Motorcycle Repair: 2 stroke sat around, stroke cycle engines, cagiva planet 125

Question
Hi there hope you can help me ? I am about to go and see a 1999 cagiva planet 125 (2 stroke) the guy tells me he brought it new used it once for commuting and it took him so long he garaged it. This was in 1999. he tells me it has 50 miles on the clock but he admits he has only been ticking it over once a year since then. He said he cleaned it the other day, changed the battery and mentioned that he thought the carb cut out a few times until it was warm. he said there was alittle rust on the handlebars but that it was coming off fine with tcut. I have also been on some bike chat rooms and people have been saying that the tyres will need replacing because of their age (not milage) and that the oil and air filter will need replacing ?

could you please give me some advice on pricing should thew carb need replacing and the points which other people raised and what i should be looking for or if this sounds like a bad deal

cheers

dominic


Answer
Hi Dominic,

Gasoline doesn't store well and often changes to a gel like substance in the carburetors with time. This is known as varnishing. It requires a thorough carb cleaning. With tweo-stroke cycle engines using a pre-mix fuel/gas recipe, the varnishing process is slightly different because the oil seems to prolong the change. Gas still is stale, but may not be gelled or gummed inside the float bowls.

Rubber dry-rots with exposure to sunlight and with age. Check for cracks on the sidewalls of tires (tyres).

Replace air filter if appearance is unsatisfactory.

Transmission oil should be changed, drive chain lubed, cables lubed, two-stroke cycle oil changed, fuel changed, spark plugs cleaned and gapped. Did I leave anything out?

Send me an email address as requested. I'll return info files that will assist you with repairs.

Respectfully,
Mark Shively