Modern Vespa

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a newbie to the world of Vespa and have owned a PX125 for just under a year.

Just over a week ago, the electric start button stopped working. Then today on my way back from the station, the bike wouldn't start with either the electric start button or the kick start.

I had a breakdown guy come out who said that my battery is dead because of the short journeys I make to the station each day (3.5 miles, 10 minutes each way).

It appears the charger system isn't charging the battery properly. After jump starting it and taking it for a longer journey however, both the electric start and kick start work fine. However I'm suspecting that this problem is going to happen again in which case I presume I'll just need to take it for a longer drive once a week or so (which I'm quite happy to do

However I was wondering, is this normal? Does anyone else have any experience of this problem?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers,
Lee

Short trips at low rpms tend to drain the battery. Get a low amperage battery tender and hook it up every couple of days and you should be fine. You can even wire in a plug so that it is easy to hook up each time.

Thanks Hachi

You should still be able to kick start the bike even if your battery's toast. My battery has been dead for about 5 years, never got round to replacing it because I never use it.

Hmm yeah that's the weird thing. The kick start also doesn't work when the battery's dead.
Any ideas?

It's possible that you have flooded the engine when you have tried the electric start which has caused difficulty in kick starting. You say that it bump started? Well that's just a more aggressive version of kick starting really. In case this is new to you, you need to know that when kick starting, you shouldn't be opening the throttle, particularly when the choke is pulled. Just kick until it starts. If everything is right, it should start after a couple or three kicks. Even when the engine is warm, just give the throttle a blip as the engine kicks into life.

Remember, these engines have remained relatively unchanged for many years, at some point they bolted on an electric start. Prior to that, they were all kick start.






Edit: Or alternatively, just ignore this.

Thanks. Do think this will do the job?

http://www.piaggiospares.co.uk/spares/partImage.asp?GPN=VT15100

Yes LeePX125. That looks perfect. Thankfully I usually ride year round and don't do many short trips so I've never had to charge mine. I also tend to run mine in the higher rpm range. That should keep it in tip top shape and help it last a lot longer considering your frequent short rides.

Thanks Hachi, much appreciated, I've bought that so we'll see how it goes

Cheers

Working like a dream

That's good to hear LeePX125!