivet-counters). Careful tightening eases the pipe/silencer inboard just far enough not to interfere with the kickstart downswing.

No doubt the engineering purists will be tearing out their hair at this admission but, hey, the bald look is fashionable these days!

The fact that the problem wasn't there but is now gradually getting worse suggests something has moved/is moving, check your ioslastic's for adjustment/failed rubbers. As the pipes are attached to the cyl head at one end & the Z plate, which is in turn attached to the frame, at the other, any movement in the isolastic mounts will allow the engine/gearbox assy to move but the exhaust is held reasonably rigidly on the rubber cotton reel mounts at the rear & this can let the kick start foul where previously it cleared. With pre MK3 kick starts there isn't much clearance at the best of times, so it doesn't take much to lose what clearance there was.

I had this exact scenario on my Commando several years ago. After spending hours trying to adjust the exhaust system etc, I found the front iso rubbers had completely disintegrated & turned themselves into lots of little rubber balls & the rear had subsequently worn one of the PTFE washers to almost nothing Didn't notice much difference in the ride as I have an ioslastic head steady fitted ! After rectification of this, the kickstart had plenty of clearance.

Regards, Tim

That bodge will work well for Dominators and other bikes with rigidly mounted engines, but would not work on a Commando, since the engine, gearbox,, primary, and exhausts all move around on the isolastics. fixing the exhaust solidly to the frame is a big no-no!

Colin.

Previously howard_thompson wrote:

I have the same problem with a Dominator. I resolved it by the judicious positioning of a large jubilee clip round the pipe and lower frame rail just behind the footrest where it cannot easily be spotted (wouldn't want to upset the rivet-counters). Careful tightening eases the pipe/silencer inboard just far enough not to interfere with the kickstart downswing.

No doubt the engineering purists will be tearing out their hair at this admission but, hey, the bald look is fashionable these days!

Oops!

It is more likeky to be the exhaust pipe being the wrong contour which is placing the silencer a little further out than it should be, rather than the silencer itself being the wrong shape. I know there have been problems in the past with poorly made (breaking at the cylinder head flange) and poorly fitting pipes. I bought mine from Norman White a few years ago; he could not source any decent ones at that time so he had some specially made. I have just looked at his site and he still does them.

Check that the swinging arm has the same clearance from the aft point of the Z plate on both sides. If it hasn't, then the gearbox cradle needs to be moved across by whatever method you choose. Do your wheels line up without skewing the rear wheel in the rear fork? You could cut 1/8 inch off the bosses on the RH silencer and shorten the screws so they are not bottoming out.