Modern Vespa

Hi Guys!

I had a 1982 PX125E which I loved and rode from 1999-2002, but have been on 4 wheels since!

Just sold my Fiat Punto and got myself a brand new PX150

HOWEVER

When the bike is running cold, it's fine, apart from it seems to bog down a little under acceleration, as if the choke is still out (it's not), but when it warms up is where the problem begins.

It idles fine, but when in first and about to take off, the engine just bogs down and dies! You've really got to keep the revs up just to get the thing going! Proves tricky in traffic!

I took it back to the dealer who said the spark plug was fouled and they adjusted the carb. It started doing the same thing the same day about 1/2 hour after I picked it up. Got it home, turned the fuel tap off, and the tap broke! Just went round and round without engaging!

Anyway it went back off to the dealer, again, who fixed the tap, and did some more carb adjustments (didn't say which), and things have improved slightly, but still bogging down in first when warm, and when cruising at 60kph, warm or cold, just doesn't seem smooth.

I understand than things have changed since my old PX (Cat, EGR, CDI ect) but is this common with these additions?

Any info would be great!

Thanks!

if it is brand new it has warranty correct? return to the dealer for them to iron out issues. The scoot should not be doing this if new.
If they cant do it. Take to another dealer as any authorized Piaggio dealer will honor the factory warrant.

Stella was doing the same thing. Carb bolts had loosened. Snugged them up to specs and haven't had any problems.

Thanks for that.....Am I able to do it myself? Is it particularly difficult?

Its easy. Remove carb top and filter and you will see to sleeve bolts. Check to see if they are loose. If so tighten them - but not too tight as you can warp carb body. iTS AROUND 11-14LBS. Basically tighten by hand and then snug with a socket. Just dont use brute strength and go crazy.

I would get it back to the dealer to sort it out mate as its under warranty. Sounds like a possible carb/jetting issue.

^^^^^^ This.

Keep in mind, very, very few shifty owners here have ever owned a shifty Vespa that had warranty coverage. Thus, their first reaction will be to tinker with it.

Let Piaggio earn the money you spent on a new scooter. If they screw something up, they have to bear the expense of correcting it. If you screw something up, you not only have to bear the expense of correcting it, but you could also void the warranty.

Or you could buy a Honda motorbike...💀👹👺

But seriously, take it back. Don't void the warranty. It's just teething problems. I love my 2012 PX...

Hi just bung a tortellini 500 kit on and ride it like you stole it.....................Just kidding lol

my first bike had a crankcase fault lasted one day ,lots of faffing with vespa all on holiday !!!!!!!under warranty they collected inspected and gave me the option of a new rebuilt engine for the red one or a new white one,then delivered the new white one

http://vespamotorsport.com/?p=655

You paid for the warranty its factored into the purchase cost ,i personally would return the bike and if its going to take a while to diagnose the problem ask for a loaner?

The service i received was excellent and i would ,and have recommended the norwich shop,i ride into norwich 10 miles just to buy my 2stroke oil as i believe in supporting local dealers,

All new bikes have shakedown ,minor glitches or inconveniences and the shop appear to be trying to sort yours

one thing we often forget is when something goes wrong its also an inconvenience for the shop ,its hard with a new bike as it dents you confidence in the product ,the owner of the shop actually thanked me for my patience ,they ,just like you want you to ride away trouble free

when he dropped the white one off we laughed and he actually said don't want to see you till the 1000 first service lol bikes runs like a dream 2500km
so far

george

^^^
Assuming you paid dearly for this bike, make Piaggio fix it for all the reasons above.

Couldn't agree more with those advising you to exercise your warranty. I'll be buying a new PX shortly and decided to buy new because I don't have time to work on two scooters, so it's good to know that for 2 years my PX will be entirely my dealers problem

Thanks Guys!

The bike is back at the dealer for a third time! They guy there said that new PXs have a lot of oil in the engine from the factory, which upsets the mixture. I call BS! It would burn off in the first 10kms not still happen after 300+!

Hopefully I'll get it back soon!

Hi did they offer you a loaner?oil in the crankcases !!!!bs i agree ,remember you pay for the warranty its a new bike
i,m sorry but ignore any advice that invalidates the warranty, i had a few problems that have now been resolved ,if i had tinkerd they would have been my problems and not the shops
george

no chance I would be taking that vespa back home after paying £3000 for it

its a brand new 2 stroke scooter that needs running in correctly,tell them you want another one,simple,they cant refuse

100% yes its under warranty they can sort it ,one thing i would say is i'm used to big four strokes and the little 2 stroke needs a bit of coaxing
the chap said no more than 3/4 throttle running in but if you put a sticker on the throttle ,its a hell of a lot more rev,s than i thought it should be,he said don't worry too much about revving just don't let it bog

its taken me a while to think zipping about on the throttle and its a completely different way of riding from my xs650 with tons of grunt and lots of overlap between the gear ratios,i,ve now ridden three px,s with various mods but all need a more "on it" approach and if anything underlap 2-3/3-4 gears i,m sure someone will have a better description,don't ride it like you stole it lol but think ,wasp buzzzzz,buzzzz,

george

just wanted to add ,my px125 2015 at 60kph is at exactly the point when the vibration is most noticable but 70/75kph lovely sweet spot ,i,m now on 2500 km and the bikes loosening up ,pulls much better and with a bit more rev,s my gear changing is now a click not a clonk ,and i know the speedo,s are at best inaccurate ,but flat out 90/95kph feels great the revlimiter seems to be in exactly the right place so she's buzzing but not straining,i had a dreadful start with a defective bike that had to be replaced but the little 2 stroke has really grown on me ,and ain't she pretty
george

Nothing a dealer can do mate, welcome to Euro3 emissions laws. Guys in the states will tell you to put on a sip road and change your jets, but it is much more technical then that.

