Z1OwnersClub GB

After many shenanigans rebuilding my Z1-B I finally tried to start the bike today but although it appeared to make the correct initial noises eg starter motor turning etc the kick start lever shot backwards! I managed to return it by hand with some effort upon which it made the expected clicking noise as normal. However, it's now returned in a further than normal position. Am I looking at another engine rebuild or is there a less traumatic solution. HELP !!!

I think if you remove the kickstart lever followed by the four screws securing the cover in place you might be able to draw out the shaft. It's possible the spring has either broken or one end has come out of it's locating position.
You might be able to re-secure the spring without having to split the cases.
Hopefully you'll be able to figure out what's gone wrong with this cover off.

Removing the cover and lever will be the first job tomorrow as after this happened I just didn't have the will to do any more today, considering how much work I've put into this

If you're talking about the KS shaft itself, that can't be removed without splitting the crankcases which is what I'm afraid I might have to do.

Thanks for your help anyway. Any help at all on this is very much appreciated as I can't for the life of me work out why the KS would suddenly rotate anti-clockwise.

Looking at this picture I found it looks like you cannot remove the kickstart shaft without splitting the cases, but you may well be able to get the spring out and/or refit it it if has become dislodged.

There is also a "positive stop" mechansim , which should stop the kickstart from rotating too far forward.
You have refitted the small bracket on the crancase, held in place with two M6 bolts, haven't you ?
Or possibly the kickstart just needs repositioning on the splined shaft.

remove the spring & rotate the kickstart shaft fully clockwise until it comes in contact with the stop then refit the spring with the spring located in the hole in the crank case & then in the top of the hole in the shaft

+1 on the above comment. There are no marks to align when installing the KS shaft, so it's pretty fool-proof.
Most probably the way you have the spring assembly on.....

Sorted yesterday! Took off the lever, couldn't get the cover off as I would have to take the carbs and airbox out to tap gently from the other side (there is a very slight raised area around the edge of the cover), and hoped I could solve it without this hassle. Thinking the ratchet and gear may have hydraulically locked together I smacked the end of the shaft with a rubber mallet a few times and also disengaged the clutch whilst turning the crank by hand. The shaft was still rotating but I took the chance and started the engine anyway after marking a white line on the exposed part of the shaft. The engine fired up after a few seconds and the shaft remained stationary much to my relief. I'm still not sure why the bloody thing did what it did the first time of trying but it's possible that it did lock itself as aforementioned.

Next step of course is to refit the KS lever and try and start it with that, and hope it returns to the start position on the spring.

Many thanks to all who offered advice which is very much appreciated.

For those still interested in the progress on this total fiasco, my updates will now continue on my thread "Z1-B Restoration after 43 Years."

And for those who wish to draw a line under the whole sorry affair, no, it didn't work and I'm now back where I started at the beginning of this thread.

Shit!