Modern Vespa

the typical synthetic oil from AGIP is really good stuff and I cant imagine you are even coming close to using all the "viscosity" of it.
Me personally... Ive put 3500 "hard" miles on my bike and the original oil was still over 97% as viscous as a fresh sample according to blackstone labs. Final analysis recommended at least that many miles before a change.
I would spend the $$$ on a magnetic drain plug and change just the filter at frequent intervals.
If you arent doing an analysis... you are just guessing.

thanks for the input, as always a Vespa owner can trust the MV family for good advice and guidance.. Love the community spirit and nature of most of us to want to help and share our experiences/knowledge and tools as well.
After reading and calculating, seems logical to get the HF 197 filter instead of the re-useable Scotts filter at the moment as the breakeven point in dollar terms will be about 7 years (el frugal not el cheapo), So now I have to order the supplies to take care of routine maintenance in the next month assuming it gets to be 60F/16C on the weekends.
Here is what I need to procure and would appreciate any further guidance if any
For the Oil change:-
1. Rotella T6 5W40 1 Gallon synthetic (there is a $5 mail-in/online rebate). Will need only 1.2 liters of it (but hopefully it will not go bad sitting in the basement for 6 months)
2. HF 197 Oil filter
3.O -ring 026 75 Durometer (according to another MV post)

I have to buy a 24mm socket to open the oil drain plug.
Am I missing anything for the oil change besides this.
Thanks for all the support/guidance as always...

rotella is ok. Seems to do well in any analysis Ive done but motul and agip products are a step above. Like I said earlier...Im still running the original oil from the factory in mine. Just changed the filter and added a few ounces to bring the level up.

Lots of folks here use Rotella. I can say in my own experience I have no issues related to engine oil after ~50,000 miles on three scooters (one at ~35,000 miles now).
Recycle your oil and filter by the way; at least my village has a drop off for both (and anti-freeze). So the filter doesn't go to landfill, it goes to steel recycling.
You have a pan to catch the oil coming out? Also a sidestand makes oil changes easier; the centerstand tends to get in the way.
And a funnel to fill the oil; long neck is good.
Rags.

And your big bottle of oil will be fine for a few months on the shelf. Just close the bottle snug.

I looked at http://www.drainplugmagnets.com/vespa.php
My question is are fellow MV members using this since it would benefit longer life for the vehicle. Why don't people use it in other vehicles too.
I have to make some decisions around spending $50 on this.
Seems like instead of paying a dealer $$$ for an oil change especially when the mechanic and I know them all at the Local Vespa in Brooklyn aren't paid a lot it (as per Rolfe's videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G55078Vz_LI&t=8s) maybe a wise decision to spend the money on things like a magnetic drain plug In nYC you have to recycle the oil and filter. All stores that sell engine oils have to have a place to accept used oils. I drop off my used oils at the Autozone, rarely are their tanks full that they will tell you to come back later.

[quote="baba12"] There are plenty of people on this forum who have 40,000 miles + on their engines without using one of these magnets. Your vespa has the canister filter (what started all this discussion) and a filter screen. I wouldn't spend $50.00 on that, but that's just my opinion.

I have 42,000 and never used that magnetic plug. Waste of money IMHO. However 2/3 of my miles have been with the Scoots reusable oil filter. Which has paid for it's self.

Message received loud and clear, will not get the magnetic plug.
I am ordering supplies now for getting things done in the next 6-8 weeks when I expect it will be warm enough to work on the scoot on the sidewalk.
Will try and see if I can get some pics taken this time and share it...

Am I understanding correctly, you are riding a 250 GTS that is still running its original oil - that has never been changed?!?

Nope...
I ride a 2010 GTS 300, has 8400 miles on it now, I got it in October 2015 and it had 4800 miles on it then. I had the oil changed last year when I had the vehicle inspected and after reading MV forum and the stop go driving that I have to do in NYC I decided I should change the oil more often than the general 3000 miles between changes, thus the desire to change it sometime in the next few weeks along with other thing si wish to do.
The scoot is riding fine but it is better to maintain the vehicle.

the money you spend on doing an analysis is money I spend on new oil and not having to wait a week or 2 for results that may or may not be good.

If that's the cheapest oil and filter you can find, that's definitely what you should use, and the engine in your Vespa is exactly like the one in a Diesel truck that Rotella is made for. I'm not sure if it will last six months in your basement though. If you could put it a few thousand feet lower, it should last for another million or so years.

D sure sounds like it. Read his other posts. Wouldn't want to be his bike.

Eggs Ackley!
His has got to be the most supercilious comment and waste of money i've read in all my years here. I use the same lab, after the oil CHNGE. The results , by that mothodology, could have been very different. Gaining 500 miles on the oil at more than the cost of an oil change, and another rider smarter than the engineers that designed the engine...
Oh Judy, what do you know...

TJ absolutely nothing.

thats correct. Bought the thing with 200 miles. Checked the oil... and it looked good. Drained some out for a sample analysis after 3000 miles and sent it off to blackstone.
Again... Im not an oil engineer or salesman. Why change a fluid that doesnt need it and you have a chemical analysis to prove it?

What folks miss about the magnet part... doesnt take much to clog an oil pump screen... you know the engines "heart".

hmmm I guess I should throw out my service binder of what & when all services were done too? Just a waste of resources when I can just "tell" the next owner all that stuff was done.

Its a whopping $25 to get a real unbiased bench mark/data point.

FYI: Change oil before setting it up for the winter, the acids in used etch soft metal surfaces like bearings.

Don't oil samples cost $40? Where is the cost savings??
Why change oil instead of testing? Because Moisture and other additives break down.

So it costs more than an oil change