Modern Vespa

Hello,

My 2007 250GTS has recently begun to not start on the initial press of the starter button. When cold or hot, it will sometimes turn over, but not start until the 2nd or 3rd attempt. Once it starts, I have no problems with engine or electrical power.

I am looking for suggestions as to what could be going wrong and what parts I should be troubleshooting.

The battery is less than 30 days old and the bike has been maintained properly (regular oil/coolant/plug changes).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

If you can hear the starter relay click, but the engine isn't turned over, it could be that the starter relay contacts have arced enough that they can show high resistance when contact is first made. Each time you re-make that contact (2nd or 3rd try) the connection gets better - eventually enough that the starter will turn over.

If the above seems to fit your symptoms, then I suggest you swap out the starter relay for a new one, or take the old one apart and clean the contacts.

If you can't hear the starter relay click, then obviously chase down the duff switch; a brake light switch or starter button.

Did the problem start before or after you changed the battery?

what battery did you install? size, rating , manufacture?
ddi it require a full charge prior to install?

Hello and thank you for the suggestions. I have been able to do a bit of testing and I might have additional information that could help indicate the problem.

First, to answer a few questions. The battery is a DieHard 14-BS that came out of the box dry and I had to put the acid in and wait for at least an hour. (I believe this is fairly standard when buying a battery of this type).

The scooter is stored inside 99% of the time and has about 8500miles on it.

At this point, I have been able to reproduce some of the problematic behavior.

Starting from a cold motor (I live in South Florida, so it's not exactly cold here 80 degrees).

#1. I turn on the ignition and wait for the Engine light to go out.
#2. Hold the brake lever (left) and press the starter button
#3. The scooter turns over quickly and begins to run, but quits after 1-2 seconds.
#4. I then turn the ignition key off and repeat steps 1-2.
#5. At this point, the scooter starts quickly and does not show any problems.

I have not yet tested this again with the motor warm but i do not believe the issue is battery related since the scooter starts and fires up fine.

I believe you should have charged the battery after doing the initial acid fill, the directions should tell you this.

on the other, have you cleaned the throttle body yet?
how's the air filter ? clean?

I wonder based on what I believe you are saying, the scooter runs fine on the second attempt (first time only runs a couple seconds), if the fuel pump is starting to fail.

I believe you are supposed to charge the battery the first time also. As said, instructions should specify.