Modern Vespa

Last winter I put my GT into hibernation with a full tank of gas and the cover on. I don't have a battery tender so I just took 'er out once or twice a month and let er run on the stand for a few minutes then back to sleep. If the roads were clear I would get out a little but other wise not much riding. No, I'm not about to start riding in snow and ice....nor single digits. Anyway, things came out just fine in the spring. Couple rough starts but all was well.

So, I am still getting out on our 27* mornings but when it gets in the teens I'll be stopping for the season....other than a full tank and the occassional start up - does anyone know of any other winter tips or maintenance things I should take care of?

thanks!!

Make sure you add some fuel stabilizer to the tank...
The gas goes stale in a couple of weeks, starting it will not help old gas...
Ask my wife, had to rebuild injectors on her car....

I store mine...add Stabil to the full fuel tank and allow it run a minute or two to citculate the Stabil through the carb, etc. Also, remove battery (a tender is best, but absent that, remove it). Change Oil just prior to storage and run a minute to circulate fresh oil. I pull the sparkplug and shoot about 1/2 tsp. of fresh motor oil into the plug hole to prevent piston rings seizing, loosely replace plug. Also, add about 10psi to the tires to keep them from leaking/flatspotting. In the spring, tighten plug, adjust tire pressure, replace battery and go.

The alternate method would be to add gas stabilizer to your final tank of gas for the season and then run it completely out of gas. That way there's no gas in the carb to get gummy. You don't need a full gas tank unless your gas tank is metal. In which case you keep it full so that rust doesn't form on the exposed inside surface. On the GT and most modern scooters the tank is plastic - for this very reason. At least, I'm pretty sure it's plastic on the GT. I need to check that myself.

Tending the battery is pretty important, especially if you don't have a heated garage. A good tender will only set you back about $30, which is most likely cheaper than a new battery.

I plan to add stabilizer to my final tank, then siphon out whatever I haven't used when the time comes for winter storage and run it until it sucks dry and dies. Then my GT will spend the winter on a patch of linoleum in my living room as fantastic decor. The Buddy, however, will stay in the garage and I'll alternate the battery tender between the two of them.

I use seafoam and IMHO it's better than stabil. I put some in a full tank of gas and run it for a while and then just store it. Works good for me on my 2 month trips off island.

I think the worst thing you can do is "start it for a few minutes, rev it, and then turn it off." If that's all you're going to do, just let it sit. I usually go the Sea Foam method and hook up a Tender.

I take mine out for a proper run about 10 miles or so before i store it after putting in the seafoam.