This isn't car related, but I have no idea who to ask for help on this! In addition to my TA, I also drive a 1989 Yamaha Razz scooter (yeah, yeah, I know, lol). I need it cause I can't park the TA on a bike rack when I go to class, and the parking ***** around here will ticket you if you look at them funny. Your other option is to pay $1/hr for parking, which isn't cool when you need to park 6 hours a day, 5 days/week. Not to mention I get about 50 (slow) mpg . Anyways, on to my problem...

When I kick the bike over after it's been sitting a while, it'll catch and run good for a couple seconds, then die out. I can kick it continuously all day long after that, and the motor won't catch. However, if I let it sit for a few minutes, and try again, same deal - it catches, runs strong for a couple seconds, and dies. I can't use it at all, cause I can't get it to stay running. It was working fine for the past 3 years, and this just happened all of a sudden.

At first, I thought it was the fuel ****, cause I pulled the hose and it was continuously leaking, so I replaced that, didn't fix it. I replaced the carb about a year ago, so that should be OK, and I've checked the oil lines, fuel lines, and vac line for blockages, and there are none. Yesterday, I got it to run for a little while, but every time I gave it gas, the motor stalled. Does anyone have any idea on what's going on? I'm totally stumped! (in case you were wondering, yes, I do ride around on it all winter long - my house is a few miles from some of my classes, and a 5 minute ride is better than a 25 minute walk ) Any help is appreciated!

Oh ya - if I can't get it working, does anyone in the general Lansing MI area have a scooter or small motorcycle, dirtbike, etc. in any (RUNNING) condition they'd be willing to sell dirt cheap (<$150) or give away??

TIA for any help guys!

 

u might have fouled a plug..... check ur spark plug..... used to happen to me all the time on my cr-125

 

The next time you start it and allow it to kill, immediately remove the spark plug wire and test for spark (keep a known good spark plug on hand for this). A hot ignition coil or coil trigger might be killing the spark.

Also, if it will idle for extended periods but stall as soon as you try to increse RPM, you probably have a fuel delivery issue. Try adjusting the main jet on the carb.

 

I'd ride my tote goat to work if I could.

Good ideas above, also might want to spray some carb cleaner down it and see if it keeps it alive. It sounds like a spark or fuel metering problem because they arethe only two things that would let it start then die right away.

 

Marshall89WS6, I pulled the plug, and it was wet and reeked of gas. So I cleaned it off w/a dremel and a wire brush, only cause I don't have a new plug with me. Haven't put it back in yet to test it. What would cause this, and how would I fix it??

Vader, about the ignition coil getting hot and losing spark...I thought of this too, but the motor won't stay running for more than 2 seconds or so maximum. So there's no time for the engine to get hot...plus the ignition magneto is remotely mounted on this bike, a good distance from the engine. So it shouldn't get hot if it only runs the engine for a couple secs, right? And how do you adjust the main jet on the carb? I don't know a whole lot about carbs, never having to work on a carbed vehicle, really - aside from the scooter that is.

SSC, I ran some of the non spray type of carb cleaner thru the fuel system (or tried to at least) but it didn't seem to help. I don't have a bottle of the type you spray into the carb, I'll try picking some up if cleaning the plug doesn't help.

Thanks all for your replies! I'm gonna go now and reinstall the plug and see if anything has changed. I'll keep you guys posted!

 

OK, that didn't work. It won't fire up at all now, but that's probably cause it's cold. Dammit.

 

How long has i been sitting? My scooter was sitting for a year and wasps built a hive in the exaust pipe. The motor would start a little and sputter, but it wouldn't start. Might want to check and see if the exaust is clear, it really helps the engine run.

 

Once a 2-stroke gets really flooded, fuel will puddle in the crankcase. Eng will start for a moment then die when all that fuel gets agitated and enters the cyl.

Remove the carb.
Take out the float and needle valve assy. Spray carb cleaner into the fuel inlet and it will come out the seat in the float bowl area.
This will flush out any bits of crap.
Shake the float and listen for fuel inside. There shouldn't be any fuel inside it.

