So I replaced the main fuse and still couldn't get it to turn over by kick starting it. As described in other threads, I give the kick starter a soft/slow push first, then give it a fast push. No dice.
Let me give y'all a little background. I bought a new battery because my old one had been drained and then sat for a few months. I took it to get charged and the shop said it was dead, so I bought a new one. This new one was the one I put in backwards. I realized the scooter was low on gasoline and it also was most likely stale by that point. I filled it up and put a little bit of fuel stabilizer in as well. After an afternoon of trying my best to get it to turn over, still wouldn't budge.
When I bought the new one, they put the battery acid in it fresh and charged it up for me. The guy did say that I should kick start it to get it going, as the engine might need to charge the battery a bit more. I'm thinking I possibly drained the battery enough after all this that it won't even kick start. Either that or something else is wrong, but that is beyond my albeit very limited mechanical knowledge.
Again thanks in advanced for any advice y'all give me. I desperately wanna get my Buddy running again.
With the battery connected properly and the new fuse installed, what happens when you turn the ignition on? My Roughhouse has an 2 stroke oil level warning light that goes on briefly, then off. And the fuel gauge will slowly climb. The brake light will work if the brakes are used.
All the above work, it verifies you are getting electricity into the system. By the way, if there is enough energy to light the brake light brightly with the engine not running, there should be enough to run the ignition for kick-starting.
If electrical stuff seems okay then you might pull the plug and check for spark.
Also, if it was sitting a while, it can take some time to get fresh fuel into the carburetor float bowl because of the manifold vacuum-operated fuet shutoff. So if electrical and spark look good, maybe more kicking is needed.
Beyond that, the carb could be plugged up with goo and might need to be rmoved and cleaned.
The battery has a lot of energy. It would take something very significant to drain it quickly. And, if the system is designed correctly, the fuse should protect the system and the battery. Seems unlikely the battery was damaged by this brief issue.
1971 Hodaka Ace 100
1977 Suzuki GT250 is now sold... Good bike!
1980 Yamaha IT125
Honda: '66 CT90 KO; '83 CT110; '92 CT70; 2001 XR250
and 1 or 2 others... I need to sell some bikes!
And, your kill switch is in the ON position I assume? We all make that mistake once in a while...
1971 Hodaka Ace 100
1977 Suzuki GT250 is now sold... Good bike!
1980 Yamaha IT125
Honda: '66 CT90 KO; '83 CT110; '92 CT70; 2001 XR250
and 1 or 2 others... I need to sell some bikes!
I don't get anything when the ignition is on - no lights, nothing when I hit the horn and turn signals. And the kill switch is set to on - I even toggled it on/off because I heard that sometimes it can get stuck.
greasewizard wrote:I'm thinking I possibly drained the battery enough after all this that it won't even kick start.
I don't think that's possible: it should be possible to kickstart the Buddy's engine even if it has no battery at all. Running the bike that way isn't recommended, for various reasons, but it should be possible.
Kickstarting the Buddy 50 can be a little tricky, especially if you haven't previously gotten the feel for it. I discovered that the only way to get mine to start was to hold the throttle open a little at the same time I kick it.
One diagnostic clue: when you kick, you should get enough juice to light the headlight dimly... do you?
greasewizard wrote:I don't get anything when the ignition is on - no lights, nothing when I hit the horn and turn signals. And the kill switch is set to on - I even toggled it on/off because I heard that sometimes it can get stuck.
FYI: the headlight is powered by the running engine. The turn signals and horn are powered by the battery.
hmmm, well I am going to check if I get the headlight when kickstarting it when I get home from work - although I don't think I saw any headlight when doing it before. I've successfully kickstarted it in the past and also gave myself a youtube refresher before doing it.
Could no headlight when kickstarting indicate the dirty carb that Robbie mentioned before?
Great news! I got it to turn over by kick starting!!! Thanks all for your help!!
I think something is still wonky with the electrical system though. All the lights are on, the turn signals aren't working and when I press the horn the headlight goes dim. Unfortunately I didn't try starting it with the key. I will try that tomorrow.
After looking at the service manual I couldn't find what these symptoms would be indicative of. Do y'all know what this could mean?
greasewizard wrote:Could no headlight when kickstarting indicate the dirty carb that Robbie mentioned before?
I don't think so. The headlight coming on (briefly, dimly) is a side effect of the small amount of electricity that you're generating with your kick, which should happen regardless of whether the engine is actually firing successfully or not.
greasewizard wrote:I think something is still wonky with the electrical system though. All the lights are on, the turn signals aren't working and when I press the horn the headlight goes dim. Unfortunately I didn't try starting it with the key. I will try that tomorrow.
After looking at the service manual I couldn't find what these symptoms would be indicative of. Do y'all know what this could mean?
No turn signals or horn suggests a discharged battery. If they still don't work after about 15 minutes of riding, it probably isn't getting charged, which could indicate either a problem with the battery itself, or with the charging system (the bike's equivalent of a car's alternator).
greasewizard wrote:Could no headlight when kickstarting indicate the dirty carb that Robbie mentioned before?
I don't think so. The headlight coming on (briefly, dimly) is a side effect of the small amount of electricity that you're generating with your kick, which should happen regardless of whether the engine is actually firing successfully or not.
greasewizard wrote:I think something is still wonky with the electrical system though. All the lights are on, the turn signals aren't working and when I press the horn the headlight goes dim. Unfortunately I didn't try starting it with the key. I will try that tomorrow.
After looking at the service manual I couldn't find what these symptoms would be indicative of. Do y'all know what this could mean?
No turn signals or horn suggests a discharged battery. If they still don't work after about 15 minutes of riding, it probably isn't getting charged, which could indicate either a problem with the battery itself, or with the charging system (the bike's equivalent of a car's alternator).
sounds good. I only got to ride it for maybe 5-10 minutes last night. I am going to take it for a longer ride to charge that battery. I think towards the end of the ride last night I started to get the horn a bit so I think you're right about the discharged battery.
Again, I can't thank you enough for your help. This community is great!
I would suggest getting a battery tender and charging the battery overnight.
It's a good item to have on hand anyway. Especially if the scooter will sit for any period of time.
.::I know the voices in my head aren't real, but man do they come up with some great ideas::.
Your going to have a hard time getting that battery fully charged just riding around. Charging systems, even in cars are designed to really charge a battery, they are met to Maintain a charged battery.. Don't get me wrong, if you ride long enough, and your not exceeding your charging capacities running lights and other components, it will eventually charge. I don't know what the charging system is rated on a Buddy.... If you take a car charging system rated at 60 amphr.... that means it takes 1 hour to put 60 amps back in the battery... If you have a low battery, and start stop, start stop, start stop, you will eventually run the battery down even in a good charging system if everything is not in very good condition. A fresh battery will come back up to charge a lot easier and faster then one that is several years old. You can run a good battery down to almost dead, and let it set and will almost come back to full charge, but it's very hard on them unless they are a deep cycle battery... I'd get a battery tender, or a charger and get the battery charged up, and don't over tax your charging system...
2006 Buddy 125 in ORANGE!..Sold
2007 Harley FLHX in Black Cherry!
1999 Saturn SC1...."Marvin"...Still runnin' strong
