Modern Vespa

Good Morning
I have been a lurker, but am now a fully-fledged owner of a beautiful Dragon Red 2009 LX 150.

Meet 'Vera'

She had 463 miles on her yesterday when I brought her home, and now she has 500.1

I intend to support this community as best I can, as I like to do my own work and will certainly take guidance from the Brain Trust here....

By all means contact me if you have any helpful hints, tricks or tips, and I will pay them forward with other Noobs

Neil

Welcome to the joys of Vespa ownership. Beautiful scooter.

Welcome aboard Old Bean!

Welcome to MV! That's a great looking scoot! There's tons of great info on the website and Vespa ownership can have a profoundly positive impact on your life. Feel free to search or ask any questions. Check the WIKI section at the top of the main page. That vintage of LX has an excellent 150cc motor and with good maintenance will last a long time.

Given that it has such low mileage for an older scoot, there are some items you should address. Most all maintenance can be DIY with common tools and a couple of specialty tools.

Tires, belts, and hoses age with time as well as mileage. The tires are likely original and will be way past their expiration date; the rubber hardens with age and your traction will be greatly diminished. All the hoses are pretty easy to access once the underseat bucket (aka pet carrier) is removed. Check them carefully and replace any that look to have cracks or dry rot.

The drive belt is an item that sees significant stress and if it has any dry rot, it will snap while riding; I had a 7 year old belt with only 1000 miles on it snap a few years back. You'll be stranded and left with an ugly mess inside the transmission cover. This is where you'll need specialty tools called a variator holder and a clutch holder. Not very expensive and easy to order online. Some have even made their own.

Brake fluid, engine oil, and gear oil should also be changed if it hasn't already been done.

Take care of these items and you'll be able to enjoy that scoot for a long time.

CrazyCarl, thank you- this is exactly why I joined this forum..

Just as additional info, before Vera came home, I had both tires replaced, engine and transmission oil replaced, drive belt replaced and all electrics gone through (other than the clock battery that's dead - I'll get that when I go LED and lose the US turn signals)

I personally inspected the fuel pipes as you recommend, and ran the bike and squirted the ole carb cleaner under the pet seat.....she didn't even murmur....

I cleaned the air filter this morning, and I'll change the brake fluid here in the near future.

A good simple scoot for Florida. Stay off I95 and watch out for the snowbirds and you'll be ok.

Congratulations and welcome to MV! Fine-looking scooter there!

Welcome from Minnesota. Fine looking Vespa in my favorite color Dragon Red.
I have a 2013 GTS300 Super in the same color.

Thanks for sharing your photos. I do like it when the rider includes him/herself in the pictures. Ride on amigo.

Bob Copeland
Lake Wobegon Minnesota
"Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average"

Welcome to MV. I'm sure we all like your photos and I certainly admire your LX. I have owned 2 LX 150s - an '09 LX150 in silver and a '12 LX150i in celeste blue. The light blue one was arguably the most beautiful scooter I have ever owned - though my metallic midnight blue GTS300 is in contention as well . Ride safe and have fun on your new scooter. We all know RED is the fastest color.