Modern Vespa

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I tried to add a photo. No idea if it worked.

So, my buddy bought this 2024 530e. He crashed it in 2024. One year later it finally is fully fixed as of a week ago. My father in law is riding it from Philly to Western AZ after rolling through Arkansas to see friends. So, obviously, we need to keep this things alive if at all possible. He's not near the dealer that worked on it, etc.

He rode from Philly to Indianapolis without incident. When he went to leave his hotel this morning, this is what he found. He cleaned it up. 50 miles later he cleaned up a tiny spot he thinks he might have missed. 25 miles later nothing.

I had him check the hub dipstick and it is at low as he said. Guy has been on bikes his whole life so he's got a clue but from what I'm reading what he sees as "at low" might be fine.

Anyway, he also said there was old dirty oil around the site of the dipstick as if it had been weeping before.

He's gonna keep checking it as he rides, and buy fluid and a funnel if needed.

This is the first real mileage since it came out of the shop. As far as I know, nothing was done to the rear, except maybe bodywork and a fluid check?

Any thoughts, advice?


Thanks!

At first sight, it has the symptoms of the dreaded mp3 cracked piston/piston ring issue which causes blowby and fills up the airbox

i think also pistonrings you can drive on it needs a new cylinder, piston and reedvalve

buy enough oil some airfilters and check often otherwise you need a new crankshaft to
Due to the cracked pistonrings it blows the oil in to the airbox

Thanks. The shop that's been doing repairs on it is questioning the fact that it was on it's side in the crash but had hardly been run until yesterday that maybe it just finally developed enough pressure to blow it out.

pull the air box cover and check the air filter. it probably was saturated from the original tip over and never cleaned or replaced.

next when he was riding it was it on the interstate at 80 mph? for long distance?

He likely wasn't quite doing 80 but from Philly to Indianapolis.

How bad will it be if it goes another 1500+miles before we get to check the air filter?

Pushing on with major potential engine trouble like this is not a wise choice.

Removing the air filter cover, cleaning it out and installing a new air filter is a must at this point, not a option.

Shouldn't take more than 30-60 minutes tops start to finish at the most including draining the oil tube.

Also verify the engine oil. Ideally you want the oil level just above the MIN mark to minimize oil blowby, and carry a extra bottle or 2 while monitoring engine oil level between fuel stops

Thanks!

I'm hoping that the shop just missed the oil in the tube from the original tip over. I also strongly suspect this. The unit has very few miles on it. It's very unlikely that it has suffered cracked rings, pistons and the like.

Are there instructions on how to get to the air filter? I think I know where it is but I'm about 1500 miles away .

Just remove the screws holding the halves of the airbox, keeping track of which screw goes where. Important, during reinstall since you are screwing into plastic make sure to turn the screw counterclockwise until you feel the screw sink before turning clockwise. This prevents ruining the delicate threads

Make sure the gasket does not get lost or mangled during refit

And I suggest you buy 3 Piaggio air filters since they come sealed and pre oiled, one to install, and a couple as spares in case this crops up again along the way especially since the bike is crossing a large area void of Piaggio dealers

The original Piaggio air filters are inexpensive

You've been super helpful! I really appreciate it. I assume I'm going to have to find a Piaggio dealership somewhere near him? I'm not having much luck on that arena as of yet.

Air filter replacement and draining the tube is super simple and DIY, especially if he has motorcycle experience

Probably easiest to order the filters from Scooter West in San Diego and drop ship to him

What about Amazon?

Wow, for the 530 HPE the filters are $80!

They must have changed the design for the 530, but basically a filter is a filter is a filter

They're available for 11 Euro/pc here

Hokio Piaggio MP3 HPE 530 22> luchtfilter Geel | Motardinn https://share.google/5xjUVFrGpl7Hfb0p1

Yeah, that might still be cheaper after import, but I need to try and get one to Bentonville on Tuesday if possible. I appreciate you looking!

I'll talk to my father in law after he can lay eyes on it in a couple of hours. Then I'll see if I can get San Diego to send one overnight tomorrow morning.

Looking at the way the filter element is held in the middle of plastic, there might be a way to fasten a larger filter over the opening for a short term fix.

Update - they've gotten into the air box. And yes as we already were sure about, there is some oil in the box and in the hose from the crank case.

Fortunately, no oil had made it's way into the filter or into air hose going to the engine.

Now we just have to hope that it really is just from the crash and the scooter having laid on it's side.

QUESTION - If it were a mechanical issue like bad rings, the oil would be evident in the air intake, right? And there would be some performance issues?

For me make sense is remaining oil from the crash, and not any more deep/expensive. Clean well all the area and if possible give the hose chance to drop and remount. I think that all goes working well

I'd love to remove the hose and clean it thoroughly. But this is a 2024 with very low miles. Apparently, the clamps are special clamps that take special tools to remove. I'm concerned that if in the future I took it for warranty work, they could point at different house clamps and void the warranty.

Understand (more in favor that I don't believe it's a broken ring because the bike is so new and has only a few miles on it, and the ring problem happens many years ago).

Try using perhaps a slim plastic rod covered with a thin, old soft cloth, trying to remove as much oil as possible from the passage, then re mount all and start using the MP3 and enjoy, you will surely not see any more abnormal oil in the filter or anywhere else.

Last Update - probably.

After cleaning the air box and breather hose thoroughly, and a ride of a few more hundred miles, no oil where it doesn't belong!

Thanks everybody for your help!