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It turns out I just needed heavier variator rollers to overcome my super-stiff contra spring. It's now at 7 grams (which is the stock weight) and I no longer hear/feel the belt slipping in front. Still working on jetting since I installed the new reed block and spacer. It looks like I can actually run leaner now and go faster at the same time. I got up to 55 MPH at 3/4 throttle when the main jet started making me bog down. I went up a jet size, thinking it was a lean bog, but that just made it 4-stroke when I went wide open. So close to getting it dialed in just the way I want it...
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Sep 30, 2012 02:21
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Sh4 posted:Let me know if you need parts. Everything is still availlable here Parts for what?
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Sep 30, 2012 04:21
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cheese eats mouse posted:Parts for what? For the moped, mbk is still stocking parts and there's still a bunch of upgrades availlable for cheap.
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Oct 2, 2012 13:57
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Im finally going to be making some headway soon with the cut down project I posted in here ages ago. Due to an ongoing medical condition resulting in me losing my job the project has had to be on the back burner for a couple of years now. Well in a fortnight I am finally getting the last bits of welding and fabrication done to the frame and after that I am starting the body filling and sanding process and giving it a coat of primer ready for paint. Only thing for it now is to raise a little bit of cash for a paint job and some shiny bits, oh and a new stator plate because I had to salvage the one from the engine to fix my LI150 
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Oct 3, 2012 00:59
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Having fixed up my Kymco People 250, I'm looking to do some customization on it--anything to make it look less goony than it does now, as I always feel it sticks out compared to the Vespas and Buddies I usually ride with. I know they're not as popular with scooter enthusiasts as the brands I mentioned, but do you know of any custom bodywork/paint jobs that have been done on a People? Oh, and obligatory picture of the bike: 
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Oct 17, 2012 17:28
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Grabbed the 180 and my camera on a whim yesterday morning as I was headed out the door, and spent some time on my lunch taking pictures with some trees. I'm glad I did as last night we got hit with high winds that blew down almost all the leaves.
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Oct 17, 2012 18:03
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Absolut Fabulous posted:Having fixed up my Kymco People 250, I'm looking to do some customization on it--anything to make it look less goony than it does now, as I always feel it sticks out compared to the Vespas and Buddies I usually ride with. I know they're not as popular with scooter enthusiasts as the brands I mentioned, but do you know of any custom bodywork/paint jobs that have been done on a People? Aprilia sold the Scarabeo, a similar big-wheel scooter, with zebra stripes for a limited time. The novelty of the paint scheme (though the stripes are actually vinyl, IIRC) takes away from the look of the scooter. The big swaths of matte black (front grille, floorboards, inner legshield, topcase) plague a lot of modern scooters and I think do a lot to make them look cheap. So if you paint, try to paint as much of that stuff as you can to match. Like, everything but the actual floorboard. Really, though, my suggestion would just be to enjoy the ride and not worry about it. If you want the look, buy another bike! ps - where are you? As far as I know Buddies are only called Buddies in the US, but that's a Honda Wave in the foreground which isn't sold here.
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Oct 17, 2012 18:56
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A few pictures from my current and ongoing repair session with the Li s3. So far I have stripped out the clutch to replace the plates, taken the tank out for cleaning, stripped the cables out for replacing, stripped the headlight out for replacing, took the front hub off to be split and cleaned, took the rear hub off to be replaced due to a crack through it and finally welded up two struts that had broken off underneath the legshields!     It's the most serious repair session I have done on the scooter since I first built it, taking it for a 200 mile round trip next weekend so doing all this so it will hopefully pass the MOT!
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Oct 18, 2012 00:27
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My girlfriend works about 15 minutes away from work, and the time it takes to get there on the bus is killing her free time. I suggested her getting a scooter being as she's already got all the gear she needs from the time she's spent on the back of my bike and is a vigilant driver and passenger. I know to stick to big names and my first impulse was to find a Buddy 50 for her. After some thought I realized maybe a Ape SR-50 or Scarabeo might be a better buy, being that I'm always buying parts for my Tuono through AF1.com and Moto-International is pretty close to us. And then I saw this:  *~*~*~Biaggi~*~*~* Now I want one. Is the SR-50 a pretty safe buy? We have a car for longer trips, this scooter would exist solely for work and small errand transportation. She's short and not fat, would it do 45? Would be getting used, hopefully around the thousand dollar mark. I do most of my own maintenance, but I assume these can't be that complicated.
