Brand New People 150 Won't Start

[jimjific]

Hello all,

I am new to scooters and this site. I just bought a brand new People 150 for my wife and I got it home and it won't start. I am really ticked off. The dealer said that they started it and ran the scooter so I never tried to start it there. Plus it is brand new for god's sake. It run for about 5 seconds and then stall. Then after that, it sounds like it wants to start but never does. If I wait a bit it will start again for about 5 seconds. I called the dealer and they told me they had no quick thoughts for me to try and to bring it back. Well they are an hour away. I still can't believe a brand new item like this would have this problem. My wife was so excited and this has really wrecked our spirits. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Jim

[MaryK]

Make sure that you have gasoline in the tank.

Go back to the dealer and have him show you how to start a similar bike to the one you bought.

Post your location and hope that a fellow forum member lives close to you.

PS> If you run the battery down trying to start the bike, you will need to recharge it.

[jprestonian]

Put the scooter on its center stand. Undo the gas cap, and if you get it started, give it some (not a whole lot, but enough to keep it running) throttle for 10-15 seconds. Let go of the throttle.

If it's idling normally at this point, you may be experiencing vapor lock, an easily-remedied issue (as this exercise proves). If the gas cap isn't vented, you can drill a 1/16" hole through it, which should remedy the issue.

On a new bike, another thing it might be is a dirty carb (especially true if the dealer had it prepped and was using it as a demo). Not a big deal either, but inconvenient for you seeing as how your dealer is an hour away. They would certainly clean it at no charge if this were the case.
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[Hoolander2]

Does this model have a manual valve to turn the gas on and off? 

[jimjific]

Thanks for the quick replies. No the 150 doesn't have a shut off (manual one at least). It was the first thing that I asked the dealer when I called. It also has half a tank of gas and it wasn't a floor model since we ordered it. I was talking to some friends tonight who do a lot of snowmobiling and they told me that sometimes during transporting the ups and downs the floats allow the engine to get flooded. So I will let it sit over night and if it doesn't start in the morning, I will take the plug out and see what it looks like.

[jprestonian]

Thanks for the quick replies. No the 150 doesn't have a shut off (manual one at least). It was the first thing that I asked the dealer when I called. It also has half a tank of gas and it wasn't a floor model since we ordered it. I was talking to some friends tonight who do a lot of snowmobiling and they told me that sometimes during transporting the ups and downs the floats allow the engine to get flooded. So I will let it sit over night and if it doesn't start in the morning, I will take the plug out and see what it looks like.

Try the gas cap trick before you do anything else. Always start with the simplest stuff first before breaking out the tools. 
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[jimjific]

So I got the 150 running. I took it up thew street (It's still not registered but I wanted to see how it would run) It is rough until it warms up. Once it is warm it starts right up and runs fine. I had my wife take it up the street too. She was grinning from ear to ear. So, it would seem that there is an issue with the automatic choke. Has anyone, or can you adjust it? Or is it a module that you need to get replaced. As the scooter is now, I would drive it but I wouldn't be comfortable telling my wife to use it for work since I don't know if she could get it started after sitting all day.

Thanks for the help,
Jim

[old geezer]

It has a warranty. The best thing to do is to take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it for you.

Mine starts right up and idles perfect every time when cold. Yours should too.

[MaryK]

Glad you got it started.  Yes, take it in and have it fixed under warranty.  If it is like a lot of the scooters,
the automatic choke is electric so there is nothing to fix except replacement or maybe the wires are not making good contact.

Now lets hear about the safety gear that you have & use!

Scoot Safely,