Scooterotica

i have been told my clutch side bearing is on its way out on my vespa 125 px is there any signs that show this ?
another prob is im using more oil and have noticed spark plug is oily on top but im not burning oil ,last year i had a new oil connecter put in on the oil tank dont know if there is any connection there? cheers

The quick check for the clutch side bearing is to push on the flywheel and pull the clutch lever. The flywheel should move in and out a bit but not too much. You are right not to take chances, if the bearing gets really bad it will damage the casings.
Did you check that it the gear box oil is ok?

will check the gearbox oil have not as yet

Youll get some movement on the flywheel as the bearing wears BUT excessive wear can actually damage the drive side seal and even push it out of the cases allowing to spin on the crank thus sucking all your gearbox oil blah blah !!
What sort of milage has it done ??
Is it smokier than usual ? ( hard to tell when your riding it of course !)
Ive never come across/heard of a drive side bearing collapse BUT as jack mentioned if there is a ALOT of side movement on the flywheel best get it sort !!

I would also like to ask, is there any need to replace any of the bearings on a Vespa, unless you have a major catastrophe, piston rings shatter or similar. I can see the flywheel needle bearing failing, but the rest. If you have done around 5k miles surely there going to last a few thousand miles more. It will be interesting to hear from guys that have had a scooter for around 15/20 years. Unfortunatley mine seem to get knocked over by lazy priicks trying to get the best parking space. Everytime my engine has bounced of the kerb causing hairline cracks or worse.

GLscoot wrote:I would also like to ask, is there any need to replace any of the bearings on a Vespa, unless you have a major catastrophe, piston rings shatter or similar. I can see the flywheel needle bearing failing, but the rest. If you have done around 5k miles surely there going to last a few thousand miles more. It will be interesting to hear from guys that have had a scooter for around 15/20 years. Unfortunatley mine seem to get knocked over by lazy priicks trying to get the best parking space. Everytime my engine has bounced of the kerb causing hairline cracks or worse.

If your going to have the drive side bearing done then yes replacing the rest of the engine bearings can be considered especially the flywheel side along with the crank and hub seals and of course the cruciform.
Check the condition of your clutch plates too, it just makes sense while the motor is apart !!

yes, oil seals, cruciform, and oil I agree with, but really all the bearings. sometimes i think we throw away parts that are fine for another 5k just because we have opened the casings. unless you buy or use the original cruciform, that will go before anything else. I know in my case i replace it at least once a year, but i use my scooter everyday for work and really never get out of 2nd gear and so cause a lot of wear and tear on the cruciform.

To get the most out of a new cruciform the gear selector (genuine) and cruciform push rod should all be changed at the same time. Once a gear box starts jumping the selector takes a bashing and wears quickly. A new cruciform using an old gear selector will not last anywhere near as long!

I am of the same opinion as you with the bearings though. We do all change them far too often when compared with bikes or cars.

Selector rod will normally be fine, just check that there isn't any slop on the selector arm , you can some times knock the tapered pin in and that can sometimes tighten the slack arm, and check the pivot rod that connects the arm up the selector disc that the cables locate into.....
Good luck

I believe there are also repair kits available for the selector box.