oil on my face?

[Hoolander2]

Agree with Sid this sounds electrical.  One thing you haven't said you've replaced is the spark plug.  I'd do that at least. 

Keep reporting back.  I hope you get somewhere with it.   

 

 

[blue]

try unpluging the auto choke and run the scoot like that for a few miles.

[Matty]

Ok then, a Christmas update.

This seems to be a carb problem.

I took the carb apart, blasted some compressed air around it (again) and put it back together again. In reality, I don't think it was blocked in any way, but did it for good measure.

After that, it seems to be working ok again now.

Then I rode it 45 miles twice (visit to parents) and now it seems to be running ok, if a little hard to start. In fact, it's now running faster than ever.

I'm sure it will fail again - at the very least I don't think the carb is property tuned - but at least I know it has something to with the carb in one way or another.

Thanks everyone for your help with this. I seem at the moment to have got there.
Matty

[blue]

Try to take it in for a carb adjustment.good luck happy you found the problem.

[Resolve]

Congrats on getting it running like it should.

[baddi]

Congrats on getting it to run properly
And its always good to have a fresh battery, as the more powerful spark easier will ignite faulty mixtures, giving more room for faulty carburator adjustments, than a flat battery.

[fshfindr]

Happy my Yager does not have a carb.

[Matty]

yeah. I get the feeling the new battery has helped.
It seems to be starting ok-ish now as well.
I think i've squashed the carb gasket as it was ill-fitting and now it stinks of petrol all the time. Probably leaking a little so have bought some instant gasket to seal it up when I get the chance.

Other than that seems to be more or less there.

Don't suppose there's any other known causes of petrol smell?

[baddi]

If you have problems igniting the fuel mixture and cant fix it by adjusting the carb, an iridium Spark Plug and a 30k volt coil will help alot. These will also help keeping the engine temperature down.

The gasket sometimes loosen itself, and become ill-fitting, from the high temperatures right over the engine. Put it in the freezer or refrigerator (or if you live in the colder areas of the world, like I, you can leave it in the garage over night.), and it will fit perfectly into the carburator again next morning.