Why did my Taiwan Golden Bee 50cc scooter crap out at a red light?
by Claire
(State College, PA)
I have a Taiwan Golden Bee (T.G.B), Key West model, 50ccs, 2006. A brief vehicle history might help... Got it from my brother last summer after he left it in his apartment basement for three years. To get it running again, I had Kissel's Motorsports replace the battery and the spark plug.
Ran beautifully all summer after that, no problems. I used the right gas and everything, except that I didn't know I had to put 2 stroke oil in it (I'm no mechanical genius...), but once I did, it stopped spewing white smoke and purred like a kitten again.
Put it in my basement for the winter, took it out again this spring and it wouldn't start. It sounded like a weak battery.
Towed it to the shop and they found the battery was indeed weak but rechargeable and not the starting issue. They did a starting diagnostic and found my 2-stroke oil had leaked all over my carburetor, and they mentioned something about varnished gas (?!).
They said they cleaned it all out, recharged my battery, and said it was A-OK. Got it back last Thursday, drove it home (it ran beautifully), took it out again that Saturday (it was a little drizzly out, but not bad enough not to drive it).
I bought a trickle charger for the future winters, and I'll have that stuff you put in the gas so it doesn't varnish, and a clothespin on the oil line to keep it from leaking over the winter again.
Today (not 4 days after I rode it last) I get five blocks to a red light when it stalls sitting idle. I pulled it off the road, started it up again, and within a few seconds and a single rev it died again. Couldn't start it after that, though it sure seemed to try.
Got it home, hooked it up to the charger, and according to my charger, it NEEDED some charging, but says it's all juiced up now. I'll be trying it in the morning/afternoon, but I don't think that'll work.
The battery could not be the issue 4 DAYS after being fully recharged and used for a couple miles. Advice please? I don't want to dump another couple hundred bucks into it if I can help it.
Thank you,
Claire
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