Modern Vespa

I guess it had to happen sooner or later ... I dropped my scooter today.

But it was nothing I did wrong, though, so I don't feel really stupid.

So what happened was weird. I'm going down the parking garage ramp of my office, making one of the turns just before the guard's gate. When I tried to straighten my front wheels up, it felt like only one wheel actually straightened up. At that point, it felt like the bike became suddenly heavy on one side, and I tipped over. Good thing was that I reacted quickly and knew well enough not to fight the bike falling, and managed to not get pinned under. Also lucky that the cars behind me weren't speeding, or really impatient to get out, and 4 of the garage attendants witnessed the whole thing, and I was able to get assistance getting the bike upright and out of the way.

Now my problem is that the wheel whose suspension locked, never went back down. Oh and the wheel that locked was the left wheel, and I was turning right.

The garage guys and I pushed the scooter to a one of the parking spots, and I put the scooter on it's stand.

I've called Piaggio roadside assistance, and I'll be meeting them tomorrow, and will have the scooter brought to Vespa in Queens.

Has anyone else had a problem with the suspension?

Oh man that sucks. And just as Im thinking about a MP3

I just turned 2,000 miles on mine, and I've never experienced anything like that. It almost sounds like you might have accidently hit the lock switch, at very slow speed, while negotiating a sharp turn, and locked the front end in that position.

If that's the case, you can probably unlock the frontend by sitting on the seat (while the scooter is on the main kickstand), so that the red front end lock light, goes out. At that point, try throwing the front end locking switch to the right to unlock the front end. If that doesn't work, punt!

I was going to say the same thing JFredrik said. Makes sense to me. I too have not had any trouble in 1500 miles.

Let us know what happens.

I think about this very thing while on the freeway going 85mph.
OUCH!

i tried punting the wheel when i got the scooter on the stand, but the wheel wouldn't budge.

i honestly don't remember if i hit the switch accidentally while i was turning. it's a turn i've done hundreds of times, so i'm usually on automatic when i'm on that ramp.

i've called piaggio roadside assistance again this morning, and am just waiting for the tow truck company to confirm and get an ETA for pick up.

also an FYI, piaggio roadside assistance guys are not yet familiar with what an MP3 is. in the event you need service from them, be very detailed about the bike's weight etc. the dispatcher warned me that some of the towing services just refuse to take you if they can't move the scooter - they have the impression that scooters they pick up can be lifted with their pinkies.

more later

Just how slow were you going?

Something does not sound right, if the bike went over - that tells me the suspension was not locked rather than locked. There might be a safety curcuit that kicks in the lock if the bike leans too much with no one in the seat.

On time I locked my suspension on an angle - then I rolled it back to a level area and the suspension would not release again until I moved to another position that matched the first locked position.

Please keep us posted!

my husband and i went to the garage to meet the towing service. while waiting, we tried turning on the scooter, and flipping the lock switch off and on. sure enough, the locked wheel came back down. funny thing is, i tried to do exactly the same thing yesterday, and nothing happened. drove it around the garage a few times to check things out, and at a glance, things looked ok.

but, i had it towed to vespa in queens anyway so they can touch up where i scratched the body. the right brake (the side i fell on) also seemed loose, and the right mirror is bent a bit. i'm sure i could have driven the scooter to queens and saved some money on the towing, but i didn't want to take the chance.

i still don't know what caused the wheel lock in the first place. i was indeed driving slow because there were a few cars in front of me waiting to get out of the garage, and i had slowed down on a turn. but like i said, i've done this a million times, and never had a problem.

what seems to have happened, if the safety feature indeed kicked in, was that since i slowed down too much on the turn, was getting ready to put my feet down to stop, shifted my weight, and made the bike think no one was sitting on it, and it automatically engaged the safety.

yes, so much to learn about this scooter.

Glad everything worked out and there was no failure of the front end system.

Rrgardless of the speed or lean the suspension will not lock up by itself. Perhaps when you went over, you in error hit the suspension lock position on the switch.

Glad your OK!

Yea im thinking and hoping the same thing, that she just accidentally hit the switch when she was in the turn already. I dont think the suspension will lock by itself even if it detected that she left the seat.

Flip, can you confirm you were going under 5mph when it happened?

I mean look at this guy

Hey that guy looks like me!!

LoL

i was under 5mph - was slowing down as i approached the gate.

i should know better .. now my baby's scratched and i have to wait a week to have it fixed .

mmm, the seat switch raises a question for me...when i ride i sometimes stand for a few seconds (going over speed humps, stretching a bit on long rides and such)...what happens when you lift off the seat when going at speed?

g

Nothing should happen and if it does thats a problem

I don't think it will lock. It won't unlock. Unless you hit the unlock twice in under 3 seconds.

i guess my question is more along these lines:

the MP3 won't take off unless someone is sitting on it (to prevent accidental take offs if you rev the engine while standing next to it.) so the engine doesn't engage unless butt is on seat...well what happens if i stand for a few moments....do i lose speed, or does it keep running as if my butt is planted on seat?

g

A good experiment would be to try it with the suspension lock on and the suspension lock off. I know when I rev my bike standing next to it with the suspension lock on that it sputters badly like i have a banana in my tailpipe and i can actually stall it out like this, but if im sitting on the seat it does not do this. But I have never tried revving it while standing next to it with the suspension lock off.

