hi there all

im micheal from south london here 45 year old i have a piaggio 125 liberty i jysu got frommy neighbour exhaust neeeds changing it needs a service as well im attmpting to do this as a project even though im not tht much mechanically minded im not up on all the technical jargons but do read well and and can in most instances follow instructions

first things first i have stripped all the flarings off seat is off i have taken the exhaust off as the pipe was rotten i intend to change spark plugs oils filters and genarally give it a service then take it to the mot shop where i live near streatham i ask the following questions i only ask that you be gentle with me as you can see im a scooter virgin

1. what position do i need to put the bike in to replace the exhaust as i see the manifold is not easily accesible

2 where can i get information about tunning up my piaggio

thats all i can think of but im gonna seach through the threads and see what i ca find otherwise all please do have a nice day a ride safe

mikey

 

If you a novice mate Invest in a haynes manual, there is one that covers the Piaggio range I do beleive I have seen them for sale in the likes of halfords do check it covers the liberty model the same year as yours if you find one, there very good for torque settings and genral info. If your planning on maintaining it yourself get yourself a decent socket set spanners etc as cheap gear will just break in the end.

As for tuning etc theres a lot of info to be found around this forum if you have a good search may take a bit of time but theres usually many answers to most questions you may have.

If you get yourself the first few bits I mentioned they will help you greatly aswell as helping you understand the bike itself in greater detail as it makes it easier to identifiy which parts are which and that helps when it comes to sourceing the correct spares etc

Todi

 

hey todi
thanks for the help much appreciated yep i had fun today as i had to replace the exhaust which i did in one piece i semi stripped it took flairings off seat etc to give it a good clean as it was a bit dirty sitting down for a year or so fitted it all back up again got to kick a few times however wouldnt start im intending to change the spark plugs tommorow as soon as i get the tool, ill check when im there for the manual as well at the same time,i do agree tools are gonna be essential as i have discovered, i intend to keep this bike and as you say kinda get to know it and do the best i can to maintain it, question came to mind do you think the bike shops are cheaper that halford or the other way round just thought id ask well im hoping to get her started and purring tommorow if so ill put her pic up as my avatar lol

peace

 

Personaly mate I don't use halfords for scooter parts as there more of a car place. I use the likes of adrenelinrpedstop or pedparts etc there both mail order places that said you could pick up a set of tools from halfords there are ok for the money, lucky I kept hold of my tools from when I worked In the auto industry but to spend money buying that type of gear is overkill.

Do check the plug make sure its gapped corretly too normally the are but a feeler gauge is a handy tool to have.

Hope she starts up mate

 

well guys i have fitted her up and she started up ok and was o the only problem i have seen so far is that the sparkplugs seems stuck but started ok, I had no problem with plug as the bike started up ok but ill get it out as soon as possible, i see the speedo ant working but from what i have read i gather the cable may be broken so as advised ill get a manual and see what it says, as for tools i had the lot but the are now in the west indies anyway guys there she is my virgin bertha
mikey

 

Yea speedos are common mate I bet its snapped off about an inch worth of cable at the wheel end there fairly cheap. Plug might have coroded into the threads a bit try not to strip the thread when you undo it might need a bit of unsezing spray on it but make sure you clean up all the residue so it doesnt possibly catch fire if you start the engine when it gets hot

 

todi,
me again youll be blocking me soon lol yes here i am at confused.com again i finally got the spark plug out whoa what job took almost 4 days and a whole lot of wd40 anyway its out and the new one is in, anyways stilll having some minor issues see what you think

1) bike starts it idles for awhike ok i think, (ie ) wheel not spinning and steady rythmn, that can be from between 5- 15 minuets whithout cutting out , ill turn it off and turn it back on again and it either just start over revving with the wheel spinning madly or it will cut out back, i had idling for at least 10 mins contiuosly and thought that was it. put it all back up started it up and it went over revving again.

am i doing something wrong or have i overlooked something thought it might have been the spark plugs but its done it before and after the plug replacement, the only thing im concious off is that

1) the battery im using is a diffrent one from the one i got the bike with i think the one i have is from a vespa bit higher than the one that came but thats all i was trying to match the voltage and they did both say 12 volts just different names

2) i have cleaned the air filter, changed the plug, but i didnt do the carbouratour as i thought it might have been a bit much for me without the manual and i didnt drain the oil same reason

3) my exhaust replced it but one of the washers came off the screw and i cant seem to get it back on im not sure if it was to have come of as the other one came out with the nut on the screw

not sure what my exhaust fumes should smell like but to me im thinking its a bit rich any if you or anyone else wanna share some light on my soap opra please feel free to help

otherwise im having fun pulling it down and up my time is getting better lol
peace guys safe riding

 

Haha nah won't block mate I'm here to help

Being honest unlike a lot of "keyboard warriors" I've found on forums, I can never be sure unless I'm stood right infront of the bike.

You mentioned it smells a bit rich that could indicate the auto choke sticking on mine did this on the zip I just unscrewed it pulled it out and reseated it and it was happy. also if the bike has been sat for a while the carb could be a bit gummed up with fuel residue.

