Modern Vespa

After putting 673 miles on my 2003 Vespa ET2 50 over the past 11 years, I finally have it in the shop to prep it for some actual use.
So now that I'm at the beginning stages of getting into the wonderful world of scootering (is that even a word?)...I can't seem to figure out if there is an 'official' club/governing body/website/event that encompasses the majority of scooterists (that's probably not a real word either). The major players seem to be scootercannonball.com, the amerivespa event and this site of course. Just wondering if I'm missing anything but I'm very happy to be here. Anyone know of any good 50cc-friendly Vespa clubs around the Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Pahrump area in Nevada?

This link may help:

Harv

Welcome to the forum.

Don't worry about any big governing body. Just ride and have fun. Once you do the club will find you.

Welcome to the epicenter of the Vespatisti. Luckily you fell into the actual only official place for a new Vespatistus.

The Cannonball site you cite is the only one of importance, although there is another one out there that is a subject of much derision, and which may actually be a figment. Someone here can direct you to that site for the entertainment value.

But, welcome, and let me be the first to say, without pics it never happened. You are due for the important 600mile check, which is 11 years overdue.

Govern yourself. Ride because your enjoy the freedom.

But if you feel like you would like to hangout with like minded folks... You came to the right place 'Welcome'

If you are ever in Toronto you will be welcomed by the Toronto Motorscooter Club

Thanks everyone...although I'm not sure if I'm Goth enough for 'WasRoadbum', I'll do my best to keep everyone happy with plenty of pictures once I get wheels on pavement. 1st stop - Mount Charleston.

I meant it to be a self deprecating. A video of a couple a misfits just trying to fit in. It wasn't meant to be anything more than a reception we all kind of came here for; scooterists ain't motorcyclists so it might take the right kind of person or maybe the right situation to be accepted. We all came here because the folks here were kinda like us by way of the Vespa.

Apologies, and no hearm meant

Harv

It's all good, I got the joke...I was having fun with it but unfortunately the internet has not invented a sarcasm font yet. haha

Wrong!
http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/12/12/finally-sarcasm-has-a-voice-in-print-with-its-own-font/

Welcome to the forum. By joining her you have connected with just about all the folks who matter. I hope you find this fourm as friendly and as helpful as I have,

In a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad way...I just realized it is almost exactly 1 year since I first joined all you wonderful folks here at MV.

The reason this is a bad day for me today is I may be selling my 1st & only Vespa.

My reasons I'm considering the sale of my ET are...
1 - I just don't know if I can stand the constant repair bills any more.
2 - I can't stand riding it during the 5 months of hellish Vegas summer.
3 - It's 10mph slower than I want it to be (& I don't want to mod it).
4 - I could really use the money.

I've done some forum posting during my year here at MV but I have done FAR more reading and learning during that time. I assure you all, I am aware there are several steps I can take to mitigate some of the problems I just mentioned. I'm also well aware three of the four problems listed are problems which cannot be blamed on the Vespa itself but rather they are of my own doing, so to speak.

I'm not asking for solutions or help here, I'm merely remarking on the relationship between my Vespa & I at my ModernVespa 1-year anniversary. I'm at the point where I fantasize a delusional & rich person will offer me far more than what it's worth and I sell it to him/her immediately with no regret. Since it's unlikely anyone drunk enough will materialize with a few thousand dollars to spend, I wrestle with my mind as to what I really want to do.

So that's where I'm at.

Berate me for considering the sale, console me for being down or, better yet, drink with me to celebrate my 1 year anniversary here at MV. I'm raising a glass of Sam Adams Boston Ale to all you great MVers who've taught me well over the past year. Cheers!

Oh dear, you *are* in the Doldrums.

Get out and ride! Say I!

Maintain it most economically with your own skills, and you will be rewarded.

2 weeks after I went on vacation in Feb, it magically decided to do an unscheduled fuel dump on the garage floor for no reason & without being touched. 6 weeks after that I'm now home again & maybe tomorrow I'll check some hoses or something, see wtf happened. Bastard missed me or something maybe. ha

Congrats on the anniversary. Even if you do let your ET go, looks like you've got some happy memories and lovely photos.

