How to get her running again

[Micahsk]

Hi, I have a 2008 Buddy 125 that hasnt been touched in over two years. It has less then 500 miles on it. I've never worked on a scooter before so this will be a experience for me. What should be the first things I should do to get it up and running again? also how would I be able to drain the old gas left in the tank? Thanks!

[tortoise]

Expedient strategy:
1. Verify engine oil level on dipstick.
2. Add a splash of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol into the gas tank and mix by rocking on the center stand.
3. Remove seat tub, twist up carb bowl vent tube, add around a tablespoon of gas, and spray in a few shots of carb cleaner.

[Micahsk]

Well to give a update I had to completely take apart the carb. It was unbelievably clogged with the greenest gas ive ever seen. I put in some seafoam and fresh gas and got the battery recharged and got it running. It keeps stalling out when its idle but I hoping the seafoam will fix that soon. *fingers crossed* I also plan on changing the oil very soon

[brianwheelies]

Have carb cleaned by a professional or do new carb with factory settings.

Drain fuel tank and flush.

New fuel filter.

Chain oil.

Make sure hoses are not cracked/leaking.

Check air filter.

Take bike for a rip!

[scootnwinn]

Yes clean the carb the idle circuit/jet is still clogged

[Throwback7R]

i'm with everyone else ..

Drain gas .. seafoam only does so much.
use this to pull the old gas out of the tank
http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use- ... 66418.html

Pull the carb apart and really check all the jets.

[Micahsk]

update 2. still havent gotten around to changing the oil but i was able to get all the old gas out and replace it with new gas + seafoam. I also went ahead and cleaned the carb again. Its purring like a baby now.

[Junedad]

I have a Buddy 150 that has sat for over 3 years. It has 1100 miles on it and was serviced professionally at 1,000 miles. It is newly mine and I have the following plans, which I will update...

I've drained the gas from the tank, using a pump I bought from Napa AutoParts for 7 bucks. I think you could repurpose the sprayer attachment from a bottle of something to achieve this same purpose, esp. if you only have a little gas in the tank. My tank isn't particularly deep and you could probably extend your reach with some tubing or something, or if you have the right sprayer/bottle, like maybe a weed sprayer or something.

I also drained the fuel in the carburator...all over the floor in my garage. To avoid this, loosen the carb from the 2 large pipes in each side, and rotate the carb to you. There is a screw, in a small plastic hose, that lets the gas out. There is a tube on the other side of the screw that extends out of the bottom of the area and you can collect the gas in a bottle of some kind. It's only a few ounces. You don't have to spin the carb to you, but it makes getting to the screw much easier.

I stripped one of the screws on the bottom of the carb. They are small and tight and easy to strip. I bought #8-32 x 1/2" replacements, and they have larger slots for the screw driver, including a full slot for a flathead. I bought an EZ kit to get the screw out and it wasn't too difficult. Filing the phillips into a flathead didn't work, at least not with my cheap files from Harbor Freight.

After I finally got the carb out and open, I was surprised with how little buildup I saw. It looks brand new. I don't see any green gunk or residue at all. Hopefully this will be worth it and will get the scoot running, but I was hoping to see some obvious bad things that I could take away. Maybe the small jets are clogged and the cleaning will be worthwhile.

I bought a new oil filter online. Even though it was serviced within 100 miles, that was 3 years ago. So new oil and filter. YouTube has tons of videos on how to do it.

I bought some seafoam and will throw it in the fuel tank with some fresh gas, clean the carb and reassamble, hook up the new battery I bought online, and update.

[Tocsik]

If you need to disassemble the carb again for a cleaning, I would recommend cleaning out the jets with carb jet reamers. If you don't have any, but happen to be a guitar player, you could try reaming with guitar strings. Last time my son changed his strings, I grabbed the old set to have on hand for this purpose. Each string is a different diameter so it may work well. Just be sure you don't actually enlarge the size of the hole by running one of the larger strings with winding back-and-forth too much. I've just never cleaned my carb so I don't know how well it may work.

36K miles and never cleaned the carb. I just don't let my scooter sit long enough to cause problems but I've been wondering if there could still be a varnish build-up that I should worry about. I use brand-name fuel and dump a little Seafoam in the tank every once in a while. I haven't messed with it because it's running just fine. As they say "the enemy of good is better".
But, does anyone recommend cleaning the carb just because of the age or number of miles if it doesn't ever really sit for than a month?