all,
I bought a 2007 TGB r50x 50cc scooter last week. It had only 1900 miles on it, and was in pristine exterior condition. I rode it around for almost an hour for a test-run, and, based on that as well as the gut feeling of trustworthiness I got from the family selling it, I bought it for $600. I drove it home 70 miles to Baltimore, where I currently live. It rode like a beaut. He had removed the restricter, so I got 44 or so on the flats and 50-52 on downhills! No funny sounds or smells or smoke. No revving issues, no rust, no loose parts.
But despite this perfect looong drive, the next evening, with a full tank of unleaded and 3/4 tank of oil (separate of course), when I rode the scooter in town I started experiencing problems getting full gas to the engine... or so it seemed to me [Full disclosure: I know ZILCH about how even simple scooter engines work]. Suddenly it was hard to get the max speed above 30 or low 30s on flats, and it took a while to even get it there. The throttle was simply not generating the full thrust I had felt while on that 70-mile country road ride.
Also: When I idled, the rpm seemed to randomly fluctuate, seemingly for no reason. I assumed this was not common.
Also: It seemed, to my novice perception, that the scooter engine noise was a bit pinched and noisy as I drove and was stopped.
Finally: It actually started to shut down while i was riding. This happened once, then a second and third time. Each time there was a full tank of gas and almost-full engine oil. In each case I was able to start the engine up again, but after maybe 1000 feet it would cut off. It went like this: initially, a sharp reduction in fuel to the engine as I tried to twist the handlebar throttle; then a quick reduction in speed, then he lights on the dash and the engine itself would simply conk out.
I would LOVE any smart and detailed input you all could provide. I'm willing to try various things to see what is the matter. Someone elsewhere said I ought to start with the spark plug, then check the air filter to see if it is clean. That seems simple enough. But if it gets to things like fuel filter, "choke," cleaning or even removing the carb, etc, I confess I am WAY out of my depth.
I would like to (1) learn the basics of how the two-stroke scooter engine system works, and (2) see if there is some DIY way I can figure out what is wrong here, then fix it myself.
Thoughts? A catch-all website, book, video, etc, is one thing that could help (I seem to be getting random sites that attack only parts of my issue).
Very grateful in advance!
Edit: Let me also add that it is of course possible that the seller (who was an amazingly nice and decent man aling with his wife and teenage son) COULD have been hiding an internal and remitting issue. I can't tell.
But what is odd is that I rode 70+ miles home from his place to mine right after I bought it. and only THEN, the next evening, did the scooter start acting up. Maybe the problem is arriving now for the first time, and I am having seriously bad luck; maybe it is coming now, for the first time, specifically BECAUSE of this very long ride (the seller told me he has taken it out only once a month the past two years since his elder son went off to college). Maybe the problem was there before and the seller likely knew, and he rolled the dice that it would not show up either when I did the 45-minute pre-sale test ride or on the 70-plus mile ride home after money exchanged hands... I just dont know enough about engines or symptoms. But it sure is odd that it acted up and conked out only after I got back.
