Clueless

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loosecook

New Member
Have an 66cc engine, installed and ran for good while almost 200 miles would guess. Engine was running rough so got online and started searching to find out why, Realised that I can't read Chinese and choke was on not off during ENTIRE break in. Pulled plug and it was dry and black so bought NGK BPR7HIX iradiam plug and installed...ran great, headed to work couple days later and started lagging up hill...relised choke was half on from vibration....no problem rubber band around bottom of NT carb holds it in off position. Couple days later and it would not start,tried on 3 hills on last hill by the house it finally turned over. Pulled plug and it was not sparking so ordered HuffyDavidson CDI from sickbikes, installed and it would not start,tried it on hill by the house and it finally turned over when it got to around 10mph or so. Ran fine....little sluggish and died at stop sign, again to hill by the house and started. I'm too old and out of shape to get a cruiser to that speed without a hill, Any ideas what I should do other than throwing a match into tank?:-||
 
Well, let me start by making sure I understand just where you're at right now.

You actually can get that engine to run. But it takes a good deal of effort. You have to get up to a good speed. Maybe you've got to roll it for a pretty good distance before it fires up. Even then it's not running really well. It's a bit under-powered and it's likely to stall at idle?

Does that describe your situation right now pretty well?
 
Yes will finally run when get to high enough speed, then runs ok for couple blocks has intermittent stutter and then stalls....not the same length of time or same lack of power.
 
Since getting engine...#1 exhaust bolt came loose and fell off. #2 exhaust broke and stock muffler bottom portion fell off. #3 carburetor bolt stripped and vibrated loose. #4 chain tensioner pully wheel failed and fell off. #5 tank bracket failed and had to hold tank upright till got home. #6 choke issue. #7 current engine/carb/choke issue! I just want to get to work without having to spend money uslessly (yes insurance falls into that catagory). Way I see it a good motorcycle is around $1500 and I've spent around $400 at this point so I'm still in the black but vehicleless. :-(
 
loosecook said:
Since getting engine...

#1 exhaust bolt came loose and fell off.
#2 exhaust broke and stock muffler bottom portion fell off.
#3 carburetor bolt stripped and vibrated loose.
#4 chain tensioner pully wheel failed and fell off.
#5 tank bracket failed and had to hold tank upright till got home.
#6 choke issue.
#7 current engine/carb/choke issue!
Click to expand...
Wow, bummer.
That was one really crappy engine kit or a sub-standard assembly.
All of the problems you describe could be caused by a poor motor mount for example.

A couple of clear pictures of your engine mounting and drive train would help.
 
Okay...oh, boy....there's quite a list, isn't there? Still, you're in good hands here. Not that I'm going to have every answer you need. But I'll try. And there's a lot of folks here who know even more. As long as we can get our heads around your various troubles, then we'll get you back up to speed.

That list of 6 or 7 things that have broken or fallen off. Have you got them fastened back on properly? I'm not really able to visualize just which part you mean when you say, for instance, 'carburetor bolt'. More specifics, or better yet a photo, would help.

As for your running issue, it 'sounds' to me more like a fuel problem than a spark problem. Have you yet taken off the air cleaner and verified that the choke is fully opening and fully closing. If that's on the fritz, then that could cause the sort of trouble that you're describing.

And it could still be an electrical issue, I suppose. Do you have a cheap multimeter? Sooner or later it'll be a good thing to have. Diagnosing trouble in the magneto, the CDI, the spark plug wire, etc., is pretty easy with one of those. But we'll talk more about that when the time comes.

Have a look at your choke and make sure that you've got good fuel flow from the tank to the carburetor fuel inlet.
 
"choke was on not off during ENTIRE break in."
Dang, my bike won't pull at all with the choke on.. You may have an air leak in your intake tract, probably where the carb meets the manifold. It shouldn't run well at all with the choke on, just a blubbery idle. Pull the side covers and look for the oily evidence of a leaking seal. (Really need to find out where that air was coming from.)

Check for thick carbon build up- If the head shows much I would pull the top end and de-carbonize the piston, head and barrel.
Don't go at it with a metal scraper or screwdriver, get some choke and valve cleaner and use a hard plastic brush. Stack it back up and check your mounts making sure everything is snug and lined up right, tighten up that choke lever pivot, mix up some fresh gas and try again.
I had a problem with the original spark lead, the metal clip was bent and was hard to get it on right and caused hard starting, misfiring, lack of power and dying quickly at idle.
Don't let it get to ya, if everything is right, it has to run.

