Modern Vespa

Hi there i have a piaggio mp3 400 lt.I replaced front shock as it looked like the shock collapsed as the gap between wheel and tracking bar is small.see photos.But fitting new shock its just the same.Tilt lock works rides as normal but somthing is wrong can you help.

I'm "leaning" (pun very much intended) toward bent fork or other worn/damaged suspension component.

Your symptom does not fit the worn shock case.

Did you replace 1 shock or both of them ? Lighter and clearer photo's would help. Is it the same on both sides of the bike, a photo showing a front view as well please.

Have both shocks to do but felt this leg had collapsed as it measured 40mm smaller than the other shock.Found it hard to fit new shock as it had to be compressed to fit it back.The bottom swing arm seams to be wrong as i had to jack it up to fit shock

Are you replacing just the shock? The shock and spring as a unit? 40mm is a big difference between left and right.

More and clearer pictures definitely.

Any chance the tilt lock slider is jammed and interfering with full travel?
Is the spring damaged?

I am wondering have you just bought the bike ? or have you owned it a while ? has the bike always been like this then or has this problem suddenly happened?. It's a very strange problem and only thing i can think of at the moment is that the suspension unit/s is / are locked on with the suspension unit/s in the fully( or almost) compressed postion .More good quality photos required.

Yes that is what i was trying to say .

Hi i have had the bike for 4 years and just noticed the problem a couple of weeks ago.tilt lock works wheels move up and down on there own.hope these photos are better.

Assuming the forks are not bent, I'd take a hard look at the steering rod.

With the tilt lock off and if you remove the front mudguard stay bolt that also holds the end of the stainless bar that runs up the front of the suspension units can you slide the rod up throught the hydraulic clamp very easily . Check both sides. Something has got to be siezed.

Not liking this at all. That rust powder is not a good sign. If it were me, I'd take the shock assembly off and see if the lower link moves properly. There are supposed to be needle bearings in those joints. Also make sure that the silver tilt lock rod can slide smoothly through the cigar cutter fitting.

That's the right side though. Which one is short?

Try squaring it up on a level surface and go after it with a tape measure.

Fairly typical corrosion i would say for a vehical with the weather we have in the UK and the salt mixtures that are put on the roads in winter here. We do not have dry areas like you have in the USA. I'm always amazed at the remarkable condition of some of the old cars that i see on the US TV car programs here in the UK.

Hi there with tilt lock off you can unbolt both mudgaurd bolts and move the steel rods up and down easy.Then put tilt lock on and the rods dont move at all.Its the right wheel as you look at the bike that seems wrong being smaller than the left leg buy about 30mm.The new shock had to be jacked into place to make it fit.I am in the middle of rubbing down and painting the rust areas on the wheels.

If you look at the photo of the bike showing the front view you can see the right leg looks lower than the left yet the bike looks level.

3legsofman - Dry areas? I'm at the opposite corner of the country. Winter, salt, rust, mud. Vehicles here are a very perishable commodity. Was only able to get the scoot out of the driveway last week after the ice melted. I chuckle where I park at work after my mudbogging commute and the guy next to me has a little dual-sport and the tires aren't even dirty.

durhamdeltic - Hard to tell from the photo but it did look like the distance between the lower link and the ground looked different. Good to know that the slider rods aren't binding. Something else must be. We're all assuming that the wheels and tires are same-same. The rear part of the lower link is the stationary end, so that should be same left and right if the strut rods aren't out of whack. So must be the camera angle that we're seeing the front end of the link is different? Are we certain that the replacement part is correct? Unloaded spring length is the same? I don't put a lot of faith in the top of the mudguards as a measuring point. (Yours less so since you've had them apart for painting). But I can get almost four fingers between the top of the mudguards and the tie rod cover on both sides.

Ok. So you have replaced the left hand shock (as your sat on the bike) so we know that is ok. Have you removed the right hand shock and checked it is working ok ??. If you remove the shock this will also tell you if everything is free moving in the pivot bearing.

Move West young man. I moved North ,should have gone south.

Will be the next move to replace the other shock to as i got both replacements just hope you dont have to jack the arm up to meet the shock like the last one.Hope the bottom arm just meets the shock and the bolts line up.The old shock is the same size as both the new ones once i removed it from the bike.So something on the bike is compacting the shock and spring when fitting it.