50cc Buddy losing power at high speeds?

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craftynerd
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50cc Buddy losing power at high speeds?

Post by craftynerd »

Hi all! I figured I'd consult the Modern Buddy crew before hauling my beloved scoot back to the shop, because maybe you guys might have an idea as to what's going on.

I've had a strange issue where my Buddy 50 seems to lose power when riding at high speeds sustained for a couple of minutes - and strangely enough, it only happens at one spot on my commute. There's a short stretch of road towards the end of my ride to the office where the speed limit is 40 mph and has a gradual incline - my Buddy gets up to 45 bph typically on that stretch of road, and twice now I've had an issue where it feels like my scoot just loses engine power while traveling that stretch. My speed will drop drastically despite riding with the throttle wide open (45 bph to 25 bph over the course of a couple seconds is what happened this morning, for example) and the engine will eventually just shut off if I keep pushing it. Which is kinda scary when traveling on a 40 mph road!

The first time this happened, in mid-August, after sitting for a little bit, it started up alright and my scooter mechanic said he couldn't figure out what was wrong, as he couldn't find anything that would cause the loss of power. This morning, it gave out on me and I walked it the half-mile to the office and was able to start it back up once I got to my parking spot.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be up with my scooter? Some info about my scoot that might be helpful:

-It's a 2014 Buddy 50, with just shy of 3500 miles on it; I ride it 10 miles a day each weekday to get to work and back on mostly 30 mph roads, with the exception of that short 40 mph stretch
-I've got a fresh tank of gas and a nearly full tank of oil
-Have an NCY performance transmission in it, but that's the only performance mod I've done
-I did end up caught in a torrential downpour in mid-July - had to drag it down a road where the flooding was up over my floorboards, and the turn signal relay filled up with water due to the torrential rain and quit working, but my scooter mechanic said he couldn't see anything else wrong with it when I brought it in post-flood-riding to get a new turn signal relay

Any thoughts you guys have would be helpful. I managed to ride it around a little on my lunch break with no problem, but I want to figure out what's up so it doesn't get worse and result in a dead Buddy.
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az_slynch
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Post by az_slynch »

Check fuel delivery from the vacuum tap to the carburetor bowl. It sounds like there's a minor restriction that is slightly inhibiting fuel flow and not filling the carb bowl fast enough to meet demand at full throttle. There could be garf in the fuel screen (in the tank, attached to the tap) or in the fuel inlet of the carburetor.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

If possible, after a high speed run in which the engine dies, pull the sparkplug to check for a lean fuel condition. If it is, then your engine is probably overheating and possibly "soft" seizing. When it cools down, the piston frees itself and it'll start and run again. This will at least let you know if the problem is an electrical issue or mechanical. A lean and/or overheating condition could be caused by:

- fuel starvation due to dirt in the petcock, fuel filter, or lines
- too small of a main jet for your particular location/elevation
- float level in the carb is too low
- not enough oil being mixed with the fuel due to a faulty oil pump
- oil to the oil pump compromised due to blockage in the oil line or tank
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craftynerd
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Post by craftynerd »

Thanks for the replies I've gotten so far! My poor Buddy stalled AGAIN on my way home from work just now - I was headed up an even steeper hill than the one it died on this morning, going slower this time, and I felt it lose power so I tossed the emergency blinkers on and crawled the rest of the way home (was less than a block from home at that point) Hopefully all this will help give the mechanic a place to start from when I drag my scoot in to get it checked out...
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