I have an old Kawasaki Cheer I picked up a few days ago, and it can be started by both the electric start and the kick start, but often the electric start seems a little reluctant, and the kick start fails to 'connect' about 50-60% of the time.By that I mean when you kick start it, it often doesn't turn over the engine, just makes a kind of slight whine and kicks freely. It isn't really necessary to fix this, I just want to know what it is (my mechanic said it would be about 1,200 baht to fix, so not really worth it for the old bike).Anybody know what causes this?

worn and misaligned gear that drives the crankshaft. i think a better question would be what causes the bike to start so hard that warrants so much kicking to wear it out !

worn and misaligned gear that drives the crankshaft. i think a better question would be what causes the bike to start so hard that warrants so much kicking to wear it out !

Well really the bike is so very old.. about 10-11 years I guess, that I'm not surprised it could be worn out. It can be started by the electric start easily enough.

The mechanic today told me it was a problem which was kind of typical or common for Kawasaki Cheers - perhaps that (and the fact that there are no Kawasaki dealers to be found anymore) is one reason these bikes are usually about 1/3 the price of a Honda Wave, and considerably cheaper than even a Yamaha or Suzuki, on the rare occasions you run across them. I can tell you though that it is a very comfortable little runabout to drive - it seems to me far nicer to drive than an old Wave - oddly comfortable seating position.