Hello all,

I am a new member but have been reading your posts on this site about TS185s and they have been extremely helpful. I recently obtained a TS185 for $450AU and it runs a little rough so i'm trying to fix it up. I dont know a great deal about bikes so bare with me but i have been doing a lot of reading and have found out that these bikes are pretty tough!

Anyways, the bike runs OK after it starts however this takes a little bit of work. I thought it may have been the carby so i pulled that apart over the weekend and gave it a good clean with some carb cleaner but that didn't seem to make any difference. It seems to be a problem with the spark plug. I replaced it with a new one and it kicked over fine and i rode around on it for half the day but when i went to kick it over again the next day it wouldn't kick. After pulling the spark plug out it was black and covered in what looked like oil? I tried cleaning it but it didn't help. So i chucked a brand new spark plug in and it kicked over perfectly again? Does anyone have any suggestions of what it may be?

Also the bike is really really loud. It seems there is an exhaust leak at the front of the bike (i can feel air coming out of the motor when i place my hand near the front tyre). Is there some type of seal that connects the exhaust to the motor that i have to replace?

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks
Travis