Modern Vespa

Recently had my 6,000 mile service on my 2013 BV350. Drove it home on the freeway, then the next day 25 miles to work and then 25 miles home. The following morning I start it up, it runs fine for about 20 seconds then abruptly shuts off. I fiddle with the ignition, the cut off, and the kick stand and try again, same result. Tried a 3rd time, blipped the throttle, and it ran about the same amount.

I rolled it back into the garage and took my motorcycle.

Any ideas? Seems like an odd issue if it runs for a few moments.

It sounds as though it runs until fuel pressure drops. When you switch on the fuel pump pressurises the system then stops. Normally when you start and the ECU detects that the engine is running the fuel pump is switched on again. It possible that either the ECU doesn't detect that the engine is running, in which case there would probably be other symptoms, or its possible that the pump is failing to run properly for other reasons such as a partially blocked filter or a kinked fuel line.

Start by trying to listen to the sound of the fuel pump. It might help to open the filler cap to do this. Is it running after the engine starts? Does it sound intermittent or strangled?

Same old song and dance.

Open the spark plug hatch(right side by the foot rest), start the bike and look for a spark jump from the plug cap to the head. It will also make a snapping sound.

My 2016 started doing the same thing. Would run for a few moments then die. There are also a few members on this board that are having the same issue. Do a search for more stories like ours.

Mine is going in for its first service next week and i mentioned the problem. If the dealer finds the problem and tells me what was going on i will come back to this post and tell you what they found. It may help you find out why its happening to yours.

Good Luck
Howard

Well, the dealership has been checking it out, and they knew to look for spark arcing and didn't see any. Their repair process for that is to replace the cap with same.

What they are finding is two error codes, one is fuel pump short, and the other is immobilizer short. They also see that the battery is failing a load test.

The battery is old, and they are matching the price that I can find online, so they will start with a new battery. They isolated the power lines for the fuel pump and immobilizer and were not able to reproduce a short.

Hopefully this is just an issue with the old battery. I will go through with replacing the cap and spark plug when i get it back.

BTW, the dealership is a BMW dealership that also services Piaggio and Vespa. I've had good luck with BMW dealerships on my motorcycles, hopefully the same holds true on the Piaggio.

Boy's so i got back my scooter a few days ago. As beakinwind mentioned the problem was with the spark plug cap.

I've done about 500 miles and had zero problems and am now confident in the BV capabilities.

Awesome scooter , Hats off to Vespa Miami for the professional and super service.

Hope you guys get your problem
sorted soon.

Keep us updated , it's the only way to learn!