two questions

[slowpoke]

I bought a new 2006 blur 2 months ago. I'm breaking it in "close" to what the manual recommends . Sometimes it's hard to start and I have to give it a little throttle. I goofed last week and had it on the side stand , standing beside it when i revved it a little to get the idle to even out. It rolled away from me onto it's side. So, why is it sometimes hard to start, and how do i get rid of the scratches in the gray plastic? thanks.

[jrsjr]

Is this when the motor is cold or warmed up or both?

Here are two guesses based on my experience with a Blur...

If it's randomly hard to start when the motor is already warmed up, then I'm going to guess it's a clog in your carburetor. The Blur doesn't have a fuel filter, so any rubbish in the gas tank ends up in your carb. If this is the case, it will probably clear out as you rev the motor up. Is that what's happening? Once your bike is broken in, a mechanic would probably first attempt to clear such an clog by putting the bike up on the centerstand and running it hard for 10 seconds or so. I wouldn't do that to a bike that's not been run in and had at least its first oil change, though.

Um, one other little thing that's easy to check. The air filter cannister, that big honking black plastic box on your motor, the cover to that thing needs to be on there nice and snug or the bike won't start (or run) worth a darn. You can see if the cover is snug or not. If there's a gap where air can leak in it will play heck with your bike. (Can you tell this happened to me?) Don't get overly ambitious and overtorque the screws that hold that cover on because those screws are just big sheet-metal screws sunk into plastic. It would be hella easy to strip one of those. (Thank goodness this did not happen to me!)

It could also be a problem with your choke, but we haven't heard complaints about that. I didn't experience that problem, but it could be.

Anybody else?

Hope this helps! Let us know what you figure out.

Welcome to Modern Buddy!

[illnoise]

If it's a 2006 and it had been dealer prepped and sitting with gas in it for a long time, and rarely ridden, I'd figure it's probably the carb. when gas evaporates, it leaves behind sticky residue (and sometimes sediment). the gas in the tank is no big deal because there's so much of it and it's in a mostly-enclosed container (other than air vents in the cap), but gas in your carb evaporates as the bike sits and that gunk clogs up the holes in the jets and the tiny passages and channels in the carb. Riding at speed forces air through most of the carb and cleans that stuff out, but there are some jets and passages that are only used for cold-starting and idling, and if they're clogged up, running at speed probably won't help, the best way to do it is to remove the carb, disassemble it, soak it in cleaner, use spray cleaner to clean out the tubes and jets, and then reassemble it (new gaskets may be required). A simple job on an old Vespa, but I've never tried it on a modern bike.

Something choke-related makes sense, too, but I have no idea how an autochoke works.

As far as the plastic, it's tough to repair because of the texture and (IIRC) there's a little bit of metal flake in there. I'm not sure if that's embedded in the plastic or if it's paint, but in any case it'd probably be cheaper to replace than to repair.

If the color is embedded in the plastic, you could just sand it down with fine-grit sandpaper, but I have no idea how you'd match the texture.

I'd say, don't worry about it, put a sticker on top of it and maybe order the part from your dealer knowing it'll take two years to get it (would it even be available ever, if these Blurs were custom-painted for Genuine more than a year ago? Unless Genuine stocked up on 2006 body parts, I don't know how you'd replace it) and ride it as-is. Even if you get the part right away, wrap it in bubble wrap and save it, if you fix it, chances are you'll trash the new panel worse a week later, heh. You'll never win. : )

[bicyclerider]

Where is the carb located on the blur?
what is the best way to clean it?

with what type of spray?
can this be accomplished without removing the carb from the motor?

thanks
Mark