Motorcycle Repair: Bike wont start - suspect flooded engine?, aprilia rs125, electrical fault

Question
Chris,

Any help with this would be much appreciated!

Recently bought a used Aprilia RS125 2-stroke from a dealer with just over 10k kilometers on the clock (yes, I'm new to biking) - after starting it when the dealer dropped it off (about 5 days ago), I tried to start it up again (second or third time since purchasing it) last night, and struggled - got it to tick over once, after about five minutes of trying, but it cut out once put into first gear. Now, I'm having no luck at all - the starter button and motor all seems to be working fine, but the engine just won't fire up at all. There's a smell of petrol, which makes me suspect that it's flooded - can you please, please, please give me some advice as to how to rectify this?

Many, many thanks,

Asa Joseph

London, UK

Answer
Hi Asa.

The smell of fuel definitely indicates flooding.  Being as it's a 2-stroke, the problem could be fuel:oil mix.  It should be at a 50:1 ratio.  if the premix is wrong, then that would keep it from firing.

There is also the possibility of the usual mechanical issues that every bike could be suffering from;

1) Low compression.

2) Ignition timing is off.

3) Valve gap and timing is off.

4) Ignition coil failure. Check against specs in the repair manual.

5) Electrical fault in ignition wiring. Check this with a multimeter against the specs in the repair manual.

Start by checking those and let me know what you find.
Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON