Why won't my scooter run?

[TeamLemon]

Hi all. Not a car question but I still could do with some help as I'm out of ideas on this one.
Just pulled my Scooter out of a 8 month lay-up. I couldn't get it running at all at first so I filled the carb with a suitable cleaner (including needle jet), poked the inlets with copper wire, cleaned the sparkplug and all the earths and connectors and cleaned the air intake filter. It has fuel and spark (plus all the light work) and starts first time on the kick-start. Trouble is, it won't run for longer than a few seconds. The battery may need charging. Have I missed something..?
Thanks in advance

(btw, forgot to mention it's one of those Chinese ones so please be merciful )

 

[MrTinker]

Has it got 8 month old fuel mix in the tank?
If so the nice petrol will have evaporated and whats left will be far to oily, and will foul the plug up.

 

[Burnerman]

There could be a drain screw at the very bottom of the carburettor float bowl, with a rubber pipe attached....if you slacken the screw, the old fuel should run out.
Lots of these scooters have vacuum operated fuel taps though, and its worth checking that the pipes haven't come off the tap for some reason.
John

 

[JohnD]

what are these inlets you poked with copper wire?

Throw out the old petrol for a start.

Look in the manual and see if it has a main jet and a slow-running jet. If so the slow running jet is particularly likely to be clogged with dried-petrol sediment and needs taking out, as it will only run when the throttle is wide. I've never known a petrol additive clear them when properly blocked, and believe me I've tried.

Yours sounds like a fuel starvation problem, so it could also be a clogged filter, or a blocked breather hole in tank cap, or (if you have one) the suction-operated petrol tap not opening correctly.

It is always best to drain all petrol out of the carb before a layup. The easiest way is to turn off the petrol tap (if you have a manual one) and let it run until it stops. This is always good practice with a 2-stroke on premix, such as a lawnmower or an old motorbike every time you use it , as it stops the oil clogging.

 

[Whitworth]

Friend of mine left his bike over winter a few years ago. Same thing happened. We had to strip the carbs and clean them out. When the petrol had evaporated in them it left crystal like deposits which bunged everything up good and proper.
Would be worth checking the float valve isn't sticking too.
TTFN

 

[timtheenchanter]

check out the chinese scooter club forum, loads of help on there for these scoots.

first up, if its the original spark plug, change it for a decent one.
second replace the rubber hose from the carb to the vacuum operated fuel tap, the chinese rubber is crap and perishes quickly.
3rd, put fresh fuel in it.

disconnect the fuel pipe from the carb, now suck on the vac pipe for the stop tap, fuel should run freely, if not you need a new stop tap. whislt its off, add in a fuel filter.

you may need to strip/clean/blow out the carb and jets, please dont poke these with wire, you will damage the bore.

failing that, donate it to me, I need to get back on 2 wheels

is it a 4 stroke or 2 stroke?

 

[TeamLemon]

Thanks everyone. I've checked and cleaned the spark plug (which is an NGK instead of the original), I've yet to drain the tank and carb so I'll get that done when I get another spare Sunday afternoon. I've checked the oil and it's still a decent colour.
I'm pretty new to this scooter thing, having bought it to bring down my travelling costs to/from work, so I've never tried fixing one before. My last bike was a Honda H100 (old and mileagy but so reliable ) which I rode almost 20 years ago and haven't been on two wheels since until about a year ago. I'll try some of your suggestions and let you know how I get on...

 

[foxhole]

Sell and buy a piaggio, very reliable and even the 50cc scooter can do nearly 60mph [35 years on motorcycles and scooters , maybe thats why my bums sore?]

 

[TeamLemon]

Hi all
Scooter is now sorted, I drained the carb and syphoned the tank (unleaded petrol doesn't taste the same these days ), I couldn't get the top off the carb due to one of the screwheads rounding so I sprayed some carb cleaner into the fuel inlet pipe instead and cranked the engine, so with the fresh juice and a recharged battery, it now starts on kick and electric and runs superbly Thanks again everyone

 

[Whitworth]

Glad you got it going. Thanks for letting us know the outcome.
TTFN

 

[MrTinker]

Excellent. I love a happy ending, and thanks for letting us know.

 

[Peter.N.]

...and the 50cc ones are a lot faster than the 125 Vespa I had when I was a kid

Peter