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Oct 18, 2012 23:53
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Mcqueen posted:Is the SR-50 a pretty safe buy? We have a car for longer trips, this scooter would exist solely for work and small errand transportation. She's short and not fat, would it do 45? Would be getting used, hopefully around the thousand dollar mark. I do most of my own maintenance, but I assume these can't be that complicated. Actually, as far as scoots go they were the MOST complicated because they adopted the fuel injected DiTech motors so early on. Not all of them, but most it seems. Anyway, to do 45 you'll probably have to derestrict it which is really easy. As far as maintenance goes 2 strokes are a dream. No oil changes, only oil fills! Its a really nice scoot.
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Oct 19, 2012 00:11
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Mcqueen posted:My girlfriend works about 15 minutes away from work, and the time it takes to get there on the bus is killing her free time. I suggested her getting a scooter being as she's already got all the gear she needs from the time she's spent on the back of my bike and is a vigilant driver and passenger. I know to stick to big names and my first impulse was to find a Buddy 50 for her. After some thought I realized maybe a Ape SR-50 or Scarabeo might be a better buy, being that I'm always buying parts for my Tuono through AF1.com and Moto-International is pretty close to us. They're nice scooters, but they are stupidly expensive* for 50s and I think they're physically large for 50s. I think the Ditechs are not as well-supported as the older Minarelli motors. A new Genuine Buddy 50 or Roughhouse MSRPs at $1,999. A new Zuma 50 is $2,390. It is not 50% nicer than a Genuine or Yamaha. Hell, the SR50 is only $100-200 less than a Buddy 170i or a Zuma 125. I think all of the 2-stroke 50s I mentioned can do 45 or nearly with a de-restriction, but if it can do 45 she'll need a motorcycle endorsement, which I assume is why you're looking at 50s to begin with. *jesus christ MSRP is $3,199 that is seriously retarded. Moto International has leftover Scarabeo 200s and Sport City 250s for $2399 and $2999 respectively, those are good buys. e2: if you buy one you should come to Seattle Scooterist Happy Hour Gay Nudist Dad fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Oct 19, 2012 |
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Oct 19, 2012 01:10
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 I wonder when the new 125cc and/or 150cc Ruckus will hit US shores? I'll be one of the first to buy one.
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Oct 19, 2012 01:41
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:*jesus christ MSRP is $3,199 that is seriously retarded. Moto International has leftover Scarabeo 200s and Sport City 250s for $2399 and $2999 respectively, those are good buys. But can you tune those with a Gameboy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATmbTo1sXGY
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Oct 19, 2012 02:55
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open24hours posted:But can you tune those with a Gameboy? MIND = BLOWN.
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Oct 19, 2012 03:36
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:They're nice scooters, but they are stupidly expensive* for 50s and I think they're physically large for 50s. I think the Ditechs are not as well-supported as the older Minarelli motors. Italian stuff is never the best anything per dollar, except for style in most cases. The SR looks great and is very well made, is the premium worth it? Up to the customer i guess. Also the newer ditechs are very well supported now, mostly due to the work of High Gain Tuning. Crazy dollars to keep the FI setup though.
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Oct 19, 2012 03:40
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gixxer posted:Italian stuff is never the best anything per dollar, except for style in most cases. The SR looks great and is very well made, is the premium worth it? Up to the customer i guess. I know Italian stuff is expensive, but the SR50 is a set above. Even the Aprilia SportCity 50 is $2099. The SR50 is $300 more than the SportCity 125. It is probably the coolest 50cc bike (not just scooter) sold in the US, though, but is the raceworthiness worth a 50% price hike when it's just going to be a commuting machine?
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Oct 19, 2012 05:31
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Ugh, I'm goddamn dying here. Was in a car accident in my girlfriend's car over the weekend, so we're dealing with that, and in the meantime, poo poo gets worse: as I was coming home from work tonight on my Burgman 400, I pull into the gas station, everything's fine, I fill up, I pull out, I look down, my speedometer's not responding. I'm rolling down Airport Blvd. at 3000 rpm or something like, and my speed's at 0. loving delightful. Sign that I spend too much time on my computer and not enough time on the road, I tried rebooting it at a gas station down the road. Stopped, turned it off, turned it on again. No dice. Has anyone heard of the mysteriously-suddenly-disabled speedometer before on this model or any other? Should I just sigh in resignation, take the bike down to the shop and prepare to have my wallet sodomized?
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Oct 19, 2012 05:34
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The series of articles Motoiq did on their sr50 are really informative and may help you decide. They tear into the scooter a bunch so you can get an idea of what your in for with the engine. http://www.motoiq.com/projects/powersports/project_aprilia_sr50.aspx
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Oct 19, 2012 17:16
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Thanks for all the info! Especially that build up...lot of good info there. My revised plan is to shop for a unmolested used SR50 and slowly make it faster and faster until she desires a motorcycle of her own, at which point I take the scooter for myself.