Hope it's nothing bad!
Regards
 
Good thinking, Slogger. Air leaks are beginning to sound like a good possibility here.

You'll want to check that out, loosecook. Air leaks will kill an engine.
 
bluegoatwoods said:
Good thinking, Slogger. Air leaks are beginning to sound like a good possibility here.

You'll want to check that out, loosecook. Air leaks will kill an engine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, he said he had a loose carb bolt, I assume it was the clamp on the front.
My problem with the NTs is those slots they have so the clamp can tighten. If the carb isn't pressed against the manifold they will leak real bad.

I ran 25:1 valvoline mix and babied the engine around quite a bit, breaking in.
When the weather turned I wanted to have stabilized gas in it in case of blizzards and cold that parked it until spring. I put a half-ounce of SeaFoam gas treatment in the can. In addition to a stabilizer it is a powerful carbon cleaner. The bike seems to run better each ride and is nearly broken in.
It idles forever, almost never 4 strokes, and maintains speed at full throttle.
The Sea Foam might be cleaning up some breakin goo and carbon, I'm not certain. It did wonders for a '96 Bronco I have.
Anyway, that's why I mentioned the decarbonizing, after a problem like his the engine probably has a fair amount of goo and soot, and will run much better cleaned up.
Running while the choke is on probably meant a lot of 4 stroking. This could have led to a blown seal, maybe, that's why I mentioned the seals.

Good luck to you, Loosecook. It takes guts to use a china girl for regular transportation. You'll need to keep an eye on everything all the time.
:-|| dance1 .shft.
 
"My problem with the NTs is those slots they have so the clamp can tighten. If the carb isn't pressed against the manifold they will leak real bad."--Slogger

Yes. That setup is just a bit squirelly, isn't it? I spread a thin layer of silicone caulk in there. Especially in that slot. In the hopes of helping it to be air tight.

"Good luck to you, Loosecook. It takes guts to use a china girl for regular transportation. You'll need to keep an eye on everything all the time."--Slogger

Yes. But, also, don't let that daunt you.

Once you've got the 'feel' for your bike, it's smooth sailing. I've done it. I'm right now building bike #4. Each one has become more reliable than the last simply because I've come to understand them better. And I use them as my primary transportation. Work commute and general errands. I've gone months at a time using my car, perhaps, twice in a month.

Though it hasn't come up, and you haven't asked, I'll mention one thing that I think probably cause newbies the most grief.

Make sure that engine stays exactly (really exactly) where you put it. Any movement, side to side for instance, will cause you one headache after another.
 
Aside from flats, I have not had a failure on My Pig since I built it.
And I do not own a car. My Pig is my only transportation.
It CAN be reliable if you take the time to make things right from the start.
From the list of failures you posted, it looks to me like vibration is the biggest issue. Make sure your motor mounts fit properly. If your engine moves AT ALL when you yank the snot out of it, it will never be reliable.
Motor mounts are the single biggest thing I see newcomers messing up among my customers....
 
Ditto: Poor engine mounting can cause you lots of problems. You're not trying to rubber mount that engine are you? If so get rid of any soft/reslient material between the engine and the bike frame.

Git rid of the kit supplied spark plug boot. They are also a big source of common problems. Replace it with a good automotive quality boot and use a spark plug with the top cap installed.

Seal the carburetor to the intake manifold. Don't rely on the metal to metal clamping action to seal out air (vacuum) leaks. Also check the intake manifold gasket at the cylinder. The kit gasket material is notorious for early failure.

Use/buy or borrow a torque wrench and make sure the fasteners are tighten properly, especially the cylinder head, intake and exhaust manifolds. Lap those gasket sealing surfaces and use good gaskets.

Based on a couple of your symptoms I'm almost positive you have vacuum leak/s. The engine should not run with the choke on (closed). If it runs, you have air leaks.

Spring chain tensioners should be avoided. Proper chain/sprocket alignment and chain tension are critical. Get those two right and you won't need a tensioner if the chain clears the frame or you have horizontal dropouts.

Tom
 
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