2012 50cc Kymco Super 8 50t Issues

[briantc9]

Hi All,

New to the forums, sorry if I mess up any rules.

I have a 2012 50cc Kymco Super 8 50t that I bought used, has about 3500 miles on it. Stored for the winter with seafoam in the tank and battery charging inside. Brought it out from storage, tried to get it started, no luck. Nothing on starter and no kick start after trying for about an hour. Left outside for a day and tried again next day, kick started fine, electric starter still did absolutely nothing. Noticed that all gadgets on display worked, however, clock did not show (but backlight did). The scooter was running very poorly (10-15mph) on flats.

Next day, I put in a new spark plug and a new battery. Clock works, electric starter still nothing. Checked all fuses and seemed good. Went for a ride and running much better, can actually make it up hill with constantly turning throttle (keeping open would cause engine just to stop moving). Still running seemingly poorly (~20mph) on flats and slow up hills.

I am looking for recommendations on where I should go with this. Can a poor battery mimic a clogged carb and also cause no click or turn over with starter? Could it be bad connections? Could I have an issue with my starter relay?

It was running fine end of last summer. I want to get this guy up to 35mph on flats eventually but I understand that may require some other upgrades. If I need to bring it to the shop, how much should I expect to pay?

Any advice is much appreciated!
- Brian

[eamartin]

If the electric starter does nothing (no noise) you'll need to diagnose an electrical issue.  Do you have a multimeter?

If the bike is not running correctly (playing with the throttle to keep it running uphill), you could have a carb problem.  Did YOU put the seafoam in the bike back before winter?   

[eamartin]

I cannot help you with the cost estimate of the pipe and install.  When I put stabilizer in my fuel I ride for a few miles to make sure the treated fuel goes through the entire fuel system ( including the carb).    I then shut off fuel to the carb and let the engine run until it stops on its' own.  That way most of the fuel is gone from the float bowl and there is no  fuel in the jets.  Old fuel in the jets is what creates problems if the bike sits for an extended period of time without stabilizer.  If you did not run the bike long enough after adding Seafoam, you may not have gotten treated fuel into the jets.  And if that is the case you may need to clean them.