MOPED ARMY

Three guesses.

Either some of the tiny orifices in the carb got clogged.

(do you use an inline fuel filter and a capfull of some gas treatment occasionally?)

I swear ...I have to clean my PA-50 carb every 150 miles !

Or.... you sustained a seizure which damaged the rings and bore and caused a loss of compression.

Or.. the pipe is clogged.. and your straight pipe ain't cutting it.

(but I would think the straight pipe would perform better than a badly clogged stock muffler)

Could it be the 200 pound dog house you forgot to unchain it from ??.. ;)

When my bike is running slower than it should, 9 times out of 10 it

The bike seemed to lose power gradually, over a few days. I checked to make sure the brakes weren't dragging. I didn't make adjustments to the throttle cable, but pulled on the housing to see what difference it made. The problem is not in the throttle cable... I haven't checked the timing, but it is non-adjustable anyway. I figured changing the spark plug gap would affect the timing a little.

I'd drilled a bunch of holes in my aircleaner previously (on the dirty side of the filter), and I had a spare jet, so I didn't really have any qualms about drilling the jet to compensate for the extra air. Besides, I check the plug every time I make an adjustment, and try to keep the mixture right...

I've been working on VWs for around 20 years now, and I'm pretty well equipped in the tool department. Two-strokes are new for me, but I'm starting to catch on...

This morning I stopped by the convenience store for gas, oil and coffee on my way to work. I thought I'd put a little oil in the gas (mine is oil injected, and I wondered if the pump was skimping out on me)... Got about 1/2 mile away before the bike died... Fooled around with the carb, discovered that I could get the bike to run with the choke half-closed. Took it back home (with a trail of smoke behind me), called work and got the day off (only work 4 hours on Saturday, anyway)...

Drained the tank, put fresh gas in, topped up the oil reservoir. I can't really test drive it right now, since it is raining...

I'll keep ya posted.

david

Dave,

I was not picking on you about the jet drilling, just pointing out that we defer to your obvious "try it and see if it works" attitude.

As for your current problem. There are only two simple reasons for needing choke on a warm engine. One is too much air, such as a manifold leak. The other is too little gas, as in water or crud in the carburetor. Assuming, of course that the mixture was ok to begin with.

There are more complex reasons such as crank seal leaks but they are less common.

You seem to have the exhaust off a lot, you can look in through the port and see if the piston is scuffed or the rings siezed.

Keep us posted,

Ron

It says you can always tell a hardcore 'pedder by the bugs in his teeth when he grins.

For all that I have never really seen proof either way, I suspect this may be the case, as in adding a little compression, but don't take that as established fact.

What, you don't think the drowned-rat look is fashionable ? LOL !

All in all, seems general suspicion is the rings, and I agree, it's worth a look anyhow.