Modern Vespa

Hey all. I've been sneaking round for a bit, just decided to join because I'm potentially getting back into scooting. I previously had a GTSie 250, and absolutely loved it, but it was WAY more than was necessary for a city scoot with no highways.

A friend of mine is selling a 2006 LX50 for $900. It comes with a list of caveats. Brakes and tires are good, battery is new. Comes with a trunk box with a busted lock and a helmet. It's plum, and quite gorgeous. That's the good. These bikes in good shape can fetch $3k+ in Canada's California where you can ride all year pretty much, even Metropolitans go for $1800 or more easily.

The bad is this poor old girl has some serious road rash on both flanks, and a dent in the front cowling that broke one of the running lights. One of the ball ends is missing of one of the brake levers. It's also developed a bit of a problem, which based on research here, looks to be vacuum related or carb diaphragm related. It'll hit about 48kmh, and drops to low 30s when climbing grades.

Wanted to post here and ask what I should look for and how to tell what these issues will take to fix. I'm relatively mechanically handy (used to daily drive a '70s Volvo that required regular attention). Have my own tools. And for the body issues was I was gonna try hammering out the dents a bit, stripping the sides, use a bit of bondo to smooth things out, and then re-painting those parts.

Despite the rough shape, she's still a looker, and I don't have much of a budget anymore for vehicles as I've got some invisible disabilities keeping me from work. But that said, I miss driving around Victoria so much. It brings me such joy just to get out for a bit, especially in this pandemic.

Grateful for any help, and happy to be here. Thanks everyone!

I have been reviving some of these era scooters and I consider myself kinda lucky that these are available.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073SNWD4Y

It's a chinese Keihin carb that is...close... to the stocker you have. I run it as a "tester" to see if my scooter is having carb issues or something else.

BUT...

You can scab parts off of the chinese one to refurbish your carburetor!

New float bowl gasket = check
Air-fuel mixture screw that you can adjust with a flat screwdriver = check
(dont forget there is a tiny washer and rubber o-ring at the end of this!)
New clean jets = check.

These parts alone cost more than the entire carb if you purchase seperately!

The main difference between these is the diaphragm design. The OEM has a spring holding the needle and these have a floating rubber type setup. Plus a different auto choke assembly. It is compatible with your scooter but a little different holder to keep it in place. They are jetted with a #78 main (different from USA stock is #75) and a 35 pilot jet same as ours but that's but that's not a problem. They also have a remote float bowl drain that is kinda neat but I have yet to find a purpose for. Post any Q's you have about these and I'll try to help.

Forgot to add...check out your fuel lines they get old and break down and must be replaced. The vacuum one goes to the intake manifold between the carb and the intake manifold and routes to the bottom of the fuel petcock. The other feeds the fuel from higher on the petcock to the carb.

Maybe post some pics of your setup for some more help?

Greetings:

At this age and mileage, it is possible that standard maintenance will restore performance to the expected 70 KPH maximum speed. Consider a new belt and variator weights. The former gets hard with time regardless of mileage. The rollers develop at spots and fail to push the variator to Full Overdrive. Replace the air filter and engine oil. Unless the P.O. has done it, replace the brake fluid too. Check the mint date on the tires ND. Onside replacing if over 10 years.