MOPED ARMY

not sure exactly what the drop in performance is ... but many of us ride minarelli mopeds. they are a dream. first, go to the "resources" section of the site, and look under "articles" for "how to fix your moped" (aka fred's guide). but let's see if i can answer a few of your questions.

first, parts are easy and cheap to obtain. contact any moped parts store. you have a minarelli v1 engine and a dellorto carburetor. you should have a 14.12 carb, if not (if you have a 14.9), that's why you have poor performance. jets are not standard beyond dellorto (that i know of), and you want a #51 or #52 jet (the number is stamped on the jet itself).

second, make sure your seals are tight on the carb, since leaking and such may all affect your performance. also, don't run w/o an airfilter. that will damage your engine. get the airfilter and airbox and run them together. fuel line is easy to fix, and use an inline fuel filter.

third, check your points. your poor performance might be due to improperly aligned points. take the plastic fan cover off and check the magneto.

fourth, your muffler might be a problem. be sure it's clean and has no obstructions. two-stroke engines need a good muffler for the engine cycle.

fifth, actually, a bosch platinum is the best plug for a minarelli. the correct size is 4214 platinum. that's similar to the champion L86 series. that's the size plug you need.

sixth, be sure you run the right mix of oil and gas. minarelli runs at 2.8oz per gallon.

seventh, check your front sprocket. if you have an 11-tooth or larger sprocket, that explains your lack of low end performance. i have an 11-tooth sprocket (among many many modifications) and that means i lose acceleration and climbing ability. but ... i gain top end (reaching about 40mph) in exchange. you can get a smaller sprocket if you want to drop down, or a larger one if you want to go up.

ok, that's all i have so far. i hope all this works. the minarelli engine is great. parts and service manuals are easy to find. parts are cheap, and they are easy to work on. good luck!

First,Greg,make sure you don't have a front or rear brake hanging up on you.Also make sure you have the correct level of 20W or 30W oil in the tranny(level to the side plug.)If there's too much it'll bog you down badly. Then get rid of that spark plug and install what Miguel said to.Your jet size should be 52 or up to 56.

i'm a bit curious as to the use of epoxy on a carburetor. don't permanetly seal things that are meant to be taken apart and put back together. you can probably get a cheap float gasket or try to repair the one you have. flipping it upside down seems to help.

you won't go up hills easily if you're not geared for it. my bike does ok on hills, but it loses about 10mph on a slight hill (20 degrees or so) and al but dies on a steep hill. on a 45 degree hill, i can go up a block, but i'm down to about 5mph by the time i hit the crest (which is the end of that block).

try just doing some thorough maintenance. keep in mind that this bike has probably sat god knows where in god knows what condition for 20 plus years. that will take time to work itself out.

good luck.