Modern Vespa

Local dealership just quoted me $490 for a 6,000 mile service. That's how many miles I scoot in a year, so 5 hundo annually for me and Salvatore.

That's 20% of what I paid for Sal last July. Just venting a little and trying to accept. Is this standard?

On an LX150?

Do it yourself.

I don't mind paying a qualified mechanic (which I definitely ain't) to do it. I'm a relative newbie but that is about $200 more than I thought it would be. That assumption was clearly naive on my part.

Yes, just watch one of Scooterwest YouTube videos on the subject, buy the parts and some tools and save time and money. It's not difficult if you can pay attention to detail.

Bill

What's the breakdown? Let's see the numbers.

For sure it's always nice to have a qualified mechanic go over everything. Good piece of mind and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and all...

However, it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Take a look at the owners manual, somewhere in there you'll find PERIODIC MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE (or something like that).

Look at what service you're due for.

Maybe one thing is just replacing an air filter... Do you really need a professional, being paid $100/hr to take off a half dozen screws, take an old filter out, clean up any guck inside, put a new air filter in, and put a half dozen screws back on?

Maybe while you're at it you buy that air filter yourself and don't pay the dealer markup.

Maybe your $490 maintenance just became $440.

Maybe there's more in that maintenance list you can do.

Maybe there's scary stuff in there like checking valve clearances. I hate doing that. Maybe that's what we run to the mechanic with our tail tucked. I sure do!

If you're interested in doing it yourself, I live near LAX and have done quite a bit of work to my 2016 Sprint, just for the satisfaction of knowing how to do it.

I have some of the special tools for things like changing drive belts, replacing steering column bearings, and mounting tires. I'd be happy to help out.

I'm just trying to determine industry standards. If it's 490 then its 490. I'm flattered that you guys think it would be that easy for me. It wouldn't. My analogy would be musical: I feel like any monkey could play a bass guitar proficiently because I can play a bass guitar proficiently. You could watch YouTube tutorials and learn eventually. But you got trial-and-error on your side there. No harm done if you clam a note on your Chris Squire impersonation.

I can see myself mucking with my Vespa's brake lines only to drive off into some ravine in Griffith Park. No bueno.

What's all included with this 6,000 mile service?

Thanks Greasy - I'll call them again when I get outta work and get some specificity.

Thank you for assuming I'm mechanically inclined enough to do this. I would surely cock it up badly.

I appreciate all you guys chiming in with advice. Lotsa good folks on this forum.

Aside from a lack of knowledge, another factor that will prevent a person from doing DIY maintenance is physical impairments. In my case, I have the knowledge and skill to do my own maintenance, but I can't because of chronic knee, back and shoulder impairments. I have no choice but to pay someone to perform the work for me. You can't always assume that everyone is capable of doing their own maintenance.

when getting a quote or assessing a break down one thing to keep in mind is labor rate.

if one shop is 125/hr and the other is 80/hr the difference between a 3hr service is $135

parts is parts, but labor rate can play a key factor in the line total.

Then don't do the brake fluid flush yourself, but it's not an all-or-nothing. You can do some things that it needs and not others lol. I get that. My girl has a disability. Have you thought about a lift table? My uncle was a mechanic back in the day, but he was paying the dealer to work on his Harley because physically he just couldn't do it. Then he saw my lift table and ordered one up the next day. That bike hasn't seen the dealer since then.

We have big lifts now because we see an assortment of bikes/snowblowers/other toys, but my first one was just this $250-$300 lift from Harbor Freight. I made some side extensions so I could ride the bike right up and step off. No pushing or pulling. Totally adequate for a Vespa sized bike.



If you need links just let me know.

Yup. And labor rates are all about location, location, location. I hear LA is sorta expensive compared to us in flyover land. My labor is free, by the way.

Remember you get a free MV membership included with that annual 490$ service.

labor in LA swings around about 100~125 some people are a little cheaper than that. remember that price is not a reflection of quality of work, a lot of people forget that.

