Modern Vespa

I was hoping to do the first 1000 km service myself. Any help with where i can find out what is entailed in:

Safety locks - check (What do i do for this?)
Throttle lever - adjustment (And is this?)
Engine oil - change (I know what to do here)
Electrical system and battery - check (Should i use a slow charger for one night on it?)
Coolant level - check (no idea on this one)
Brake fluid level - check (or this one)
Engine oil - replacement (can do this one)
Brake pads - check condition and wear (not really sure here)
Tyre pressure and wear - check (got it)
Vehicle and brake test - road test (self explanatory)
Hub oil - change (got it)
Steering - Check (what do i do for this?)
Tilt locking gripper control cable - adjustment (and this?)

To those of you who do your own service. I appreciate all tips and help! THANK YOU ALL!

I don't own an MP3 but everything I've ever seen on here tend to say the same thing. Take it to the dealer for the first time and then go on your own from there.

I endorse that advice - some of the things you seem to be unsure of are rather important to be checked after the first 1000km 'shakedown'.

what should i expect to pay for that service?

[quote
="805g"]what should i expect to pay for that service?[/quote]
Hello, I just had my 600mi. service done. I'm a Lexus Auto Technician
and could have done everything myself. But, I wanted to establish an relationship with my dealer, just in case any warranty issues should arise.
I have to admit the service was a bit pricey at $220.00.

I paid $70 for mine, but my dealer sucks and I am pretty sure that they changed my oil out for maple syrup. I've seen everything from $60 to $300. Worth it though. If you can work it right you can get the service guy to let you watch and show you what he is doing. doubt it though. He'd have to be one cool SOB.

Hey 805,
My first service cost is uhh...interesting.

When I bought my first mp3 (250), I was back the next weekend for service. I had asked the dealer if the bike came with warranty and service and he said yes because I think he heard me asking about warranty.
Anyways, they did the service and it cost me $165. I bitched and moaned so much about it being new and I just got it last weekend that finally they caved and I went home for free. I felt a little bad once I learned that this is not the norm and that it usually cost around 150$ plus/minus a little.

That said, I began to think about it. Now some may disagree, but I have come to believe that it SHOULD BE FREE. I don't mind paying for the actual oil and parts put in, mind you, but I tell everyone that if you bought a BRAND NEW CAR(which you can for the price of some mp3s), and the dealer said, now of course you'll have to be back next weekend and pay $150 or so for service, you would walk away if he didn't include it. It just seems ridiculous to be forking out service fees for a vehicle that you bought brand new last week.

So, when I traded my 250 in for my 500, I got free service. My best advice(which unfortunately always comes to late for new owners) is that when the dealer has gotten all the paperwork "setup" and you can tell that he's pretty much closed the deal in his mind, and you just have to sign here and dot that, say, "Of course, the first service next week is included in the price, right." If he says no, then say, "Well, I think I'll hold off. I can't afford to pay a service fee for a one week old vehicle." I basically said this to the dealer when trading it in, and he was like, "Oh sure, no problem." The salesman have little control over actual price of vehicles(that's the finacial guy's job), and as you know, the salesman do like to make you feel like they are 'taking care of you'. So most salesman I've met, love to jump at little comps like this one. They do have the ability to throw in comps in the service dept and detailing dept(i got a free detailing waiting for anytime I want it on my scoot). Believe it or not, this isn't some sort of 'blackmail' or anything, the dealer I use now is awesome and really enjoys throwing me in kickbacks from service and detailing. In return, if you want to be a nice guy, do like me...I took a handful of his business cards and I keep them in my trunk for handing out at rallies etc when I get a lot of "Where'd you get that?". My dealer even gives me $50 for each send in.

So I guess what I'm saying is the old addage is true, "You never know until you ask." Ask at the end, when the dealer is ready to do any little comps he can to make this deal happen.

Where are you located 805g? Some of us could recommend a good place for you. I live in the Bay Area of California and I paid $185 for my first service. I think that is kinda high when you consider how quickly you do have to take it in for the first service. But those guys did the full check, treated me very well - not like a girl, like a person and subsequently to me that is worth a few extra bucks. They answered all my questions and I felt like the money spent was worth it after the whole experience.

Dale

i'm in santa barbara. I guess i'll just bring it in and see what they will want for the service...

Where did you take yours? I'm due for a service and so far the only option seems to be WC Vespa and they don't do any servicing on site, they send them off to Oakland which I'm not all that OK with.

I'd like to know where you got your mp3 services also?? I'm in the bay area also but paid $220 for my breakin service.

Walnut Creek Vespa and Rockridge Two Wheels are owned by the same guy - Darragh. I drive my bike to Rockridge Two Wheels. It is really easy off the highway and little longer to the highway. If you have to leave the bike for a couple of days for more serious work then it is just a couple of blocks away from the Rockridge BART station. If the work is just the service then you can tell them you want to wait and they will do your bike first. But you need to call ahead and make an appointment and tell them at that time you want to wait. There are a few coffee shops/restaurants around with WIFI that you can wait at. Their address is 5291 College Ave, Oakland - from Concord I exit College Ave. They have a website with all their numbers: http://www.vespawalnutcreek.com/

Dale

Thank Dale. I still wish they could do basic service at the WC dealer, riding to Oakland just for service is an inconvenience.

I paid £100 for my 1st service at the midland scooter centre, & from what I saw all thet did was change the oil & filter, i could have done that myself in 10 mins for £15.
It seems to me they work on a if it goes wrong, we'l fix it attitude, i def wouldn't recomend them.

They are planning to open service a the Walnut Creek location within a year. But really the Rockridge location is only about 15-20 minutes from the Walnut Creek location. The Walnut Creek location does truck the bikes over.

Dale

Took the MP3 in this morning to Rockridge for its first service and everything was cool. Got there at 8:30 am and they were able to get me in first. Took about 90 minutes and cost $190, so overall very positive. Still wish they could some of this in WC

Hello all,

I plan to purchase a leftover 2009 MP3 400 next week - put a down payment on it last week - and have been going through all the "MP3 Discussions" to get an idea of what's in store for me. Of paticular intrest was the post above about the first service as I plan to do as much of my own maintenance as possible - my dealer is a good distance away. No where in any of the 115 pages of posts could I find answers to most of the questions asked about what actaully is involved with some of the vague requirements such as "Throttle Lever Adjustment". Everyone's answer seemed to be just let the dealer do your first service and I would agree if you could be sure the dealer would actually do all the procedures. Also, I don't think it does any good to just suggest to have the dealer do this as these requirements will come up again in future maintenance intervals and even if you don't do the work yourself it would be good to know what's required so you can be sure the dealer did perform what was needed.

I think it's really strange that the service manaul lists maintenance requirements and then doesn't actually lists the steps involved in doing them.

Does anyone know if there's a Haynes manual? I couldn't find one.

The manuals are aimed at dealer technicians who will know exactly what is meant. e.g. The throttle lever adjustment is to check there is some, but minimal free-play on the two throttle cables after the initial 'stretch' that they inevitably get.

There are other things not mentioned, like how to adjust the parking brake if the pads have worn, but one look at the mechanism and it should be self-evident - and it's not adjusting the cable (though this is also possible if it stretches).

Then there's the check on the diagnostic unit, that will show if there are any underlying problems that couldn't have been picked up in manufacture. Usually there aren't any, but it's not unknown.

So yes, the advice is to get the dealer to do first service, but if the dealer is more than say 100 miles away (a nice day out there and back!) that may not be practical. In which case the two vital things are the oil filter and oil changes, most other things should be just fine.