Modern Vespa

Picked up my first project scooter in over a decade yesterday, so I'm rusty, particularly with the moderns.

It's a 2008 S150, and the guy who had it only could confirm it had been declared a total loss by the previous owner's insurance company although there weren't outwardly any visible signs why. Now that it's in my possession and I've given it the cursory glance over, I'm guessing it was a theft recovery and sat for several years either before or after.

Obviously draining the gas and cleaning the carb are in order. Few questions though:

This model has a fuel pump, which is a first for me. I watched the Scooterwest video* of a similar S150 project, where Robot swaps out the original fuel tap for the older vacuum style. That new part he puts in has a built in fuel filter. What about for the original fuel tap, which I didn't see in the video? Should I be replacing the fuel tap proactively now as well?


There is a loose, uncapped hose coming from the rear of the scooter. Guessing that was previously connected to the rollover valve (which appears to have been cut out along with the canister). Do I need to cap this or do something else with this hose?



I have the key, put a new battery in, and checked to see if the electronics come on. The headlight, horn and starter motor all function. I did notice that no fuel was moving through the clear fuel line. Once the carb is clean, tank is drained (and possibly the fuel tap replaced) should I expect to see gas flowing through the fuel line when I'm pushing the starter button?

Few other things I'll have to replace: the boot between the crankcase and the carb is damaged (was duct taped together when I bought it), and the seat latch release was cut out. Will those parts be interchangeable with an LX150?


*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHgOOLDUvA

Greetings:

Welcome Mr. Redrocker! Don't know from fuel pumps, but your dangling line from the rear is probably the tank overflow line. On the older ET4, this was run to the rollover valve, which as you say has been deleted (Or was not original equipment on a fuel-pump model like yours?) I just deleted my Evap recapture system, and the only line coming from the back of the scooter was that one. See Wiki - Modifications - Evap Delete.

Fuel dribbles more than gushes through the tubing when cranking up a previously dry system. Once the carb is filled you can't really see the flow of fuel during operation, it's less than a gallon an hour even at full throttle. I have an in-line transparent fuel filter in my S, and there is always an air bubble in it so it is obvious when fuel is present - that's normal.

All the seat parts including the seat itself are interchangeable between the LX and S.

With the electric fuel pump, it starts pumping immediately when the key is switched on. If you remove the fuel line from the carb and switch on the key the pump should start pumping. If not, unhook the wire to the pump and give it 12v to see if the pump works (the blue wire is +12v, black wire is ground).

Bill

Thanks y'all. Any opinions on whether I should proactively replace the fuel tap?

The picture of the non-vacuum tap on ScooterWest has an inline fuel filter so I'm guessing the original could be fouled from sitting for years.

Probably not necessary to replace your fuel tap, its internal filter is just a screen. You could pull the hose off momentarily to check for fuel flow.

Bill