How not to repair a scooter

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:14 pm

This was just too funny not to tell ya'll about.

I recently moved and since I work from home most of the time and have a lot of work to do around here, the scooter doesn't see much action. The last time I rode was in August when I rode it here, and since it sits in the garage.

One day I decided to move it to the other side of the garage to make room for a car. I put the keys in, turned it to On, unlocked the wheel and moved it.

About 2 weeks ago I had a chance to ride it (finally) and noticed the key was still in it and in the On position. No problem, I thought, I have a battery tender. So I rig it up, charge it, but when I try to start it, it turns over once, but no go. Well, maybe the battery needs a-changin'. It is 3 years old anyway. So I buy a new one.

A few days later on a Sunday I finally get the chance to put in the battery and take it for a spin. I was really looking forward to it. I also bought a new and improved headlamp for better visibility. I go to bolt the battery in, but the bolts don't tighten. Drat, the new battery has no nuts and I didn't take them out of my old one. Plus the shop is closed Sun and Mon.

On Tues I go down and get the hardware. On the following Saturday I put the new battery in. But no start again! By the time I had the time to get to it, the shop was already closed until Tues. So I wait and on Tues I call the shop. It was recommended I try to kick start it to rule out a bad battery. (I never thought to do this, in 3 years I never had to kick start. It always just started.) Same result. It turns over, but never gets engaged. Ok, so I call the shop to get it picked up (I don't have a ramp or anyone to help load it in the pickup). But fate is not with me. The shop is one less mechanic for the week and they can't spare someone to get it.

The next morning I scrounge for some 2x6's and put some bricks behind them to try to jerry-rig a ramp. I had the scooter about a foot up and thought, not a good idea, so back in the garage it went.

The kicker is a scooter rally is in town the coming weekend (starts tonight), so its either try to fix it myself or not ride until I get it fixed in Feb or Mar. I used to ride to work in the winter, but now that I work a casa, I figure I can wait until fairer weather comes back.

I think about it. If I am lucky maybe it's just a bad plug. So I unscrew some plastic, put in the spark plug socket I use on my truck, but it is way to big. I get my sockets and start testing out different ones to determine if I have the socket. I did!

But it was not a deep well socket, so the socket is all snug around the plug, and I can't reach it to take it out. I try needle nose pliers, but no luck. So I start unscrewing stuff to see if I can get better access to it. It was fun, never had a garage to work in before, so I never opened her up.

Eventually I unscrew enough stuff to get at it and pull it out. Awesome. If I have time tomorrow maybe I can pick up a spark plug and the right size socket to try that out after playing with the carburetor. (I would have tested the carburetor out this evening, but I left the key on the last time I was trying to kickstart it, so have to wait for it to charge anyway).

Now I just have to screw it together to get back to to square 1. So I start screwin' and it is going well. Just one more to go. It is a tricky one to get that screw started, but I feel am feeling pretty good right now. I put it on the end of the screwdriver (it actually fit on the head pretty snugly), start going in, hit something, and the screw comes off the head of the screwdriver.

It didn't make the typical metal to concrete sound. More like metal to metal. Oh great, the screw is somewhere in the scooter. I look around on the floor, and I lean the scooter over to each side hoping the screw will come out. It doesn't.

So I start unscrewing plastic thinking it got lodged somewhere. Finally with a flashlight I found it on top of what I'll call the engine block. I screw it in, put all the plastic together. Success! but I still don't have a ride for the rally.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:49 pm

Check the easy stuff first!

Kill switch
Is there any gas in the tank. (Seriously...this one got me a couple of weeks ago. I had drained the tank a few weeks before to pull it on a P200. Decieded to try something else and had forgotten that I drained it.)

Try kick starting it

Pull the plug (with the proper tool) and check for spark

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:05 am

Hey thanks, will do. I tried the kickstarting, but it just wouldn't get past one revolution. The tank had been sitting nearly empty and unused for a few hot months. I filled it with fresh gas from a can after putting the battery in.
A friend suggested cleaning out the carb. Failing that I'll take an emory board to the plug. Just logged in to see if there is some good instrux on how to work the carb.

Post by **ericalm** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:42 am

Before pulling the carb, try running SeaFoam through it. It's only about $5/can and may be enough to clean out the carb.

Was it getting much use before you let it sit? Two months isn't usually long enough to accumulate enough gunk to not allow the scooter to turn over. Normally, it'll idle, then die when you give it gas.

But… you never know… Could also be a clogged jet or something and the SeaFoam may still help.

michelle_7728 · Post by **michelle_7728** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:57 am

If you end up needing to take it to the mechanic and don't want to try to put it in the back of your truck, if you have a trailer hitch you can rent a motorcycle trailer from U-Haul for $15 a day. It has a wide long sloped ramp, so it's easy to load yourself...you just need to supply the tie downs. It might even be easier to secure in a motorcycle trailer than in your truck bed.

That being said, I hope you find the issue yourself! Sounds like you have a great attitude about the whole situation--no point in getting stressed out about it, right?

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:35 am

Just get a new plug. They are cheap. If you were using the wrong tool on it there is a chance the ceramic cracked.

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 12:47 pm

@ericalm, no it wasn't geting much use before it sat. it was a brutal summer and I'm an ATGATT type.

