Modern Buddy

Hello all -
I have a buddy 150 with 2900 miles on it. When it was garaged for the winter, I noticed what looked to be a small leak; after looking at where it was I figured it must be the gear oil. I drained it, checked the o-ring (it looks fine) and refilled today.

I also replaced the battery -- towards the end of the riding season last year it was sometimes slow to start. It is currently hooked up to a charger, but starts up fine.

I wanted to run it for a few minutes (while hooked up to the charger) so I could check the engine oil. But it starts right up, runs for a minute or two, sputters and stalls out. I have added new gas too, so I don't think that is the case.

...What should I check out next? Any tips would be appreciated.

What model year is this Buddy, is it carbureted and how long did it sit over the winter without starting?

Its a 150, so 2016, I think (the 150 was a limited model) I started it up a few times over the winter - last time was probably March

- nd it always started, but I was only running it for a minute or so -- not long enough to for it to stall out (it stalls out after 2-3 minutes) , I put it up in late Sept with a little gas left in it and some stabilizer.

I am now on to trying to replace the spark plug (well, I have gotten all the screws and nuts off the panel, and I am just trying to figure out how to release the panel). And then I will try to run it with gas +seafoam

Looks like the Buddy 150 is carbureted so the possibility exists that the idle jet is at least partially blocked. Never had a 150, but the carburetor likely has a fuel enricher. On a cold start the enricher adds extra fuel to get things going. After a couple minutes this extra fuel is no longer delivered to the motor and the fuel at idle is provided through the idle jet. If the jet is blocked, the bike will not idle. Start the bike, let it idle and see how long it idles before dying. If it's only a couple minutes you very well could have the blocked idle jet. Seafoam is worth a try.

Thanks. It was running for 2 minutes or so before stalling out. I will try it again with seafoam in it. Now that I, uh, go the goddamn cap of the seafoam out of the gas tank.....

2 minutes sounds about right for the working time of the enricher. My guess is a blocked carb idle jet. I hope the seafoam works. If it does not cure the issue the next step would be to remove the carb and clean the jet.