Hi Gang! I hope I can be of some help with your Briggs engine.

 As a young boy, our neighborhood in Westminster,Ca. was full of kids that had "mini-bikes" in the 1960's.

 These were small framed bikes of welded tubular construction powered by the Briggs engine.

 There are basically two types of engines, the horizontal shaft and the vertical shaft. The vertical shaft engines are great for post hole diggers but cannot work for mini bikes or go-karts.

 There are three things that will either make you or break you concerning your Briggs engine. Fire,Fuel and compression.

 Almost always, it was a plug that didnt fire. We (and you) can check this by removing the plug and grounding it to the engine block and look for a bright blue spark. If you dont have one, your ignition system is malfunctioning.

 On the older briggs engines, the contact points were located in an aluminum box behind the flywheel. On the newer Briggs, they have "pointless" ignition and the culprit would be the coil.

 Next, is fuel, If the engine got too much fuel, it would choke out and refuse to run. This is easy to remedy, just take out the spark plug ,clean it ,wire brush it and dry it with a rag.. Once the fuel is dryed on your plug, re-install it and let er rip!

 Next, is compression. Since a Briggs only has one cyclinder, it has to have good compression. It has no other cylinders to rely on like a V-8 does. so.... install a compession check guage in the spark plug hole and flip the engine over to check compresion reading. It should have over 50 psi to run well.

 If your Briggs has little or no compression, remove the cylinder head and clean the carbon from the valves. This is done by turning your engine crankshaft until the intake valve pops up and can be cleaned underneath on its seat with a wire brush. Do the exhaust valve also.Chances are the carbon is preventing the valves from closing properly.

 Well, I hope this guide is helpful. Thanks again, and be safe- wear your goggles when working on your Briggs engine- Mikey