Modern Vespa

Hi all, I'm a long-time lurker turned member of modern Vespa because I've patiently waited for my 250ie to come back from a local scooter shop and I've had some issues with it.

When I called the shop and mentioned fluids are coming out of it I was told it's just initial "growing pains" of a recently overhauled engine. First I noticed coolant leaking from the water pump hose. 200 miles later after steady watching my bike stalled out, I took it in, and was told my spark plug wire was just bad. I bring it home and now there's oil seeping from the front of the engine onto my center stand and oil filter.

Have I become a victim of a bad shop, or are these "growing pains" a real thing? I'm looking for help because I want to keep this baby on the road for as long as possible, but need to know what is the best action to keep from sabotaging myself.

Growing pains aren't a thing. I'd take it up with the shop.

What work did they do initially? If it was a rebuild, then I'm calling BS here - Internal parts of an engine need breaking in after a rebuild. But under no circumstances should it be leaking oil. Coolant possibly if they had to unhook some hoses and clamps that are old, in which case they should had been replaced.. If it was leaking before you took it in, then it's on you. If not, it's on them and they should fix it.

Okay, I'll bite. How would a bad spark plug wire cause a coolant leak. This "dealer" is something of a BS artist.

This rebuild came-about because the camshaft counterweight was sheered during a ride. The shop and I planned to have them rebuild the engine and water pump assembly and upgrade the top-end of the engine with a malossi 279cc kit. They couldn't get the engine to turn over with the malossi kit so they opted to install a "like new" aprila 249cc top end, which I OKed.

200 miles later my engine stalls out on me and thats when the faulty spark plug wire issue came up. After a ride home I noticed and chased the oil leek back to somewhere in the front of the engine. I'm going to go on a ride now and see if it's still happening.

What do if the shop tries to charge me for looking at the leak?

Did you pay for the Malossi top end? I mean, is it sitting in a box some where? I find it strange that they could not get it going after installing it. This is sounding more and more like someone who does not know what they are doing. I would be inclined to find another shop unless you want to fight it out with them.

Dude, it sounds as though you have been hosed.

new rebuilds shouldn't leak

that whole nonsense of the malossi rigamarole and knocking on another top end sounds like a bunch of malarky to me.

It certainly seems so, considering it's leaking at every stop. I imagine this is going to take a gasket replacement on the engine from a quality professional.

Well, I appreciate youse guys' help. I just did t want to start making accusations where they're not warranted. I simply need to stop coming to this shop.

My first experience with them was a disc brake change that took four hours because they forgot I brought my bike in.

if it's leaking like that, take it back and have them make it right.

but given their track record, it may be in your best interest to suck it up, take that hit and find somebody else to do the work.

I know. I know. it sucks giant balls to drop coin and get smoked. but you can either roll back and make a fuss or call it a write-off.

PM me and I'll send you some shop referrals in your area.

So after several months of trying to diagnose what I thought was a fuel system problem, not only did I discover several trim screws missing, my fuel line fuses bracket screws missing, I also noticed some totally loose off the bracket nuts off of a part that I can only imagine are some important starter parts. I dumbly took a picture after I put the nuts back on.. but Anyone know what these parts are?

those are your throttle cables. the nuts not only secure them but also with adjustment in the function. they should not be just hanging around.

Just one more indication of the quality of work done by your mechanic.

I'm over it. Sportique Scooters in Denver, CO on Broadway. Do [/i]not go there unless you have a genuine buddy. The only solace I gained from this experience is I learned how to diagnose electrical components on my scooter and clean a fuel injector successfully. After two months of researched I thankfully retried checking the spark plug condition before buying a fuel pump, and noticed these buggers looser than a wizard's sleeve.

And thanks for your help guys 👍🏽