One of my riding buddies decided to get a Banshee, so I have looked at several used Banshees lately. Nearly every one we saw had a ringing noise from vibration in the kick starter. VERY ANNOYING!

Well, this past weekend, my '98 Banshee started doing the same thing. For me, it was fix it or replace it ($87.33 from Yamaha). Here is how I fixed it: Removed the phillips screw on the kicker and removed the kick arm. On the shaft, there is a single ball bearing and an o-ring at the bottom. The o-ring was showing wear, so I matched it to a new one at the local hardware store ($0.29 vs. $0.91 Yamaha). I packed it all with grease and re-installed. No more noise.

 

I did the same and it had no more noise too..i also replaced the ball...mine was worn badly..i fixed it all for about a dollar

 

THANK YOU!!! ive been looking for this solution for years now!!!..LOL i cant stand that rattling anymore!! now if i could just get that phillips head screw loose....

 

You are right, that screw was tight! I clamped a pair of vise grip pliers onto the shaft of a large #3 Phillips screwdriver and it popped loose easily. Couldn't have done it without the leverage of the vise grips, though. The screw had lock-tite on it from the factory.

 

Dumb question, but.... : I took mine apart and couldn't get the ball back in. How do you get it back in?

What I did the first time to stop the rattling: I took it off, got an inverted cone spring and put it up in the kicker so that it would put pressure against the shaft. It worked really good until I went to start my banshee and the kicker was gone!
Guess that's why there is a ball in there and loctite is used.... I'm back to a noisy kicker now, but if somebody will explain how to get the ball back in, I'll have another go at it.

 

i know people who have this problem so they just take the kicker off and keep it in the van but these guys are racers i dont think this is a very good idea because if you stall your screwed.ive sent it HAPPEN

 

Put a good coating of grease on the bearing and inside the bearing seat before putting it in. I also put a good amount of grease on the shaft. It went back together with no problem and the extra grease came out the hole on the back side of the screw hole.

 

Thanks for the tip now I can stop that annoying rattle.

 

I haven't had that problem with mine yet. I have noticed that on the rear brake arm where it bolts on to the frame there is a washer that vibrates and rattles. There was a little gap between the arm and the washer and I'm sure I can squeeze a nylon washer between them to stop the sound.