@michelle7728, thanks for the suggestion. I was reminded last night that I have a ditch I could back into to make it easier to load. Thankfully I also have 4WD. You're darn tootin' there's no point in getting stressed. It's just a project, but if it was my main source of transportation, I might feel otherwise.

I had some Stabil I put in the tank last night and I sprayed some WD-40 around the screws that allow access to the carb. The end result being this morning I managed to strip the head of the screws trying to open up the carb.
After that I thought, what the heck, might as well try to start it. Well lo and behold it started for a while, but as soon as I put on gas, immediate stall.

I'd like to try the SeaFoam route for sure, but I wonder what happens when you mix Stabil and Seafoam. Stafoam?

Post by **ericalm** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:35 pm

Apiarist wrote:I had some Stabil I put in the tank last night and I sprayed some WD-40 around the screws that allow access to the carb. The end result being this morning I managed to strip the head of the screws trying to open up the carb.
After that I thought, what the heck, might as well try to start it. Well lo and behold it started for a while, but as soon as I put on gas, immediate stall.

I'd like to try the SeaFoam route for sure, but I wonder what happens when you mix Stabil and Seafoam. Stafoam?

Now it sounds like a gunked carb!

The quantities of Stabil and Sea Foam aren't enough to really dilute your gas. As for any chemical reactions between the two, I doubt much would happen.

I did the same with one of the little screws under the float bowl. Those freaking things are SOFT. Good news: easy to get off with pliers/channel locks. Bad news: pain in the butt finding new screws. Weird metric size. My replacement came off a crashed Kymco, I think.

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 4:44 pm

Yep, I got some advice from a trusted mechanic. He said there is no concern mixing Sta-bil and Seafoam. I also heard it could take 48 hours for the Seafoam to do its trick on the carb. I hope I don't need to take off and clean the jets. The soft screws are what I see as the biggest threat to the project.

But the great news is, the problem is identified and there are known steps to get it rectified. Now its just implementing them.

Thanks for all the tips! From here and other sources I have learned a great deal. Awesome.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 7:57 pm

I replaced the soft screws on my carb with stainless steel allen head screws. I forgot the size, but I don't remember them being an odd size. Go to a hobby shop that specializes in radio control (RC) models. They should have the right size screws, but probably not in SST. If I get a chance tonight, I'll measure the size and post it.

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:55 pm

Yes, please do. Thanks!

Vic · Post by **Vic** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:20 pm

Just wondering why you didn't use the spark plug wrench thingy that came with the scooter? That is what I use to access my spark plug and it works just fine...

-v

fobbish · Post by **fobbish** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:34 pm

LOL. Thanks for sharing.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 6:02 am

Apiarist wrote:Yes, please do. Thanks!

The carburator float bowl screw size is 4x12mm.

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:53 pm

That is so funny. I was wondering when someone was going to ask that. Someone here asked why I didn't use the spark plug socket that came with it. My answer was, 'that yellow bag has a spark plug socket in it?' I'm just happy at least no harm came out of my foibles.

Thanks babblefish!

Apiarist · Post by **Apiarist** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 2:15 pm

Well, it only took a year and a half, but I finally got the jets cleaned and took her for the first ride early this morning. It was awesome.

The neighbor is an old timer that didn't have electricity until he was 16 and was responsible for hunting meat for his family. He packs his own ammo. And like Jeff's dad, he has an awesome set of tools. He has also been fixing motorcycles and scooters since the 60's.

He finally had time to come over. I showed him the trouble, we loaded it up into my truck with his ramps and brought it to his garage. He called a couple days ago and said he got her running. I was so excited.

Unfortunately I was working so I couldn't take it for a spin. There's also a lot of other stuff to attend to lately. But I went and got it and he said he was really impressed with the quality of how the scooter was engineered.

So this morning was about 50 degrees. I found my jacket, boots and gloves and took her out for about an hour. I didn't forget much about how to ride it, and fortunately there was not much traffic. Found a great route from my home to the city with a high speed limit and few cagers.

Can't wait for my next early morning ride.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:52 pm

Apiarist wrote:Well, it only took a year and a half...

You weren't kidding when yoiu said you were busy back in 2010!

P.S. Glad you're back on the road to happiness!

Raiderfn311 · Post by **Raiderfn311** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:23 pm

Eric, Im wondering where you get $5 cans of Seafoam!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:43 pm

Raiderfn311 wrote:Eric, Im wondering where you get $5 cans of Seafoam!

In the past.

Apiarist, glad to hear you're back up and running. That's quite a bit of down time. I bet that first ride really was a blast.

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:30 am

Seafoam is $6.48 until the end of the month at NAPA stores.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:40 am

Lostmycage wrote:
Raiderfn311 wrote:Eric, Im wondering where you get $5 cans of Seafoam!
In the past.

Back when this thread started

.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:42 am

Dooglas wrote:
Lostmycage wrote:
Raiderfn311 wrote:Eric, Im wondering where you get $5 cans of Seafoam!
In the past.
Back when this thread started .

Back when the color of Seafoam was...seafoam

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:17 am

Geez! Seafoam prices sure have jumped.

Must be all the demand from scooterists.

Modern Buddy

How not to repair a scooter

How not to repair a scooter

Finally rode it

Re: Finally rode it