Blue PX with Yellow Owner

[Colcam]

Hi all, sorry it's been so long since I've been on here but, to be honest, I've hardly used my 07 PX125 since I got a heat freeze [doing 60] way back around May, which gave me such a fright it put me off the damned thing altogether, so decided to put my Piaggio X8 back on the road.

After £400 on parts it's still not going, so had to call a halt on that and have been forced to reinsure the PX. I'm dreading it - just no confidence with it now.

It would be fine for town, but I don't live anywhere near a town, it's always going to be on country roads and just doesn't have the power to keep up with the traffic, and I find the size of the scoot a liability - the X8 is big profile and you get a lot more respect from car drivers.

Anyway, it'll be on the road in a couple of days, I'm NOT looking forward to it but it's got to happen, so some encouragement would be welcome!

AND by the way I'm taking it from Fort William in the Highlands to Morecambe for a week next weekend, [350 miles each way] partly overnight. Nothing like getting in at the deep end.

Can I up the headlight bulb from 35/35 to 55/55?

Engine is standard, PM Tuning exhaust, cooler plug, jet size now 100 but not sure if air mix thingie is right. I can get, and kind of need, 55/ 60 out of it, but is it likely to freeze again?

Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.

[Lucia]

That's a shame about the PX, but I can understand where you're coming from - I found a couple of trial trips to work a bit hairy - salesmen in their Vectras speeding at 80mph on a 60mph dual carriageway. Not nice. One day scooterists/bikers will rule the roads...daydream...daydream...

Anyway, chin up and get back on the scoot - if anything, it'll make you a better rider. I had a bit of smash in my car last week and er, it's made me a better driver.

OK Spence, you can stop laughing now. Bloody white van drivers.

Fort William's nice by the way, I was there last year - stayed in Oban. In fact, that's miles away you loon!! :-)

[Robjack]

Re your comment about not being able to keep up with traffic, a good bit of advice that I received is to remember that you have paid your road tax like everybody else and that the 6ft in front and behind you, and from the gutter to the white line belongs to you. Don't sit in the gutter inviting the salesman behind to squeeze past you, sit slightly to the right of centre and let him overtake you like you were a bus if he needs to. Your bike is not a restricted 50cc, it is capable of speeds to suit most roads without holding up a line of frustrated motorists.
One of the worst things you can do is ride without confidence, might be a good idea to get some miles in on quieter roads to build up some confidence before your trip if you can.

Hope this helps and best of luck,

Rob.

[Spence]

Good advice on the road positioning from Rob. I always ride just right of centre, otherwise idiots overtake you without changing lane.

At the end of the day, just do your thing. If they fly past you, chances are you'll catch them up and weave past them in a mile or two when they hit traffic anyway.

[Colcam]

Thanks for the replies all. Actually the least of my problems is where I sit on the road - if anything I tend to sit a wee bit well to the right , too near centre, especially on a quicker bike. Once nearly got totalled by my own wife as I white-lined it round a fast right-hander as she came the other way heading for home in a Volvo V70 tank!

I got Hell for that and never lived it down.

The problem is specifically with the PX, and nervousness about another heat freeze. The last one really scared me. I've got upwards of 40,000 miles under my belt on various scoots, and this is the first one that's terrified me.

LUCIA: Sorry to hear about your shunt, I guess you just have to consider it a character-building experience, as long as no one was hurt - and Fort William sucks. Oban is fine though.

[bryno]

Hey mate, what really annoys me about driving on main roads/dual carriageways is the *ossers who think they can safely overtake you without actually moving lane!

Back to the heat seize, I had one on the M1 once at about 70MPH, does put the wind up you a bit

If motor is standard bar the pipe, just the jet change should be fine, not sure what the PX runs as standard, is a 100 a couple of points up?

Good quality fully synthetic oil?

Have you done a plug chop test to ensure it is not running lean at full chat?

After my seize someone suggested not running it on full throttle for any length of time, better back it off very slightly, rational was that the autolube pump delivers max oil before it hits full throttle, so on full it's not actually delivering any more oil.

I did look at how the pump mechanism works on mine and it does appear to be that way..

Worth a thought

[Colcam]

Thanks Bryno,

Yeah, standard is a 96 jet. I got a 98 and 100, and didn't even bother trying the 98.

Yes, only best quality full synth. Will do a chop test as suggested.

What you say about the pump delivering max oil before it hits full throttle makes sense, and I'll go by that.

If I ever make it to Morecambe this weekend I'm gonna take a run into PM Tuning and bite their ears a bit and maybe get them to take a look at it too.

Will let you know.

[Lucia]

colcam said:

LUCIA: Sorry to hear about your shunt, I guess you just have to consider it a character-building experience, as long as no one was hurt - and Fort William sucks. Oban is fine though.

;D luckily no one was hurt - and the white van man's insurance firm is coughing up the lot. Must admit, the bad weather at F.Wiliam didn't do it any favours.

[joey]

Colcam, sorry to hear of the sieze unfortunately it happens, welcome to the world of Vespa!!!
A standard Vespa engine is set up for general riding, a bit of around town and mainly short runs, so if you have to ride a fair distance on a regular basis then your motor is just not set up for it so you have to compensate.
A couple of things to try...........
1) whenever possible try to use super unleaded, it has a higher knock rating and assists in keeping your motor running cooler,
2) run a cold plug for long rides, especially the one you're about to attempt,
and finally 3) retard your timing slightly, again this helps to keep the motor cool especially if you spend most of your time at relatively high revs.
These suggestions will help to prevent another heat sieze but won't gain you any extra performance, the only way you'll do that is by fitting as kit, but that's an entirely different can of worms.
My personal opinion would be to bite the bullet and get a Malossi 166 with a 21 tooth clutch gear, when set up properly they go like sh*t off a chrome stick and are very reliable.
Hope this helps out mate.

[Colcam]

Cheers for that Joey.

Can't do the kit before I go, but thinking about picking up a Malossi from PM Tuning when I'm in Morecambe and posting it back [bike will be loaded to the neck, without extras].

Got a cold plug fitted, and doing a plug chop test tomorrow.

Ummm - Being dumb here, but not sure what you mean by retarding the timing - or how to - but it's noted and I'll soon find out.

Thanks again.

[bryno]

You rotate the stator plate to alter the timing, you may need to do that for the Malossi kit (do on the T5 kit, not sure about the PX). Not hard to do, you'll need a timing disk, flywheel extractor and ideally a strobe light..