Hi - vespa px 125

[alisey]

Hello there my names Ali and last weekend I bought a 1999 vespa px 125.


I turned up to look at the bike after driving for 1hr 30 and the guy had gone to work.. Luckily his wife let me at the bike. All was good so I bought it and my dad drove it home. If only it was that simple! Two roads later and we were pulled over on the side of the road trying to get the thing started again, luckily we managed to get it going again however unluckily one road later she cut out again! ( this problem was somewhat cured when we turned this alien lever to setting 'A', my dad suspected the scoot had a fuel tap - after some research when I arrived home I discovered he was correct. No problems getting back after flipping the switch and father 'keepin the revs up'. He described the journey as epic and I can't wait to have a ride as soon as I've retaken my cbt.


It has a front disc brake and 9000 miles on the clock ( however the speedo was broken so am unsure if this is a true mileage....) although for £900 I'm not complaining!
Bodywork looks solid in terms of rust and the white paintwork's not to shabby.

Gear selection can be a bit ropey and on further inspection where the cables bolt in at the back of the bike under the flywheel, the nuts are lose and there is a lot of extra cable, do I need all this extra cable or can I snip it? And is there a measurement for where the cables should be bolted?

For some reason the problems on the way back did not dampen my spirit and it was pretty exciting, is this normal!?

Good to be here and thanks for reading.

[sime66]

Hi Ali,
Welcome aboard.
Sounds like a decent once-over and some TLC to start with, and if you find nothing too serious then a bit of regular maintenance, which all our lovely cantankerous scooters need, and maybe yours hasn’t been getting. - Better to sort it in the shed than on the road.
Turn to ‘A’ to ride, and always turn it off (fully the other way) when you park up, especially when you refuel. You might have a reserve, but I’ll let the others give more educated guidance there. If your avatar is your new scooter, you have autolube by the looks of it; you do know how that works?
Don’t cut any cables. If you’ve a length of clutch cable it’s OK as long as it’s out of the way. If your selector box nuts (those are the gear cables) are loose, which sounds like where you mean, then they need sorting, but, unless your gears really are out, you don’t really want to go fiddling with those two without some idea of what you’re doing. (Each is an adjuster and a lock nut - the cable ends for those should be tucked in, inside the selector box cover).
You’re not new to bikes, but are you new to scoots? What about the old man? Anyone with some experience who can check it over/show you how?
You probably need to get some tools and get familiar with the scooter, and general maintenance.
Have you got a Haynes? – must have
There’s some good guides and DVDs for sale and on the net, see here for a list:
vespa.proboards.com/thread/3999/engine-rebuild-literature
Also, don’t be afraid to ask; they’re a splendid bunch here, but do have a look through previous threads on this forum too; you’re unlikely to be wondering about something that hasn’t been asked before.
Pictures of scoot, especially for some of the blokes on here who are kinky about that sort of thing, and to clarify any questions, which always make more sense, to me at least, with some photos of the patient.
Enjoy yourself – keep the positive attitude.

[henri]

hi n welcome , an sime "kinky" ,just coz i'm allowed to view scooter porn in bed with the missus ,its the only kind allowed, doesnt make me "kinky" ,just real lucky ive got a understanding/liberal missus. kinky? what would the vicar think,i might get thrown out the choir,
right ali ,your 99 vespa has a on/off tap ,no reserve as your suppose to keep an eye on the gauge an low petrol light, but i never trust em an use the "mark 1 eyeball" method, pop the seat up,off with petrol cap an have a look, never steers ya wrong . the speedo not working is pretty standard for a vespa,mostly its the cable getting chewed up at bottom end,or the top coming adrift from the speedo , an a easy fix,but most dont bother as they always break again .
an a px in fair condition,thats got home (2 hours riding)for 900 bar ,sounds like a gud-un , an yes they do have the ability to make even going to the shops a smiling/exciting experience ,even more so when they get ya home aswell .
an the only stupid question on here is the 1 ya didnt ask but should of, so hi n welcome an safe scootin, Henri Kinky,well i never,im off to mutter in my shed,

[alisey]

Hi Sime and Henri good to meet you guys.

Thanks for the help and advice.

