new member from Prosser

Today I registered to this forum and I finally found a 98' Yamaha WR400F bored .30 over for riding so that's the good part! I was taught how to properly start a WR400F by the previous owner but I didnt take the time to really practice "his way" right after I test drove it. Instead I waited a few hours later and my friend suggested starting it "his way," which was the wrong way(i dont have much experience on bikes). Unfortunately my friend's technique was completely wrong as he repeatedly kicked over and over(WAy TOO MANY TIMES), giving the kick lever a few inches of space between his foot, unable to start it. Eventually the return spring became weak, my freind kicked it one last time and the inner crank case cover cracked. Why did this happen exactly? He wasn't using the decompression lever, like I was told to, which my friend truely did not know how to use he thought by kicking it as hard as he can he would start it(he is 6' 5"). Now most likely the kickstarting assembly needs to be replaced and possibly more. There is a crack on the right side of the casing surrouning kick starter lever and most likely the kick starter shaft, again im not very familiar with the parts. Today i didnt take the time to realize that i have friends who give horrible "tips" and over all it was a crappy day because now i have to figure out exactly what is damaged and how much the part and labor will cost!

all i wanted was a bike to go riding ,which i could have, but not anymore. the worst part is im a college student and have no cash. i really hope not much more is damaged and i dont have to replace a bunch of other parts. i still have to have someone look at it! I might as well replace the engine with a new one..? i hope not

TODAY, my day went from ....to

thankfully i look at the bright side of things. im gunna have new parts when i get everything fixed and will have a beast of a bike because the ONLY time that i rode it, i enjoyed it very much everything worked perfect and it soaked up every bump so smoothly as i ripped through the gears, i basically love the bike already! except now i cant ride it till i fix it. i cant wait to go ride!!=/

sorry for the long post, this is the beginning of MY riding experience....i will appreciate any advice from people on here and i hope to ride with some fellow riders soon!

-Omar

Welcome, HI!

*sorry you are having a rotten time. I have no knowledge about kick starting, but i'm sure others here do. It may be easier to find a wr400f specific board, but please stick around and ride.

Welcome to the forum. Sorry about the misfortune. Really unfortunate, because when you follow the start procedure, they are very easy to start. Can you get some detailed pics of the side cases on the kick start side so we can maybe see what the issue is? If you can find a way to get your bike here to Wenatchee, I would be happy to work on it for you. You can't have a new bike that you can't ride, that just isn't right.

Welcome to the forum Omar.....

Please give your friend one of these for me.....

the only way i can show a pic is by leaving some one a text message since i lost the memory card to my camera. i spoke with a guy who works at a yamaha shop though and he said it could be just the kick starter assembly and the casings since they only sale both casings, not seperately OR maybe just the right casing if i could find a good used one myself but after looking at it i think i will have to replace both i have no choice unless i can find someone to weld the more damaged one(right casing). basically he said he has to look at it to tell me what is wrong with it for $80 or $30 if i remove the right casing myself. again i dont have money to play with at all so i will have to wait untill i have money to fix everything it will be a $400-$500 fix UNLESS i have to replace the entire engine(if there is more damage than i thought). THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And thanks for the greetings!!

the reason there sold in pair is because they are a matched set.. the case is cast as one piece then cut in half. there are no two case the same. you cant take one case half and replace it with one from another bike. the depth, clearances, and all will be way off on re-assembly. i would advise against changing just on half.


oh, by the way, welcome ! hope you can get it figured out.

a good welder and machine shop can repair just about anything.

i know what you are going through, my first bike was a XL 250 and my brother went out and wrecked it. he bent up all the guards, rack, headlight assembly and a bunch of little pieces. the only thing he did was put a headlight in it and said the rest still worked fine. the bike was never the same. boy was i pissed. then my second bike was a cr 250, and yes, i let him ride it also. guess what, 5 min later its handle bars were broken and he didnt think he needed to repair it. i did manage to get the cheapest set of handle bars you ever seen out of him. i think the cost like $30.00. so, when i bought my last to bikes, he hasnt got to ride any of them. i am very selective now on who i let ride my stuff. no one will respect it like you do. and i cant afford to replace it if someone else ruins it.

ok now i am done ranting