94 Sportsman 400 Pullstart

[thatbadmother]

The pull start rope broke on my sportsman. I replaced the rope and put it back together. The issue is when I use the pull start it yanks the rope out of my hand like it's backfiring. I thought at first that I had the coil spring too tight, but I set it up so that the coil spring was basically useless to see if it would still yank the rope out of my hand, and it does. Any thoughts on why it would have such a violent recoil?

[DirtDemon]

The only time I have ever had that happen to me, it was a lawnmower and the flywheel key had sheared off so the ignition timing was off, causing the kick back. Is there another way to start the ATV? If so, does it run ok?

[thatbadmother]

Once it's started it runs okay. It take a couple of dicey pulls to get it to fire, but once it's going it's fine. I don't think its a backfire, because there's no backfire from the engine. It just yards the pull start out of my hand like it has a serious recoil. The coil spring is not over wound, it just seems that the pullstart doesn't disengage after you've pulled the cord. I use to be able to pull on the starter and if the bike didn't start it was no big deal, but now it whips the starter out of my hand, and it loosens the bolt that holds the disc and coil spring in place. I've put everything back together the way is shows in the schematic... it just doesn't disengage after each pull.

[DirtDemon]

I have a similar problem with one of my quads, it has a CR 500 motor in it, and when that sucker kicks back, it feels like it is going to launch me over the front of the quad. I would try to lubricate all moving parts in the pull starter. If that doesn't work, I am guessing it would be best for your hand to replace any parts that seem to be getting worn, mainly the ratchet and it's return spring, and maybe the friction plate behind the ratchet and the funny looking friction spring.

Edited July 22, 2010 by DirtDemon