I have a Suzuki LT80. It will start about 1/10 times. It ticks over, I do everything correctly; key on, safety off, break on, prime etc and sometimes it will start, but most of the time it will not, and it will just tick over until the battery starts to drain. When it does start it runs fine as long as I keep giving it a bit of throttle. If I get off the quad/stop giving it some throttle, it will turn itself off after 10-20 seconds.
What could be wrong with it? I really have no clue what to do/check so if someone could give me a bit of help I'd be really grateful.

 

Welcome to the forums.
I'd start with a good carb cleaning.
I'd also do a compression test.

 

Thankyou! I hate to sound stupid but, where can I find instructions on how to clean the carb and do a compression test. I have little/no experience with maintaining engines apart from small RC car engines (I am 22).

 

As far as the carb, do some research in here. I'm sure it's here and you will learn more as you search.
You would need a compression tester (prolly 30 bucks at sears).
You remove the spark plug and screw the tester in. Apply full throttle and turn the motor over till the gauge peaks.
Surely you have a friend with some expierience/tools that can help you?

Also, with the petcock on prime, pull the hose at the carb and make sure fuel is flowing.
-->Make sure the gas tank vent is not plugged.
-->A plugged pipe can be the culprit.
No tools needed to figure those out.
I've recommended the carb cleaning cuz it fixxed alot of machines. That and everyone needs their carb cleaned periodically IMO.
Those and the lack of compression (should be 100+) are the most common problems.
Hope that helps.