2005 tr450r hard to kickstart

You need to adjust the decompression mechanism. You measure the right side exhaust valve clearance and then add .15mm +/- .02mm to that as your clearance.

Or you can get a compression gauge and adjust the decompression mechanism to about 90-100psi and it should kick over easy. Put the atv in neutral and hold the throttle wide open then kick it over a few times to measure.

Also double check to make sure nothing is binding internally in the engine and the kicker isnt binding either.

I thought it was the decompression. Also what do you mean by binding? The kicker does make a noise when you kick it, it's like a "ERR"

By bind I mean it kicks over nicely till a certain point then internally something seems to drag or gets stuck. I'd say its likely nothing binding, just an incorrectly adjusted decompressor.

Here is a webpage on measure valve clearances: GHOTT's 2005 Honda TRX450R Valve Adjustment How To

Adjusting the decompression mech. is easy, all you need to do loosen the small nut and turn the screw to the correct gap (check with feeler gauge) or adjust till the compression tester reads about 90-100psi. Just to clarify: You measure the right side (side with the brake lever) exhaust valve clearance, then you add the .15mm to that when measuring the decompressor mech. So exhaust valve clearance is lets say .10mm, you add .15mm when measuring decomp mech so you get .25mm.

Makes sense?

It gets hard to kick at about 2-3 inches downwards. I can stand on the thing.


I'll see if I can get someone to adjust it or help me adjust the decompression thing, because I don't have a compression tester or feeler gauge. It makes a little sense.

The easiest way to check the decomp or an internal problem is to pull the spark plug. If it kicks easy its the decomp, if its still hard you have bigger problems

hawk-trx said:

The easiest way to check the decomp or an internal problem is to pull the spark plug. If it kicks easy its the decomp, if its still hard you have bigger problems

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Good advice :

So take out the spark plug and try to kick it without it in?

Without the plug you should be able to push the kick start down by hand. The only hard spots will be from the valve springs

Thanks everyone! My friend referred me to this ATV mechanic who's hopefully going to work on it next weekend. He think its something to do with the Cams, because the kickstart does make a weird noise when I can kick it. But honestly I don't know. I will keep you updated!

cheyenne said:

I got it back a while ago and it starts much easier now! Also I plasti dipp my plastics Purple

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Im having same problem with mine that you had, you remember what they had to do to fix it?

gresynschmitz said:

Im having same problem with mine that you had, you remember what they had to do to fix it?

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Same thing on this post it’s from 2014. What mods do you have and what jet sizes? Chances are you need to adjust your valves. If this is something you can do yourself that’s the first thing I would do. Especially if you just bought the quad. also turn your idle up a little bit.
But if you let us know your mods jet sizes and what exactly the quad is doing we can help.