Buddy breakdown!

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:46 am

you read it right, folks. my beloved buddy broke down

i was coming home from work on friday night, and i had noticed the last day or so that the kick starter wasnt working that well. i was going to take it in to the shop sometime this week for my second maintenence (im at 2000 miles). but then im driving down a pretty abandoned road and it just starts to die. im like noooooooo!! i pull into a parking lot and have a lot of trouble getting it started. i tried the electric start with the throttle wide open, but it would only stay on for 10 seconds (while i twisted the throttle multiple times to feed it gas). i end up pushing it to the nearest place with a phone (my phone was dead) (i work on the UH campus) and calling the roadside assistance. i go back out to mess with it some more, and i actualy get it to idle pretty good. so im like, sweet! i dont need them to tow me! so i call them back and cancel it, then start riding home again. aaaaand of course it dies again. so i just push it back to the parking spot on campus where i park it and walk to my friends house (he lives 5 mins away) and crashimg there for the night.

the worst part is, my local scooter shop isnt open until tuesday.... my scooter picked a horrible time to die >.>.

and yes, there was gas and oil in it, and i didnt do anything crazy like jumpimg off a ramp with it. so im 99% sure its covered under warrenty, cuz there is no reason a vehicle should break down after 2000 miles, right?

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:17 am

do you have a vented gas cap? It sounds like the infamous vapor lock to me. Especially since you left it alone for awhile and then it started and then died again. Try starting it and running it again. When it dies again pop the seat and unscrew the gas cap. If you here a hear a sound when you open the gas cap and it starts up again after you replace the cap then you need a vented gas cap and you'll be all good.

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:19 pm

do you have a vented gas cap? It sounds like the infamous vapor lock to me. Especially since you left it alone for awhile and then it started and then died again. Try starting it and running it again. When it dies again pop the seat and unscrew the gas cap. If you here a hear a sound when you open the gas cap and it starts up again after you replace the cap then you need a vented gas cap and you'll be all good.

yeah i unscrewed the gas cap and rescrewed it, started it, nothing. then i tried to start it with the gas cap open (maybe a bad idea lol)..... still couldnt idle....:/

synaps3 · Post by **synaps3** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:25 pm

Aw, that sucks! Did you drop it off at the shop today?

Ethan Allison · Post by **Ethan Allison** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:56 am

Is it alright when it's not idling? It could be an idle speed adjustment on the carb.

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:09 am

i was not able to drop off my poor caroline off at the scooter shop today, because i got bit by a wild dog (actually got attacked by a pack of ten or so dogs- only one suceeded in biting me) last night bicycling home (because my scooter was not starting), and spent all of today in doctor offices and the ER finding out if i needed a rabies shot, then actually getting a rabies shot. what a terrible series of events >.<

and no, even with the throttle wide open, it still died.

tomorrow i will get it towed there after class.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:45 am

dshanson wrote:
do you have a vented gas cap? It sounds like the infamous vapor lock to me. Especially since you left it alone for awhile and then it started and then died again. Try starting it and running it again. When it dies again pop the seat and unscrew the gas cap. If you here a hear a sound when you open the gas cap and it starts up again after you replace the cap then you need a vented gas cap and you'll be all good.
yeah i unscrewed the gas cap and rescrewed it, started it, nothing. then i tried to start it with the gas cap open (maybe a bad idea lol)..... still couldnt idle....:/

That may not be enough to "cure" the vapor lock if indeed that is the problem. If it occurs, it may start and die again. You can run it with the gas cap off or loose.

If you get vapor lock, you can open the gas tank. There may or may not be a whooshing noise. Then rev it for a minute or so. Stand on the center stand to stabilize it. Sometimes it just has to run out. If you can start it and it will run with the gas cap loose or off, then that's likely your issue.

But you said you'd had trouble kickstarting. Why were you kickstarting instead of using the electric ignition?

Had there been any other issues? Rough idle? Running sluggishly?

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:37 pm

ericalm wrote:
dshanson wrote:
do you have a vented gas cap? It sounds like the infamous vapor lock to me. Especially since you left it alone for awhile and then it started and then died again. Try starting it and running it again. When it dies again pop the seat and unscrew the gas cap. If you here a hear a sound when you open the gas cap and it starts up again after you replace the cap then you need a vented gas cap and you'll be all good.
yeah i unscrewed the gas cap and rescrewed it, started it, nothing. then i tried to start it with the gas cap open (maybe a bad idea lol)..... still couldnt idle....:/
That may not be enough to "cure" the vapor lock if indeed that is the problem. If it occurs, it may start and die again. You can run it with the gas cap off or loose.

