Modern Vespa

Sorry if this is well-trodden ground:

When I bought my Vespa I was given one blue key. Had Robot duplicate it at Scooterwest. I gave him the card with the code, and he handed it back to me saying I could just throw that away. Said he didn't need that and I didn't need that. The new key worked for a bit but now it will only unlock the steering and the seat. Scooter won't start with the new key now after 3 months of it starting with no trouble. Luckily I still have the original key that starts it up with zero issues. You know, until I lose it.

Any insights as to how a key could work for 3 months and then no-go?

Electronic problems with key chips are beyond me, but my strong advice is to get another blue key clone made - and perhaps have Motorsport try to reprogram the cloned key which is giving you trouble.

Not many things can make the chip fail, but the odds "one in a million" theory is still there.

I would say, take it back to Robot and I'm sure he will get another chip for you, probably free...

One of the most common causes of a key forgetting it's code is the key suffering a sudden shock of some kind ie: being dropped or some such thing onto a hard surface. Another cause is exposure to a strong EM field of some kind, putting the key very close to a powerful magnet in a speaker or some such thing. All damaging to an electronic chip. Of course the chip could just be faulty.

Thank you for your responses - I'll call Scooterwest tomorrow!

Yesterday I tried it again and it started no problem. This is the sort of thing that drives me insane. How could it work, and then not work, and then suddenly work again?

A very marginal RFID signal/response.