145 miles on the new scooter and 2 important questions!

[seamus26]

Originally Posted by nwscooterboy

Thanks! Yes, changing the oil is top priority this week. I still have the cheap Chinese battery that came with it...I read somewhere that your body can be strong enough to turn over/crank the engine but it could still be weak enough to not make it fire? Can't remember the exact wording...

I've had cars where that can happen, but if you crank and crank and crank and THEN it starts, it's probably not the battery. As you are cranking you are running the battery down. If it doesn't spark right away, it's sure not to spark at all after puling juice from it. If you really wanted to test it, hook it to a battery charger on maybe a 12 amp setting and see if it starts cold any better.

Personally, a cold start issue like that sounds to me like more of a carb issue. If you have some spare time, pull the carb out and clean it up really well, blow the jets out and everything, and see if it makes a difference.

[nwscooterboy]

Originally Posted by seamus26

I've had cars where that can happen, but if you crank and crank and crank and THEN it starts, it's probably not the battery. As you are cranking you are running the battery down. If it doesn't spark right away, it's sure not to spark at all after puling juice from it. If you really wanted to test it, hook it to a battery charger on maybe a 12 amp setting and see if it starts cold any better.

Personally, a cold start issue like that sounds to me like more of a carb issue. If you have some spare time, pull the carb out and clean it up really well, blow the jets out and everything, and see if it makes a difference.

I may just do that. There is a guy on YouTube that has 13 videos on doing the PDI on a new Tao Tao scooter and I followed nearly every step....the only one I didn't follow was pulling out the carburetor and drilling out the studs that keep you adjusting the fuel mixture. I should just go ahead and do that. The interesting thing that led me to think it might be the battery is it starts first time after I've been driving for a little bit.

I just spoke with Scooter Madness and they are sending me out a new front axle no charge. it seems like a lot of people have issues at first when they get their scooters but I'm so thankful that these guys are great with the customer service.

[seamus26]

Originally Posted by nwscooterboy

I may just do that. There is a guy on YouTube that has 13 videos on doing the PDI on a new Tao Tao scooter and I followed nearly every step....the only one I didn't follow was pulling out the carburetor and drilling out the studs that keep you adjusting the fuel mixture. I should just go ahead and do that. The interesting thing that led me to think it might be the battery is it starts first time after I've been driving for a little bit.

I find that hilarious only because mine is exactly the opposite. It hits first spin when it's a cold start, but a lot of times after I've been riding and it heats up, it takes many many cranks for it to fire. Crazy!

I just spoke with Scooter Madness and they are sending me out a new front axle no charge. it seems like a lot of people have issues at first when they get their scooters but I'm so thankful that these guys are great with the customer service.

Awesome! Customer service is what will keep you coming back.