If you get vapor lock, you can open the gas tank. There may or may not be a whooshing noise. Then rev it for a minute or so. Stand on the center stand to stabilize it. Sometimes it just has to run out. If you can start it and it will run with the gas cap loose or off, then that's likely your issue.

But you said you'd had trouble kickstarting. Why were you kickstarting instead of using the electric ignition?

Had there been any other issues? Rough idle? Running sluggishly?

i always kickstart cuz i think its fun, and i dont want my battery to be overstrained from staying outside and never getting a charger. my commute isnt huge, and i dont want to use the electric starter like 8 times a day and only go a short distamce

it started to run sluggisly right before it died... but not really beforehand.

ill try the gas cap thing again but ill wait a little longer see if it makes a difference

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:18 pm

Sounds like it wasn't getting fuel. I have seen one with a leaking fuel petcock in the rear. The fact that it would idle but not go says kinked fuel hose or bad petcock, or a bad vacuum line to the petcock...Yeah warranty should take of you. Just get her there and in line to be fixxed

Let us know what it was.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:49 pm

Three things cause stalling:
lack of fuel
lack of air
lack of spark

It's just a matter of looking at the symptoms and checking off probable causes from most to least likely.

desmolicious · Post by **desmolicious** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:03 pm

dshanson wrote: and no, even with the throttle wide open, it still died. tomorrow i will get it towed there after class.

Make sure your bike is on the center stand w/ the rear wheel not touching the ground when you do that.

Because with the CVT transmission, it will hook up and take off...

etak · Post by **etak** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:23 am

dshanson wrote:i was not able to drop off my poor caroline off at the scooter shop today, because i got bit by a wild dog (actually got attacked by a pack of ten or so dogs- only one suceeded in biting me) last night bicycling home (because my scooter was not starting), and spent all of today in doctor offices and the ER finding out if i needed a rabies shot, then actually getting a rabies shot. what a terrible series of events >.<

and no, even with the throttle wide open, it still died. tomorrow i will get it towed there after class.

Packs of wild dogs roaming the streets of Houston? I knew Texas was bad, but jeeze.
Hope you're okay!!

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:54 am

it turns out that it was the engine not getting enough fuel, because the gas cap was creating too tight of a seal. i guess that is a real problem for buddies, huh? steve smith (my local buddy repairman) just made a small hole in the gas cap on both sides and now it runs like a champ! in fact, i hit 60 bmph with what seemed like half throtltle! so yeah whoever said it sounded like the gas cap, you totally called it. thanks!

the good thing is, besides hours waiting and pushing my scooter around UH, a potentially rabid dog bite, and 8 shots over the next two weeks, i payed nothing for it to get fixed! well, my parents payed for the medical bills (and our insurance). but yeah! free roadside assistance! and awesome guys like steve smith!

and yes, there are wild dogs in houston. the ghetto parts at least >.>. and there is no animal control for dogs and cats in houston. no pound. i found this out after a LOT of phone calls. meh. im just gonna go in my roommates suv and shoot them from the safety of a steel cage. and yes, i know im contributing to texas gun sterotypes

. (im gonna use a bow and arrows tho! is that better??)

Post by **ericalm** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:51 am

Scootersmith to the rescue!

The issue is pretty much what people usually call vapor lock here, but is more accurately vacuum lock. Basically, the tank needs to breathe—gas expands and generates a lot of vapor when it gets warm, but it also needs incoming air to displace gas as it goes to the engine. So… Gas getting in the air system will starve the engine of air, meaning no combustion (vapor lock). Air not circulating into the tank causes a vacuum to form as gas flows out until the vacuum pressure builds up and halts the flow (vacuum lock).

synaps3 · Post by **synaps3** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:54 am

Glad to hear it was a quick, easy fix.

LunaP · Post by **LunaP** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:57 am

dshanson wrote:im just gonna go in my roommates suv and shoot them from the safety of a steel cage. and yes, i know im contributing to texas gun sterotypes . (im gonna use a bow and arrows tho! is that better??)

... not really, no

dshanson · Post by **dshanson** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:40 am

LunaP wrote:
dshanson wrote:im just gonna go in my roommates suv and shoot them from the safety of a steel cage. and yes, i know im contributing to texas gun sterotypes . (im gonna use a bow and arrows tho! is that better??)
... not really, no

oh well