420 auto , need advice /help

My friend bought an 81/82 auto and had it shipped to my house so i could check it out before bringing it up to Vt for our ride weekend . i was able to get it going at home but really nowhere to test it before bringing it up to him . So this weekend is our ride weekend and am having a problem with the 420 . Yesterday i had it running for a little while , seemed ok . The problem we're having is kick starting it , as it seems like the kickstarter is not catching . while at my house in Ct , every once in a while trying to kick start it the kicker would just go thru the stroke and not catch but if i started to kick slowly it would catch and start . Same thing yesterday , slipped 1st kick , 2nd kicker staid caught and fired right up . i was able to ride it for a little while to warm it up before changing the trans fluid as the bike was sitting for a while before he bought it .
The fluid that came out was red in color and replaced with 1200 cc of spectro very light suspension fluid . this is the closest i could find to the recomended transmission oil .it caught at first but now kickstarter doesn't seem to want to catch at all . So is there anything i could try while i'm still up in Vt and not have to bring the bike back to Ct and work on it at home ? So not being that familiar with the auto's , I'm looking for suggestion and advice . Could it just need to clean the kickstart assembly since it has been been sitting . Haven't pulled the side cover yet , if i can possibly fix the problem up here i will , just want to know what to expect first .

Sounds like a bad freewheel bearing.

Yes, it must the freewheel on 1st drum.
There are 2 different freewheel on 420 depending of the year.



Or

It will be the freewheel bearing on the crankshaft hopefully the crank shaft has not worn as well otherwise that will need to be replaced as well. You might find yet another type of freewheel set up which is the same as the 360/ 390, I have all 3 in my bikes and parts!!

Here is a link to what it looks like inside! http://www.teamnorrland.se/Renovera AE.htm

So this morning I went and tried it , now the engine is turning over while pushing the kickstarter through by hand . Could this be gummed up due to no use for a while ? We haven't tried to start it yet today but will a little later in the day . If this bearing needs to be replaced would the kickstarter work at all ? When it does catch it seems to be fine , like all or nothing . When it catches , it doesn't seem to slip at all .

Thats what happens, starts to not grab here and there and can result in shaft damage.
Its best to change them on the first sign of slipping.

Yea that's how one way bearings are . Look at every honda farm quad . They work . They intermittent. They not work . If you give a shit about it replace it . They do not ever get better on their own

definition of insanity...continuing to do a failing task ....in the hope there will be a different outcome

Well sounds like I'll have to replace it , oh well . At least it's not my money , just my time and aggravation . It's nice to spend someone else's money . Yup , I heard the definition of insanity before . Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results . Anyway the auto's in my trailer heading back home as I'm reading this hoping to have it ready for a return trip to Vt . Any idea on availability of this bearing or is it a hard to locate part ? Haven't even started to look for 1 yet . My friend was very impressed with the 420 auto , he calls it his cheater bike because it was so easy to ride and this is from someone who has been a Maico rider for about the last 40 or so years .

Thanks for that link stormer254 , unfortunately for me it's been a long time since I've spoke Swedish . Was able to pick out some of the words but most of the words , not yet at this time but I'll keep trying . Going to clean up the bikes today as they are a muddy mess . Hopefully I'll start looking at the auto soon .

Google chrome does a very good translation, that is what I use, it will translate the document in one go.

I'll have to try that , thanks.

unfortunately for me it's been a long time since I've spoke Swedish

just give"Inga" a call, im sure she will sort you out...

Update , we had our ride this past weekend and was able to work on the auto . Replaced the 1st gear Sprague bearing and springs while I was in there . So far so good , it's been kicking over consistently . He loves his "cheater bike "! Thanks for the help . Sorry it took so long to update but bike was 300 miles from me , this was first chance to work on it .