Hi from Guelph ON

[Yvan]

Hi everyone. This is Yvan from Guelph. I'm a technology consultant and I love pretty much everything with engines.

I have an 80cc Chinese 2-stroke kit on an old Raleigh mountain bike. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I have about 1 hour riding it and about 24 hours working on it. It has been off the road for a couple of years because I wasn't able to source a replacement drive gear but I finally picked some up on ebay. You can read more on my blog.

I'm currently trying to get it to start. Lots of spark and compression. I've tried two different carbs but no luck. It will have to wait until next weekend.

Pro tip: Spending hours riding in circles trying to get your bike to start? Remove the ignition system cover and use a drill and a 14mm socket (clockwise) to save a lot of sweat and sore muscles. This is how the pull-start works.

 

[Fabian]

I am scratching my head as to how the damage occurred on your engine.

I also don't understand why you are having such difficulty starting your engine, if needing to use a drill as a quasi starter motor.
When set up correctly, these engines are surprisingly reliable and start quite easily.

 

[Yvan]

Yes I am pretty certain that the Woodruff key for the clutch assembly was not correctly installed when I disassembled. It also explains why I originally spent so much time adjusting my clutch because it never seemed to stop slipping.

I agree, I never had any difficulties starting in the past. Now that I know there is compression and spark I'm going to switch back to my RT red "racing" carb which I believe was the last one I used and so I know it was working. That said, these carbs are so simple, I can't understand how they couldn't work.