Modern Vespa

I recently bought a GT 200 in extremely good condition with only 5K miles on it. Shortly after buying it, it developed the typical clutch shudder from dust in the clutch assembly.

I've taken the transmission cover off and had clutch apart 3 times already to clean the break in dust from the clutch pads out. The shudder goes away for a while but keeps coming back. Can't remember from my old GT 125 whether this ever happened or not. Is this normal with a newish clutch and progressively disappears, or is something wrong with the clutch?

Did you 'de-glaze' the inside of the clutch bell as well as the pads?

When the dust accumulates it can get deposited on the inside metal surface.

Whenever I have the clutch bell off for whatever reason I run some emory

paper around the inside to clean it.

Also on the friction pads of the clutch itself.

Something like a 220 grit.

Do you blow it out with compressed air once in a while?

If you pop the chrome disc off of the transmission housing and blast air through the holes, then blast more through the slot underneath, it seems to prevent the dust build-up that causes shudder/glazing.

Doing that when I check the oil level or tire pressure seems to mitigate any problems. A good run on the freeway may also do the same thing, but the air thing is easy.

cheers

Thanks for the responses. Like I said, I've taken the clutch assembly out and cleaned the clutch bell with brake cleaner 3 times, which is more thorough than blowing air into the clutch through the holes in the transmission cover. That is, I removed the transmission cover, loosened the driven pulley nut, etc.

The second time I did apply some sandpaper to the pads, but I think it was too fine and also, I didn't think to sand the inside of the clutch bell. Good idea!

OK, for the umpteenth time I've removed the transmission cover and this time I sanded down the clutch pads and went ahead and replaced the clutch bell with a new part for a mere 27EUR.

Got back out on the scoot and so far, so good. No more shudder or slipping!

Do you ride your scoot hard (high speeds) or mainly urban riding? I 'think' occasional high speeds helps me a bit. Othwise, I think it's another 'gotta live with it' for an Italian product. Compressed air did squat for me but brake cleaner is a charm. (after just removing the plastic cover... I've never removed the cover)

My GT 125 was a commuter vehicle that did mostly highway riding. The 200 however, I've been using mainly around the city.

I am told the clutch shudder or slipping problem arises from starting too gingerly and not progressively enough. These feeble starts cause the clutch pads and bell to glaze, creating the slipping and shudder that I've been having. When I first got the 200 I'll admit I did this a bit to save gas, but a slipping clutch just isn't worth it!

From now on, I'll just start normally and make sure the sanded pads and new clutch bell bed in correctly.