Modern Vespa

Since the dreaded wet and cold weather is coming upon us, I have a question My commute to work is only a few miles in mostly residential areas. I "warm"
up the LX150 as I am doing the helmet, coat, whatever for a couple of minutes. I take off fine but within a mile or so I am sputtering as I come to a stop sign and it tends to want to die. Am I not letting it "warm up" enough? Are they cold blooded or option 3, should I just take a longer route to work?

Thanks for any advice!

I am not a Vespa mechanic, but it sounds like an idle adjustment is in order.

Not so sure what "cold" is where you are, but I rode in 42 degree temps (F) this morning with no issues.

I don't really let my S150 warm up. I just ride calmly and easily for the first mile or so .

No sputter, no issues.

Have you ever overfilled the gas tank?

No pro mechanic myself, but I can tell you based on my own experiences with my LX, you may need to let it warm up longer. Try more like 5-10 minutes or so and see if that doesnt help. A "couple minutes" may not be enough. If that doesnt work, I tend to agree with the previous poster who said you may need to up your idle.

You don't need to warm up your LX 5 to 10 mins. Maybe if it would be REALLY cold. I just fire it up, and take it easy for the first minute. Your LX just needs some adjusting, visit your dealer and let them do it.

+1

I used to let mine idle for about 5 minutes and it would still cut out sometimes.
I raised the idle a hair and after I ride for about 5 miles the engine is nice and toasy warm, no more cut outs..

Carburetors. Who remembers warming up their cars in the winter? If you've a low-mileage scoot, you may also be coming up to an idle adjustment as well, which is a routine thing to do during break-in.

I just fire her up and go! especially as there is no temp gauge on the dash like a car...so therefore i didnt think it was absolutely necsessary to warm up before you go....but i would suggest you take it to a dealer as it shouldnt be cutting out..

The trouble with taking it to the dealer is that the idle will get adjusted when the scoot is warm, because it's been in the shop for a few hours waiting till the mechanic gets to it.

The idle adjustment is so easy to do that any scoot rider should be able to do it, especially with a 150. Just take out the pet carrier, and the idle adjustment screw is right there. If you can't identify it, crack your throttle and you'll see things move, and it's the screw right there on top. So turn it clockwise about half a turn, if it's been cutting out on you, and probably that will do it.

Also in colder weather, you may need to make a mixture adjustment, because the air is denser. You'll need a special tool for that, and that's a little trickier to accomplish. The tool you can get from Motorsport Scooters for $20 (they have a more expensive one, too, but it's not necessary). The scoot needs to be warm to do that adjustment, and if you're not mechanically minded at all, probably best not to do it yourself.

Cary

I agree with Paul and Nightrider, you do not really have to warm up a LX. I normally start, get me trough my frontgate and ride off just like that.
first km/mile not really at top speed but straight on to full power next 8)

I am sure having the LX warmed up for some minutes could extend the life from the engine...but I don't think it is worth to bother too much.

HOWEVER...with reasonable weather conditions (not extreme freezing) there should not be a technical issue on idle running / starting up

+1 to not warming up.

In boston I used to ride my lx50 5 miles to work in sub-freezing temperatures without letting it warm up at all - just took it easy. I cranked up the idle so it wouldn't cut out at lights.

I ride in zero degree weather during the winter (provided no snow or potential ice on road). I do let my scooter idle, if only long enough to finish getting all of my gear on, and run through my pre-ride check (lights, modulator, signals, brakes). Take it easy for a couple of kilometers, and then you are good to go.

Setting the idle is pretty simple. If you need a tach, consider an inductive power meter (commonly used on generators)
Poor man tach

I have overfilled my gas tank. And, I'm having problems starting in the morning. Won't start at all on certain days.
What happens when overfilled? How to remedy?

Also, does anyone know anyone who can fix scooters in Philly?
Thanks.

