Modern Vespa

Hey all, just wanted to introduce myself and ask for some advice.
My name is Scott and I am from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Just got my new MP3 500 and I love it!!!
I have put 200 mile on it in the last couple of days, would have been more but I own 2 businesses and work 12 hours a day plus have a 1 1/2 year old, so life is very busy now!

I am sure that I will have many questions for this forum in the near future but my first is purely cosmetic.
What is the best way to wash the bike....Just regular soap and water???
What about the muffler and all the shiny metal parts???
is their a polish I should buy?

Thanks for any help!

P.S I want to add a pic of the bike as an avatar, but it says that the files are too large...Is there a way to shrink pics down?? I am using a mac.

Hi Scott....welcome to the MP3 2 up front world! You sound like you're enjoying yours...the best is yet to come! Wish I could help ya out with downsizing a pic (avatar)...but I'm not familar with a MAC.
Not to worry...I'm sure a forum member will jump in and help ya out before you start your engine again

Scott, welcome to MV and congrats on the new MP3 500. Avatar images must be no more than 128 pixels in height or width and no more than 20K in size.

iPhoto is really more a library app than an image editor, but it works well for resizing images.

Exporting Avatar-Sized Images in iPhoto

1. From the iPhoto menu, select File | Export...
2. If the original image is a .png, then click the Kind: drop-down and select JPEG.
3. Click the Size: drop-down and select Custom.  The Max _____ of _____ px controls will appear.
4. Set a Max dimension of 128 px.
5. Click the Export button. You'll be prompted for a save location and will end up with a resized image file.
6. Check the resulting file to be sure it is under 20K in size.

Tips:

• Cropping the image to a square before exporting may result in a better looking avatar.
• If the resulting image is over 20K or too fuzzy, you can try adjusting the JPEG Quality: drop down and exporting again.
  

It's a pain, but iPhoto does a good job of keeping resized images sharp and clear (at least to my non-expert eye). Other free or cheap options I've seen produce mostly mush at avatar resolutions.

Hi Scott,

Welcome aboard and congrats on the bike...you'll have a great time riding it for sure and you'll get many ideas on mods and how to wash it properly from others on here.

As for resizing your Avatar, try the following link: http://www.resize2mail.com

1). Browse to find the picture you want, 2). Pick "I do not care about size just make the image 75% smaller" 3). select okay. You don't have to crop the picture, just "right click" your cursor and save to your hard drive. Then upload and your good to go.

Barry

Wow you guys...that was quick! You smartie pants fellas! There ya go Scott

lol Sky...I only found it by looking in the Wiki link and just did the adjustment for my avatar

wow..thanks...thats good to know!

Welcome aboard! As a relatively new MP3 500 owner myself I have found this forum to be an invaluable resource, and I bet you will too. Seems like I'm always poking around here to learn more if I'm not out riding (well ok, or working to pay for the fuel...)

As for cleaning products and methods and recommendations and such, just use the forum search function and you will find way more than you probably want to know!

Barry...did ya get your scoot up'n'running yet or are you still riding "wifeys?"
Scott...Bravo is right....do a search on the forum for cleaning/products etc. (personally I suck at searching, I really do. Why? Dunno. I don't get it, that's all okay...I'm blonde...whatever )

Welcome! Know you will enjoy your new ride as you will this forum:)

welcome. new rider also. haven't figured out how to get other threads highlighted and posted, but cleaning stuff had a good review on forum # 45256 or go to the search funtion, enter "wash wax" as search terms, select mp3 forum and there's a discussion of cleaning, waxing etc.. hope this helps. again, welcome it's a great forum for info. i generally print out the good ones and keep them in a file. better stuff than the owner's manual!

Welcome to you both. Enjoy - I've been hanging out here for about 8 months and still learn new things all the time.

***thread drift follows***

Dude! You rock! I use Photoshop CS4, never even opened iPhoto. My wife's been bugging me to figure out how to resize pics in iPhoto & now she knows.

I owe you a beer or something. 8)

Hey, welcome to the forums! You're gonna be like the rest of us very soon...ga ga over your 500! Here's a detailed cleaning guide I made awhile back...it works very well, just pick and choose how in depth you wanna go . P.S., I also use Meguiar's All Metal Polish for the chrome exhaust(once cool of course).

https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic31419?highlight=lil+cleaning+tutorial

Meh - clean it when you have to. Ride it!

Welcome and Congratulations....I know how you feel...we all do and the feeling stays and stays....ask UFO who has about a millions miles on his, if he's said "I love my 250" again today.....cheers, jacq...BTW...when you ask a question, it really turns this forum on...please...give us pics.... ...we love pics

Sky,

Still riding wifey's...still no headway with the warranty folks although the owner did get on their case. I'll keep you posted

Clean ones go faster .

Dirt enhances laminar air flow!