Modern Vespa

Ok, guys. I'm looking for a little confidence boost. I have a 2005 PX150 that is physically hard to shift, like....turning the handle bar is hard. I have tried it with the bike running and just walking it around the garage. 75% of the time it takes two hands and some rocking back and forth to get it into gear. I have inspected the selector box and it looks good. Cables are in good shape as well. I'm thinking it's the cruiciform. Does that make sense? It WILL get into gear, but not easily. Please help me feel like a competent scooter rider.

Have you removed the headset yet to see what kind of shape the shifter tube is in? Maybe it needs to be greased? Maybe the bike got dumped at some point and the tube got bent?

What about when it is rolling at 20mph?

I'd start with replacing shifter cables. Even though they may look fine. You really can't see much. Then move to taking off gear box and check the selector are pin (those little buggers take a lot of abuse).

first.

is the clutch dragging? latter (post 1985) EFL gearboxes are designed to lock in and are very difficult to shift if the clutch isn't fully disengaging. this design change was done to help prevent the bike skipping out of gear, but causes problems if the clutch drags slightly or the clutch cable isn't properly adjusted.

a test for this is as follows: with the bike off, in gear, and not running, grab the clutch lever and depress the kickstart lever. it should go down with no resistance. if there is any resistance at all, or the bike tries to pull forward even the slightest, this is your issue.

second.

What is the history of the cables? are they original? have they been replaced?
many replacement gear cable outers on the market are 4-6 inches too long and need to be trimmed to prevent shifting issues. if the cable outers are too long, they create S-curves in the frame and every one of these adds friction.

a test for this si to pull on the cables where they come out of the frame. if there is a noticable amount of extra cable that comes out, this si your issue.

things that have been suggested such as the cruciform, headset tubes, selector box, 'worn out' cables, etc, are very unlikely to cause this problem.

Mr. Hodge to the rescue. Slack adjusters were all, all the way in. Backed them out and had a much easier time shifting. Thanks for the help everyone!

Also make sure the cables are lubed. Dry cables will add a fair amount of drag to shifting. Worse, you'll prematurely wear out the outers and wind up with a genuine service headache.