Modern Vespa

rushed home to jump on my scooter to get to fedex before it closed and no such luck. two panel lights faintly came on and there was nothing -- no sound -- nothing from the start button. eventually, i gingerly tried to kick start it and noticed that the panel lights got momentarily brighter. but i didn't want to push the kick start too much since i've heard too many bad things about them on the lx150.

the reason i think it's the battery is because i haven't ridden the scoot in three weeks and had the gorilla alarm armed the whole time.

so i'm assuming a tender won't help me at this point. i assume i have to buy a new battery? if so, which one? and if someone thinks it could be another problem, please let me know.

thanks much.

Based on your statement that the lights got brighter when you tried to kickstart it, I personally would suspect a bad connection to the battery. Bad batteries don't suddenly rejuvenate themselves when jostled, but bad connections often temporarily make contact under similar circumstances.

It doesn't cost anything to remove the battery cover (and it's only one screw) and check the tightness of the connections. You may get lucky.

If it is the battery, I wouldn't give up on the tender just yet either. I've had a batter drain pretty low, and the tender brought it back to life in 24 hours, and I'm still using it.

If you tend to leave your bike parked for long periods of time, you may want to consider attaching a permanent connector to your battery which just plugs into the tender. You could leave the seat down while it charges away.

As mentioned above, make sure the connections are nice and tight. It sound like the battery has been discharged by your alarm. Use a regular car charger on the automatic 12v maintenance cycle over night.

If you don't already have a cigarette lighter outlet I suggest you install one and use it to plug in your tender, after each ride. This will help prevent the alarm from discharging your battery.

If you deeply discharge the battery to much it will fail sooner, (correction) unless it is a deep discharge marine battery, which I believe is not available in a size small enough to fit in a scooter.

many thanks, folks. appreciate the help.

does anyone recommend a specific brand of battery?

Take the one out thats bad and take it to you
local auto parts stor and order one from them. 8)

Yes, and never leave anything 'aftermarket' (except for a battery tender) attached to your electrics ever again. If you want an alarm, buy the OEM one. I wouldn't bother though.

When selecting a battery the first thing is physical size the battery must be firmly mounted. Vibration is one of the most common causes for early battery failure. Second get the highest CCA rating that will fit in the OEM location. The more Cold Cranking Amps the better. Third after market alarms cause excessive parasitic load on the battery. Rule of thumb any more the 50 milli amps will kill a battery in no time.
Chris

A YTX12-bs sealed battery is the most powerful that will fit in the battery well of an LX150. Depending on the model year of our scooter, you may need a different plastic tray in the bottom of the well to fit that battery. These are very inexpensive and available from Vespa dealers or Scooterwest. If your battery has fill caps on the top, you have the older model and will need the tray. Newer LX150s made since 2007 already have the larger YTX12-bs battery and the appropriate tray.

i had a ytx12-bs in my scoot. confirmed that it's dead.

but i'm wondering, can i fit a ytx14-bs in my 07 lx150? i was looking to get that larger yuasa model in.

I looked into that when I last replaced my battery. I think it is just a skoch too tall.

ss,

and i assume it didn't work even though you switched the battery tray? i have one of those flat metal trays, i think, that they sell at scooterwest.[/img]