But Razzo remains clean.
That is because it is so beautiful, looking not much different than when it was on the showroom floor 12 years ago.
It only had 6147 miles on it when I purchased it in late February, 2015. Now the odometer is showing 20,200.
It has been sitting since July when it wouldn't start after I returned from competing the Scooter Cannonball Run. I did that with Vanessa, when I had told Razzo that it would be the machine of choice. Maybe sour grapes on its part.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to get it started and had it towed to ACE Vintage Motorcycle Repair, a local shop getting all of the scooter repair work since Boris moved.
Chris and Alex got it started, but when I got it home, it stopped running before I could turn it off. I was a bit dumbfounded, but looked at the engine and found the lead wire had detached from the coil. I hooked it up and took it for a ride and it did it again. Then the spark plug cap detached from the spark plug. Then I fixed this,installed a new plug and took a ride and had it stop along the way, starving for fuel at higher speeds. There was very little fuel inside the fuel filter. I thought that was strange.
I got it home that day, finding that it would keep running if I ran slower than usual.
So I rode it to ACE two weeks ago and left it with the boys, along with a new coil, newer carburetor, fuel pump and petcock.
They got it all put back together, but it came home very difficult to keep running when cold and hesitating at steady speeds. I rode it to their shop on Saturday for their generous Christmas party, and found the exhaust gasket leaking. So I changed that when I got home.
Today, I decided that it needed an Italian Tune-Up. That is running it full throttle for a reasonable distance, in this case ten miles down I-10 and the return ten miles. Then I adjusted the idle speed. All of a sudden, most of the symptoms went away, leaving a well running scooter.
Tomorrow will tell me more, as it will involve a cold start after sitting all night. Fingers crossed.
But it sure is pretty.
That's the ticket! Vespas like to run. At least that's what I tell myself.
ReplyDeleteMy GTS developed a stalling issue intermittently this summer. Then for the last month or so, no more stalling.
The dealer hazarded a guess, sight unseen, that the voltage regulator might be the culprit.
It isn't due for its annual maintenance until some time next spring or early summer.
Looking at that last picture, could it be it's just too clean?
It is clean, but running much better. It started on this warm morning and ran very closely to normal, not stalling at all and the hesitation is almost gone. I am very pleased.
DeleteDavid, I am always a little skeptical when a dealer throws out a quick fix idea. They may know the answer, but often fix things that are not broken.