Modern Buddy

Hello all

I recently picked up a 14 Buddy 50 with only 111 miles on it. The problem is that it sat for 5 years in a storage garage and got thrown around quite a bit. Anyway, what’s happening is that it starts and idles just fine but after about 1 minute of driving it bogs and dies. After about 15 seconds it will start up again and run for another minute or so. I’ve replaced the petcock, fuel line/filter, cleaned out the carb and checked the vacuum lines. Vacuum appears to be good. At this point I can’t think of it being anything other than the carb. I just wanted to rule out anything else before I drop some cash on new factory carb. If anyone has any ideas please share! Thanks!

Try running it on an auxiliary tank just to rule out a fuel flow issue.

Another option is a CDI box. When those go out, scoots will act all kinds of crazy. I had an issue on my buddy where it would idle all day but if I tried to drive it, it would feel like I was hitting a rev limiter at very low RPM or just die at any throttle input.

You did the work on the carb? What exactly did you do? Do not replace the carb, or start buying electrical parts. You have a high quality scooter w/ a little more than 100 miles on it. Do as Racer50 suggests above. Remove the fuel line going to your carb, and replace it with something like this. Remove the vacuum line going to your petcock, and plug it as well. Fill your temporary fuel device with gas mixed w/ some two stroke oil. See what happens.

Here is the setup in action. I have the stock fuel filter between the syringe and the carb.

DeeDee wrote: ↑Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:33 pm You did the work on the carb? What exactly did you do? Do not replace the carb, or start buying electrical parts. You have a high quality scooter w/ a little more than 100 miles on it. Do as Racer50 suggests above. Remove the fuel line going to your carb, and replace it with something like this. Remove the vacuum line going to your petcock, and plug it as well. Fill your temporary fuel device with gas mixed w/ some two stroke oil. See what happens.

I pulled the carb bowl off and cleaned out the jets which were gunked up. I've removed the fuel tank and cleaned it out, including the tank filter. Replaced the petcock with a new factory one. Replaced all the fuel lines/filter down to the carb. Checked all the vacuum lines and am getting good vacuum as far as I can tell(fuel will flow from the fuel line only if I remove the intake manifold vac line with the engine off). I'm almost positive its not a fuel issue from the tank to the carb. It will idle ok anyway, its only when I started driving down the street that I have issues. Replaced the CDI. Also drilled a vent hole in the gas cap and tried driving with out cap. Nothing is resolving the issue.

It will start up right away and I will drive a couple hundred yards down the street at full throttle no problem. Turn around and head back to my starting point and it will bog down no matter if you let off the throttle or try to open it. It will then die and usually take about 20-30 seconds before it will start again and repeat.

I don't see Ultra Sonic cleaner mentioned for carb cleaning. I experienced the same thing in my Pinky thread.

Trace your fuel line carefully from petcock to carb. I had this same problem on a Vespa GT200 after I replaced all the fuel and vacuum lines. A short piiece of fuel line made a sharp turn from the fuel pump up to the carb. The stock Vespa part had a formed bend in it, much like the Buddys. When I made the turn with the new fuel line, I didn't give it a big enough radius. It kinked. I couldn't see this because it was tucked behind the side panel. When the scooter would sit, enough gas would seep through to fill the crab bowl. I would fire it up, and ride two blocks, the bowl would drain, the kink would not allow fuel to enter the carb fast enough to keep the scooter running. I would push it back home. Same thing would happen later in the day. I eventually found the kink, and replaced the piece of hose with a longer one that would make a bigger loop and not kink. Problem solved.

So when I got this thing it came with an cheapo chinese carb in the box so I decided what the hell and threw it on. It runs like a champ now! I compared the aftermarket carb with the factory and they were damn near the same. Luckily it worked!