Modern Vespa

We are classed as dirty motored vehicle owners, and justifiably I suppose. But mostly it's ignored as a necessary evil and there aren't very many of us compared to all those empty but for the driver cars we see running all around us. But these days, those bigger cars are getting a LOT greener than we are. Most of us can get better mileage in our cars today than on our old Vespas.

But the future is coming and some is here now: new regulations and cities we can't even ride in... So let's discuss what we CAN do and I know it will be not much. But at least SOMETHING times all of us that do what we can could help and we all need to do our share.



1) Cutting down on the pollution a 2T emits? Are there tuning or component changes that can "clean up" the smoke 10% or even more. I don't know, but I could lose some power to burn cleaner and not feel hurt. Running temperature to shoot for matter here, like in a car? I know ppl rejet & swap muffs on newer bikes to get that "old" power back.

2) Improving gas mileage? Again how to tune and tips on how to drive to get the HIGHEST average MPG , what should I do? Motor being newer or fresher w/ all the internals all snugger and less leakage, a big difference here?

3) The elephant in the room, or should I say cat? If I fish my cat muff out of the trash, what difference will it make? How much cleaner is my smoke and what % of my power is now gone?

It's not like any gov't bureau is gonna change any rules if 10% of all scooterists worked on improvements and each wound up w/ about 10% improvement let's say, but I just wanna know which way to start leaning for when gas hits $50 a quart 50 years from now and I wear an oxygen tank to go outside.

Here in the U.K. I have a LML 125 2t same as the Genuine Stella 150 2t. It had been de restricted when I got it and most likely did 5mph more. I mucked about with going upto 150 re jetting etc but always hand hovering over the clutch lever waiting for that partial seize (happened twice).
Then the autolube played up and would smoke when left standing for a few days fixed it same happened again. I like to ride more in my old age than fixing it. ( hard work getting off hands and knees).
So I pulled out the Haynes manual put all emissions gubbings back on but left it as 150 re jetted accordingly and converted to pre mix and changed main jet to compensate. Runs really well quieter no smoke better fuel economy and about the same power out as a de restricted 125 without all the hassle of tuning and worry of seizure. So I happy if VOSA want to pull me over for emission test and when they start bringing them in on the yearly mot which will be sooner or later. My 2019 Euro 4 emissions compliant Peugeot Django 125 4t with all the gubbings on and fuel injection can pull 70mph on occasions and is happy at 55-65mph so that's faster than all 4t scooters I have de restricted and I can put a 150 barrel on and the bike re sets itself to the new barrel after a short spin ( ecu and fuel injector ) so in some respects engine designers and the pointy heads have come up with some good stuff.

Ironically enough, my PX215 (with cut crank, extra porting, 30mil carb, Sito+) is getting better fuel economy (about 55mpg) than my stock PX200 (24/24 carb and Sito+) when cruising at 55/60mph. The engine just doesn’t have to work as hard to go the same speed. I just removed the 30mil to a 25mil dellorto to see if I can get better fuel (without loosing too much HP).

The ‘05 PX150 came with a “catalytic converter” of sorts on the stock exhaust. I can just see it now- people will soon be searching for NOS PX cat exhausts for their tuned scoots! That being said, I wonder if that “cat” tube that was welded on the stock exhaust could be cut off and installed onto a performance type exhaust, while still make a good power curve?

That's exactly what I hunted out for was a exhaust system with cat and got one on ebay with the secondary air system on I think its called for about £15 for a late px as no one wanted it 😊

It's easy enough to at least appear to run cleaner, by using synthetic or semi, and making sure you're not over supplying the oil. Visible smoke is one thing that will make people vote for stricter pollution restrictions.
I love the smell of two stroke but you do see people from time to time holding their noses as a group of scooters goes past.

Well here in California they’re trying to figure out how to run DEF fluid through our two strokes. Lol

Run the best synthetic oil emitting the least amount of detectable fumes. That's all I got. If the hammer does come down, and we want to still ride, we'll all be installing electric motors in these scoots and the engines will be on the shelf.

With the Topic heading Going Green, my first thought was oh oh he's painting the scooter green now.

From what I've read, its all about using best Synthetic oil.