‘A massive snail was blocking the intake so it wouldn’t run’
Geno Melici never expected a mollusc to be at the root of this scooter’s issues...
‘The snail must have got in there at the factory’
Mechanics normally face their toughest tests when confronted with an old bike that’s been around the block a few times, but this new scooter had not turned a wheel and yet would not run. Geno Melici, 32, has been involved with the family firm, Morecambebased PM Tuning, since he was two. These days PM Tuning import Chinese-made Scomadi scooters that look a lot like older Lambrettas.
It’s normally pretty simple, once the bikes are out of their crates, they add the bar-end weights and carry out a pre-delivery inspection before firing them up, but one particular machine wouldn’t play ball. “We were working on a batch of seven, but the last bike just wouldn’t start. It was turning over fine, and we made sure there was a spark.
“The next area to check is the fuel supply. So we ran through it from the tank onwards, stripping the injection module down too. But it was all pristine and fuel was flowing at all the checkpoints,” Geno said. “We were at a dead loss, but when we took the airbox off and hit the starter it ran. I turned the airbox over in my hands and it looked fine, we couldn’t see an issue with it.” After a bit more head-scratching Geno got a torch and shone it up the air intake pipe, which was when he spotted the cause: a snail that had stowed away in the tube.
“It was massive, so the airbox tube was completely blocked. We had to hook it out with a screwdriver. The snail must have got in at the factory and made itself at home. Once removed, the buyer was on his way,” added Geno.
Foreign objects MCN have seen in airboxes stretch from sweet wrappers to mice nests or a squirrel’s winter nut haul. So if your bike has been in storage for a while, it’s well worth getting into the airbox to check the air filter and that someone or something hasn’t taken up residence inside.