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'14 Roughhouse 50 turning over but won't start after sitting

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:31 am
by NewIdiotWithAScooter
I know I'm an idiot. My wife and I got a couple of new Roughhouse 50's and had a lot of fun with them for a few years, but after both of us laying them over in separate instances, and a local guy getting killed after being hit by another drive my wife was too anxious for either of us to continue riding. Life hit about the same time with school, work, and family struggles both scooters got left in the garage over a winter without being started or left on battery tenders (I know now how dumb that was).

Fast forward to money being tight paying of student loans and moving jobs and we finally get to trying to sell them and of course they won't start up at first. I had run all of the fuel out of one of them, so after filling it up, changing the battery, and kick starting it I was able to get one of them up and running and sold.

My problem is I have replaced the battery in the remaining one, drained the fuel, sprayed carb/choke cleaner through the hoses and carb, new fuel in the tank (no ethanol), and still it turns over fine but won't actually get started via the electronic ignition or kick-start.

I was able to get it to start and rev up by spraying starter fluid in the carb while starting via the ignition, but it would only stay started as long as the starter fluid was in there, as soon as it ran through a spray it would rumble down and die. I figured it might be the fuel petcock as it seems that the problem is gas just isn't getting from the tank to the carb, but after replacing the petcock it still won't start completely. Cranks just fine, the engine just seems to not be getting fuel.

What else can I check from here? I'm tentative to go straight to taking the carb apart as I am not a super mechanical guy (changed oil, brakes, timing belts, etc. but nothing big) and I don't want to screw it up.

Video of it trying to start: https://youtu.be/jGc_iSV792s

Thanks in advance for any guidance. I've looked through posts here and elsewhere, watched videos, read through the manual and I'm stuck.

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 2:40 pm
by Stanza
If it starts for a moment with starter fluid, it likely means that the jets in the carb are plugged solid. You'll need to take the carburetor apart and do a thorough cleaning, or take it off and bring it to a shop that can do it for you.

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 1:19 am
by NewIdiotWithAScooter
Stanza wrote:If it starts for a moment with starter fluid, it likely means that the jets in the carb are plugged solid. You'll need to take the carburetor apart and do a thorough cleaning, or take it off and bring it to a shop that can do it for you.
Thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to try doing it myself!