1955 Model D150 Version 2 - Kickstarter cover plate

[Big Al]

Can someone tell me how to separate the kickstarter cover plate from the crankcase please? Mine has the additional triangular plate fitted onto the plate, immediately above the pedal. There are two nuts plus a slotted screw head below the pedal, and two strange inset nuts above right and above left of the pedal. Do these need a special spanner, and which ones do I remove?

Which, if any, parts will also come away when I release the cover plate?

There is no gasket at all between the cover plate and the crankcase, so I clearly need to fit one when rebuilding. I have photos if needed.

[Big Al]

It looks as though the cover is held by two bolts into the crankcase at the bottom, plus two "special" nuts which screw onto studs on the crankcase. On mine, I think the right hand special nut is missing the plain and spring washers, which means that very little of the nut head is showing.
The lower central slotted screw below the pedal appears to fix a triangular plate, which goes under the heads of the two lower bolts, but I'm not sure why the plate is there. It's not on the parts list that I have for this model. Any ideas please?

[Big Al]

I decided to take the bull by the horns and try to remove the kickstart cover plate this afternoon.

Whoever had fitted the two "special" nuts onto the studs in the crankcase, had put them on head first (brilliant!) so there was nothing to get a socket or spanner onto. I had to remove them with a special tool - a pair of pliers! They will be going back on the right way round when I refit the cover plate, and with spring and plain washers behind them. All washers were missing.

Two bolts at the bottom pass right through the cover plate and the crankcase, and are secured by nuts and washers at the back. One bolt also secures the double cable clamp for speedo and rear brake cables (Part No. 12010711). These bolts have to be removed as well.

The other part to remove is the topmost bolt which passes through the triangular plate and into a thread in the crankcase.

Having removed the two nuts and the three bolts, the kickstart cover can be wiggled free, and comes away complete with the kickstart mechanism.

[Big Al]

With the kickstart cover plate removed, I can see that the studs which take the special nuts are different lengths. The one on the left as you look is some 5mm longer than the other one. Is this per the original design (in which case why was one longer?) or has someone replaced one or both of them with the wrong stud?
I think the cable guides were originally attached behind the nuts at the bottom of the crankcase.

[jbcollier]

Sorry, out of town for the last few weeks. The D engines had numerous kick start mech upgrades as, quite frankly, until the '57, it was a poor design. Any chance you can post photos? Lots of free image hosting sites out there.

[Big Al]

Hello John. I have emailed you some photos, which I hope you can upload for me.

I will try to get a friend to give me a hand with the image hosting sites, so that I can post my own in future.

Many thanks.

[jbcollier]

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Scooter/i-6hCxKkq/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Scooter/i-Z8SjK3Z/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Scooter/i-K9CKFGj/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Scooter/i-n6js3Gc/A

[jbcollier]

You can view and download a parts book here:

http://scooterhelp.com/serial/LD_D.parts.html

Yup, one stud long, one stud short as you can see here:

http://scooterhelp.com/manuals/LD_D.150 ... page07.jpg

http://scooterhelp.com/manuals/LD_D.150 ... page06.jpg

That said, my earlier version uses two allen screws.

The cable clamp was between kick start housing and the engine case?! Of course that's not correct. It's simply held by one of the lower bolts

[Big Al]

Thanks again, John.

In the parts diagram, the stud on the right is longer, whereas on mine the left one is longer. (If the longer stud is only there for the benefit of those models with the epicyclical starter (which mine doesn't have) then it seems irrelevant anyway. Do you agree?

My photo of the kickstart head-on is probably misleading you. As I said earlier, one of the bolts at the bottom of the kickstart assembly, which passes right through the kickstart cover plate and the crankcase, also secures the double cable clamp behind the nut.

[jbcollier]

Let's drop right and left, the stud towards the front of the engine is shorter. It's shorter to provide more clearance for the kickstart lever.

[Big Al]

Thanks John.