37 aero 600 kickstart problems

[polly]

when kicking over the bike the kickstart sometimes slips as though the face dog is not locking in!! is there a pic or drawing showing this area in case there are parts missing!!, also the new k/s spring will not bring the arm back up to the stop, is seems quite stiff in its action!!
many thanks Polly

[summers1]

hi did you get any answers ive got a similar problem.

[Philip]

Hi
i signed in only this morning for my boss who owns a Douglas S6 Greyhound (1933) and he's facing similar problems.
I also send some pictures of the innerwork and the gear wheel. But appearently, it will take some time before the photos will be published ?

[Ian Dabney]

I had similar issues when I acquired my S6 1930 which has a 4 speed box, see pictures (external and with gearbox outer cover off). I had the outer and middle case off to understand the workings on several occassions. I did need to fix in place (with suitable loctite) the bearing in the middle case behind the serrated kick start gear, which made an improvement. I also found adjusting the nut on the outer case helped but did not competely stop the problem. My way to handle it, is to change my starting technique - to move the kick start to the horizontal to engage the serrated gears then push through rather than a tradional kick. Whilst a slip can still happen, it is very rare.
regards
Ian

[eddie]

Ian's photos show the later style of 4 speed 'box with the higher top to clear the swing of the kickstart quadrant. Early 'boxes had a flatter top and a different kickstart mechanism without the lower boss on the outer case.
 Ian, I see you have the kickstart lever positioned around 11 o'clock - if you look at original photos, you will see Mr Douglas always positioned the kick start just above 9 o'clock - this was done to make sure the lever had reached the bottom of it's swing before the quadrant hit the inside of the top of the covers. Positioning the lever higher makes starting easier but does risk punching the top out of the cover.

   Regards,
                Eddie.

[Dave]

Photos added to Philip's post above.