I've had minor work done there a couple of months ago - I can find that invoice when I get home and check the labor rates charged by the Sherman Oaks dealership. I half expected one or two people to say "hell no, I'd never pay $490" but so far no one has said that.

Anyone who's owned a shop has seen some truly nightmare home repairs. Not everyone who rides a Vespa wants to become a freakin' Vespa mechanic.
If it costs you $40 a month to pour gas in it and ride, with the peace of mind that it's in good working condition, and there's a dealership you can call when things go wrong, because you're a good customer and not some nitwit who tries to bring in a bunch of their own parts and things for the mechanic to read that you found online, quibble about how long everything should take with professionals who do this for a living, and tries to get the job done as cheap as absolutely possible, that's money well spent.
If it costs you $1200 to repair the engine because one of those 8200 screws you misplaced when you changed the air cleaner, even though you knew it was a bad idea for you to bring tools anywhere near a mechanical device, got sucked into the intake and destroyed the piston, cylinder, head and valves, you really didn't save any money.

it's really down to "depends on what all is getting done" really. I regularly ran 500 and 600 tickets on big services but it was more than just general periodic maintenance.

a general big service should be in the 375ish range and so add anything to that and I could easily see 490, especially at 100/hr

For sure some of us have thought that.

Then again what we'd spend on our own scooters is a bit different than what we'd watch someone else spend.

I asked what was entailed in the service and she said we'll "clean the oil", check belts and brakes and tires and the spark plug. I'll get clarification from them but so far it looks like 490 gets me a hell of a lotta checking.

I especially like "clean the oil" part.

really press them on the fan belt service and ask if they have upgraded water pump belts.

all kidding aside, there is a fair amount of checking. but there is also a fair amount of replacing while you're also checking.

I agree with you. I'd say that $490 is way too much for changing the oil and possibly replacing the spark plug. If the belt and rollers were to be replaced, brake fluid changed, brake pads replaced, valves adjusted, etc, etc, etc, -- well, it all adds up. It all depends on what's being done.

My wife has a Silverwing that was converted to a trike, making it a extra nightmare for doing home service work. But because I trust my local Honda dealer I just drop it off and tell them to go over it and do whatever is required. Don't even ask a estimate. Trust is the most important thing, to me, when you pay someone else. I know they won't rip me off and I know the scooter will be put back together correctly afterwards.

Candidly, I have never paid $490 for a routine 6000 mile service on one of my Vespas. More like $300. Now, add in a valve adjustment, or brake flush, or belt replacement, or something of the sort and the price begins to creep up.

There is a valve adjustment at 6k

Engine oil - replacement
Hub oil level - check
Spark plug electrode gap - check
Air filter - clean
Engine oil - change
Oil filter (net filter) - clean
Valve clearance - adjustment
Variable speed rollers/pads - check
Driving belt - checking
Brake pads - check condition and wear
Brake fluid level - check
Electrical system and battery - check
Centre stand - lubrication
Tyre pressure and wear - check
Vehicle and brake test - road test

Full disclosure: I've really just put 3,000 on it in the past 6 months, but I bought it from someone who said it had been gone over thoroughly just before I took delivery of it. I've since had a few reasons to doubt the quality of that "going over", so it crossed my mind that pre-emptively getting the 6,000 mile service might be wise. And 490 was the base quote for checking everything. If I need new belts/hoses/rando parts its gonna get up to 600. I'm having a hard time imagining an annual hit like that. I just got done with monthly child-support payments that mainly bankrolled my ex's gin & weed supply.

Bummer man. The sooner you get good at some of this stuff, the sooner you'll start to save.

If you were going to pick three things on there to take of yourself, I would recommend air filter, oil filter, oil.

That stuff is both easy and well-documented, which means you'll have plenty of sources to learn from. Typically the two I would recommend are Robot's videos on the Vespa Scooter West Motorsports channel, and Mitch Bergsma on the MicBergsma channel.

