Modern Vespa

Haven't been able to commute via scooter all week due to rain.

Today it looked like I could actually ride, so I geared up and got ready.

It wouldn't start.

It wouldn't even turn over.

Checked the battery and it read 12.4v. Put it on the charger anyway and switched out to drive the truck instead.

Then, due to an accident downtown, my normal 20-minute drive took an hour.

While not moving on the freeway, it dawned on me that the side stand might be down. I always park it on the center stand, but I may have inadvertently lowered the side stand on Monday. I'll check it when I get home tonight.

Also check for an accidentally switched kill switch. Gloved hands make it easy to miss.

I've caught myself a couple of times with that. Fortunately it doesn't take long to sort...so far.

Yeah, I checked that after I checked the battery. Even went so far as to press on it in the proper position to make sure it was in place.

Also checked that the key was "on" and not in the middle position. I was also standing on the right side of the scooter, so the side stand was on the other side from me, where I wouldn't have easily seen it. I'm hoping that's what's causing the lack of starting.

check list for the starter not turning:

kill switch, check kill light on dash. if on toggle switch a dozen times. if light goes off the bike should start. replace switch.

brake switches check both (even though only one needed to start). if not turning on brake light then replace.

immo light not going off when key one then bad aerial. replace aerial. (no affect on kill light on dash).

side stand switch, will cause kill light on dash.

tilt switch (sensor) will cause kill light on dash.

starter relay, rare but has been known to die

some lx150 era would occasionally need a tap on the starter before it would turn.

Edit:

If the starter turns but engine doesn't fire or fires but won't run, then a different list of course.

If the battery is weak then the starter should turn but would be slow and the spark would be intermittent and basically fail to start. And loose battery terminals can cause issues in particular stalling

- Jeff Bezos, who is apparently completely unaware that he became a villain the old fashioned way, through hard work and villainy.

I'm super pissed because I want to use the slide on this yacht in Cabo right now.

Well just hop in a dinghy and sidle up and ask!

Found a seat at the DMV to wait for my name to be called, but by the looks of it, I will probably be spending the rest of the morning here.

I just need to replace my lost driver's license, which I haven't seen since my hospital 'visit' over three weeks ago.

I checked the side stand. It was in the "up" position. I dropped it down, then back up.

I also turned the kill switch to off, then back to on.

It turned over when I tried to start it, but it didn't start until the second attempt, which isn't unusual for my BV.

Not sure why it wouldn't start on Friday morning. I did end up having to work until almost midnight that night, so it was probably a good thing that I didn't ride it that day.

"They stole my wallet! They stole my wallet!"
(Seinfeld)

"SERENITY NOW"!!!

The weather is pissing me off.

For the past two weeks it's either been rainy in the morning, rainy in the evening, both, or threatening to rain at some point that would affect my commute.

I'd rather not ride in the rain. Dallas traffic is crazy enough on a scooter when the road & weather conditions are ideal, add limited visibility, poor traction due to wet roads, and increased stopping distance and it becomes outright dangerous.

What sucks is that there have been more than a few days these past two weeks where I could have ridden the BV and not gotten rained on - all the precipitation happened either between my commutes, or after I'd have gotten home for the evening.

It happens here a lot, too. The weather report calls for a good possibility of rain during the time I'll likely be riding. Then, when I leave work, it's dry and sunny.

I've learned the secret, though. Buy a car that you also really like. It lessens the pain.

Oh, and in keeping with this thread YOU NOW HAVE ME SECOND GUESSING EVERY COMMA I TYPE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Today.. continued rain, sprinkles, etc. It's literally uncontrollable, but it IS annoying. My yard needs attention, but not wet.

Also, i am also chasing a battery for an '07 GTS 250ie, Red fwd.
Looked all over this site.. purchased and returned one.
Lots of discussion herein, and alot of "Discontinued" or "Part not available".
Ugghh.
What is a proper DROP-IN piece.. without moving cables, etc?
😊

Oh, I love my truck (2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz).