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Oct 19, 2012 20:57
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Anyone know where I might be able to get a headlight cover for a Vespa LX50? Possibly a shop/store in the Seattle area? I checked the sites in the OP but didn't come up with anything. I'm kind of doubting that Bent Bike would have anything, either.
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Oct 19, 2012 21:11
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Pope Mobile posted:Anyone know where I might be able to get a headlight cover for a Vespa LX50? Possibly a shop/store in the Seattle area? I checked the sites in the OP but didn't come up with anything. I'm kind of doubting that Bent Bike would have anything, either. Big People Scooters in SODO or Scooter/Cycle Barn in Lynnwood would both be able to get you one, as they're Vespa dealers.
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Oct 19, 2012 23:00
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Mcqueen posted:Thanks for all the info! Especially that build up...lot of good info there. My revised plan is to shop for a unmolested used SR50 and slowly make it faster and faster until she desires a motorcycle of her own, at which point I take the scooter for myself.
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Oct 21, 2012 01:37
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Sh4 posted:Making it faster will make it louder and unreliable which is something you dont want for commuting, to do >60 mph you have to use racing parts (real ones) and pipe and I have to fully rebuild my engines every 8kmi including crankshaft and thats because I'm OCDing maintenance, if speed is important and you want to run a 50cc for license/ tax reasons and feel like cheating there's plenty of 50cc scooters which are ready for a 125cc engine swap without frame modifications To note again on the licensing thing, here in Washington state there are 3 requirements a scooter must meet in order to not require a motorcycle endorsement: under 50cc, up to 30mph, and up to 2bhp. Now, most people (including cops, it seems) only know the 50cc limit, but the speed limit does get enforced, and if you're caught riding without an endorsement (i.e. pulled over at over 30mph) it's an automatic impound of your bike. Of course that doesn't stop a ton of people I know from riding scooters (125-200cc) without proper licensing but its just a matter of time until one of them gets shafted on it.
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Oct 21, 2012 02:25
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Took a closer look at the Vespa's headlight this weekend, and it's a complete loss: it was all cracked with some pieces missing. I removed the whole headlight assembly and checked out the connection. It seemed to be undamaged and is just your standard, three prong, +/-/Gnd. Rather than drop money on a brand new assembly for a scooter that is barely still working, I hit up bent bike for a headlight assy with the same dimensions and connection. I actually found one. At $75, I felt it was a bit steep for something off a wreck, but it was a full assy with bulb and all. Had to do some drilling and fabbing, but I actually got the assembly hooked in pretty secure. The GF said she didn't care what I did as long as it worked. Turned on the scooter and bam: working headlight. When she went out the next morning, my GF said that the scooter wouldn't start. Based on her description, it sounded like the battery. Finally got a chance to look at it last night, but it definitely sounds like there isn't enough juice to start the engine. The kickstarter is busted, so that wasn't an option. I just hooked it up to my battery tender and left it overnight. Checked it this morning and the engine started up immediately. I've never seen it start so fast; I barely even touched the switch. Two lines of thought come to my mind- 1) The headlight is draining the battery for some reason. 2) A commute of 10-15 minutes of 100% city riding isn't enough to charge the battery, and it's slowly drained over time. I'm hoping it's the latter. I unplugged the tender this morning and will see if it still starts when I get home from work. Thoughts? Suggestions?
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Oct 26, 2012 19:36
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Pope Mobile posted:Took a closer look at the Vespa's headlight this weekend, and it's a complete loss: it was all cracked with some pieces missing. I removed the whole headlight assembly and checked out the connection. It seemed to be undamaged and is just your standard, three prong, +/-/Gnd. Both are definitely possible. Scooters almost universally have incredibly weak charging systems, you're lucky if you have more than a few spare watts. What's the wattage of the headlight you installed? Most motorcycles seem to use 60/55w, whereas scooters often use 35/35w - I'm betting the LX is a 35w setup. That 20-25w increase could definitely be enough to drain the battery (assuming the LX is a full DC system, and it might be AC/DC, I have no idea) But because of the aforementioned weak charging systems I wouldn't be surprised if the city commute is slowly draining the battery, my city commuting past has gotten me in the habit of kickstarting 90% of the time.
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Oct 26, 2012 21:39
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Not sure of the wattage. I'm assuming it's going to be a 60/55W like you suggested considering it's from a motorcycle. The scooter started up just fine when I got home. I let it sit overnight without the tender and it started up just fine this morning. I'm thinking if she hooks it up every night there shouldn't be any issues.
