Modern Vespa

Hi all,

I recently picked up a 1980 P125X with 305 miles on it. It's been sitting for god knows how long and the plan is to restore it. The scooter frame has rust, the seat is destroyed and the engine is covered in dirt so it was obviously not kept in ideal conditions. The previous owner mentioned that the owner before him kept it in a shed and it was last started 3 years ago. So far I've done these things to attempt to start it:

-new sparklug
-new battery
-small amount of oil in sparkplug hole to lube piston
-change gearbox oil
-fresh gas
-fresh oil in autolube system

When I attempt to kickstart, I can feel some compression but not a lot. It moves freely for about 10 kicks until the kickstarter locks up. At this point the only way to free it up is to roll the scooter in neutral for a feew feet until the kickstarter "unlocks". It also leaks gas under the carb which I noticed after trying to start.

Why would the kickstarter lock up? Is the piston getting stuck or rings swollen preventing it from moving? Why would it free up after rolling the scooter?

Sorry for the ignorant questions- this is my first Vespa and not very experienced with engines. Any help would be appreciated!

total carb and fuel system rebuild. carb kit, airbox gaskets, hose everything down on that, new fuel tap and lines and clamps all the way around. probably do a new oil tank sight glass and gasket at the same time. necessary rubber bits and bobs (bellows, frame grommets, sealing bits). strip and dip the carb, full tilt with a fresh float and needle. blow everything out and clean the jets properly.

don't screw around and just pull the clutch. freshen everything up in there. corks, steel, brass. otherwise you're just gonna be battling it till you do.

clean, lube and adjust all of the controls.

tires and tubes immediately. clean the rims while apart. inspect the brakes.

expect to do seals on the motor in the near future.

so you'll be about 1K into it all said.

hth

-g

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your first Vespa! Great looking scoot.

You sound like you want to hear the engine run. I would check spark first by pulling spark plug and grounding out on the engine, then kick to see if you have spark. It looks like you are on points ignition (I could be wrong). A good place to start learning Vespa things is on Scooterhelp. The site is clunky to navigate but I have learned a bunch from it. They are known for their wiring diagrams.

As for running down the road? Your carb will most likely need to be cleaned. I also don't know if I would trust the autolube to work in its current condition. Also, what does your gas tank look like? Basically all fuel and 2T oil systems will need to be refreshed, anything rubber replaced as well.

This forum also has a lot to offer if you search it using the correct wording. I always use google with a site modifier, for example: P125 no spark site:modernvespa.com

Speaking of P125, there will be other models that will share the same tech as your bike. Try and pick those up as you read along various sources. Other than points and displacement, the P200 will share a lot of similar hardware. I would also suggest a Haynes manual, although they are not as complete as I wish they were.

Paint/Rust: Surface rust I wouldn't worry about. But if you can see/stab through it you may have to start patching. From the one picture you posted, your paint looks decent. See this thread about using Meguiars No. 7 to get the paint popping.

Parts: Buy from a reputable parts supplier and not some rando off ebay who is shipping from a foreign country.

Thank you for this. I wont cheap out on anything to ensure it is done right. It's weird because the mileage is so low but sitting for so many years destroys everything it seems.

Thank you! That site is super helpful. Unfortunately, there are rust holes on the floorboard and other places on the frame so patching will be needed. It will be a slow but rewarding project.

Yours is almost the same project as mine!

I'd say get it running for starters, and that means cleaning all the junk out of the fuel tank and carb. When you have it running you can then start checking things like lights, brakes etc. After that, you'll have a good idea of what's broken, what parts are needed etc. And then you can decide the route you want to take from there onwards.

The carbs can give you some trouble, mine never ran right on the original carb even though I cleaned the living daylights out of it in the ultrasonic. New carb and all my problems went away. Also the ignition coil is probably rather weak at this point, so that's a worthwhile purchase as well.

It's a hard part to restore an old and rusty scooter, and you need to clean all the dirt and rust out of the fuel tank and carb. Check with wiring and Magnet Coils. Check if any part is broken or looking in bad condition.

I've been slowly disassembling this thing with plans to restore parts and put it back together. The underside near the foot brake is completely rusted (pitted?) and about 1 tablespoon of water literally leaked out from this area. There is a hole and you can see the cables running through the frame. Is this way beyond repair?

It's not beyond repair at all.

But definitely check the tunnel. You's need to pull the tank, and remove the plastic cover.

The floorboards on old vespas are a common place for rust, so it's easy to find the parts to repair. Will require some surgery, though.

You can also pull the brake pedal, and there's an opening where you can see inside that area.

It's a beautiful bike.