well my eletric start on my scooter is acting all wonky like it is trying to start and can not....and i have tryed everything i know even putting it on the charger and letting it sit all night long....no dice. i have left the kill switch off and still will not start. It has plenty of gas and i am actually a little bit afraid to try to kickstart it. I never learnd how (dumb me). and it looks a bit dangerous to try while seated. HELP. i am actaully starting to consider putting it in the shop and letting them figure it out. the kickstart is half way back sortof in the middle of the body of the bike.

Two things are very common for bikes that sit up over winter. One is that the fuel system gets gummed up....the bike may start, but sputter and die, or refuse to run properly...if it starts. The other is that the battery may go dead. Putting your battery on a maintenance charger and adding fuel stabilizer to the bike can help...but it may be more the fuel system gummed up than anything wrong with the battery. Except you could run the battery down trying to start it.

The lights and horn should tell you if your battery has oomph. If your battery is run down, you can jump it...but if the carb is gummed up, all the jumping in the world won't get it going. Nor will kick starting.

To kickstart any bike, you have to be able to get in a position to kick hard enough to overcome the compression of the engine. That's maybe not the best technical explanation, but if you can't kick with some power, you likewise won't get it started. Turn our key on....and then kick. Have you ever kick started any other bike?

Here's a good explanation of kick starting a small scoot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgvNtiL-oUU

Here's a gal kick starting her dirt bike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mlPb-atlD0

Good luck!

what would it cost to have a mechanic take a look at it? I have tryed the seafoam stuff, that did not work out, and the battery is still good. all lights and all still works. just that the eletric starter switch feels "hard" when i try to crank it and it makes a whinny/ buzzing noise like it wants to start but just can not. I would rather someone who knows what to do take a look at it.

Best to call around your local area and see who will work on it. Shop rates for motorcycle shops in this area are around $90-95 an hour. You can check craigslist under "Services," and look for a motorcycle or small engine mechanic. Sometimes counter people at motorcycle shops know people who do work "on the side," because they come in for parts.

Is there someone in your area who sells scooters? Especially Chinese scooters? A mechanic who has worked on them may have more of an idea what to expect, or know better where to get parts if he needs it.

If it had been sitting up for awhile, again, the most common culprit is a gummed/plugged up carb, and any small engine mechanic should be able to clean a carb....once he figures out where it is and how to get to it. But that may not be it. The Chinese scoots I've seen come through my friend's shop have had all sorts of issues.

Let your fingers do the walking...get out the phone book, check craigslist, ask motorcycle parts people if they know anybody...good luck!

A battery can energize lights and such but still be too weak to run the starter motor.
Use a battery maintainer and charge the battery until the maintainer says it is charged.
Sears has their maintainer on sale and Wal Mart always has theirs for about $20.

To be completely sure of the battery, after it is fully charged, take it to an auto parts store and have it tested under load.

Scoot safely,

_________________
New Rider in 2010
Grand Vista 250

Mary, not every auto parts store can test a motorcycle battery. Call ahead and make sure they have the right equipment and know how to use it. Better would be a store that specializes in batteries, like Batteries Plus, if you have something like that in your area.

Kick starting an engine is simple. Used to be not that long ago, that smaller bikes had only kick-starters, as electric starters were seen as something that only large-displacement engines needed, as the smaller bikes are easy enough to kick that a child could do it.

Anyway, here's the drill for kick-starting an engine... NEVER, EVER TRY TO KICK-START AN ENGINE WITH BARE FEET FLIP-FLOPS!!!

Turn the key to the "on" position, activate the choke (if your bike has one, as these too are becoming somewhat obsolete), then place your foot on the kick-start lever, with the heel of your shoe or boot "hooked" on the horizontal portion of the lever. Push down on the lever slowly until you meet some resistance (this is when the piston is approaching "top-dead-center" of it's compression stroke). After you feel the resistance build, and while keeping your knee slightly bent, use the weight of your body to force the lever to the bottom of it's arc. Don't try to use just the muscles in your leg until you have become used to the movement of the lever. Also, always keep your knee slightly bent while kick-starting the engine. If you've ever tried to kick-start an old Harley or Triumph, you'll know why - sometimes the engine will kick back. If your leg is fully extended when the engine "kicks back', you'll go ass-over-teacups over the handlebars. Of course, this is not much fun, and if anyone is around to see it, it can be downright embarrassing as well.

It's an awful lot of fun for the people around watching, so long as you're not hurt.