Notes on maintenance

I a newbie to sight glass oil reads so wrote Paul for clarity.

"If you can see oil in the sight glass, you are fine. When you see white in the sight glass add about half a quart. It is a fool proof system. Even when you can't see any oil in the sight glass (i.e. it is all the way below), you still have a lot of oil in the tank. Don't sweat it.

There is no "weight" to two stroke oil. There are several different versions, depending on how good the quailty of the oil is. All of them are fine. I only use sythetic though, it just provides much better lubrication. I think I usually use Motul 510, which is their mid-range oil. I think it costs around $15-20 per quart. -Paul"

With regards to oil Gianluca said, "I always use supreme gas for my scooters and the best oil for two stroke engines. The glass bubble shows oil when sufficient quantity is stored. Even after the bubble shows air, you still have a safe amount of oil to make it to your next re-fill.

Motul 710 is the only oil we use.

Spark plug replacement was performed in late June 2011 with 8,064 miles on the odometer.

Ciao, G."

I picked up Motul 710 and three spark plugs per Vespa P Series Maintenance & Repair. I believe I bought three B8ES. I am interested in checking out the Iridium spark plugs as I have heard they provide a little more power and a better idle.

Found my P200

My friend Paul S. sent me in the direction of his friend, Gianluca, who was thinning his collection.

I did not envision purchasing a scooter from a dealer, but in the end I purchased it directly from Gianluca at his home. Many buyers and sellers will list the selling price on the title as lower to lower the taxes paid at DMV to keep the price lower.

The scooter was absolutely perfect. Original paint and piston. To boot the original mileage was 8,402. It's a baby blue 1979 P200.

Paul vouched for Gianluca and said, "both owners are fastidious, and even if it has some mileage, I'm sure it has been well cared for and is in good condition. This is a good one for sure." I was rest assured and did not even haggle for the price. Nor did I feel the need to be OCD when looking over the scooter. I trust Paul 100% and test rode it and gave it a quick look over and bought it.

Gianluca is the second owner. He purchased the scooter from the president of Vespa Club America. As of August 2012, I am the third owner.

Afterwards I wrote Paul to tell him I bought the scooter and ask him a bit about the model and oil brand he recommended. Paul said, "Great! Congrats. I know that is a good scooter. The previous owner, Brian, was a long time scooter guy, and this one was just one of about 5 scooters he had. Brian was one of the first San Francisco scooter guys that I met, before I even moved here, almost 20 years ago. He didn't ride that one much. Gianluca has a ton of scooters, and I don't think he ever rode it. I'm sure you'll be pleased with it.

Yes, that is a P200E. The later scooters from 84 on, were PX200E. The PX had a gas gauge, electric start, locking cowls, a bigger glovebox, and some other internal improvements. Only the PX150E was sold in the US (and that, only a few for two years in 1984 and 2005).

I use only synthetic two stroke. I'm partial to Motul, but any good sythetic two stroke will be fine. Make sure that it is "suitable for oil injection", and not "premix only".

-Paul"