Modern Vespa

Anyone done any mods to their PX150? H is really wanting to hold on to the PX. We both love the looks, but the lack of power seriously hurts the fun factor.

If so, what mods have you done and what kind of results did you get?

Thanks!

The old saying is; when tuning a bike you can have Fast, Reliable and Cheap.....Pick any two.

Very funny-- & no doubt true!--

speed costs money-- how fast do you want to go?

malossi 166, worked kit, ported cases, cut piston, mazz crank, HD bearings, case inducted reed with a 28/30 carb, uprated clutch springs and welded basket, PM or JL pipe, HP4 flywheel.

that'll be pretty darn fast.

personally, i'd go a little more low key... more "city riding", if you will.

malossi 166, minor port matching, clean up the kit & piston a bit. run a 24/24G or a vortex 24, mazz cut & gas-flowed crank, and better springs in the clutch w/ a welded basket (or cosa). then go for a pinasco or simonini pipe. and top it off with a slightly lightened flywheel.

best,
-greasy

We would love for it to be able to keep up with the LX150 or the Vino 125.

Greasy, I am guessing that would be your second option, "city riding." I might mention that to the shop when I take my LX in for its first service. Do you suppose they could do the mods?

Thanks for your advice.

It seems our new admin accidently lost my post. No worries though.
As I was saying, you have lots of options. You could go with just a new pipe (like a sito plus or a simonini) and an up jet, a pipe and a bigger carb. Or a kit. I for one think the kit is the way forward!
Here's what I'm about to install on mine. Malossi 166 kit, 28mm Vortex carb. and nice loud high reving pipe like a JL or Zirri. But if you do a kit you have to do it right or you'll have problems. Don't cut corners and you'll be fine. adjust the timing and dial it in right.

It depends on the shop. They should! And they should be able to get everything you need to do it. You could start small and then work up to the kit. Maybe just get a simonini pipe nd up jet. Then go from there.

your p150 should be able to keep up without sweating it.
make sure that everything is tuned properly, first. check your clutch and jetting, check your exhaust for blockages, check your compression and timing. check your carb as well.

if you're just looking for a little bump, sito plus and an up jet and you'll be fine. or if you wanna get crazy pop on some noise maker pipe.

ask your tech if they wanna do the work. bribe them with beer and cash.

best,
-greasy

Apparently the Stella reedvalve setup is available as a tuning option for the PX150....how ironic can you get?

All I can say is 24mm Vortex carb! I wouldn't bother with a reed valve flat side set up on a PX. Vortex just bolts on and the air corrector helps big time with dialing it in.

Wha? Which post? I haven't deleted anything... Did something disappear?

Thanks everyone, you guys are great! I forwarded all the info to H and hopefully it will help him decide what to do.

Sorry, it was a site moderator who accidentally lost the post when they were trying to respond to it. No big deal though.

sito plus, upjet. mouths closed.

My 85 stock PX will run with the LX, Samantha's 05 PX (sito-upjet) will too!

-larry

Hey Greasy...

I don't need an exact figure, but as far as your "pretty darn fast" package goes, how much would it cost (not counting the beer for the mechanic)?

Also, what do you think of the Polini 177 kit. And by the way, someone will be doing this work for me, if I choose to get it done. My idea of doing scooter maintenance is putting the license plate on a new scoot

Thanks!

Chuck

hey chuck, it all depends... how thrifty you are, where you shop, and the components you buy. bearings/seals/gaskets can run from low end to high end, with the difference in price being a few hundred between the two. same with cranks, pipes, carbs... you get the picture.
at any rate, figure on dropping at least a grand.

regarding polini... well, lets just say that i'm a malossi type of guy and leave it at that.

best,
-greasy

Like lots of others PX mods are very well know to many but my 2 cents are as (to do basic well fun dyno-by-butt mods and will not sieze or less likley to seize the piston):

1st: check timing or make triple sure that its right, jet rich- find out rich and go 3-5 more than this and buy several main jets to do plug chops, and make sure that you have no air leaks.

- good tuned basic PX

2nd buy DR180 or Pinasco 180 kit, Polini and revy 166 maz's seem to seize more and less forgiving (fyi- all kits are fragile)

3rd buy 24/24 carb e or g, e (as I remember e) is easier to get some jets and airfilter for

4th if you like get a nice pipe, sito+, simonini

then rich jets and many plug chops and then fun:)

Good Luck CC

Thank you greasy and thank you chas. So, about a grand? Okay, it always amazes me what you can do on a scooter for $1000 as opposed to what you can do on a Harley...

Thanks again for the advice!