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Oct 27, 2012 18:33
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Pope Mobile posted:Not sure of the wattage. I'm assuming it's going to be a 60/55W like you suggested considering it's from a motorcycle. If it is a 55w you should also be able to just swap in a 35/35 bulb, they all tend to be HS1 or H4, which I believe are compatible connectors (at least H4 bulbs can go in HS1 sockets, or something)
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Oct 27, 2012 18:41
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Is $250 a good price for a 2001 Honda CH80 that needs engine work? The dude says compression is too low to start, and that it might need the head rebuilt. I'm looking for a project that doesn't require a garage and a scooter is about all that seems like it'll fit in my living room 
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Nov 1, 2012 16:46
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I didn't realize until just now that the Elite 80 was a 4-stroke. Also yes, it's worth that in parts alone.
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Nov 1, 2012 19:17
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Rugoberta Munchu posted:I didn't realize until just now that the Elite 80 was a 4-stroke. Also yes, it's worth that in parts alone. Cool, thanks. I talked to the guy that is selling it and he said that a mechanic told him something about needing piston rings. The guy thinks it just needs a new battery and the mechanic was trying to ring up a big bill. I figure if all it needed was a battery he would've put one in and sold it for a lot more, so I'm going to assume it'll need a rebuild and maybe some new parts.
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Nov 1, 2012 19:25
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Astonishing Wang posted:Is $250 a good price for a 2001 Honda CH80 that needs engine work? The dude says compression is too low to start, and that it might need the head rebuilt. I'm looking for a project that doesn't require a garage and a scooter is about all that seems like it'll fit in my living room I'd say it's alright if the bike is otherwise complete. But even after you've put maybe a couple more hundred bucks and hours of work into it you're still just going to have an Elite 80, which is one of the less cool Elites.
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Nov 1, 2012 20:51
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We bought this yesterday: 1986 Elite 250, 7800 miles, one owner, well maintained and everything works (we aren't taking the saddlebags). I'm pretty pleased for $700 but I think we're gonna fight over who gets to ride it from time to time. It'll make a great winter commuter/beater for us up here in New England. I think we're up to like nine Hondas but I really need to unload the Elite 80 now.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:48
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cheesebot posted:We bought this yesterday: Rad. $700 is awesome for that - are all the body panels intact? I hear some of them are drat near impossible to find these days. How old are those tires 
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Nov 5, 2012 20:28
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:Rad. $700 is awesome for that - are all the body panels intact? I hear some of them are drat near impossible to find these days. Actually, it was $650 without the bags - I forgot. Everything is intact. There's a little bit of surface rust on one side of the floor and the wheels, and the muffler is rusty. The tires are at least ten years old and may even be original. I need to check what OEM tires would've been to confirm this. Regardless, they will be replaced soon even though they look in good shape with no cracking even.
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Nov 5, 2012 20:44
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Not bad, pretty '80s. Could be more '80s though:
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Nov 6, 2012 00:38
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Could be more '80s though: Even the displacement is 80. That's serious dedication.
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Nov 6, 2012 03:58
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The Elite 150's flip-up headlight is 80'sier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBCWsZX4u3I
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Nov 6, 2012 07:15
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Rugoberta Munchu posted:The Elite 150's flip-up headlight is 80'sier. Yep. Been riding this hog for a while. 
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Nov 6, 2012 19:01
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I bought a 2001 Honda Elite 80 a few days back. The guy I bought it from said that it wouldn't start because of a lack of compression. I got the battery charged up last night and put it in. Turn signals work, tail light works, horn works, but no headlight. When I try to start the engine it turns real easy but won't catch. With the paperwork he gave me is a page from the mechanic diagnosing it as low compression, says it probably needs piston rings. I plan on taking it all apart and performing all of the maintenance steps in the service manual - but will I know by looking at the piston rings if they need to be replaced? e: looks like the headlight isn't supposed to come on until it's started. Astonishing Wang fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Nov 7, 2012 |
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Nov 7, 2012 17:08
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Astonishing Wang posted:I bought a 2001 Honda Elite 80 a few days back. The guy I bought it from said that it wouldn't start because of a lack of compression. I got the battery charged up last night and put it in. Turn signals work, tail light works, horn works, but no headlight. When I try to start the engine it turns real easy but won't catch. Did you try spraying a little ether in the carb before starting. If it starts up then you may just need the bystarter (automatic choke thingy). It's a common part that goes bad on these and is readily available. I would do a compression test myself before committing to a ring job - how much compression was on the mechanic's report? It may just need a valve adjustment.
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Nov 7, 2012 17:17
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