Modern Vespa

How long should I wait before I need the drive belt replaced? The tires? The oil after the first oil change? The battery?

Your tire wear will be outrageously short UNLESS you run higher tire pressure, which will help fight heat issues. I'm running 29 lbs front and 40.5 rear, and check the pressure once a week.

Pressure goes down about 1.5 lbs per week. The handling will remain crisp, traction will not suffer, but tire wear will increase. I'm no expert as far as belt wear is concerned, but I'm guessing belt wear will become an issue at between 10,000-12,000 miles. Naturally, your riding habits will have a lot to do with tire and belt wear.

I'm sure someone else will have better information on belt wear. Come on folks, jump in! Oh, I highly recommend you purchase a Battery Tender, and make it a habit to plug in when you park your scoot for the day. I've experienced incredibly long battery life using that technique.

I will jump in..Have your belt and rollers checked every 6000 miles..My belt showed some cracking and had it replaced at 6000. 2 of the 6 rollers showed flat spots and had all 6 replaced but kept the 4 good ones..At 12000 3 of the rollers had flat spots and replaced them with the ones that were taken out with the good ones that were taken out at 6000 miles..Also had a large crack in the belt and replaced it also..I'm a few hundred miles from my 18000 mile check-up and will keep you informed on belt wear and rollers..Your front brake pads should be replaced at 12000 miles..The rear ones are still good..I change the oil and filter myself every 2000 miles..I just had the front brake pads replaced again at 21000 miles and probably had a couple of hundred miles left on them. So I would say every 12000 miles seems to be the magic number..But heck the rear pads are still in great condition..Never changed those yet..

UFO, where did you get the pegs? I want to add them to my MP3.

Larry

I will go see him today and see what he say's..He showed me a template for the brackets that he made when he made mine..On this forum on page 4 there is a topic on footpegs. I will let you know what he say's..I was behind a car today at a red light and noticed my headlight burned out..No big deal till I get another bulb I can use the bright light since I don't do any night riding...

I upped my front tire pressure from 29lbs to 35lbs, and actually it feels much better. The rear I am using 41lbs, and I agree with Cap, it save allot of tire life without sacrificing any traction. The steering is actually more crisp, and the pick up is much lighter.
No, with the bike feeling so lite, the thing that I usually do is hit on the gas all the time, cos the bike responds so lightly. I think, this on the other hand, adds to more gas consumption.
On my tires (Pirelli's) there is a special sign that you can read when the tires fade out to a certain level. Or when you see cracks on the side, usually due to age of the tire, change immediately.

OK I am friggin guilty as charged. I have not checked my tire pressure in 1 month (actually the dealer checked it at the first service; maybe)

front left 15psi and right 25psi
rear 35psi

Just a reminder to all of you to check tire pressure more than I do.
One thing I just noticed is that as the front end starts to lose pressure it becomes slightly harder to turn the handlebar into the lock position.
Tires with less air have more contact patch (to a point) which makes the front end feel heavier at a standstill.