Having deciphered the wiring and found that there's good compression in the cylinder by way of stomping on the kick start a few dozen times, I start to wonder if the engine is just flooded.
Now, any other time, one could fiddle with the carb and use the starter motor to clear it out. But remember: I don't have a key. And I can't figure out how to trip that particular lead.
So I'm left with an idea I thought I saw while skimming my previous Google searches: using a power drill in lieu of a starter motor.
First, I had to face some facts. There's nothing like passing the point of no return only to find you haven't got a decent set of metric tools to work with when messing around with a Chinese scooter.
$50 later, I have a pretty decent set.
;)
And now to the other fact: I don't own a power drill. Let alone a cordless one.
;)
From my web search endeavors, I gather that an 18 volt drill should be sufficient. But more Googling found 18 volts to be on the high end, and a bit expensive. Time to borrow the one from work. Thank heavens it came with a 3/8" driver.Tools in hand, I pried Google for a few more pages and found the most helpful result so far: a PDF of a repair manual, complete with assembly instructions for the kick starter (which, in reverse, become disassembly instructions).
;)
A few bolts and some prying left me with the crankshaft exposed. But I forgot to bring the wire I was using to hotwire it. Rather than do the sensible thing and go get it, I searched my nearby car for a substitute. The best I found was a cigarette-adapter plug with a USB connection. That would have wires. But, it turns out that those wires are short. So short they were impractical. I found this out only after prying the stubborn thing apart. So I went and got my go-to wire anyway. So much for ingenuity.
Wire in place, 3/8" driver with 17mm socket on drill, hand on left brake and hopeless optimism in play, I put the drill into action.
Several attempts saw me try different ways to hold the drill or adjust the speed. The drill had a feature that released a clutch of sorts when the torque got too high, and there didn't seem to be any way to override this, so I couldn't push it full tilt, because the compression stroke takes some serious effort. At least that means there's good compression in the cylinder. But my continued failure means the problem lies elsewhere.
The likely theory is that because the scooter sat so long, the gas vapors congealed in the carburetor, gumming up the works. And now for a crash course in carburetor repair...