MOPED ARMY

It has clogged fuel passages in the carb...

Read the post below by Matt called ..."choke problems"

I had a PA50-II with the same problem. Clean the air filter with carb cleaner and then dip it in motor oil (10W30 is fine). Wring it out and put it back.

Clean the bejesus out of the carburetor. It's the main jet that's giving you problems. You have to get it out and clean it with a wire.

When you look into the carb from where the bowl goes, you have one jet, that can be easily unscrewed. The jet that's probably giving you problems is the one behind that one. Get it out and clean it until it looks brand new.

If you need help getting the carb off (it's a procedure and a half on a PA-50) let me know and I'll write a quick walk-through.

You might as well put a new fuel filter on the moped while you're at it. Since you practically have to take the engine off to get the carb out, you don't want to risk a piece of crud soiling your carb five seconds after you put it back on. Buy any cheap, small, inline fuel filter at an auto parts store.

Have you modified your variator on your PA-50? I know an easy trick that you can do that'll give you an extra 5MPH.

I got the idea from a guy named Gangly Jeff. His website (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Factory/1935/TrannyMod.htm) suggests pounding lead inside the roller weights inside the variator (CVT) to make them heavier and change the acceleration characteristics.

The trick I found that made an even bigger difference, though, is to cut notches in the side of the variator housing to allow the weights to roll an extra half inch or so further. This allows the two sheaves of the pulley to push even closer together and increase your gearing a bit more.

With this mod my PA-50 sounds like it's shifting gears. It'll get up to a certain speed (about 40km/h (25MPH)) and then inertia will push the roller weights into the "extra" space and the engine RPMs will drop as the gear ratio changes pushing the engine back into the power band. I'll get a power boost good for about 10-15km/h (6 - 9MPH) more.

I'm not at home this weekend, so I can't take photos of the modification. I will take some pictures and post them after the weekend. It's one of those things that can best be described with a couple of pictures rather than with ten pages of text.

In the meantime, I recommend lubricating the back, spring-loaded belt pulley. You might find that making sure that it slides properly open and closed will give you a bit more speed (don't lubricate the pulley faces though!).