Bike carbs (actually most all carbs) are susceptable to little bits of trash between the needle valve and seat which causes the eng to "flood" since it can't stop fuel from entering the carb.
A lot of bike carbs come with a float-bowl over-flow hose routed to the bottom of the bike somewhere so fuel won't get all over the eng.
Some people will remove the overflow line and never re-installed it. You may just find a nipple on the carb wet with fuel.

Open the fuel petcock, if you see fuel dripping from the overflow hose (or nipple), there's
definately something keeping the needle from seating in the seat. Leaning the bike over too far will also cause fuel to leak out the overflow hose and possible into the crankcase.
A lot of bikes don't have fuel filters other than a screen in the fuel tank.
Installing an inline fuel filter would be cheap insurance if you have some crap in the fuel tank. A lot of older bikes have rust in the tank which carbs don't like.

 

diaphram or float? if it's diaphram lap the cover and case on a piece of glass and use 2 diaphrams and give it a good cleaning like was already said

 

ME Leigh, the bike has only been sitting maybe a week - week and a half, since I used it last (no class last week), not to mention it's been pretty cold here, and I haven't seen wasps or other crawlies for a little while, so the exhaust should be cleared out...

ZZ28ZZ, I think you're right, your explanation makes sense. I didn't want to, but I think I may have to tear apart the carb and see what's up, look for clogs, etc. I haven't checked the bike yet today, I had class this morning and I only have about 1/2 hour till my next one, so that may have to wait till later, or tomorrow. One thing I can pretty much rule out though, is crap in the fuel tank - the tank on this bike is molded plastic, and I shined a flashlight into it (after I emptied it out), and it looked pretty clean. Also, when I removed the fuel delivery hose to drain it, the fuel coming out looked clean, and free of floaties.

ede, the carb in this bike uses a float. I know, cause when I replaced the carb before, I took the old one apart just because I wanted to learn a little bit about it.

Thanks everyone for responding, I'm gonna tear the carb down whenever I get a chance, and see what's goin on. That may not be for a while though, big projects due in the next couple weeks

 

are you positive your getting spark? I read this whole post but i didn't see anything verifying that you indeed had spark. If you haven't checked yet, take the plug out but leave the wire connected to it. position it so the electrode is making contact with the head, and then kick the engine over, if the plug doesn't spark you've got a problem...

If you've already verified that, whoops, my bad.I'd go ahead and pull the carb apart and clean everything out. The carbs themselves are very simple so it shouldn't be too hard of a task. But if i'm not mistaken in whats happening here, when it dies, there is fuel all over the plug, which to me, means it's getting plenty of gas, It just can't ignite it. Unless it's getting way too much. Then that could be the problem i guess...

Eric

 

yea it could be a plug but it could also be anything that vader etc... are saying but get a new plug to test it , the plug is wet prolly cuz there was no spark and the fuel just dumped on it instead of the spark plug igniting it...... so check the carb for running too much fuel adn get a new plug.

 

OK, I finally got it running! What I did, was pull the air cleaner box off, and spray the s#!t out of the carburetor - in every passage, the throttle opening, etc., and worked the throttle at the same time so some of the cleaner would get worked inside as well. Kicked it over a bunch of times, and it started running...very slowly, idling, as the carb cleaner was burned out (I put a LOT in there). Then I put it up on the kickstand, let it sit there and run, and it gradually built up idle speed until it was running faster than normal. Took it for a test drive, and it was running, but sluggish. So I repeated the carb cleaning process a couple more times, each time afterwards it ran better. Now it's almost back to the level it was at before, but I had to stop working cause it started raining . Thanks for all your help guys! Everyone that replied, I appreciate it!

Oh yeah, I went and picked up a semi-running parts bike yesterday, w/3500 miles, for $75, before I knew for sure what was wrong with mine . Swapped over a couple parts, did nothing (obviously). I think with some work, I can get that one going too...that'll be my next project . Thanks again everyone!