I'm having an issue with the ZX-50 kick starter. This is a 2003 model. The machine fell over and jammed the mechanism. I took it apart and nothing is broken. The circlip got pushed out of place and the kick starter return spring mechanism went "sprong". I have the service manual, and put everything back together per the diagrams. However the kick lever return seemed weak, and the gravity seems to pull the lever enough so that the kick starter "driven gear" engages the engine and makes metallic scrapping sounds when you hit bumps. The manual does say "check for a weak spring", and since it says very little else, I figured that was worth replacing. Five bucks later I have a new spring, but it has all the same angles as the old spring, and it just doesn't seem to have enough umph to hold up the rather light weight of the kick start lever, and once again, while it works and starts the engine, when you drive down the road, bumps and gravity pull the lever down, thus slightly engaging the kick starter "driven gear".
What I'm wondering is whether the kick starter return spring should be spun up one turn to add tension. The shop manual says nothing about this. I've lubbed up the "driven gear" shaft to make sure it's not sticking in the "engage" position. It appears that the spring is made to just be installed without adding one revolution of tension, which I tried to do, and it's virtually impossible to do that, and just didn't seem to make sense. Though the additional tension would solve the problem I think if I could wind it up that tight.
Anbody run into this problem?