Strange engine failure???

[Busaman]

I have a Grubee SkyHawk 66/80cc I got from BikeBerry, it has worked flawless until now.

Was riding about 4 miles into a ride today when I stopped at the store. When I came out to continue on she wouldn't start. It was strange to me because prior to me stopping it was running perfect. When I got home I changed the spark plug hoping it would be that simple...NOT!.

So it got late and dark so I put it up for the night. Can someone give a laundry list of things to check when I dig into it tomorrow? I'm leaning toward an electrical issue since I just changed the spark plug. I thought it may be rich but I have ran it with the same mixture since break-in (about 15 hours).

Is there a way to check to see if the coil is good?

 

[AussieSteve]

Check for spark first. Lay the plug on the head and turn the motor over, (spin the wheel). Should be a nice blue spark.

 

[Busaman]

Got it! one of the ignition wires came unplugged. I think it happened when I was taking my chain lock off, it must of brushed over my wire bundle making the disconnect. Gotta love the easy fixes, I was all ready to start throwing parts at it...Whew

 

[AussieSteve]

Well done. It's almost always the simple things.

... Steve

 

[happycheapskate]

Hahaha mine died the other day and I was about to check the plug and all that. Then I looked and I had knocked the petcock when taking off my lock. hahahhaha

 

[motorpsycho]

this is why it's a good idea to cut off the cheap connectors and solder all your wire connections and then cover them with heat shrink.
That's one of the first things i did to every wire that had a connector on my ignition system.

 

[happycheapskate]

I agree. Don't cut any length off the factory wires coming from the engine, except to cut off the old bullet connectors. Strip the wires just a 1/4" or less (1 cm or less) as necessary to make new connections. Then if you need to redo it later, you have plenty of room.

Physical shielding is also good if there is a chance that locks or road debris/mud can damage the wires. I used plastic vinyl hose to cover my wires running along the down tube.