I think you'll probably miss riding if you stop, but I do know what it's like to have an unreliable money pit of a scooter. Maybe let this one go and replace it with something better (a GT200?) when things look up on the financial front?

Sometimes my cat pees on the couch if I am away too long.

Hope you're not going after one year

Year 2 is all about wrenching

hark at me, sounding all merican!

Yikes, I did NOT see that you were considering selling your pretty little ride.
The good thing is that, if you do offload it, you can buy one that suits your need for speed a little better. No sense in hanging on to a model that doesn't get you where you want to be, right?
I understand where you're coning from, though. I mean, I took the plunge and bought Ms. Eldritch a year ago, not knowing how to ride or anything at all, not knowing if I was way out of my league or just shaking up my comfort zone. Turns out that I made the right decision. That doesn't mean it's right for everyone. So listen to your heart and make the best choice for yourself, man.

Oh, dear.

Life gets complicated in strange ways sometimes. If it's gotta got, it's gotta go. OTOH, it would be unfortunate to give up over what may be a little thing....I'd try to sort things out before doing anything you might regret.

Besides, hate losing a good forum member..

So, you have a 12 year old ET2 that requires too many repairs, and is at least 10 mph slower than you would prefer. Well, if it were me - I know what I'd do next!

Thanks everyone. Worst-case scenario, even if I do decide to sell, I'll still hang around this place for the company (& Daily Scooter Chicks thread). I do want to get something bigger & better some day but the expense is very prohibitive at this point & it would also involve the added PITA of getting my motorcycle license. Time for breakfast...I'll be back here in a bit to explain the 'money pit' situation with my ET...it's not your average set of circumstances. Again, thanks everyone.

Not to insult you, but 673mi over 11 years hardly qualifies as a 'test drive' in my book. My first ride was a Honda Metro, which is also a 50cc. I bought it used and put a couple thousand miles on it pretty quickly before upgrading to the 250cc Vespa in 2009. You should probably log a few more miles before deciding that your ET2 has to go. I agree that maintenance on Vespa's isn't cheap, but most of your cost are most likely due to lack of use. Good luck whatever you decide!

You are not selling it and just pulling my chain.

673 miles were put on during the first year or two, then it sat (always garaged at decent temp in dry climate) for 9-ish years. I fully understand that time alone can kill certain parts of the machine. I finally brought it to an official Vespa dealer and over multiple series of 'oops, part x has been replaced but now part y needs replacement too'...I dropped almost $3,000 getting my 'new' 673-mile ET up & running. It took *FAR* more money than I thought to get it running, I paid the original brand-new purchase price all over again and I tried to sell it during that time.

Due to the unforeseen king's ransom I dropped just to get it running, I never had the funds to fix the multitude of dents & scratches it accumulated during multiple address changes. I try to tell myself they're 'character marks' but they bug the living shit out of me. It would be different if I dumped it, then I'd have a better story than 'it got beat-up by the movers'.

Doing everything the way I learned I should from the mechanic & from this forum, I finally got to put almost 2,000 miles on it last year. Almost got killed by a flat tire incident (had to buy a new tire too dammit).

Took a 6 week vacation but 2 weeks into it I got a call that some magical poltergeist made my ET dump all it's fuel on the garage floor. Nobody had touched it, nobody had bumped it, it just dumped it's fuel.

I'm not ready to sell it...yet...because I'm not even ready to look at it. I haven't even bothered to look at the thing since my return from vacation to see if there's an obvious reason as to why it pulled off this fuel dump. Leaky hose? Cracked tank? Slipped clip? I don't know because I'm too pissed/depressed to even bother to look at the damn thing.

I was finally getting to the point where I thought I would be ok with having spent so much on it to get it running and now this. It's heartbreak, pure & simple, that's the reason I can't look at it yet, the extreme high of riding versus the extreme low of things not working & draining my thin wallet. It's a familiar story around here except for the fact that it's mechanically a new bike with all the parts I've replaced. Maybe it's a simple fix that won't even require payment but for now, I just don't want to look at it.

Can't figure this one out.

