Hi there,
One month ago, I purchased a 2011 Kymco Super 8 50 2T scooter from a local dealer. I've been doing my best to break it in nicely, but I haven't driven it at all for about a week and a half because it's nearly at 200 miles and the manual says to get the initial service done at 200 miles or one month into active ownership. I would have had the service done a week ago but I couldn't afford it yet, so now I'm afraid that letting it sit for days has caused the issue I now face.
It won't start. The electric start seems like it's going to work when I press the ignition button, but the engine doesn't actually get going (sorry, I'm sort of new to this so I am not yet familiar with the proper terminology). After a few tries, the engine made a POP sound. I didn't hold the button too long or anything like that, and I let it cool for a few minutes between tries. No luck. Before, it would start almost immediately.
I tried the kick start. Nothing happened. The kick lever felt correct. I mean, it felt like it had proper resistance, but it wouldn't start the engine. It barely made a peep. I had previously used the kick start only once, a few days after purchasing the scooter, and it started with ease that time. I'm wondering if maybe the gas is just stagnant, so maybe adding fresh gas will do the trick. Maybe? I don't know. Should I look into using starter fluid?
Other things to note: the nights have been somewhat cool, about in the 50s; and the temp has been in the 80s or 90s during the day. This morning was the first time I tried to start the scooter in a bit over a week. Also, the dealership installed a variator boss for me about 2 weeks ago because the scooter topped out at 28mph. After the upgrade, I could reach 35+ mph, which was/is my desired speed as I use the scooter to commute to work on 35 mph speed limit roads. There are no pink wires to cut (I checked after reading about derestricting). Would the upgrade have anything to do with the engine not starting now?
The scooter is scheduled to be serviced tomorrow morning (I scheduled an appointment before realizing this problem), but the shop is on the other side of town. So I really need to get it running. Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you!
- TK
