Yes , that was probably me. It happened during the break in period within the first two weeks of ownership in July 2014 if I remember correctly. Took the scooter for a longer ride outside of town and stopped at a gas station. Afterwards the scooter wouldn´t start again, just clicking noise from solenoid.
At first I got upset and angry because I trhought that I needed to be towed, but then shortly after I calmed down again and started to inspect the scooter around the starter and found that loose hanging ground cable from the starter. Bolt got loose and lost enroute. I just made contact manually to restart and got the bolt replaced and fixed with screwlock by the dealer the next days. Since then never had an issue again, except this more or less regularily grunting noise and hesitation at first start when engine is cold. But I am living with it now since 2014 and.
Solenoids mostly only do go bad when used with weak batteries over a period of time (because of sizzle).
That´s why I use the better, stronger and lighter LiFePo Battery. Mine has been in there now for 4 years without any problems and absolutely no maintanance needed. Starts even great after 3 month of winterbreak period.
Yes, a lot of folks report that "grunt" at starting. Some of us think it is because the engine is on the power stroke.....others are certain it is a government plot.
I won't comment.
(while I've found many of the fasteners to be quite snug coming from the Kymco factory....they pale in comparison to the turbo-wrenches the Piaggio boys are employing!
Here is a pic from the Piaggio manual showing Hercules using a hand tool to remove the passenger foot rest bolts. Oh, how easy in this manual!
In reality, one must nearly flip the scooter over on its back, in order to remove this smallish screw. An impact gun or hammer driver works best - with two men and a dog bracing the scooter from the off-side!
Anyway, glad the Texan found his fix! These 1st gen. LIKE's are pretty bullet-proof scoots by now.
Stig