Mid-January of this year was the last time I had started & ridden my ET2. It sat in the garage for 3 to 4 weeks before the mysterious 'fuel-dump' incident (described above in this thread). A large puddle of fuel magically appeared under the ET one day while I was on vacation.

Today, after more than three months of being completely neglected, I took a look at it to see if I could see what happened. I gave all the hoses a slight tug & everything seemed snug. I felt resigned to take it to the dealer. As a complete afterthought and mostly out of the pure wistfulness of not having been able to ride for so long, I turned the key to 'On' & the dash lights immediately jumped on. That surprised me because I never had the trickle charger put on it & as I said, it sat completely neglected for over three months.

Spurred on by the age-old technical wisdom of 'Fuck It'...I held the elec-start button in & twisted the throttle to WOT for several seconds.

The ET eventually came back to life. Shock, confusion & relief gridlocked in my mind all at once.

Since the age-old technical wisdom worked the first time, I said 'Fuck It' again & jumped on & rode her around for a mile or three. It was like there was never a problem. I pushed, pulled & shook the thing all around to see if any fuel would spill but not a drop was to be seen.

I didn't want to push my luck, so I'll make a trip to Chevron later & see if elevating the fuel level does anything. I'm guessing either everything will be fine or my next update will be from the hospital after an ET2 size inferno.

She's trying to tell you something.

Maybe the fuel taps failing and the fuel pressure was too much for the carb needle. That could cause gas to flow out the carb and drain to the floor. Can you look at your engine and see where it's cleaner from fluid flowing?

I tried to figure out exactly where it was leaking from but no luck. There might not have been enough light so I'll look again tomorrow but I couldn't find any obviously-clean or streaked areas. Thanks for the carb hint but I'll check everywhere as soon as I get better lighting tomorrow. Maybe my Fairy God Vespa fixed everything?

To be honest, I'm wondering if one of the kids knocked it over. They may have been reluctant to tell the truth when I asked about that possibility several weeks ago. My ET has plenty of nicks, dings & scratches so if they tipped her over it'd be hard to tell.

Could the fuel dump have anything to do with the evap canister? (We don't have them in UK so that one is a complete shot in the dark) or a previously blocked overflow pipe? When I've overfilled in the past, its left quite a puddle by the bike.

[quote="LC353"] Given how quickly it started and was running well I'd be inclined to push this theory up a few notches. Gas spills happen when a scoot is over on its side.

[quote="LC353"] Given how quickly it started and was running well I'd be inclined to push this theory up a few notches. Gas spills happen when a scoot is over on its side.

[quote="cdwise"] There should be no gas spill with a scooter on its side - Evap crap or no Evap crap.

[quote="jimc"] Well I had gas spilling out of my scooter when it went over after my accident. No damage to the tank or hoses either but it was a full tank. That's the only time a scooter on its side spilled gas in my experience but it did happen.

Have a look at your first picture by the Mary Jane Falls sign. For safety's sake, you might want to park the scooter with the front wheel toward the higher ground when it's on the centre stand. I am surprised that you didn't dump it right there.

Cheers and good luck,
Bob

Looks fine to me. As long as the centre-stand legs are not near vertical, it isn't going anywhere without a push.

Perhaps I'm overly cautious. The scoot is easier to push with the nose facing downhill, perhaps by a curious onlooker or a gust of wind, and the stone surface may not be as stable as a paved surface.

Anyway, it has still been too cold to scoot recently here in Ontario, and the unpaved surfaces are like mush. Just like an English winter.

Cheers,
Bob

Haven't had time to put fuel in yet but I did take it for another ride today.

Started up as well as or better than it did in January & ran as well as always. There was a hint, just a hint, of a fuel smell when I got to my destinations. Since so much time has passed since the original mystery leak, I can only assume there is a crack or some sort of opening somewhere exposing fuel to open air. Any fuel that leaked in February would be long since evaporated. Curious I didn't smell fuel yesterday when I shook it around a bunch & drove for a mile or two.

Sorry for my lack of investigation, I've been far too busy to take a better look and I've decided to take a very good look before I decide to cross my fingers & fill the tank to see what happens.