Chuck

My PX was a dog. I'd start up a hill at 50, and slow to 40 at the top. By talking to some people, I came up with a reasonable fix. I bought a Sito+ exhaust, and rejetted the carb,(not sure of the jet size), and got more top speed, better gas mileage, and it sounds great to boot. The cat really zapped the power. I'm now a happy camper.....
see yas, Chuck

Chuck,

That sounds like our PX.

Not only that,

we checked the speedometer with a gps and it overly optimistic.

I guess it was 3 times over optimistic? Beale.

Speed bumps!

Very funny guys...

I wonder how that happened several minutes apart, unless maybe when I backed out it reposted.

Oh well, I couldn't delete so I did a little self-editing. 8)

Backing out sometimes does that. I often find duplicate posts (by no one in particular, it's a widespread problem) and do cleanup afterwards.

Polinni 177cc kit
24/24 carb
sito plus exhuast
some porting / polish work
cut-back cranks

= much more fun to ride .....

I put a pm tuning pipe and a 24/24g carb in my '05 px150. I had motorsport scooters jet the carb the way they thought it should be and it's working well. I haven't been able to gps it, but according to the speedo I can do 67 on a relatively calm day (it's really windy in the part of eastern washington I live in). On a windy day I can still do 65 if I tuck.

So I guess from what I've read that I'm really able to do a true 60 or 62 mph.

also, my original carb was a 20/20, but because the the hole in the carb box is a slight oval shape instead of a perfect circle it was almost perfect for the 24/24. I think that they may use the same box for the 200's and the 150's. The original gasket was a 24 gasket too. I may take the box off and match it perfectly with the carb later, but for now it seems pretty dang close.


I do have 2 issues with it though:
To use the pm tuning pipe you do have to modify the kickstand slightly. That's a bummer.

if I ride it hard, I only get about 50 miles to the gallon now. What's the point of doing the mods if you're not really using them, right? so you have to ride it hard.

I plan on getting it dyno'd and if my HP and torque are about what a p200 are I may put 200 gears in it. maybe that'll help with top speed and gas mileage. I dunno.

that is the one thing I did not do was change my gears...

I wish I did, oh well next time I'll open it back up and place better cruising gears.

those mph are accurate, I got mine close to 70 once but it starts taching out... so defintely P200 gears will be much better.

do you know P200 gears drops right in w/ NO mods needed?

I'm not sure if you're asking me or telling me. I don't know what all changing to 200 gearing entails. I'll have to ask around a bit before I seriously consider it.

This has been discussed before:
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic27894?highlight=px150


Just a little more food for thought.
I still stand by my statement on the Pinasco 177 kit...
Absolutely awesome bolt on kit....extremely reliable.



I would even add that someone should get the PEP parts pipe for this kit & try it.
http://www.pep-parts.com/shop/03c198994e0d63d25/03c1989a16111f305/02c66b9acf0b7a801.php

Fucking brilliant...half expansion...half stock...
Puts out more power than the Sito+ (which is a good design...based on the T5 stock exhaust....but the Sito suffers from SHITTY quality...never had one that lasted at all.....but they work for low range torque)


I wouldnt bother with cutting the crank or any of that kind of nonsense unless you are going to match that work with a good clutch, fresh high quality bearings,High quality seals, PROPER porting (not just slashing with a dremel),a decent carb. (I always like the 24/24 G's from the T5) & a decent exhaust that put the power where you want it.



Shitto+ will keep power low while sacrificing topend.
The J&L available here in the states will give you top end while sacrificing bottom end torque.



Scooter & Service offers some new pipes....SIP has a few different J&L pipes & you could get dyno info & see if it will work with what you are trying to do.
Just a little homework is required & deciphering German.....


If you must do tuning...do not do half ass tuning.

Stay away from shiny Vietnamese pipes,parts and crap like that unless you are a gambling type......if it is cheap? there is usually a good reason why it is cheap.......

Have fun....

Why bother with that without trying different clutch gears?
I went from a 20 tooth in my T5 to a 21 tooth Cosa gear which dropped the rpms about 500 at 70 mph.....spread out my gears as well.....Bike tops out at 75 without struggling or over revving.

Only slightly less quick off the line.


I would check to make sure exactly what tooth combo's you can use with the PX150 primary....but it can make a big difference without all the shenanigans.

Just my 2 cents...

Interesting info that I hadn't thought of. I'll have to check into that.

Ill be a little more specific too.
The T5 4th as you may already know is shorter & the T5 motor has more compression & power than a gutless PX150 motor...(Even with a kit....and yes I have a PX150 as well.)
So your results will vary accordingly....



It may require a little experimentation...but you can up 1 tooth and get a little more topend. (depending if you actually have the power to pull it).

Or drop a tooth and get a little bottom end at the sacrifice of some topend.


I forget the difference in ratios from a P/PX 200 & a PX150....
But my 01 EFL is pretty close from 1st to 2nd.....