Question78 cb 400 t1 hawk 29,000 mi, Replaced cam chain and Kick starter will not recoil after reassambly.Kick starter recoils fine with r/h engin cover on untill tightning of three bolts nearest the spindle on the r/h cover. I have resplit the engin twice since in attempt to properly aline and tighten in the correct order with no change. Their is a small amount of scoring on the seat closest to the e-ring on the spindle inside the engin caseing. I may have done this when I tested the bearings for freeplay after reassembling the bearing holder (In hindsight I did push kinda hard and the crank started off pretty tight. It rotates easly now.) Iv completely disassembled all ten pieces two bolts and a stopper plate of the kick starter assembly and reassembled it while the engin was split in accordance of the official honda shop manual published in sep of 1977. Iv put 25,000 mi on this bike in the past 13 mos. Iv adjusted the valvs every 3000mi, It has new pistons, rings, clutch, cables, and in general is in anticepticly clean and very good running condition. I have been riding since 1978 this is my 11th bike and have over 150,000mi of street riding. I love this little $750.00 honda that Iv got $3,431.63 plus hundreds of hours of maintenance and polishing invested in and want to keep it on the road.
AnswerChris, You should have a little end play on the k/s shaft when it is installed into the cases. If so, then it should also be present when the cover is tightened down on the right side. If the endplay disappears, then perhaps you just need to relieve the back side of the cover boss where the shaft comes through. Ideally, you would want to put the cover in a mill and face the back side where the interference is setting up, but I imagine you could do it manually, with appropriate tools and some care.
If the end play is still present, then it sounds like the cover hole is causing the issue. I can't imagine that the k/s shaft is bent, but have a close look at it, when you are turning it with the k/s lever arm (cover off). You might see some shiny spots inside the shaft hole where the shaft is rubbing it. Either use a a big permanent marker or get some machinists dye and coat the parts, then assemble to determine what is rubbing what, on the inside.
In a quick search, I found this website that might be useful for connecting with other people who own these bikes.... http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/index.php
I really haven't heard of this problem before, so can't shed a great deal more light on the subject without seeing it in person.
Bill Silver
