Modern Vespa

I don't know if maybe I'm using the wrong term here, which is making my searching life difficult.

Also, the "Shop Manual" for the LX 150 on the wiki is a dead link (<strongbad>404'd!!!!!!</strongbad voice).

Anyway, I kind of needed to remove the dashboard on my LX 150 today, at least that's what I thought. Specifically, I learned on Friday that my scooter cover acts like a sail. Heavy rain + wind = should have let the scooter get rained on. It fell on the right side. Luckily (heh) the cover cushioned the fall, so the body damage was minimal (a few tiny scratches that look like they are only in the clearcoat, not the powder coat).

Unfortunately (and I only discovered it this morning, when I was getting ready to ride to work), it ALSO pushed the right handlebar partway up into the steering column assembly. The brake and throttle seemed to have some "play", but the throttle of course would stick wherever you left it rather than spring back to neutral.

I tried to take the body panels off to take a look at what was going on inside, but that's not easy to do. I looked at the installation guide for the Jettin' headlamp cowling, feeling clever, but those instructions don't apply to my LX150 - there's no reservoir screws, for example. The only external screws that have anything to do with this panel are on the bottom of the handlebar, directly below the thumb button clusters (horn / killswitch). Those removed, the panel felt "looser", but I didn't want to force anything. There's a difference between a DIY repair and a "crap now I need a dealer to put the damn thing back together".

Soooooo.... Long story longer, with the screws out, I was able to separate the body panels enough to just pull (officially, I yooksed it, but I've never seen that word in print before) the handlebar/throttle assembly back into place. It popped in with a satisfying "thunk". Screws back in, and we're tooling around the block on a test ride. All seems okay. I'm going to take it in for 600 mi service pretty soon anyway, I'll have the dealer look at it then.

However, I'd like to know how to do this in the future, at least for my own intellectual curiosity. Maybe when the dealer services it, I can stick around and ask questions.

The only screw

The damage, not so bad.

No screws. But there is a Mystery Hole. What's that?

Thats the sight glass for your brake fluid reservoir.

Page 194 decribes how to remove.
Page 233 of the manual shows the exploded diagram.
http://www.wotmeworry.org.uk/manuals/Vespa/LX150/

It doesn't look like the joint at the top of the headset cover is snapped together properly.

Thanks everybody. Thanks especially for the service manual, that'll help a LOT.

Yeah, it's not completely snapped together - the tab that holds the panel in place is kind of bent, so it's not grabbing properly. Fixing that would require actually removing the whole thing so I could get at it, so I kind of left it as-is for the time being until I could figure out how to take it apart the Official way.

If I'm reading the service manual correctly, I need to remove the front handlebar cover *first*, which will expose places where the rear cover is attached to the body. Is that right?

Yes. Typically they print the manual with the operations in reverse order...

Well, I got it all apart and back together, to no avail. It turns out that the little tab on the rear handlebar cover that attaches to the peg on the front handlebar cover got snapped off in the fall. On the plus side, I now have enough self-confidence that I could replace this part if needed. On the minus side, it's an entire body panel (004019, thanks to Jim for the manual) that would need replacing just because of one crappy little tab that fell off. It's also still held together rather sturdily (left-side tab plus three screws), so it's really just a cosmetic issue at this point. Grr.

As long as the pieces are aligned properly, the screws will hold them together. I wouldn't worry too much about the broken tab on the side of the cover, and would not bother to replace it. They are easily broken, and you'll probably do it again if and when you need to get inside the cover at a later time (such as to top off the brake fluid).

Yeah, I managed to break the tab on the left side of mine the first time I opened it up. It seems to stay aligned all right without the tab. I think they were really intended just to hold things in place until the screws are inserted.