So who is going to try all these tests on their MP3? I would like to know the results before I get one

Ok,ok,ok If it is parked with the wheel lock on , it will sputter and the red light for wheel lock will be on. Stand along side it will not unlock. Sit on the seat it will unlock. Hit the the unlock twice in 3 sec. it will unlock. Sit on the seat and unlock stand up and it will take off just like any other scoot.

Reading your post I just realized Ive never once used the "unlock" before, ive just given it gas to unlock it. What I was trying to get at is if you stop your bike or even turn it off and restart it, never activating the lock switch, and you step off the bike then try revving it while standing next to it, I would think that the bike would go normally and not sputter, but Im not 100%.

Yes it will move. When you see the red wheel lock symbol on the dash and it is on you can't unlock it unless you turn off the lite by sitting on the seat or hit the unlock twice in 3 seconds.

I have to manuever mine out of the garage in a couple of tight positions. One time I bumped the switch with my shoulder leaning forward to push the bike out with the engine running , and it locked. Really surprised me, I was going slow of course, shouldn't happen going fast. I'm not going to bump that switch, now that I know.

Dave

If you push the button with the engine runnig and no throttel it is the same as rolling towards a traffic light and pushing th button. The front will lock.
if you are riding and the locklight is not flashing you can push the button as much as you like but it won't lock.
so no worries

That's true thanks for that tip on the dash light. I used to think I would like to disable it. Now it's going to be comforting to see it go out when I get up to speed.

Dave

so the seat switch is only for the take off and starting?

so if i'm riding down the road i can stand all day long and give it gas and such?

cool, that makes sense...but the seat switch confused me some...that and also some complained that if they sat too far back the seat didn't "see" them as being on....i like to ride far back at times....but i can start on the front seat and then, once i'm going down the road, can slide back to the second seat and still ride...

g

There is one thing in all this to remeber. When I back out of the garage my wife gets on the bike in the street. The first time we did this it occured to me that if I used the wheel lock I always turn off the MP3. I could see my wife and the scoot falling over if she hit the gas while sitting on the seat. So I always turn off the MP3 when she gets on then I know it won't unlock.

Something interesting happened to me on my way in today...I was at the lights (without wheel lock) and i wanted to check my rear tyre as I had just run over a piece of metal. So I locked my wheels, jumped off to check the tyre (it was ok) then jumped back on as the lights had changed. I was planning on just using the throttle to disengage the wheel lock but when I tried, it spluttered (I was fully sat on the seat). I tried several times to no avail. I then released the wheel lock manually via the button and it pulled away fine.

I have used the throttle to release the wheel lock at the lights several times before, so all I can think of is that my getting off the bike then back on again caused a safety(?) mechanism to kick in, forcing me to use the manual switch to release the wheels... any other ideas??

The difference was you never got off the seat completely before!

I don't know if this is germaine to this disussion but you might want to check my posts from September 4th, Help! Warning light....

the clue might be where the sensor is and where you sit. my sensor (I can see the outline) is towards the front of the seat. if I sit all the way to the back, it takes longer for the red warning light to go off and the engine to be allowed to accelerate. YMMV

Well as Fliprider said..I guess it had to happen sooner or later...I just got back from riding around all day and the sliding blocks for the locking system are wearing..I really noticed after engaging the locking system coming to a rolling stop that instead of I say 90% of the time the bike will lock to the right or the left..Not much but not straight up..Boy wait till the Nick the mechanic at Vespa hears this..I wonder what it will take to replace these..It's not bad enough to fix yet maybe I will try spraying the brake cleaner on the rods and see If that makes a differance..Wow..I just found out at Vespa that all it is is a cable that needs to be adjusted..No big deal..

how many miles did you have on your mp3?

i wonder if this is a common problem for this scooter?

how many miles did you have on your mp3?

i wonder if this is a common problem for this scooter?

I believe UFO has close to 30,000 miles already. I would say he is probably in the top 5 in the world for most miles on their MP3.

Heck I only have 20600 and something..Guess What I just went and got a can of brake cleaner and sprayed the 2 rods really good and it worked,,Just like new again..I had a Motorcycle Cop wave to me today..Everybody I talk to say It's about time 2 wheels in the front..Saftey Saftey and FUN!!!!!Wow..Also I never liked riding Motorcycles or scooters at night..I would say night riding on the MP3 I put on less than 200 miles..Only during the hot summer nights..Wow..

I think I'll just pretend there is no electric lock and treat it just like any other bike.