I was plagued for the better part of a year with a moped that was very hard to start. The plugs would get wet, foul out, and I would end up cranking my moped over and over by hand for 10 to 15 minutes just trying to get it to start. I finally put it in the shed and forgot about it and decided a week ago to drag it out and start using it to get to work in order to save money and combat gas prices. It has started first time everytime now for a week and here's why.
I have been using "Bel Ray or Bel Tech" synthetic 2 stroke oil (which is darn near ashless) throughout all of this. In the past I was mixing it 20:1 and that was WAY too much oil. I was very cautious and caerfully made an accurate 40:1 mixture and the moped has fired right up on the first time, every time, even in 20 to 30 degree weather. I have one of the clicker chokes that clicks off on full throttle and I wish I had a progressive choke because in the cold - it will run for about 2 blocks and at the first stop sign she'll die on me. I usually ride with my hand on the choke a little bit to help her along and then she's fine.
My original muffler fell off years ago so I found a Tecumseh muffler that fits just fine with only one problem - it's for a 4 stroke. My moped is honest-to-god as loud as a chainsaw and the guys at work hear me coming 6 blocks away. It scares dogs, cats, squirrels, and little kids run to their mothers but even last night at 10:30, I rode right by a parked cop and he didn't come run me down. I thought he would. I guess in this Mid-Western community where chainsaws are a part of daily life, they're used to it.
I'm going to add some pictures of me (BIG guy on a little moped) to my page at http://home.ispi.net/bie/elassley/mopedpage.html tonight so check it out and see what you think. You are gonna be shocked at how well my little ped handles its load. I'm the town eccentric, I'm nuts, I'm the only one who rides a motorbike of any type in 6" of snow but I don't care - I'm laughing all the way to the bank!
Erin