Modern Vespa

I bought the LV 4Road exhaust back in feb this year. It looked great for about a month, then started to discolor. Then I was ridding down the highway and the rear panel tore free from the muffler. Anyone else have quality issues with this exhaust? I'm thinking of ditching and going with a PM68 the 360 down turn is cool.

Jonathan

Well, that's new to me! The exhaust should be under warranty. Contact LV and get a replacement.

Matt C.

Hi Jonathan:
Both those faults have been reported; the discoloration is commonplace for the GTS, while I think there's only been a couple reports of blowing off the backend. There have also been reports of cracking header pipes.

From what I've read, the PM is much louder, and doesn't really have a North American distributor, but it doesn't have the other issues.

Regards
Harvey

Yeah I contacted them, and the are sending me a new one, I have to return this one to them so they can see it and determine if it qualifies for warranty. If it doesn't I will have to pay.

I'm willing to give it another shot if they replace it for me, but I have serious concerns right now on this exhaust system. I would not be able to recommend it at this point based on my experience so far.

I think the PM68 design is a better design, but the downside is they take forever to ship, and they aren't that accesible if you need them.

why don't you become a US distributer for PM - looks like they need one?

I've actually had a really good experience with mine.

Yes, it gets discolored with use. Aged like a fine wine.

If installed improperly it could crack the header. So far I am golden, knock on wood.

Only problem I have is that it gets bonked by the Faco crashbars I just installed, even with my shocks clicked to 3 (though that new setting has helped. Now only the deepest potholes bonk. Annoying). Fault of bars, LV or bike? Probably none of the above; they are just slightly incompatible parts, I guess. Anyway, something to keep in mind.

I have thought about it but I need to do more research first. I will be in Europe this winter and do plan do check up on them while I'm there.

Matt C.

I have the set of bars (I think they are Vespa brand, not Piaggio) and the LV doesn't ever come close to hitting the chrome because of the design of the bars and how far they stick out from the bike's sides)....yes, discoloration bothered me a littel bit...was thinking of getting the LV heat shield for side and that would cover up the patina on the pipe and only expose the silver part of exhaust...

I rather like the gold finish the pipe takes on as it ages. The coloring shows its been battle tested. I don't like the idea of a cracked header or the rear panel blowing off. I can't understand why the rear baffle panel would come loose in the first place. It's firmly attached with two torx screws and a graphite mesh gasket. At least LV seems to be doing the wise thing and replacing these under warranty.

If you did NOT disconnect your battery for about 30 minutes to reset the ECU when you installed the pipe, it's likely running too lean, and therefore quite hot and leading to more discoloration than should be. When you install your new one, pull the ground wire off your battery while you work, and reconnect it afterwards....

There seems to be a lot of debate about the ECU.
Several people have told me - dont worry about it - the ECU always adjusts for conditions on the fly.

Others have said unplug it - which I'll be doing on this next go around.

at any rate - I've already decided I'm only using this LV4road until I can get the PM68 in a few weeks. Then it's going on ebay

From Leo Vince USA: No. At LeoVince we ENGINEER our exhausts to be plug and play! For street bikes our slip-ons will bolt on and offer a substantial performance increase without any further work. The same holds true for our full systems. We suggest disconnecting the battery and leaving it disconnected for a few minutes after installing either pipe, then reconnecting the battery and starting the bike. This allows the ECU to reset and adjust its own air/fuel parameters based on its sensor readings. Should you want to add an air filter, change fuel maps, adjust the ECU or make other performance enhancements we suggest you invest in dyno time with a professional facility. This will ensure you only further increase the significant performance gains a LeoVince full exhaust system will give you. For dirt bikes we always recommend the stock jetting. Our pipes perform very well with stock jetting and rarely require any changes.

That's all I know. I'm certain they've got smarter heads than mine on the job there....I simply followed their learned instructions.

Actually my Vespa dealer installed - and they did disconnect the ECU as per the LV instructions that came with the exhaust. [/quote]

Had some stalling prior to disconnecting the battery, and none after. Discoloration is no big deal to me. I'll keep a close eye on the header pipe to be sure.

Gitta aka Buglake had that same problem with her LV on her GT (twice).

I loved my LV until it started cracking header pipes and turning brown. Right now Im running stock and keeping the LV for now.