Modern Vespa

It took a trip to a mechanic to figure out how to get the Malossi 218 kit installed and the engine has felt a little flat. I took her on a short tour this week around my county, following the FortNine prescribed method of break in (about 10 minutes of low 10-30 mile per hour riding, then around 10 minutes of 30-50, and then a controlled jump into the higher ranges 50 and over for no more than--you guessed it--10 minutes. Then rest and check fluids. Being honest, for the last "high speed" leg I drafted an ambulance that didn't have their lights on for about 8 miles and she had no problems keeping up in the near 70s).

But after a couple rides this weekend to and from town (haven't hit the 100 mile mark yet) the bike seemed to be getting sluggish. I wound her up the same way as described and then on a short highway stretch gave her the reigns. She struggled to hit 60.

Previous to this upgrade I replaced the governor with a Malossi performance one, and the CVT was rebuilt within the last 1.5 year mark. Fresh carb cleaning. She sat for a while before going to the mechanic because I could never figure out how to get some of the bushings to fit (turns out for my engine model they were not required post upgrade). Also seems like she is running a little rich atm.

Have I already lost compression on the cylinder?

What did you do to get the oil scraper rings onto the piston and into the cylinder?

I paid the mechanic😜

To stress: I didn't install the kit. But Melossi advises to keep the bike "below 45 for the first 300 miles" like they think that would actually happen. She didn't overheat on the ride--if my gauges are still accurate--and I described the rides as "gentle" because...I was. I never WRT'd, wasn't pinning the motor off the line. Was just trying to vary the ware with differing speeds.

The only thing I've done since her return is pump the front tire from 15 to 30 psi, add coolant and check the oil

Where did you read this?

Find out how the mechanic got the three part oil scraper ring to fit into the piston and then into the cylinder and if he'd ever installed one of these kits before. Also, what mark on the engine did he use to set TDC when he put the kit on.