Modern Vespa

After seeing 2 more stories about motorcycles being stolen around here, I still am on the fence about even driving my GL scooter with pretty much no ignition locks anywhere.

I have been thinking about putting a switch in the locking side cowl thats the glove box but I feel anyone who wanted to fiddle with it can just easily rearrange the cables on the CDI and get it to fire without needing to touch it. BUT the idea of putting the CDI in the glove box area and running a longer spark plug cable though the body might be able to solve some of that taking away the easy answer to fiddling with it!

Has anyone done something like this before, and if so is it a good idea? I haven't fiddled with my scooter much and I don't know how much ventilation these things need let alone how smart it is to run a high voltage line around a gas tank as well, haha. The other idea is just to get some kinda locking box to go around it and drill holes into that to affix to the engine then running a kill switch to the glove box. But wheres the fun in that!!

You can get these and use only one.

http://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Cowls/COWLLOCKSET




SIP Description
https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/products/lock+set+sidepanel+sip+for_16812600

This is amazing, I was worried about my cowls as well the left one is bolted on but the right one is free for the taking by any goon!! Well this solves this entire problem unless someone has gumby arms and can rewire the CDI from the vent holes!!

lots of threads on here about anti-theft measures. nothing is foolproof, they can just pick it up and put it in a pickup and take off. But there are things you can do to make it more difficult so they might move on.

Yeah that's the biggest thing but most idiot kids will just try to play with it first and joyride it if they want too. But those alarm that go off when tilted and such are nice and Lowjack and such. I wish Lowjack would get back into the motorcycle game. The goal is to make it look like too much work or to be safer than the bike next to yours!!

Dunno about where you ride, but around here, I think the fact that it's a kick start and not twist n' go is the best anti-theft deterrent I've got.

Yeah I can assume the whole bizarre gearing and kick start will deter mostly! Its more of just better safe than sorry.

Your GL has a CDI? If so and you have an ignition switch so now you're worried about somebody pulling the green kill wire off the CDI to start it?

You can run the green kill wire to inside the stator to where the other green wire comes from with a dummy 2nd short green going to the 4th CDI terminal to make it look normal. Then if they pull that, your ignition is still shorted to ground if the key is off.

Just one more thing to make things a little tougher on savvy scooter thieves.

...or better yet, replace ALL of the colored stator and CDI wires with green ones! Even the most tenacious scooter thief will be scratching their head trying to figure out that one.

The average joe scooter thief wouldn't have a clue how to rearrange wires on the CDI to get it to fire.

On my ET3, the CDI is inside the glove box in the left-hand cowl with the high voltage line going over to the right-hand side. So it's been done before by Piaggio.

You'd need a battery, but if you move the CDI to the left-hand side, then you could possibly install a remote start/kill switch inside the frame.

If you buy that cowl lock set, I'll buy the extra one off of you.

I actually just had a "dumb Idea" But having a locking petcock would solve quite alot as you can hotwire for spark but you would have to take apart the frame and tank to get the fuel! Seeing I don't have Keyed ignition I wouldn't have the problem of having to have 2 key rings either!. But then I will scratch my head and curse past me the instant I take it off!! This is really brilliant actually. I mean there's a saying in the VW beetle community which is the most likely thief is going to own or have owned a bug theirself! I have just an analog toggle switch now, haha. But this would be a fun thing to add So I am not 100% a moron if the engineers have done this without making a huge fireball then!

Combining the hidden ground wire on the stator with the hidden remote switch could actually be a truly winning combination. Not even someone forcing/bypassing the ignition ground would let it start. Truly nothing to find without tearing the motor much further apart than anyone would do outside of a garage or proper workspace.

At that point, you're down to the "pick it up and put it in a truck" situation, but that's a different threat model entirely.

Which honestly that is exactly the thing I would want! Not getting it shoved in a truck but frustrating enough that no one will mess with it.

Though it seems my current problem might just be bikers wrecking it, haha! In Wyoming people apparently carry the "not driving a 250 super duty truck" makes you a pansy into the motorcycle world. I test rode it around for an hour and had like a line of 15 people drive next to me call it a POS and tiny and ask about my "disappointed wife" then turn up their radio and drive off as fast as they could. Whats funny enough is that I kept up with them pretty much as they dumped it as hard as they could with that boat of a cycle!

Again, do you have a CDI on your GL? If so it's probably wired to the stock kill button which means the green circuit is only grounded while the button is being pressed. Obviously it will start even w/ the green wired inside the stator. If you have a stock coil that kill button grounds the primary side of the coil to kill the motor.

If CDI, the inside stator trick plus a hidden switch to ground in parallel with the kill button. If points & coil, just the switch is needed, but connect it inside the stator to where the wire to your coil starts out for extra insurance.

From your last post it sounds like there's not a lot of attraction around there for somebody to covet your wimpy Vespa. But you never know, some big bad guy who does have a disappointed wife might try to take it out on your wussy little scooter.

Here in Illinois, people who ride bikes that are clearly transport tend to be super-cool and, if anything, intensely curious what makes a guy crazy enough to take a scooter on the highways. It's the office workers who've never touched a wrench doing Tough Guy Cosplay on $40k Harley's that have never seen a raindrop who want to pick a fight or talk trash.

I do have a CDI I have one of those blue Ducati ones as the engine itself is from a P200. and for the switch I was just going to stick a toggle in the glove box once I get my wiring all figured out. It is just a push button one it seems to be the original one.

I am still trying to figure out what the last owner did I seem to have an old regulator. and the wiring in the headset is not too bad but from the strator is rough. I am trying to get the lights to work and so far have just found blown bulbs. I would like to get this thing on LEDs so they are brighter than like 10 candle power at night. I dident take any pictures of the strator it seems but I am sure its the right one for a P200 as it works just fine. https://imgur.com/a/Kba7Bgl


As for the bikers they where the folks who are in Harley t shirts shirts only and such no helmets or protective gear at all blasting their country music. So prob fit the bill

On my I rally I got rid of the turn signals and turned the turn signal switch into a kill switch.