Modern Buddy

I went out this morning and turned over the Buddy, it just kept turning over without as much as a spurt out of the engine. So then I went to kickstart it, and it's like the kickstart isn't attached to anything. I hardly put any pressure on it and it just flops up and down. Never had a problem like this before. I've had a 161 kit on it for about five years, too.

I'm guessing you have two problems. One problem at a time.

Pull the plug. Reattach it to the plug wire. Ground the body of the plug to the motor case. Turn the motor over. Do you see a nice blue spark jumping the gap on the plug?

I take it you didnt install the bbk yourself, and you knowledge of the motor is limited? Look for spark first, like jrsjr said. First things first. Now, the kickstarter sits in a recess in the engine case, and needs to be looked after now and then because it will get dry and crusty and not engage when needed. I pull my cover every fall and clean and lube the assembly so-IF needed- it will work. I tend to not replace a battery until its on its last leg and always pay the price. Oh, AND the kickstart needs a firm/fast kick to get it to engage properly. A weak kick does not work. Will give it a false engagement feel. My wife cannot kickstart a Buddy unless she gets mad at it! The stomp of death works every time!

Toggle the kill switch? I'm under that they get fussy from time to time.

It won't crank at all, so don't know about getting a spark. The battery is about a year old. I'll take the cover off the kickstart and go from there, since I can push it down with my hand no problem. I'll hook the battery up to my GTS300, too.

tommyred wrote:It won't crank at all, so don't know about getting a spark. The battery is about a year old. I'll take the cover off the kickstart and go from there, since I can push it down with my hand no problem. I'll hook the battery up to my GTS300, too.

So, to be clear, when you press the Start button, the motor does not attempt to turn over? I thought you meant that the starter was turning the motor over and it wasn't starting up or even trying. My bad. That's a dead battery, usually. Take it to a place like Batteries Plus that can load test the battery to be sure.

Yup, dead battery. It's been sitting for a couple weeks, but I didn't that was enough to kill the battery. The kickstart is fine, too. Don't know why that didn't work. Haven't taken the cover off yet. For another day. Thanks gents. Safe scooting!

Good. That's Part 1. Part 2 is the kick starter.

Here is the best thread I can find about kickstarter woes. Read it carefully.

Then, study Diagram E2 from the original PGO documentation. The diagram you want is Page 2 of 28, "Left Hand Side Cover." Part #12 connects mechanically to Part #8. Just take a quick look and see how it is supposed to go together. The main suspicion is that some part of your mechanism has gotten jammed up or gunked up or otherwise frozen. The mechanism is mechanically very simple and the things that go wrong are pretty obvious. See that little clip that's included in the Part #8 drawing? That sometimes comes off. It's no big deal to put back together. Be sure to look carefully when you pull the cover off so parts don't fall out and get lost. Good Luck!

If it's that upgraded, it probably has an aftermarket variator without the ability to kick start.

dasscooter wrote:If it's that upgraded, it probably has an aftermarket variator without the ability to kick start.

I didn't think about that. I think I'd still pull the sidecover off to make sure, though, but that's just my $0.02.

I've kickstarted it plenty of times. It can be a pain in the ass, or it kick over on the 2nd kick. Just never know.

I have heard that some of the aftermarket cranks do away with the kick start. To me, that would be the worst since my Buddy is now a back-up/fun toy instead of main transportation. It sits for a minimum of a month up to 3 months without even being started. I know, not good. It can be a pig to kick if the battery gets weak.

tommyred wrote:I've kickstarted it plenty of times. It can be a pain in the ass, or it kick over on the 2nd kick. Just never know.

In that case, I'd definitely pull that side cover and take a look, just in case there are loose parts in there. You don't want loose parts rattling around in there. Chances are you'll just find that the kick-start mechanism is just gunked up and a little cleanup will put it straight.

Since it's a shitty, rainy day, I'll sit under the carport and take off the cover. I'll be back to let you know the findings. That kickstart comes in handy, so I definitely want it to work correctly.

tommyred wrote:Since it's a shitty, rainy day, I'll sit under the carport and take off the cover. I'll be back to let you know the findings. That kickstart comes in handy, so I definitely want it to work correctly.

Anything?

I waited for the rain to end and some halfway decent weather. I took the cover off, and everything looked cool until I found two pieces of broken plastic. I had no clue what it was, and Kevin at the shop didn't know.

I went down yesterday to get a new gasket for it, and brought the plastic parts. Seems they were from when the belt went out, and one piece was stuck in the little vent at the end of the case, and the other one was under the plate.

Everything is running great, and as soon as I started it, I turned it off, and kick started it. First try, vrooom!!!

Thanks for the info and the link.

Ha! Good to hear. Thanks for letting us know.

Happy Scootering!!!