Modern Vespa

Hello out there in Impie land. I have a problem with my Matilda. She has been drinking way too much latley. Instead of getting at least 250 Kilometers to the Tank of Gas. I am getting only 150 to the Tank. I am kind of at a stalemate at the moment. Does anyone have an idea what might be causing Matilda's sudden bout of thirst. All imput would be hihgly appriciated. Thanks

I have never done 250 km on one tank.
I usually do 160-180 km before the light comes "on" on the dashboard.
The maximum I have ever done on 1 tank is 240 km. If you were doing 250 km on a regular basis on 1 tank...consider yourself lucky

Clean the air filter, change the spark plugs, check the tires pressure, check the transmission to see if you can get back to your old mileage.

Thanks for the advise reticulum,but I did a Service on her before I put her to bed last winter and I filled the tires up when I took her out at the beginning of April. That's why I think it might be a much deeper Problem. I took her to the Workshop on Saturday and the Mechanic said it might be a bad Piston or Piston Rings, but the Motor was rebuilt about two years ago.

I was going to say similar to the other post.
What I have observed, the Fuel Mileage Killer is the Air Filter.

Dirty, or maybe to much oil absorption...
Some people put way to much oil on the Air Filter after replacing.

Keith,
Marietta, GA

. Good tip Kieth. I'll take a look at it. The oil for the filter is pretty thick and sticky. There is the possibility that I did put too much of that crap in it. I'll try to clean it out a bit. Maybe that'll help. Thanks

I lke Piaggio recommendation, mix 50/50 filter oil and gas. Soak the filter in the mixture, squeeze the excess out and let air dry.

That's exactly what I do for my air filter.

Likewise. Cheap'n'easy.

Actually I bought the oil over amazon. It was cheaper than buying it from the Dealer,but it`s sticky as hell and it gets all over and can also be hard to clean off. Well I guess you Live and Learn. I`ll never buy that crap again !

That is just what you want.
It is sticky because it is acting as a filter and collects more dirt than standard oil would. You are using the right product in the wrong way. Delute to a 50/50 mix oil and gas, soak, ring out, let dry.

Oh I see. You meant 50% sticky crap & 50% gas. Okay. Can do. Thanks!

I have K&N Air Filters in all my 4 Wheeler's.
So I use the same Air Filter Oil (Redish Looking), and mix with Gas and Soak and dry as explained earlier. I didn't buy anything special for the MP3's / GTS.

I can remember years ago, I was riding with a friend who had a GTV/300.
He was stopping for Gas way to much compared to my MP3/250 at the time.
We opened the Air Filter, and it was a mess of Goo... He over did the Oil.


Keith,
Marietta, GA

Just the plain Rotella 5W-40 engine oil and gas here.

Dirty filter goes in a zip-lock bag with some gas - squish it about to clean it. Squeeze out the dirty gas, dispose of the remainder from the bag. Add some clean oil and gas (~50:50) to the bag, squish the filter around in it, remove it and squeeze out any excess then allow the remaining gas component to evaporate.

Good for another 6000 miles if the air quality is 'normal' and not too dusty.

I used to be riding the fucco 2009 and now mp3 16.the old ride could go til 310km per tank and now its like only 240km til empty.
I was told the new ride is alot heavier and got bigger throtttle body.
Really hated the range.
Going to build an aux tank in the trunk!

Have you tried ECO Mode? I thought it was pretty good based on my Riding and use of Premium Fuel (Non Ethanol whenever possible).

Keith,
Marietta, GA

The eco mode didnt get much better and the riding feel sucks.i ride 50/50 city n high way.

You really make me think that there is something wrong with my scooter from the beginning.
I ride on ECO 95% of the time and I have a very smooth riding. I'm 185 pounds and have a 2016 MP3 500.
The maximum distance I did on 1 tank is 152 US miles which is 243 Km. I was getting 55 miles/US gallons.

When you are mentioning doing 310 km on 1 tank it is about 193 US miles. Even my MP3 250cc was not able to do such distance on 1 tank. How do you do such distance on a 500cc ?

Last edited by reticulum on Wed May 01, 2019 7:12 am; edited 2 times in total

Isn't 55 MPG what the MP3 500 is rated for?
It was for my 2008 MP3 500

That is my grand average fuel economy.
See below....

I did 310 km to a tank.that means that the tank is til almost empty.
That was on the fuccuo model .forgotten which year exactly was it.

Who cares about fuel mileage. Twist the throttle, have fun, and enjoy the ride. I know that I get about 220km on a full tank. I am hard on the throttle and enjoy the ride.

Americans do - although the price of fuel here is very reasonable compared to anywhere in Europe. It's apparently because they do tend to drive much further on a daily basis. It's not unheard of to drive 100 miles (160km) for lunch... Also, there are places where fuel stations are very few and far between - so you'd better have a range of at least 200 miles (320km) to a tank or carry spare fuel.

Great meeting you today. Hopefully air filter, or my suggestion of O2 sensor, solves your problem. Bridgestone Battlax tires are great. Very sticky but not a wet weather tire by any means. Have to drop my speed by about 15km/h in the wet.

It was great meeting you and your family Charles. I will be looking foward to riding out with you sometime. We just need to set a date and make it happen. By the way. Was that you who blasted me with the horn as I drove by? If it was you, you nearly scared the Bejesus out of this Old Man. Y'all take care and I to see ya again soon. Fred

Not I.

Not you,meaning Horn. Right?

Yep.

Oki Doki

I have used air filter spray for many years.

the trick is hold the can 2 feet away from the filter start spraying 4 inches before the filter and use a sweeping motion across the filter only 2 times like a lite mist of product and only on the outside surface of the filter. Then roll the filter up in a cake roll and unroll let dry in the sun for an hour.

Hallo fellow Impies. I cleaned my Filter this Weekend and put 50% Filter oil and 50% Gasoline in it. It seems to be working so far. I plan on running a full Tank to see what Mileage I can get. I thank all of you for your advise and I will keep you posted on my progress.

Hello again fellow Impies. Well I took Matilda out for her first good ride today and found that there is very little change to fuel Economy. I think I will the advice of new200guy and have her Lambda checked. I will continue posting my indeavers in the prevention of bad Fuel Economy.