You need to return your bike to pre-euro 1, which is known in Italy as scatalizzare, I should know because many Italians including myself have done it. Just completed the process on a 2015 PX150 which now pulls 70km/h up hill with a pillion in 4th gear.

You can look up the term at Vespa resources forum or I can help you with the setup, which is very simple.

I would be very interested in your return your bike to pre-euro 1 ,i have been trying to gather as much info as i can but
just cant get any specific information on actually doing it

hope you don't mind but have posted this on the technical only part of the forum, we await " scatalizzare"

thanks george

once you get sick of PS & din't care about warranty let me know... I've made a damn LML that would not get over 80km/h on the flat with a tail-wind actually run properly!

Hi mate return the bike to pre-euro 1is going to allow us to buy a newer px engine ,run ,play with test in the bike then ,duplicate when the warranty runs out there are a few low milage px engines for sale in the uk but finding a pre euro one is like a finding a unicorn lol

george

I wonder if that's why my 2012 PX 150 did not respond very well to a SIP road and jet change. Yes, it goes faster but doesn't run very well any more. It stutters, does not run well on the overrun or at steady low throttle.

It's great on acceleration, idling and high throttle though.

I was just going to live with it. I wonder if what you are talking about would sort it out.

So which is it? "Much more technical" or "very simple"? I doubt most here can read Italian, and even with my limited fluency in the language, I found nothing "magical" on the forum. Basically get non-cat exhaust, proper jets (all), slide and check timing.

Hey dumb question (and I have done a quick search) but how do I check my timing? My car is easy, I whack on the timing light and turn the distributor. Not sure how to do it on my late model PX though...

Cheers.

Here's one tutorial. http://www.scooterhelp.com/tips/timing/electric.timing.html

Hey george! The answer to your quest. A "KIT PER SCATALIZZARE VESPA PX"

One kit does it all.

Cheers Aviator47 you are a courteous knowledgeable and always helpful man i,m in PM,s on the subject as we speak
as the information comes from you i know its informative researched and its warmly received
thankyou
george


alternative response for the feckless

Oh no,I couldn't buy that ................goes completely against the bung it on and fu*k it up ...................and it might actually work ..........then what would i do with me sip road 2,and me boxes of jets ,i would be sacrificing all the joys of a lumpy engine and all those hours of fun swapping plugs, and the consummate joy of sezing through ignorance but that won't matter as i have learned to dodge the unexpected

cant somebody out there find me another solution, any totally uninformed mechanically illiterate option will do .............something that overlooks that darn critical carb slide and preferably something with a lot more chrome , maybe just a sticker ,"vespa tuning is not a crime" ............but it should be if you don't know what you're doing and have the temerity to give advice

whats this cotter pin for ........................

:

Hi George,

I started a new thread just on the PX E3 subject due to the number of Euro and Australian E3 owners are interested in the subject.

I have only added some context at this stage but will add further information this weekend when I have more time.

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post2026583#2026583

Need to get ready for work unfortunately.

I can't remember if it was on here or Facebook, but someone suggested replacing the spark plug? Something about resistor/non resistor?

2005 PX150 Sparkplug

Don't do it on your new PX.

The new Vespa px..what a nightmare

Hi mate thought you had vespa warranty ? if so don't change anything take it back ..............the tech guy told me the new ones were the best he had worked on ,but it was the quality control that was slightly suspect

having the warranty they will iron out any of the teething problems for you , like my porus crankcases will show up,if you tinker and invalidate your warranty your on your own if anything major goes wrong
what is actually wrong with the bike now?did you take it back?what did they say? you mention smooth its a relative term ,for a 2 stroke single with disproportionate weight distribution and little wheels i think its great,and nostalgia is a wonderful thing, rode my mates bantum i had one in my youth
and thought it the bees knees ,30 years on "dreadful no brakes no power a hinge in the middle what a clatter lol
george

I replaced the aprk plug with a resistor one and it has transformed the bike! Apparently the spark electrical 'Noise" from the plug interferes with the new CDI. It now runs smooth as silk! The handbook even recommends a resistor plug, and either the manufacturer didn't fir it or the dealer didn't either

It's been reported that the new CDI on the Euro 3 and later PX's absolutely must have resistor plugs or risk damage to the CDI.

A PX with a CDI should have a 5K ohm resistor somewhere between the coil and the plug to control EFI and mitigate possible damage to the CDI. Since stock bikes have a simple wire clip, a spark plug with a built-in resistor is used.

What happens is, a lot of riders don't like that clip or claim it's not reliable and replace it with an NGK plug cap, which usually has a 5K ohm resistor built in. Since 2 resistors in series is too many, this requires swapping the resistor plug with a non-resistor one.

An older bike with points doesn't really need a resistor at all and some people believe they get a better spark without it, so they don't use one.

Rule of thumb:
If you have an older Ducati CDI, having 5K ohms somewhere in the HT lead is a good idea, but don't have both resistor plug and cap.
If you have one of the newer CDIs, having it is mandatory, but don't have both resistor plug and cap.

FYI:
Early on I replaced my clip with a typical NGK 5K ohm cap and had a hard time locally finding NGK B7HS non-resistor plugs, so I replaced the 5K ohm cap with a 0K ohm NGK non-resistor version and now just use more easily obtainable NGK BR7HS resistor plugs. This non-resistor NGK cap is obtainable online as NGK part number LZFH.

Does anyone know if VespaTronic also need R plug.

As pdxjim said, any CDI system should use resistance plug or cap. The post 2010 PX must have a resistance plug or cap, or the reflected EMF will fry the variable advance circuitry.