Both my dad and mom were HS English teachers. Dinner table conversation between them would regularly devolve into proper word usage, or other esoteric language issues.

Despite this, I tend to either overuse commas, or insert them where they aren't necessary. Which is why I love Grammarly - it lets me know if I need to add or remove a comma. For example, it wants me to remove the comma after "usage" in the paragraph above, as well as the comma after "commas" in the first sentence of this paragraph. (I purposely left them in to illustrate how I would naturally write. Normally, I'd remove them per Grammarly's recommendation.)

It also wants you to add one after the word "thread" in your last sentence.

Yes, there should be, but I thought SHOUTING IN ALL CAPS WOULD HAVE THE SAME EFFECT!!!

My Dad was a math teacher, so our conversations would often drift into theoretical mathematics.

road closures on base enforced by machine guns when i'm just trying to go get a haircut because someone let the guy who got kicked out of the DC guard fly in on his private plane and he's more important than everyone else .

We get a lot of road closures close to where I live due to the shitty roads constantly needing repairs. The latest road closure though was caused by a bloody great water leak.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/26141857.thames-water-close-oxfordshire-road-major-water-leak/

Water "leak"? Looks like a geyser.

People

Ah, the old t-shirt slogan: People ruined my life.

USPS. Not only was the tractor hydraulic oil filter delivered late, they used the extra time to destroy it.

OFG

I used to deliver and pick up mail for some large companies around here, so had access to the mail facility. I did get to see some unsettling things - such as skin magazines that never got delivered, in the men's room stalls, and so on. Some things are just better left unseen.

Sorry.

Looks like a forever stamp--from a combat boot. Good ole USPS.

Always a joy to find these in a shipment.

those aren't just gaskets for the new peanut-shaped exhaust from Arrow?

Ask for your tariff back.

Vespa left me stranded. Started bogging badly.

Looks like the vacuum line to the intake split. It's so brittle I can cut it with my thumbnail. Even trying to jam a fresh end on, it splits wide open.

Wife is bringing the truck because - silly me - I don't carry spare vacuum hose.

I heard that Mr. Hoover always carries one.

That doesn't suck, unfortunately.
20 years is about right. Do fuel lines and inspect inlet manifold for cracks.

Yeah, it's a 2016, but it feels like the vacuum hose was made of licorice. And the other end, which I'm assuming is part of the EGR circuit, has one of those permanent clamps on it, which are even worse than those little wire squeeze clamps.

I'm going to dig around. Seems like I had some vacuum hose laying around someplace.

Welp ... that wasn't it. Idles fine and bogs under throttle. (sigh)

Inspecting my BV for the seat latch problem, and felt the airbox a bit wobbly. BOTH screws are missing. It's possible they simply vibrated loose and fell out unnoticed, but then pretty sure I'd cleaned the filter relatively recently and somehow neglected to tighten them adequately? Not a big deal, except I likely need to make a special order to get them. One more task.

The build quality of a new Vespa. Today I disassembled most of my 2024 GTS to replace the legshield trim I hit and broke. Lots of loose screws around the scooter, missing nuts on the rear mudguard, etc. I also found loose screws, bolts and crap inside the floorboard, an extra hose clamp on one of the radiator hoses, regulator plugs weren't secured on their "brackets" and the famous rubber band on the glovebox mechanism disintegrated. Regulator plug was oily, probably dielectric grease, no oil coming from the loom. I also added some sheathing on the cable tie of the left radiator hose. Apparently Mario & Luigi had a few glasses of vino before assembling my GTS...

I was going to comment that oil in the stator plug is a known issue. I've seen it on 2 or three machines and I've wondered how the oil pushed up the sleeve.

I've seen it on older models where leaks develop at the flywheel cover. Oil will pass through the sheathing and reach the plugs. Mine is clean everywhere, only this plug was "oily" that's why I believe it's dielectric grease or maybe a kind of assembly lubricant. I found the same residue at the other side between the plastic that connects the two hoses of the left radiator...

Grapa is what they drink with lunch.

OFG