Hi everyone. I've been hanging around in the minibike areas but happened to pick up a rough 84 XL125-S a few weeks ago. The sign said "it runs" and it did. It's having a harder time now. We didn't do much other that start and run it. It will run for a minute or two and then is impossible to restart. The kickstarter doesn't come back up. Once running it makes a terrible racket until you pull it back up and hold it in place. I'm assuming it is probably in need of a new spring. The levers are missing and the clutch lever has been rigged with a bicycle one but it works.

I plan on taking the carb apart and giving it a good clean. I've worked on 50cc 2strokes a little. Is the carb going to be that different? Any advice on where to start? I would be happy if I could get it running well enough to teach my son how to ride and use the clutch.

I made it half-way around the block last night before it stalled. A couple of neighbor kids were walking around and saw me. They came over and marveled at "that old fashioned bike".

Thanks for any help you may have. I don't mind getting up to my elbows in grease. I usually just need a kick in the pants to get started.

TC

Clean the whole system out, remove the tank fuel valve, rinse the tank and blow out the valve with compressed air. If you've had 2 stroke carbs apart you won't find anything scary there, remove it and pull the slide and bowl. blow air through everything, particularly the float valve, don't know what the float height is but find out and set it. Check and clean the plug. Try starting it again. The kick-start spring is a case strip I'm afraid, not real chalenging but you'll need a gasket set.

Nice wee bike, good chance to introduce the boy to the joys of engine building, he will enjoy riding it more if he's had to fix it. Consider yourself kicked.

Luck.

Thanks for the kick ocean. I took the carb off today and cleaned it out. the jets were all completely plugged. It should pump gas much better. The problem I have is it won't start at all. It was doing this before I cleaned the carb too. I washed it last week and it ran for a few minutes but died and never came back. It has the key in it but one of the wires is broken. How can I bypass the key and probably the battery too. It doesn't have a chance at being street legal without major $$

Thanks for any help.

What's changed since it last ran? You've cleaned the carb and washed the bike? Fuel + air + spark = bang, you know the drill:
Kick some, pull the plug, is it wet? If not pull the float bowl and see if there's gas there, if not turn on the tank valve and see if gas dribbles out of the float valve, if so clean your jets out again. Check for damage between the carb and head (vacuum leaks).
Hold the plug against the head and kick, any spark? (watch your fingers, can be hard to see if a spark is "normal" but there should at least be signs of life).
If not strip the ignition connections at the key and check you haven't drowned them. Check all the low voltage connections as far as the coil, can't remember if an '84 has points etc but if so pop the cover, check it's all dry in there and clean and set the points gap.

If the gas and sparks look OK check the compression, if it's low it's going to be hard to start even if the fuel and ignition is good.

Can probably simplify the electrics, someone here will have minimum circuit req'd but I suggest you find the fault first. Luck dude, don't let it throw you. :thumbsup:

It ran before he washed it. The problem is pretty obvious. He's got water in something somewhere. Check the spark. I'll bet it aint sparkin...

Today I took a few minutes to look at what may be causing the problem. I checked the spark and it had one when I kicked it over. The plug was wet and smelled like gas when I took it out. I got a clymer manual yesterday to hopefully help me. I checked the diagram for the key switch as it is pretty well busted up. From the diagram I think I need to jump the red/black wires for it to wire to start. Do the other 2 need any connection? I disconnected the key switch at the 4 place plug. Kick, Kick, Kick and I still don't get a hint of starting. I connected the plug to one of the pw50's and it sparks there just the same as the pw50 plug. I think this rules out the fuel and possibly the spark.

What do I check for the ingnition system?

Can't help you with the wiring but if you're getting a spark then the you've hot-wired it right. Either the spark's not good enough, it's happening at the wrong time, or the compression is well down. You may see a spark when the plug's out but remember it's normally working in a much higher pressure. Even so, normally if you can see a reasonable spark with the plug out you should at least be getting the odd cough. Unfortunately there's no way to check it under load without some fancy gear. All I can suggest is you check the points are clean and dry, gapped right and check the timing while you're there. Make sure the cover gasket's in good nick, they're prone to drowning if even a little moisture gets in there. Check the compression with a Gage in the plug-hole, hold the gage firmly in place and kick it over several times, at least 4 or 5 compression strokes. If it's more than say 20% down on the figure in your manual she's in trouble, either worn/dirty valves or worn piston/damaged rings. Either way the head and barrel comes off for a wee look.

Luck.