Modern Buddy

I've come to partake of the wisdom of this esteemed forum. Here's my situation, I replaced the stator three months ago (at about 7000 miles). Since that time I've been increasingly been having problems using the electric starter until this week or so when I've had to kickstart the bike every time. I've attributed this to just the battery which is about 2.5 years old (florida's humidity can be hard on batteries, or so they say), but just today on the ride into work the scooter lost power on the road. I let it rest, gave it another go and it died again. This time (just because I assume everything is vapor lock) I removed the gas lid and just let the bike idle on the center stand. And it ran...after a while I decided to take the rest of the way to work, and it made it.

My question is, do we think this is the stator failing again, or possibly some other problem, or do I have a dying battery and a coincidental case of vapor lock?

No buddy dealers nearby anymore, so the shop I have to go to is much closer to my work than home. Should I be taking this guy in while I'm close to avoid a tow?

I appreciate any help.

I'm going to chime in as well, since I had the exact same problem this morning and wanted to start a thread.

If I remove my gas cap, it's fine. but the last couple of trips it has run down and died on me a few times, almost like it can't get air. remove gas cap, no problem.

I had it serviced by the shop @ 200 miles ago, no problems up until now.

weirdsong1 wrote:is the stator failing again

Test volts and Ohms with a multimeter.

There is a possibility that your gas cap vent holes are clogged. You may want to check/clean them.

I thought I had a vented cap, but I buzzed by the shop and they drilled a hole for me, seems to be fine now. odd that it would become a problem at 6300 miles....

Took it out for more test driving during lunch and replicated the stuttering but not complete loss of power (mostly at higher speeds). So, I just decided to take it in. Taking their time making a diagnosis, but did guess bad gas/water in the gas/dirty carb. We'll see. I'm really not in the mood to replace another stator.

For those of you who like resolution, got it back from the shop and ultimately they just replaced the coil. They said it was clearly an electrical problem (are there more joyous words in the scooter universe?) and did their best to test the entire electrical system. Obviously this means nothing for my waning battery, which they said was still good.

Of note though, they repeatedly told me the importance of using high grade gasoline. I've since reread many of the threads on this forum which is of course quite divided. Oh well.

oh boy, don't bring that up .

I just follow the epa sticker on each scoot as to what it likes, and have had no problems there. The buddy loves lower octane, the kymco will sputter and die constantly unless I use 91.

Your mechanic could have meant not to go to 'bargain' gas stations or use old gas. I did have one tank that was the very bottom of the batch (it took 8 minutes to get a gallon!) and it ran terribly for that tank.

I was actually a bit surprised when they brought up the gas thing and I questioned them incredulously. They were quite specific that 93 octane was the way to go. I'm not convinced.

Any further problems with your scoot, Skully?