Fix and Maintenance on 250cc Roketa By abdulmuhsee (Read 4,678 times)

[abdulmuhsee]

Alright. After I added some seafoam in the gas tank, I got about 4 days of trouble-free riding. However, the problem has now returned with a vengeance; it strikes randomly with loss of throttle accompanied by loud spitting noises. Sometimes working the throttle will produce another spit and throttle will return, but other times it will not and the engine will shut off after the bike slows down. Even when throttle does not return, a muted engine noise can be heard while trying to feed it gas, like a softer variation of what noise the engine normally makes when the bike is running fine.

Sometimes when it dies it will start up again and run for awhile and sometimes it will start up and die immediately. Sometimes it won't start up again which is usually remedied by letting the bike rest on its side for about 20 minutes and I get a few more miles out of it before it happens again. Sometimes I just hear it start to ignite for half a second before it goes back to not starting. Sometimes it starts up and rides fine.

All in all, I spent 7 hours getting home, part way riding and restarting it, partway pushing it, and the rest of the way walking and calling for a tow. I removed the panels and have taken a picture of its right and left side so I can get help diagnosing and fixing this problem and doing whatever maintenance I should be doing.

Please repost the pictures with arrows pointing to what I need to check/do something with/clean along with a detailed, layman description of how to do it. Explain it to me like I'm a five-year-old from a remote farming community in Bulgaria so I understand what I'm doing and how doing what I'm doing will affect the bike.

Thank you all for your help.

[abdulmuhsee]

Here's the second pic.

[Smorkle]

Sounds like a classic case of "time to adjust the valves."

Also you might want to check the carburetor and make sure the needle isn't sticking. 54b's have a tendency towards doing that.

CLICK HERE for a nice tutorial on how to adjust the valves.

[abdulmuhsee]

The valves were JUST adjusted less than 500 miles ago, which fixed the problem of it dying when stopping; this is an issue that's unrelated.

[kczukiman]

I am in no means Doc. material but it sure sounds like coil issues.

[zugzug]

In that first pic I see what appears as a ground wire that leads over to one of the mounting bolts on your R/R. First thing I would do is check it. I would clean it up and put it on the other side so its touching a clean spot on the frame. It could be sometimes your getting ground and sometimes your not.
-Zug

[Cruiser]

May 5, 2010 15:41:00 GMT -6 Smorkle said:

Sounds like a classic case of "time to adjust the valves."

Also you might want to check the carburetor and make sure the needle isn't sticking. 54b's have a tendency towards doing that.

CLICK HERE for a nice tutorial on how to adjust the valves.

That's a great tutorial, smorkle. However, they did forget to tell what the gaps should be at. I believe .004" for intake and .005" for exhaust? The link from scooter doc has the right info.

[abdulmuhsee]

Remember how I said I need reposted pics with arrows and explanations since I'm a dunce? I have no idea what a ground wire leading to a mounting bolt is or what to do with it.

[Alleyoop]

Ok, when you say it SPITS, are you sure its not POPS? Makes a big difference, Spits usually means your flooding, Pops means your Starving for fuel. Now next time it spits Shut if off right away HIT THE KILL SWITCH and then Pull the PLug. If its Wet its being FLooded if its Dry your running Lean.

Now if its Wet that would point to probably more than likely electricial, Voltage is being cut off going to your PLUG and the plug is not fireing and thats why you have a wet Plug. Could be a Bad Coil wire, Bad plug etc..

If its Dry then its Fuel Starvation, could be any number of things. Your Pump is quitting on you(possibley due to Valves to tight) and vacuum is being lost therefore no fuel, Clogged Filter, Dirt in your Carb and its restricting the Carb Bowl from filling up fast enough.

But since you said you added seafoam in it and it ran fine for some days, then something is being clogged. Take your carb off and see if the bowl is clean or has junk in it. It could also be that your Fuel Tank has junk in it and sometimes it restricts gas to flow out of it. Check your Gas Filter and see if it is nice and clean.
Alleyoop

[abdulmuhsee]

Well, the best way to describe the sound is a can of pop opening (or soda for jr); the sound lasts for approximately one second and begins like the can has just opened and the carbonation/pressure is being released for the rest of the second. If the problem is flooding, I do still have the vacuum pump module the original owner took off if the electronic fuel pumps are to blame, though this problem didn't appear right away, and those electronic pumps have been on it for as long as I've owned the scooter.

I still really need to have reposted pictures with MSPaint arrows pointing to what I need to look at, since the term 'ground wire' and 'mounting bolt' could denote any or every single wire, screw, and nut on the entire bike in my mind.

One thing I might be able to do by myself is clean the air filter since there's a sticker on the bike that says to wash it by hand every 1000 miles; I'm at 1,200 now. Also there's a sticker that says to change the oil after the first 300 miles and every 1000 thereafter, but the MANUAL said to change it after the first 650 miles and every 3000 thereafter, so I did change it after 650 miles, but I'm not sure which one is correct.

[zugzug]

heres a pic

[Alleyoop]

Since you just mentioned Electric Fuel Pump and you say it happens when you turn the key on without starting it Then I suspect its the Fuel Pump making the noise and venting. But since I don't know about Electric Fuel pumps maybe someone else can verify that.
Alleyoop

[Bashan]

May 5, 2010 12:43:00 GMT -6 abdulmuhsee said:

Alright. After I added some seafoam in the gas tank, I got about 4 days of trouble-free riding.

Explain it to me like I'm a five-year-old from a remote farming community in Bulgaria

[/b] so I understand what I'm doing and how doing what I'm doing will affect the bike.[/quote]
OK, goo goo, gaaaa, blurp blaaaa gug gdansk.......

sorry, I couldn't resist. Let me ask something, you had this problem, added seafoam and it went completely away for four days and then returned? Is that correct? Rich

[Alleyoop]

Bashan,
Thats what he said, So I told him it has to be something is being clogged. My guess is there is crud in his Fuel Tank and its getting by the Fuel Filter. His Fuel Filter could be clogged, crud in the Carb etc..
Alleyoop

[abdulmuhsee]

Alright, to the person who posted the pic with the arrow to what I need to check, that helps ALOT. Now, do I take that off and blast it with water to clean it up or what?

And yes, the seafoam made the problem go away for 4 days, during those 4 days of which I added seafoam every time with a fillup; the time I didn't add seafoam is when it started up again.

I REALLY wish I knew exactly what I need to check, how to do it, and where to find it because I'm borrowing someone's car until I get this thing fixed!