If you see anything pop up from those names, you're golden. Robot's videos are longer and more drawn out, Mitch is a master of communicating a lot of quality easy to follow instructions in very few words. Two very different styles but both are awesome reasons and a benefit to the community.

Uh, so, guys, my bad, I kinda made this up lol. This is the 6k KM interval. Not 6k MILE... because I don't see a 6k mile interval in my Vespa LX150 service manual...

DiBiasio - Are you sure they said miles?

PS: This would imply the bike is due for all of that every 3,700 miles... Yikes...

Ask 'em what the price will be if you leave a bottle of gin in the pet carrier and a bag of weed in the glove box.

With that particular combination, will the technician go 10 mph or 65 mph in a 35 zone while road testing the bike?

If this was a forum about open heart surgery, and there was a doctor who insisted that, in order to save money, people with no medical experience or desire to operate on themselves should watch some Youtube videos and at least try to do part of the surgery at home, with the aid of a carefully placed mirror and free Harbor Freight LED flashlight that was really, really bright, that would be entertaining.

I realize my 300 is a bit different than your 150, but an oil change is:

- unscrew three bolts and slip off the muffler
- put a drain pan and some cardboard underneath
- unscrew the drain plug bolt
- unscrew the oil filter
- unscrew the dipstick
- rock the bike as needed to get the oil to flow out the drain
- screw on a new oil filter
- replace the drain o-ring
- screw the drain bolt back in
- add oil
- screw the dipstick back in
- slip the muffler back on
- screw the dipstick back in

Every handful of oil changes, take the container of old oil to a gas station for disposal.

There's an aftermarket oil filter (that I think fits most Piaggios and their Asian knockoffs). It's got a bolt head on it, so you can tighten it with a wrench if needed. If you see anything in the tutorials about a weird lasso thing to remove/install the oil filter - forget that, use the wrench filter instead. I got mine from a local dealer, but I'm sure you can find it if you search (or if you're interested I'll look).

It's up to each of us to assess our technical expertise, but if you can check the oil, you can change the oil. It doesn't require any special tools. You can buy an oil pan jug at the shop when you buy the filter and o-ring.

Personally, I like changing my own oil for 2 reasons: it saves money, and it makes it easier to change the oil on schedule. I don't have to worry about coordinating availability with the shop.

I still let the shop change the air filter, because I let them do the belts too and it's the same part of the moto. I like letting people with more experience than me take a look at my Vespa to ensure it's in good shape.

At the same time, it's nice to save some money, and really nice to not have to sweat maintenance timing so much.

maybe you should buy her a hydroponics setup and a moonshine still and then stop paying

Depends on the model. The manual on my previous LX150 called for a valve adjustment at 3.6K miles (6K km), but not another one until 10.8K miles. The manual on my 2 GTS both call for a valve adjustment at 12K miles (20K km), and another at 24K miles.

Before you put your bike and your safety in someone's hands, make sure that qualified = competent.

I had a HF lift at my old house in New Jersey, but unfortunately, we don't have the same amount of garage space at our new house in Virginia as we did in New Jersey. If I was to get another mc lift, my wife's car would have to get booted from the garage, and that would not go over well with her, as I already take up a 1/3 of our garage with my five scooters and one moped.

I had a HF lift as well. Only complaint is that it doesn't go low enough to clear the bottom of my wife's Subaru. A friend bought a used Yamaha Majesty and we used my lift, at my house, to do the service work on it. Get it up in the air and found an unseen problem, so this huge Majesty sat on my lift for 3 weeks waiting for parts. But the HF lift is the greatest thing for do-it-yourself types. I sold mine and actually miss it sometimes.

I miss mine as well. I bought mine from HF about 15 years ago for only $200. I sold it when I moved last year for $175. So it only cost me $25 for the use of it for 15 years. If it would fit under my wife's Lexus sedan, I'd get another one. Working on a concrete floor is just not an option for me anymore.