KDXRIDER.NET

The kick starter on my 89 kdx rarely engaged so I first tried to replace just the small spring to see if the additional tension would help. I tested that out by hand and found it barely helped. Next I took the gears off the shaft and filed the 90 degree edge of each tooth on both gears using a dremel with a cutoff wheel (not cutting, but using the cutoff wheel flat side). The teeth had worn to a slightly rounded edge that may it very prone to slip. Making the contact edges closer to 90 degrees again was the trick.

The kick start now engages very solid every time. The real test will come when I get the bike back together, but very promising so far.

Interesting. Thanks for the tip! My kick start lever engages OK, but I wish that it would engage higher, closer to the beginning of the stroke. It seems to move downward quite a bit before it engages, and I lose half of the stroke. I rotated the lever one tooth forward on the spline, but that allows the lever to contact the pipe, and it still is not enough.
I had welded peg extensions on the back of my pegs, and the extension comes in contact with the kick start lever on full stroke, thus losing some of the travel there.
I have a feeling that the best solution is a "shorty" kick start lever.