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2007 Vespa LX50
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Location: Chicagoland
 
Member
2007 Vespa LX50
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Location: Chicagoland
UTC quote
I have a 2007 Vespa LX50 with a carburetor.

What is the best way to store it for the winter?

Is it OK to just add Stabil fuel stabilizer or do I need to drain the tank?

I have a battery maintainer/charger.
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Hooked
Vespa ET2, LX50 2T
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Hooked
Vespa ET2, LX50 2T
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I don't store mine over the winter as such. I do use the fuel with the least amount of ethanol in it that they sell in the gas / petrol station.

If I were to store it I would be inclined to drain the fuel as much as possible with a siphon pump (like below available from Amazon etc.) then put it in my cars tank.
Then drive it up and down my road until it ran out of fuel.
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@che-storto avatar
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Hooked
2009 Black Vespa s150-----2013 Black HD VRSDX
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Location: Thornhill ON Canada
 
Hooked
@che-storto avatar
2009 Black Vespa s150-----2013 Black HD VRSDX
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Location: Thornhill ON Canada
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The only carburetor I have to store is my lawnmower.
I just did my last cut yesterday and it won't see light until Spring. All I've done over the years is fill the tank and pour in some Sta-bil. Never had any issues.

I plan on doing the same with my 2009 s150 because we usualy get some stretch of days decent enough to go for short rides.
Gotta be ready to take advantage
@motovista avatar
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
GT 200
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Location: Main Street, Watts
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@motovista avatar
GT 200
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Location: Main Street, Watts
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Drain the carburetor. There's a screw under the bowl. Open it. Gas will come out. Close it when the gas stops coming out.
That's all we ever did with the LX50 when we had a rental fleet. Worked fine.
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Hooked
300gts super sport
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Location: N.Wales
 
Hooked
300gts super sport
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Location: N.Wales
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100% agree with draining the fuel system and the carb. I used this technique on three classic two strokes. Run them warm , siphoned out the tank. Then ran them until they revved up and stopped. I couldnt get a the float bowls so used this method.

Following year refill and no issues with gum / blocked jets or corrosion in the tank.

If you " occasionally " use the bike in winter, then a fuel stabilizer such a Fuel-Fit is an option, but its definitely inferior to a system drain in my opinion.
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Hooked
2009 Black Vespa s150-----2013 Black HD VRSDX
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Location: Thornhill ON Canada
 
Hooked
@che-storto avatar
2009 Black Vespa s150-----2013 Black HD VRSDX
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Posts: 124
Location: Thornhill ON Canada
UTC quote
Binettasteve wrote:
100% agree with draining the fuel system and the carb. I used this technique on three classic two strokes. Run them warm , siphoned out the tank. Then ran them until they revved up and stopped. I couldnt get a the float bowls so used this method.


Will "sediments" from the bottom of the drained tank get into the jets when running the engine dry?

I always see "floaters" in the bottom of my lawn mower gas can at the end of the season. The remaining gas gets poured into my car except for the last couple of oz/floaters which gets disposed of. The can gets filled with fresh Premium in the Spring. Rinse and Repeat.....
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Molto Verboso
S150 '09, Beo 500ie '08
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Molto Verboso
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S150 '09, Beo 500ie '08
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I use Sta-Bil in all of my small engine fuel year-round, and have never had a stale fuel-related carb issue of my own doing. They key is to make sure that the stabilized fuel is suffused throughout the system, in particular filling the carb float bowl with fully stabilized fuel. Dumping stabilizer into the tank without running the engine does nothing.

I keep the tanks of scooters and boat engines pretty full all winter. I run smaller engines dry - power washers, snowblowers - because it's easy and usually pretty clear when you're done with them for the season.

I keep three 5-gallon jerrycans of fuel in my garage and dump StaBil in them before I take them to be refilled. If the fuel gets to be more than about 4 months old I dump it in my car and start over. I rarely find myself filling a scooter tank at a gas station with untreated fuel.
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Member
2007 Vespa LX50
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Posts: 22
Location: Chicagoland
 
Member
2007 Vespa LX50
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Posts: 22
Location: Chicagoland
UTC quote
Motovista wrote:
Drain the carburetor. There's a screw under the bowl. Open it. Gas will come out. Close it when the gas stops coming out.
That's all we ever did with the LX50 when we had a rental fleet. Worked fine.
Thanks!
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