1948 chief kick starter

[jn1972]

I just purchased a 1948 chief ,and was having trouble with the kickstarted engaging and disengaging,I disassembled the kick starter and there are 5 metal balls that make it engage,I looked on greers website and there are suppose to be 5 springs behind the balls ,mine does not have these just wondering if it was common practice to remove then or they were just lost when the bike was disassembled another time thanks jerry

[gsottl]

it should also work without the springs if the bearings balls are clean and everything is oiled with lightweight oil. I use that type of kicker mechanism on my 1950 Chief since years without the springs. Sounds a bit like a Ducati clutch :-)