I've had a Yamaha Jog rr and more recently a Vespa lx50 but I didn't do any work on them. I just sold the lx50 because i wanted something that looked more badass/ to customize. This is going to be the first scoot I do some serious work on, however I have done a fair bit of work on cars so my mechanical knowledge is not too shabby.

Thanks for the info about the gear cables, I will study the Haynes manual for further information. Manual is on my shopping list!

Is Autolube the name for the system that mixes the oil and fuel together? I need to top the oil up in my scoot as when I was trying to remove the side panels I thought that pink stick next to the fuel tap might be something to do with it - when I unscrewed it I realised I was wrong - the nice new oil stain on the driveway confirms this! Oh but I did eventually find out how to get the panels off..

The speedo came adrift at the top end, the clips that hold it into the display were bent - bent em back! We'll see if it lasts..


My mum walked in on me looking at scooters the other day.. I'm still embarrassed to look her in the eyes!

[sime66]

We’re all kinky for scooter porn; just some of us are still in the closet. Whether you like ‘em sweet or dirty; there’s all sorts here. We have a bit of banter, but it’s always good-natured.

Hopefully, as Henri said it got you home, so you can leave stuff like the gears ‘til you’ve studied it a bit. – Stuff like the speedo will probably go onto a list of things to get round to (my fuel gauge has been on my list for 2 years), that is always bumped down the list by more pressing matters. Obviously be aware of safety stuff not to be overlooked; tyres, brakes etc……….

Autolube is where a measured amount of 2-stroke oil is mixed as you ride (won’t go into detail just yet). That ‘pink stick’ is the sightglass to show you there’s enough oil, if you’ve managed to unscrew it (??) then put it back and leave it alone!!
Seriously, you don’t want a leak from there, or to ride with no oil, so replace it and make sure it’s back OK, and make sure you’ve still got plenty of oil:
When you lift up your seat you’ll see two caps. Next to the larger fuel filler, you’ll see another smaller cap, which is the 2-stroke filler. You might ask what 2-stroke to use, and that will be your first introduction to the friendly debates that recur here; I think it’s reasonable to suggest a good quality semi or fully synthetic 2-stroke oil – not lawn mower oil – but whether you need to spend-well on the best is a point of debate. I’m in the habit of using fully synthetic Rock Oil, but it might be unnecessary. I premix, and I believe you have slightly different (less-viscous?) oils for autolube.

Maybe take a look at these while you’re waiting for Haynes:



They are four short American Youtube videos, that show you very basic maintenance on a LML Stella. It’s very similar to your new toy, and shows you where all the bits are and how to get to them for basic jobs. the Sausage maintenance DVD is better, but you have to buy it (see links on previous post).
(How you explain the viewing of videos of this nature to your mum is something you will have to decide for yourself.)

[henri]

as above ,the haynes book of lies is a must,just for the info tho,those scoot pics dont do it for me,if i want to see scoots in bits i just look in the garage/shed an on top of bedroom cuboard etc , havent ever watched sauseges dvd ,tho those that have highly reccomend it ,apart from dodgy intro-music it seems,
if youve been messing with cars ,scoots shouldnt give ya too much trouble , the differences are cables ,adjustment n where they run, an its all ac lectrics so ya dont have to worry about batterys so much, 2 tricks ,never pull both inner n outer cables out together as there a bitch to get back in , an for leccy check out swbnic's posts/sticky's as he explains it better than most,
an as sime said there's eternal debates over which exhaust/oil's/tyres to run, with talk of customize/badd-ass n such like it seems your shaping up for the "scooterboy" camp ,unless its chrome ya mean ,which means the mods will welcome you to there camp, all good natured an not taken seriously , we play nice,or teacher tells us off , H

[rab]

Hi and welcome i wont add to all that above ill just wave and say turn the tap off when your not riding your scoot or it will flood and be a biach to start

[alisey]

Hi Rab! and thanks for the further information guys its much appreciated!

I was in Paris over the weekend - wow the amount of scooters is crazy! Saw a few moded ones too such as a matt black vespa 50, no accessories just very clean and basic but looked spot on.

[henri]

yep,sum times "less is more" an def if ya want a daily hack that doesnt look worn/untidy , but when its right its RIGHT , pared down or modded up, if ya see what i mean , H