96 big bear yfm350 fwd Pull Start Probs

[Belmontie]

Hi all, bike does start with the electric start mostly, but the battery was weak and wouldnt start it the other day so went to use the pull start, to say its hard is an understatement first of all you gotta do a little jiggling about til it catches then pulling it takes some effort now i know im not the strongest fella in the world but this is so much harder than it should be. 

It does start of the pull just to get the engine to initailly turn is so hard any ideas why its happening or how to fix this,

Thanks

  

[Frank Angerano]

I would look to see if there is a compression relief lever on the head. Some of the bikes (not sure on your model) have this to make pull starting easier.   I would also pull the spark plug and see if the engine spins any easier. If not there is something obviously holding the engine back. But try that first and see what happens.  If it’s still tight we will go into it further.

As far as the pull start having to be jiggled a little bit there is a spring that ejects a metal tab into the flywheel “cup”to spin the engine when you pull on the start cord. My guess is it has to be taken apart and a new spring and or tab needs replacing.  Parts manual will show you exactly what the part names and locations/part number to get.   

[billyz57]

I had the same problem on a 87 YFM350, and mine ha the compression release lever. I still have to try several times before the pull rope catches when it is fully retracted in the case.

[Belmontie]

13 hours ago, billyz57 said:

I had the same problem on a 87 YFM350, and mine ha the compression release lever. I still have to try several times before the pull rope catches when it is fully retracted in the case.

 

[Belmontie]

Thanks guys, I ended up selling my Big Bear it was a nice old quad but an offer of a 2012 Suzuki Kingquad 400ASI Popped up for a good price so I bought it after taking it for a spin I’ve gotta say it’s a lovely bike to ride. I live in Ireland where Honda is generally the most desired brand but my dad brought back an old Suzuki Eiger 400 from America and it’s been bulletproof so it was a big influence. It’s great to have a site with people like yourselves to give advice. Thanks again