Buddy 50 2-stroke wiring layout?

[Steve77]

Does anyone have a picture showing the wiring layout that supplies voltage to the auto choke? I have a 2008 Buddy that runs good except that there is no voltage going to the auto choke therefor the choke never shuts off; which limits the top speed to 20 MPH.

[tenders]

This is the wiring diagram, but I’m not certain the choke would explain why the speed is limited. I can jump on my Buddy in cold weather and get close to top speed before the choke would turn off. And at high throttle levels, the choke doesn’t affect the mixture very much.

Looks like the auto bystarter (the name for this design of choke) is powered directly by AC off the stator?

[DeeDee]

If you follow the two leads coming off the choke are they connected to two leads in the loom? It makes it's connection on the right side of the scooter about midway on the seat bucket.

[Steve77]

Thank you for the replies. I did find the yellow wire connected in a joint location, and it is not DC voltage. I will try to power the auto choke with 12V DC to verify that it moves over time. I also found the blue wire (that connects to 5ohm resistor B) broken. So I repaired that blue wire and the problem isn't fixed. It seems as if the choke is just on, and never turns off. If this isn't the solution, I am running out of ideas as I have replaced the spark plug and wire, ignition controller, fuel filter and lines, variator weights, cleaned the clutch, checked the drive belt and replaced the air filter, plus new fuel.
It starts right up and idles and runs fine, it just doesn't have the power to go over 20 MPH. Is it possible that compression got low enough to cause this? It had been running very well but had a strange behavior; when we went to full throttle it would stall. So I replaced the ignition controller and that problem was corrected, but it will not go over 20 now. I put the original ignition controller back in and it still won't go over 20.

[Steve77]

I powered the auto choke with 12 volts directly from the battery and nothing happened. I checked the resistance of the auto choke and found 70k ohms which I assume is wrong; someone said that auto chokes are normally ~12 ohms. Can anyone confirm what it should be?

[youkiddin]

maybe something in here will be useful http://www.modernbuddy.com/forum/viewto ... anders+101

[Steve77]

Well, I found a great post here describing the function and confirming that it is powered from A/C; plus the fact it should be less than 10 ohms so mine is bad. However, I am not convinced it will fix my speed problem. I will need to decide if I should buy a cheap carburetor or try to replace the official auto bystar.

http://www.modernbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27646

[sc00ter]

I would stick with the factory carb and just replace the choke circuit. A aftermarket carb will require further modding to make it fit, then you never know if the factory air box will line back up on the original mounting points.

I used to have a bunch of stock Zuma 50cc 2-stroke choke circuits laying around but I think they got tossed. When we built modded Zumas we would put manual "switch" style chokes on the builds. The theory is KISS-Keep It Simple Stupid. We would eliminate anything overly complicated and with the switch style lever you knew it was On or Off, as long as you remember what position does what! I had to draw a little "reminder" near the lever so I remember what position did what.

[Steve77]

Thank you for the reply and advice. I did order a replacement auto starter off Amazon.

Someday, I will buy another scooter just to play with as a little hot rod; do you recommend one brand over another that has a lot of aftermarket parts for?

[tenders]

For what it’s worth I spent a lot of time troubleshooting my buddy’s Buddy for stalling and general symptoms that really appeared to be caused by fuel delivery problems.

The actual problem was that the transmission was sticking in “high” gear just often enough to be “cured” intermittently which led to all manner of unfounded high-fives, followed by confusion and crushing disappointment.

If the scooter refuses to go above 20, but otherwise runs well, maybe the transmission is stuck in “medium” gear? Or is the belt just off, stiff, and slipping? You can have the CVT apart, cleaned, and reassembled in 30 minutes with a bit of practice. What you’re describing just doesn’t sound like a choke problem to me.

[Steve77]

Thank you, I am awaiting the new auto bystarter which should arrive by Thursday. After I install that to verify if there is any improvement or not; I will disassemble the variator again. I replaced the worn weights with 7gram units just the other day with no improvement. I will look for a video on how to properly clean and lube? the variator assembly.

[sc00ter]

You have the variator that houses the rollers and the torque driver the resides behind the clutch bell. You can do a simple open/shut test to see if something is hanging up on the torque driver. Unless the scooter in question is really old, ridden thru deep water on more than one occasion or abused with burnouts the torque driver is pretty tough and rarely needs a overhaul. I usually break them (torque driver) open at 15,000ish miles and repack the grease/inspect pin guides. Oh, and there's the 3 little engagement springs on the clutch. Sometimes they wear out or break.

Now, IF you decide to buy a 2-stroke toy:
Yamaha Zuma 2-strokes are fun to mess with but all are getting old now. Still heavily supported thru parts and tuning mods. I fell out of love with Zumas but still recommend them.
Try to avoid cool/weird 2-strokes like Hyosungs, Adly, Kymco and TGB. All sell great 2-strokes but needed parts can be tricky to acquire. That being said I would LOVE another Hyosung Sense 2-stroke!
Aprillia is another odd choice for tuning. Also lump in Italjet in the same boat. I never see these locally.
You could always test your temper and get a old school cool moped. Tomos, and Puch are 2 of the more common ones. They are a blast to mod but will always rear their heads when you least expect it. They force you to up your game to make them reliable. I've sorta been kinda looking for one to play around with again.
Then you have the obvious, Genuine Buddy and the Rough House 2-strokes. I see a day when both will vanish due to EPA guidelines. I still might buy a new RH50 but the price is crazy high now! Almost the same OTD door price as my Buddy 125!
I feel that 2-stroke tuning is a dying art. Most people (me included) have gotten into ebikes and modding them. But something is missing. The sound and satisfaction of building a quick 2-stroke still calls.....