Modern Vespa

Hi guys,

My Piaggio fly 150 is about to hit 4000 miles (it's my first scooter and I bought it in January so this is my first maintenance). I wanted to hear some thoughts on if I should have the dealer do all of it, or if I should attempt the "doable" maintenance. Here's what the manual says needs to happen at 4000 miles:

Change: engine oil, hub oil, oil filter, spark plug/spark gap,
clean air filter, check petrol filter, check valve play, change variator rollers,
change transmission belt, check brake pads, replace braking circuit hose,
check brake fluid level, check electrical system and battery, adjust headlight,
check tire pressure and wear, vehicle and brake road test.

I imagine I could do the oil changes, filter change, spark plug. I don't know what variator rollers are, and I have no idea how involved the transmission belt change is. Should I let the dealer do it all or save some money by doing some myself?

Thanks. I'd love to hear any thoughts about doing your own maintenance. The dealer here is quite a stickler so I imagine his prices will be on the high side.

-Jason

Did you have your 1st service at 625 miles?

No I bought the scooter with 2700 miles on it in January '09. It's an '07 that the original owner bought in May of '08. The guy I bought it from had the first few maintenances performed at the local dealer here.

I see. It seemed as if you bought it new and put 4k on since January. To answer your question, I ask a question: how much mechanical experience do you have?

Not much with the scooter. I have cleaned the air filter and that's it so far. On my car I regularly do my own oil and brakes. If I have the tools I need and a good guide to follow I'm usually up for trying things myself. Love my scooter though and I don't want to screw it up! haha.

Anybody know what the variators are and how to change them?

Look in the forum Wiki - lots of good explanations there.

On the fly the rollers & belt are changed at the 8000 mile service

There is no way I would wait that long. 4-5k tops.

on my bike the rollers were good until 7k and the belt probably another 3k.

The dealer did the engine oil/gear oil/brake check/new air filter and the total was $65. Only charged me 1/2 hr of labor. So it was definitely worth it to get it done by the dealer.