Hi all, my kickstarter is going straight through with just the mere hint of snagging a gear, but not grabbing and spinning the engine. I've taken it out and don't see unusual wear, missing/worn teeth, or broken spring - it all looks OK. So just thought I would ask if there are any known issues with this model? Or links to good videos/pages on this? It's my first HT1 build - I have heard the spring may need another turn? Any advice appreciated! thanks - Mark

The clip #17 in attached link must have a fair amount of drag when you try to rotate it in its groove.  This drag is what makes the gear come out and engage.

Sometimes someone didn't engage the ear on the clip correctly and clip gets bent up.  Or they just wear out.  

Common fix on pretty much all the Yamaha Enduros.

www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/1970/ht1/kick

On the 90's and 100's, a common kick failure is the lever splines strip.  Make sure to keep the pinch bolt tight!  Very hard to find a shaft and kicker sometimes for that model if the splines strip.  

Mark is right about those splines getting stripped out on the shaft. Common problem indeed. I did make a big post last year about those shafts. They are available but you cant go by partzilla and babbitts part number because that's for the entire kick start kit not just the shaft. Its a really long story but if you or anyone reading this happens to be in need of a shaft for a JT60, HT90 or LT100 you can find it by searching (New JT/HT/LT kick starter shafts) I already did all the leg work in test fitting it on these models.

Be very surprised it it isn't the clip as Mark says. When it's misplaced it'll often work if you lean the bike way over to the right so the gear basicaly used gravity across to engage with the intermediate gear. Bent ear clip as Mark shows in the link & goes in its guiding slot in the case.

Hi Mark, good tip - I'm wondering this now: You mentioned the clip ear being bent up. On the Partzilla diagram it looks like the clip ear is flat/in the same plane as the rest of the clip. However the "ear" on my clip goes up at a 45 degree angle. I've noticed the same angle on some other ebay kickstarter assemblies too. Do you have any idea which is correct? I could bend it down flat if it is supposed to be, but not sure if it is? Thanks!

Supposed to be angled.  

Parts books have a lot of errors and are not designed to be used as assembly diagrams or exact representations of the parts.  (Many clutches have been assembled wrong by going by the parts diagrams which on some models have more than one error)

Thanks all for your replies, on further inspection I realized part of the spring hook was broke off and an entire circlip had shattered too! Once replaced it worked! I'd bet anything this was the reason this bike was parked decades ago. But now I've got her running and will continue to bring it fully back to life - will use this to teach my kids to ride dirt.