Sounds like you should give your bike a service. My new LX 50 had no problems starting but used to splutter and stall at the first set of traffic lights in July and August. I got my first 1000 km service done and no problems since starting up in the wet and cold here in London...5 degrees C, think that about 40 in F old money. Fingers crossed for when it's below zero though

For the folks who "just start it and go," I suspect you haven't had the engine cold enough to really see what happens when a carburetted engine meets air that it's not happy with. With a really cold engine on a real cold day, it will start up grudgingly, and will putter along with the choke fully choked. But once you goose the throttle slightly it bogs down because the pull-off opens the choke too much and it starts to stall. In essence...the scooter won't even *let* you "just start it and go" until the engine's warmed up enough. With the LX150 (not sure about the others), the engine's auto-choke defaults to a "choked" setting, and leans out as the engine temp increases. It doesn't take long to reach a good temp, though, and once you get going at all, the engine should be warm enough. I've yet to have to warm my scooter up for more than a minute, even in the dead of winter...that I recall.

Fuel injected engines are alot less temperamental about temperature.

BTW...it is entirely normal for a carburetted engine to be hard to start in cold weather. So, even if you don't have to warm it up, getting it started in the first place might be tougher than what you're used to. Also, the battery will have less cranking power in cold temps making slower cranks, and affecting the strength of the spark.

That is so why I'm storing mine. I haven't had a carbureated engine since my Camaro. *shudder* I was 16 and I had some sort of mullet...let's not talk about it.

I'm sure it will be in storage by November. Our Indian Summer looks like it's about to fizzle.

i didn't have trouble until after my 625 mile service. Closer to 8-900. I've got about 1600 miles and would have many more if my scooter worked every day. I've had it in to the shop three times. I'm hesitating to bring it in again, because it's been a waste of time.
Patrick

I've never owned an LX150 and the boys aren't around for me to check out the technical differences between it and the ET4 but does the LX150 have the carb heater the same as the ET4 did?

When my ET4 used to start displaying the symptons stated above I would just engage the carb heater.

Andrea

Got home and checked with the other half.

The LX150 has the carb heater. On a cold start morning depress the kickstart lever twice. This activates the heater. The wait two minutes before you start the bike. This should help with the spluttering.

Andrea

That would be very hard to do

Actually, that is my main (personal) winter scooting problem...cold fingers. Hopefully this winter I will be better of behind my large screen that also covers the hands a bit. My new so called Heat-Gloves do not seem to met my expectation

Is that the only way to activate the carb heater?

Carburetor choke.
The carburettor heater will start working as soon as the ignition is turned on. (per the technical manuel, page 7)
It does to take a few minutes. Be patient w the lil carbie.

https://modernvespa.com/files/workshop/ET2_ET4TechnicalManual.pdf

Thanks! That was what I had thought. On the colder days, I do let the scooter sit for a brief time before I start it up, and it seems to help. I just wish that there was a way I could turn off the head light while I am letting the carb heater do its job ...

Personally, I crank the sucker til it starts up, and between the heater and the spark, the engine warms up quick. The carb heater is not going to make much difference to the oil in the pan, or the cylinder walls, so there really is no difference except the carb air temp, so why not fire her up if she'll light. I really don't think it was ever intended to warm the carb *before* the engine runs for exactly that reason (just my suspicion...it would've been easy to have the headlight circuit cut out until after the alternator started cranking out power...the Vino's light is wired that way). The battery is marginal as it is, and to expect it to drive two high draw loads for a minute or two prior to ignition is standing on shaky ground when the battery is already operating in sub-optimal conditions.

The European versions allow the headlight switch to turn on only the "parking" lamp at the front (I suspect, that little bulb one sees in the headlight enclosure), while the N.American versions don't. Also, it is a requirement that the headlight come on when the motorcycle/scooter is on in N.America. So, it is possible that the original design allowed the operator to turn on the key (parking lamp comes on), warm up the carb for a few moments, then start the engine, and then turn on the regular head light.

or not. I'm just speculating.

Does the LX50 have a carb heater? I have never heard of it before.
Patrick