Check the basics first with the bike switched off,

• is the throttle cable sticking?
• is the throttle returning to its closed position when released (at the carb end visual check)?
• is there a split in any of the rubber pipes eg: inlet pipe, vacum pipes etc and are they seated correctly?
• has it got fresh fuel? may be running iffy if the fuel is as old as hell

other than that I can't offer much more other than the carb will probbaly be gummed up with fuel residue, that like you said I would advise you to get a haynes manual as it will help if you need to strip it to clean it up the book number for that is Haynes 3492 ISBN 978 1 84425 803 1

Sorry I can't offer more than that pal

 

hey todi
lol thought you heard the last of me uh lol anyways had a few days break from it and the started again today, what i have discovered is that one of the rubber pipes the inlet pipe at the front with the two metal bit that the fuel hoses connect to at the front of the carboretter as its is seated has some majorr cracks on it i mean like big time iwas glad when i saw this as i thought that maybe the fault and i wouldnt have to get mental on the carbs, but my joy was shortlived when i saw what looked like it was attched with a star like nut or something forgive my ignorance but what tool pulls that apart thought it might be a torque srcew but it has a pin in the middle ahhh i have managed to up load it if you or anyone else knows what it is ill be greateful oh if you zoom in you can see the cracks too any i hope all is well and thanks once again for the patience
peace out

 

Have to be quick as I'm on the phone and that battery is about to go flat that sounds like a security torx not a normal torx mate not much diffrence in price thou

 

hi there todi

hows it been mate i have been a little busy but i did manage to change the inlet manifold after getting the tool i took out the carbs but wasnt brave enough to give it a full overhaul as it seeemed to be working ok, anyway i thought i fitted up everything ok but then it wouldnt start it kicked over and that but wouldnt start so now im getting paroniod if i put the hoses back on right i know u work better seeing it in front of you but ill try my best to explain heres another novel

the petrol tank had what i think are 2 draining hoses one in the the neck which i connected to the top of the tank the other was left off
the fuel pump under the tank had two hoses one which was the fuel pipe i connected to the carboretter and the other which was the vacum hose i left off as thats how i got the bike, reading the haynes manual just now i see it saying that the vacum hose should be connected to the manifold which mine isnt and wasnt there in the first place i placed the fuel hose on the l lookin stem on the carboretter beside the choke was that right and also there is a hose on what i think is the alternator that i connected to the manifold i mist say that my manfold has two nubs so im thinking both should be in use though i saw 1 which only had 1 nub anywher thats where im at in my saga any ideas, not sure if its getting gas in the system as i drained the tank and as i said i took of the carbs do you think the engine my need priming to get it going anyway have fun trying to work this out lol

micheal

 

Sounds like it does need priming, and yea the fuel tank uses a vacum tap to stop the carb flooding when the engine is off both should be connected up, also try putting a fresh spark plug in might sound daft but I fitted a new plug last week and mine started acting up, fitted another new one and it fired straight up, sorry for the short reply mate just away from a pc at the mo as I aint at home at the mo n using the phone

 

ok mate sorry to have bothered you hope all is well and your enjoying ill get on with that see where we go from there

 

hey todi
hope your doing well you will be pleased to know i got the bike up and running it seems fine so far il do the last little bits and post it up when done thanks for the patience mate much appreciated ill buy you a tipple some time lol

 

Hey up mate only just checked up on this since I last posted, not to worry about the tipple I can't drink haha anyway you did the work and solved the problem, what was the cure in the end?

 

hey todi
aaah well just started here up this morning kicked in first go no throttle yipppeee well it wouldnt start so i cheked back on everything i done hoses carbs etc and found that i had not tightened up the throttle cable leed properly so after tightning her up she started like a dream left it running for ages was afraid to turn it off but when i did and turned it bck on it work a treat im gonna chane the oil and oil filter and hopefully that should be most of the major work left i a goona check on that speedo cable to seee if its snapped i do appreciate your help mate well hope it goesnt rain that much today then i might get a few bits done ill keep you up to date
peace

 

just read through that whole post. welcome to the forum. i had a gilera runner and when i changed the manifold, i put the jubillee clip the wrong way round, and my throttle cable got stuck on it at full throttle, i only found out when i took the bike out for a test drive! i think my speedo cable went like 3 times in 2 years! common problem i guess

 

hey todi
got her yup and running mate took her for a quck spin and all need to change the oil as i finnaly found the nut what a big nut lol and the filter too just need to wrork out how they come out worst thing is though while i was checking the head of the speedo cable which was pulling out of the socket i saw that the brake oil resovoiur has been tampered with and the screws basicallyso with no brake oil in it im not happy otherwise shes good i took a 10 second video of her purring but i see i cant load mp4 on here but im on the case anyways as you cant drink im having 2 henikin cheers

 

Haha enjoy pal

As for the vid load it on youtube an copy the link and post it on here youtube acepts most formats

 

off the top of my head, i think the oil filter can be undon with a big spanner or a really big flat screwdriver, its on thye exhaust side right?