Hello, my uncle gave me his old vespa moped that has about 500 miles on it. Looks like new. Although, it has never been driven in 6 years. Im having a problem with gas leaking from an unknown source. It just drips everytime i switch it to fuel. Can someone tell me where it is leaking from and how i can fix it?
you should see the leak. check the carburetor and other parts. basically, dry the thing off and then troubleshoot it from there. check your petcock and theck your carb float bowl.
let us know what you tried (be as specific as possible) and we'll see how people can help you from there.
Your carburetor is leaking. On mopeds, carbs need to be cleaned at least once a year. The float in the float bowl is probably sticking from fuel varnish buildup. The carburetor is the unit that the tube from the fuel tank plugs into. You need to pull it off your engine, take it apart, and clean it with carb cleaner and compressed air. It's not that hard, really.
Consult <a href="http://www.mopedarmy.com/forums/discuss/1/8573/8573/">Fred's guide</a> for information on procedure.
If you count the washers and bolts, a moped engine has about twenty-five parts. The carburetor is another fifteen parts. Mopeds are really not that complicated!
Chris.
Trace the fuel line back from the petcock to the carburetor. where the feul line goes into the carburetor there is a banjo fitting that can leak if the top or bottom gaskets are damaged when the fitting is removed. If it's not here, it could be a stuck float ot leaky bowl gasket. Either way pull the carb and clean it. You have to remove the air filter first, then the banjo fitting to get to the calmp bolt. It helps to remove the tin plate under the engine.
The carburetor is very simple and requires no adjustments. Usually the main jet is clogged when thay are left sitting with fuel in the carburetor, since ther is no drain on it. Ironically, the DelLortto copy of the carburetor used on the Kinetic has a bowl drain.
Parts for the Vespa are available from www.vespasupershop.com. Talk to Fabio, who is the moped expert there.
Once you get' her running you'll have a great little bike that will climb any hill since it uses a variator. Before trying to start the engine the first time, give it a shot of oil in the sparkplug hole to lube the rings. As long as you have the sparkplug out, make sure you have spark when both switches (on the headlight and on the handle bar) are on.
Jim
I have a 1979 Bravo also. They kick ass.
The Grande is essentially the same bike, in a different frame. I wouldn't part with mine for anything!
Jim C.
PS: Don't know what happened to the spelling in my previous post.
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