Modern Vespa

I know she still needs to be broken in - but is this common? 2007 Vespa LX 150 - hard to start in the morning - hard to start in the afternoon - heck hard to start most of the time. Usually need to give it a little throttle to get it going?

Maybe the carb needs adjustment? I've put 40 miles on it so far - and after starting with half a tank - I'm almost down to half a tank according to the fuel gauge.

Dealer says if its still an issue after a couple of days of riding they'll take a look at it.

Giving it some gas when cold is not uncommon for the LX. How long would you say you've got to turn it over before it catches?

Fuel gauge is most likely wrong.

My gauge on my 600 mile LX150 '07 works like this.

3/4 on gauge is a real full tank
1/2 on gauge is three quaters fuel left
1/4 left on gauge means I have half a tank left
then it hits E That means I have a quarter left

After a while the fuel light comes on and I fill up 20 or under miles after the light stops flickering. The pumps clicks to a stop after i put in about 1.85 gallons on average so I could still ride it with the light on for a little longer if i wanted

And yes, it is hard to start in the morning, I usually need to give it a bit of gas but it dosen't take long at all maybe .25 seconds before I can let go of everything and it starts up.

Thanks for the replies guys.

What you described railnutter sounds just like what I'm experiencing - usually it'll start up after about half a second of giving it some throttle.

Guess I'm just a nervous vespa-noob worried about his baby.

Later

Perry

If you do some searching here you'll find quite a few posts about hard starts on the lx. Most people here seem to chalk it up to 'quirkiness'. I personally think there's something not quite right, but what the heck do I know?

I almost always have to give mine a little throttle to start it up unless it's been sitting around for a looooong time, in which case no throttle is needed.

Just for the heck of it - try the brown/red key in the ignition and see how it starts and runs.

MV folks, please don't "kill" me for this suggestion. We went through a whole bunch of hard starting, slow running, etc. "stuff" with my wife's LX150 just to discover that reprogramming the blue key instantly erased all of the bad "stuff" and we have had no further problems, honestly!

Worked for us so, my advice to anyone with a quirky LX150 is first try operating with the brown/red key. If that doesn't fix it move on to the other fixes.

All of the above is probably explained by the fact that I was educated as an accountant and "A" always comes before "B." Not a lot of imagination here!

I get the same "quirk" too, if I don't open up the throttle enough or let go too soon...it'll just sputter and die. Frustrating at times...

I had a similar problem the other day. I'm in Minneapolis too, so I thought it might be due to the sudden colder temps. I'm not sure if this was the case, but this is what I did to get it started. I opened the seat lid and took the fuel cap off then tried starting the engine. It started but wouldn't keep going until I screwed the cap down. I rode for a few hours (Tuesday Night Ride from Lake Harriet--meet at 6:30 at the band shell if you'd like to join us! Ride leaves at 7pm) then it happened again. I did the same cap thing again and haven't had any trouble since. Not sure mechanically what this means, but, I'm happy it worked!

I also have the weird gage that reads 3/4 when I just filled up. I brought it in to the local scooter shop was me that that was normal and acted as "reserve" tank. Sounds plausible so I'll go with that!

Scootnjuber - hmmm wonder if your issue is related the evap system - from what i've read - the evap system seems to cause a lot of problems - i'd love to rip it out, when I bought the LX - they had a promotion adding an additional year to the factory warranty - 2 year warranty. I will give that a try though and see what happens.

Morvran - I agree with you - I don't think the motor should be this 'quirky' - heck I rented a beat up old Piaggio in europe - and the thing started up the first time everytime. I would expect my new LX to do the same - but I still love the damn thing.

As for the TNR - I would love to come - BUT I'm still on my 'learners permit' which means I can't ride after dark. I'll be getting my full license on the 24th though so I'll be all set by then and will definitely show up!

As for the suggestion to try the Red Key - not a bad idea, I will definitely give that a try and report back.

Thanks folks!

I wonder if your area is starting to get reformulated fuel. Also, the fuel additives they use change with the seasons. I know it is only mid-September, but in Wisconsin, it can start getting cold at night. Maybe the winter mix is being dropped now. Whether or not the Leader engine is sensitive to fuel changes is a possibility.

The hard start plus your overconsumption of gas sounds like a fuel tap issue. Check your engine oil and see if it's watery and gassy smelling. Another easy test would be to disconnect the gas line to your carb. If gas pours out, your fuel tap is in the constant ON position and its flooding your engine/fouling your spark plug.