Modern Vespa

Hi guys,

First of all let me introduce myself, not sure it's the right part of the forum but at least it'll be done.

My name is Tibo, I'm a 36 years old French expat in Vietnam. I recently bought a PX150 and, obviously, I have a lot of questions ^^

Let's cut straight to the chase, it has been restored locally (actually seems to only have been repainted) and I would like, to the best of my capabilities, to continue that restoration with a little more care than th eprevious owner.

My main issues are now :
- oil leaks from the engine
- carburator definitively needs a rebuild (I have found a kit in Saigon)
- all electrical wiring need to be redone
- remove rust from fuel tank (the rust moves around, I can see it in the bottom of the tank)

Here are some picture, please no need to tell me how poorly it was restored and that I bought a Vietbodge, I know that and bought it knowing it. I still have the most fun and pride riding it here !





I do have questions on more precise topic (clutch, engine, little parts, not sure I should all post here or create different topics.

ANyhow thanks for all the help you could provide and if I can answer anything I'll be happy to !

Cheers

That kinda looks like Taiwan built PGO? I don't know how different the internals are from a PX though.

It seems like it indeed, the front light cover says Made in Taiwan on the inside

Since you said that all the wiring needs to be replaced, you might be better off switching over to a PX wire harness (you might have to switch over the stator as well)...unless PGO wire harnesses are readily available..or are the exact same as a mid-90's PX. I have zero experience with the PGO's, so i'm of no use if you're trying to find out the details of the transmission, clutch, or electrics...as in, i don't know if the PGO came with the ELF transmissions, selector boxes, or Cosa clutches. One thing for sure, those yellow centerstand boots are still in great shape. You would think that Piaggio would have figured out how to produce a more robust centerstand boot!

And as an FYI, you might change your thread title to have PGO in your thread title. That way there is less confusion with what you actually have.

And welcome to the forum Tibo!

Here is a picture of the wiring ^^ (not sure I should still call it "wiring" at that point lol)

I'm happy to get all info I can have. I'll make more pictures and post them when I have some issues. Can you tell me what this is though ?
I actually thought these were crap rubber from somewhere else Glad to know it has a little value ! Will do, thanks for the welcome and taking the time to answer me

That's the CDI in the last picture. It makes the plug spark. And that wiring does look a bit like Italian Spaghetti.

Those yellow boots only come on the SEA scooters, but for some reason, i have never seen any that are worn out.

Thanks for these info. I'll cherish the yellow boots then ^^

I'll create different topic for my other worries then

Or you can keep all of your topics and questions for the same scooter in one thread. It will make it easier for you and everyone else to follow along.

Bro that's a coil. I'm guessing that it's still points... or that there's a remote cdi of the bajaj variety.

But yeah, that's a bit of a spaghetti farm. If all mostly works I wouldn't screw with it too much. Maybe a patch or run a wire here or there.

Running a harness gets pricey with the quickness.

-g

Thanks for your input. I should have mention :

- Turn signals, horn and stop light (only with rear brake) work like a charm
- Front light/beam, rear light and stop light (with hand lever) do not work
- Obviously nothing on the speedo works, speedo cable (for the kilometers) is missing and all the wirings of the back of the speedo aren't connected
- resistor from fuel gauge looks dead


However, all wires from handle bar switches look good and connected. So could it be the stator or voltage regulator ? I replaced the battery this week, but do the lights are linked to the battery or the engine like old models ?

A seller in Saigon confirm to me the bike it PGO from Taiwan, mid 80's. Which, for me being in Vietnam, is a good thing (Italian made were not even a option in my case). I was affraid of LML model as I have heard less good thing about the quality.

I can take more pictures if you guys need, It's my first Vespa so of course I'm willing to share anything that could bring me some help on this project ^^

Looking at the bare wiring under that rubber csp, I would look into water proof or marine grade shrink tubing and soldering them together. Good clean connections will cause less aggravation.

So does it look like an aftermarket part ? Should I look for a new part or simply waterproofing the wire would do ?

My main concern now is the carburator, the bike is leaking fuel. I thought it was oil but it's definitively the fuel/oil. I opened the carb box and it's covered in fuel. I ordered a carb rebuild kit, I will do it myself.

Next worry is the lack of power and, from what I heard, the lack of compression when I kick start. So I'll bring it to the garage this weekend for them to look at the piston and do what has to be done.

Hi Guys,

Some update from Vietnam after 10 months owning my PX150.

While I am very happy with it, I had to fix many things to make it reliable, since it is my daily driver. So about a month after buying it, I have decided to bring it to a renowned Vespa mechanic in my area and simply told him to change whatever needed to be changed to make it work as it should.


Here are some main parts that has been changed or cleaned. I have few more pics if you want.





While the engine was running well after that, I kept having the carb flooded every morning. Especially when stopping with the engine hot, it was a pain to start again. The carb was leaking, I changed every gaskets, pins etc until I had enough and decided to replace the original carburator for a new one.

The old one (obviously lol)


I also had a flat tyre which was quite a scary experience since it happened in few seconds, I was lucky to be able to stop before crashing The tyre pretty just slipped out of the rim while riding... I went straight to the garage and bought 3 brand new Kenda tyres.



I replaced the handle grips, the rear light cover, every bulbs, the entire front fork with the wheel hub.

I kept having oil leaks problem with my rear hub, after changing the o ring 3 times, I have decided to change it entirely:



I also had a lot of oil coming from the exhaust connection so the mechanic arranged it a bit and I drop the oil mix from 5% to 3%, which solved the problem.


I rode a lot on weekends around my area (Dalat, in the moutains) and got some cool shots










I also go often to the beach, which is about 3h ride (Phan Rang or Nha Trang), here are some pictures:





Overall, I am delighted to ride it everyday. It works very well now and I enjoy spending time improving small things myself on it.

Of course, in the end I got scammed, big time. The bike was worth less than I paid for because the seller lied about it and I did not know better. I had spent half of what I paid for just to fix it and the resell value probably hasn't improved. So if I had to sell it now, I will definitively lose money. But that's ok, it's a great experience overall, about Vespa and about living here. It's not the shiniest, the most valuable or the rarest but it got the spirit and its fault are part of its charm for me now.

Next step is a new CDI (or ECU in english ? the thing below the carburator, on the back of the engine) and probably a repaint soon since rust is appearing. I was also thinking about changing the handlebar cover with the speedo to put a real italian PX one but I honestly prefer the one I have, the design is, in my opinion, much nicer. After all it's a PGO, I don't intend to hide that. But the speedo is broken and it's very hard to find a Taiwanese one so.. I still have to decide what I want to do.

Hope my pictures entertained you a bit

Ride safe !

Cool bro!

Edit: 20ml per litre on my bike

Is the higher oil content a requirement for your motor? My P200 and Stella are both 2% mixture.

After the engine was rebuilt, the mechanic told me to run 5% for 10 days. I misunderstood, I thought he said 1 month ^^

Then by reading information online, I lower it down to 3% since it's an "old" engine. I don't mind to do 2%, I just though 3% was a bit safer in my case. Will the performance change if I mix at 2% ?

yeah from what I hear increasing the oil mix percent leans out the jetting cause the mix contains less gas in exchange for more oil. So you are potentially causing the problem you are trying to avoid. Just go with the 2% mix.

I thought considering the engine condition (35 years, no idea the mileage), it was safer the be a bit on the oily side in the mix. You reckon 2% will do ? Thanks for your input