Modern Vespa

My first scooter..... a brand new px125 touring. she is amazing looks lovely some great chrome and fits my mod scene look very well.

Now i was warned these can be a bit of a handful maintanence wise but i thiught buying brand new i would be safe for a while. Took her on a nice winters ride and back and wow she was lovely got my first 56 miles on the clock,after a small gear fight at the start she run lovely and i enjoyed my ride (wow what a thrill your first scooter ride is) ive got scooter fever.
I got her back and cleaned her checked her over to see that my indicators on the right side werenot working anymore. Brand new and she already has problems let alone trying to start her on a cold morning. I guess what i am asking for is you seasoned riders to give me some pointers on tools to carry, spares to csrry what to watch out for and how to keep her in the best condition.

thanks.

Hi mate i,m a new px125 2015 owner ,are you riding with full lights (not the high beam) is the scooter garaged or covered outside?
george

Full lights and its not in a garage as such but its covered.

Hi mate if i ride full lights ,it drains the battery blinkers only work one side fully charged work fine, i would suggest its a clever piaggio battery indicator but more likely a weak standard charging system,go for a run no lights see what happens,cold starting might be battery in the cold weather i pull the fuel enricher (choke) 1/2 but blip the throttle when she starts,its a bit temperamental if your 3/4 or a 1/4 .............someone on here with more knowledge will help ,but no blipping just dies but the chap down the road has exactly the same thing on his px

love my px too


george

during the day only

Ha yeh im choking mine at the moment i dont mond the starting up to much love the sound and smoke of it would the battery effect my indicators then? Its only my right side im a complete newbie here but looking to learn my scooter inside and out.

Can't help with your indicator problem but congrats on the choice of scooter! I was very very very close to buying one of the Touring spec PX125s, I really like the paint colour and I love the PX design anyway. Would've probably bought one this week if I hadn't found my new LX at a super bargain price

Post some pics when you have chance

It does on mine ,i,m assuming the charging system is not up to full lights all the time it doesn't generate enough power,someone on here will give a more accurate technical answer

as to tools rear wheel jack to change the rear tyre was my first tool ,my crap back requires a self lifting ,but your young so a simple put under the rear shock lift kick under, do you weld?

New Tire Jack

Homemade Tools and useful devices or disasters *******lol

george

crazy that you can buy these things new.

Ive rebuilt a few scooters. And even though its factory built, you still need to check the basics out after your first runs. So things like fasteners still tight, nothing loose, and as youve found electrics operating correctly.

If you have a service warranty that came with it, use it. Get a decent relationship with the sales center, theyll be able to assist you hands on for stuff like this. ie you could rock up there and ask to borrow a test battery and see if your indicators work again. Otherwise there are a few physical things that can prevent indicators working.

Ah yeh good idea, i think i need to just go over the whole bike, my sales centre is 20minles away not safe for me to ride there with no indicators sadly enough but will definotely look into that thanks guys

hand signals are fine but if its under warranty

give them a call but if you start it without the lights on and then put the indicators on its an easy test,sorry to disagree with the suggestion but if all the fasteners have that green movement marker stuff on if you touch anything and remove it can invalidate the warranty,as they used that for the service at 1000km then its an oil change and a full shakedown

george

Great will give it a go tomorrow, if you leave the light switch on but turn the bike off does it kill battery?

no mate



george

Ah good thought i made a rookie mistake, if you dont mind i will pm you if im stuck with a few things i know your still learning also but great to have someone helpful.

your welcome,please do ...us swanky new bike owners need to stick together george

ha indeed someones got to look out for us haha

damn, not sure how I susrive on the 69 Super, mine don't work as they were never fitted.... but must admit it can take skills to brake, change gears & use arm to indicate on turns... but never unsafe.

try using parklight only during the day (rather than low/high beam), it takes naf-all power

Do they have torque stripe marker on them? Perhaps the main fasteners might, like engine mounts, cylinder head or similar. But yeah, im not saying move the fasteners per se. If they have torque striping all you have to do is check its still aligned, and shake the bars and generally check for loose stuff that might rattle free that you may not hear when its running.

Hand signals are fine, so is being careful. But give them a call and see what they say, they might even come pick it up for you, you never know.

Enjoy the new ride.

Make sure you carry the necessary tools to change a flat tyre.
13mm or 1/2 inch socket extension bar and ratchet are your friend in times of need.
Have good road service membership with extra towing entitlements.

Hi mate i was amazed at how many markers on the bike,all engine and mounting wheel nuts brakes even the stand,steering switches i think the pdi is big as they come part assembled,it looked like someone had gone over the bike with different coloured paint brushes lol I have been wrenching on bikes for 30 odd years so difficult for me to not tinker,it was the same on my new ktm any problems ,call they collect fix i just finger tight check and as you say wiggle to feel movement ,its actually very hard for me as my last bike was an xs650 that actually vibrated parts off so i every other ride i checked everything lol
george

just have a peek behind the spare n check that all 3 wires are still plugged into the flasher unit [green plastic box held on with rubber band].... if they are get ya hand signals going n ride it back to the garage

I rhink the wire has cone out of my back indicator but im a bit afraid to play around myself so going to nip it down to the garage so thry can have a quick look.

If you have no flashers on one side it's usually a lose connection, lose bulb or blown bulb. A hard bump can sometimes loosen a bulb enough to not make a connection. Checking a bulb or connector will mood void warranty.

Hi mate rode full lights yesterday only about 25 miles lovely day bikes really freeing up turned into dive tried the indicators one side only,yours its probably as people say a loose connection ,but mines definitely charge
ran her this morning no lights got back all ok !
vespa,s i think are a bit temperamental lol
george

plug it back in?

Yeh thanks i done that once i knew what was wrong not that simple ehen you know nothing about the mechanics and electricals though

mate i,ve been working on bikes over 30 years but the px is new to me,if your keen to learn and willing to get yours hands dirty people are generally very helpful,there is no such thing as stupid question ,everything it easy when you know how ...........hope you've bought yourself a workshop manual best money you will ever spend
george

Yeh im learning as much as i can from the internet atm is there a re omended workshop manual i wanr ro learn the bike inside out if i can.

Hi mate

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Haynes-Workshop-Manual-Vespa-1978-2014-P125-PX125-150-200-LML-Star-Repair-Servic/252169832095?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3D73b5b4b8998d4781a32412f886dbadc2%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D19%26sd%3D311473697054

you can get an earlier online version, but its nice to have a hard copy and this is the one i have as its 1978-2014
george

the haynes is ok, and compiles a lot in one place, but there was a torque spec in mine that was wildly wrong and led to me stripping a bolt at point point. Not sure if they fixed it in the newest editions. I'd recommend it, but be wary about blindly following the numbers - cross reference with scooterhelp.com and vespamaintenance.com which are free and sometimes better (but i would argue still nice to have the info all in one place and organized in the way haynes provides)

More manuals here...

http://www.wotmeworry.org.uk/manuals/More%20Manuals/Vespa/

Aside from ignition and displacement, a new PX125 can't be much different than an '05 PX150.

totally agree its a refereance and the later the manual in my experiance the more likely its been revised, to fix the errors,its probebly a bit old fasioned but i just like having a phiscal book you can make notes in and read
george