Modern Vespa

Hi Everyone,
I live in Montreal and ride a 2009 LX50. I am happy with the top speed of the scooter but would like more take off power. What are my options? My mechanic said I should install a Malossi multi variator only. He said it would give me more take off power and not affect the top speed. What are you opinions and suggestions.
Thank you
Nicolas

I am not so sure your mechanic is correct. The malossi multivar will allow you a range of roller weights, but when you adjust the roller weights it affects both the acceleration and top-end. Lighter weights will give you more pick-up, I believe, but will in turn reduce your top speed. Likewise, heavier weights will drag out your acceleration but offer a higher top speed. That's my understanding of things.

Aftermarket tweaks tend to offer poor return for your money, but if it were me I would go with a mild exhaust upgrade and maybe a slight upjet to complement. This will give you more oomph within your transmission's configured range. It could also add a little top speed, but not much.

Were you to couple an exhaust upgrade and upjet WITH a variator adjustment, you could probably achieve a higher top-end with still appreciable acceleration due to the increased horsepower offered from the pipe/upjet.

Still, these probably won't turn your LX into a beast or anything. Since you only want more pick-up WITHOUT losing top speed I would go with the pipe/upjet and leave the variator alone.

There is a narrow range of variator weights in which you typically can improve your take-off acceleration without losing top-end speed. This usually requires some experimentation with different weights (requiring opening up the transmission case each time). It's not cut-and-dried because rider weight affects the optimum roller weight.

Often just going down to the next lower weight in the stock variator will help, especially if you are a heavier rider. I knocked 0.6 seconds off my 0 - 40 mph time on my LX150 just by going from the stock 10.0-gram weights to Malossi 9.3-gram weights in the stock variator.