Modern Vespa

Hey all....

I've been riding for just about a year now and am loving it. Got my LX150 brand new last yr, have about 2600 miles on it and have gotten regular servicing as needed. Just this morning on my way to work, i noticed a grinding sound coming from the motor that I've never heard before. It started when I'd either accelerate or decelerate from 10 - 20 mph and made the noise only between those speeds... does anyone know what this could be? I don't know if it's just the quality of gas I put in, I change gas stations, but always put in premium 93 octane... any thoughts would be helpful!

Thanks!

If it's accompanied by a bit of shuddering of the whole bike, it's probably a classic case of clutch shudder caused either by a buildup of dust in the clutch bell or glazing of the clutch shoes or both. You may be able to get rid of it temporarily (always temporarily, as it will always come back after a while) by prying off the chrome cover with the Vespa logo on it on the tranny case, and blowing the dust out of the clutch with a blowgun attachment on an air compressor. Just direct the air stream in all directions through the holes under the chrome cover while slowly rotating the rear wheel by hand. If that doesn't cure it, the clutch shoes and bell are probably glazed, and the whole tranny cover will have to come off so that you can lightly sand the surface of the shoes and bell with 220-grit sandpaper.

Thanks so much for replying, Silver Streak and sorry it took so long for me to get back here...

I actually got a flat the day after I typed this and just yesterday got my scooter back from the repair shop. Took forever to get a tow truck, etc... ugh. Anyway, I let the service guys know about the grinding noise and when they took it out they said they didn't hear anything. I picked it up last night and it was gone! Have no idea what it was, but if it ever comes back again, I'll try your suggestion.

Thanks again!