Modern Vespa

I've ran into an issue recently. I needed to replace the clutch cable's inner and was pretty confident I got it right. When I held the clutch in and pushed the kickstarter, it just dropped with no friction; when starting normally, it didn't seem to have any issues. Idled just fine from cold start and when warming up. But when I got into 3rd and 4th gear, after pulling in the clutch, the engine would slow to crawl and die. Pretty sure it was stalling. I immediately thought the clutch cable was too loose, but after tightening it up only a little, it's now obviously too tight. I can't even start it because the kickstart lever just drops with only a little friction. So now I'm not so sure.

Is there a very small margin when adjusting the clutch cable? Or could the issue be elsewhere? I'm starting to suspect the carb with the season change, but it ran great thus far for a good 500 miles (during the winter, it was a little more difficult to start but ran great warm).

it has nothing to do with your carb. It is all in the adjustment. if your pushing the kick start lever, and the motor is not turning over...the cable is too tight. it would be like trying to start it with the clutch pulled in. I usually run about an 1/8 inch play in the clutch lever. loosen the clutch up a bit... scott

Sorry, wasn't clear. I know the cable is now too tight. But now I'm wondering if it was adjusted correctly before I changed it. If it was, stalling in high gear would be a symptom for something else. Regardless, I'll see about loosening it and update.

Sounds not good. The something else might be that the clutch nut is loose.

I think I got it set up correctly. I loosened up the clutch cable again. I was careful to try and get it right in the middle. I did some feeling around to get the kickstart to freely drop when the clutch lever is pulled in about 1/3. I took it for a spin yesterday and rode to work this morning. Starting was easy and it didn't seem to stall in high gear. Perhaps it was only an adjustment that was needed. If the issue arises again, I'll comment it here.