Modern Vespa

As I posted yesterday, one of the plastic tabs broke off the chrome cover and fell into the hole in the CVT cover. Today, I carefully pulled off the cover, inspected the belt, retrieved the broken plastic piece, and cleaned the interior areas.

Everything went back together easily with no issues. Just tried it now, got plenty of spark, there's a half tank of good gas, the ground strap was reconnected, kill switch in proper position, but the poor beauty just sits there grinding away...

Everything looks great, I really wasn't 'in the engine' where I could have knocked something...Really strange result for such a simple effort.

Any ideas?? Thanks!

Did you remove the belt to inspect it? If so (and I hope you did), did you ensure it was *well* into the clutch when you torqued up the variator nut? My bet is the bendix is chuffing away turning the outer variator pulley which wasn't properly in place...

Thanks jimc, I didn't remove the belt for inspection, since I plan to replace it and the rollers well before the 6-7K mile mark. The bike sat for some years and that couldn't have done it any good.

But as soon as I clicked 'submit' on this post I began to review the YouTube from MotorSports on belt/roller replacement, where at one point he removes the Bendix to examine it. That put me to thinking perhaps I'd displaced it, [I didn't remove it I just wanted to 'see' it], during this procedure. Dang!!

The starter sounds fine, no gnashing or odd noises, but I can't think of any other way that to get back in there tomorrow and check it. Hard to believe it's out of place though...It all went back together like a breeze.

Ha! Another thought: After removing the three bolts from the air filter housing I lifted it slightly to get a good shot at slipping the CVT cover back on...Could I have dislodged the carb from something? It 'looks' normal, but hard to see of course.

^^^^
Man, I have got to post some pictures of how to manage the belt when replacing the outer drive pulley! After you squeeze the belt into the clutch pulley, you have to pinch the belt lightly behind the drive pulley to turn an ellipse into a circle. That way the outer pulley can seat up against the drive shaft shoulder before you torque the nut. I've seen 3 posts about this problem this year.
I will be servicing my SH this weekend and plan to post some pictures. Sorry I didn't post them before your Boo Boo LapinAgile

Oops, I was chicken plucking my post during your post and thought the same as jimc

Don't worry about it, these are great tips for when I do the replacement! It's got to be something related either to the airbox 'movement' or I somehow dislodged the Bendix during the cover install...But it was so easy THAT should have worried me!

Thanks

Back on this 'won't start problem'. Everything looks great up top, all hoses and tubing connected, all wires look fine, nothing different.

My only option is to remove the CVT cover again and check there. But, the question is, could the Bendix be 'out of alignment' or another issue if the case cover still fits well in place? Seems doubtful to me...But not sure.

And going through everything I did yesterday, the last was to put in some Seafoam, could I have put in too much? There was maybe 3/4 left of gas, I put in maybe 1/3 bottle of Seafoam?

Thanks

That's certainly too much SeaFoam (if I recall, the recommendation is 1 oz. per gallon of gas), but I doubt if that would keep it from starting.

I'd go back in and make sure all is well. If anything is out of place it won't start. Had my scooter die on me. Opened it up and everything looked good except for it was really dirty in there. Cleaned it up and replaced everything and he started right up. Good luck

Thanks Folks! I drained the tank and put in a gallon for fresh 91 grade - No joy! Then I checked next for spark - NO spark!!!

At last a substantial symptom...Checked it several times, same result. All fuses good, battery tests well; under load I get 11.31V, so within range.

I checked and tightened the spark plug wire; all looks good, same result, no spark.

My electrical skills are weak, so this might be a tow to the dealer. But any final testing I might try?

Nice diagnostic post. You originally said you had plenty of spark when this occurred. Now you don't. Either you have two problems or your recent spark test is flawed. I would check for spark again maybe using a fresh plug properly seated.

You mentioned a ground strap? I'd have to open it up and look again. You don't want to pay for something simple.

Thanks much stickyfrog! I used the wrong term when I first said 'I had spark', I was referring incorrectly to the bike 'trying' to start. Now that I've tested for spark 'the wiki way' here, it's clear that there is no spark. I tried re-doing the plug connection, was and is now tight, plug seated deeply, just nothing...

That fresh spark plug gives me some hope, I've time to go to the dealer tomorrow and will try a new one.

I always look for something obvious, usually simple, and most often something I did, not sudden part failure. This all started with removing the CVT cover, which I can check again tomorrow, but this now? Guess it can happen, but seems weird.

Righto! The grounding strap connects to the frontmost 8mm bolt on the CVT cover. It looked fresh and clean, but maybe I should hit it with some sandpaper just to be sure.

I'll try anything before ordering a new cap/HT lead/coil assembly and having to wait two weeks for delivery and possible disappointment.

Thanks

Will a GT200 Crank with the kill switch tripped?

That's a great question, here's another; who here would eat a spider?

No, the brake light switches and starter button are fed from it, so it won't crank. Not a silly question though, as some Piaggio bikes will 'try' to start (the starter motor turns the engine over) with the kill switch operated - just the ignition (spark) is turned off on those.