Front panel removal

Preparations for the next scootering season are in full swing and it is now a publicly known secret that I’m preparing for a very eventful one. Malina survived the winter fine, I topped up some air in both tyres, the engine started with the first click, it seems to be a happy scooter. But one really annoying thing developed over time… some water must have found its way under the speedo cover and it is all misty from the inside. Not really a pleasure to be looking at the fogged up panel as you’re riding. Vespa designers didn’t make it too easy for us to remove the panel and clean it, so I decided to document my process and hang it up on my blog for other Vespa riders who want to do this themselves.

Ususally, the mist self-evaporated after some 15 mins riding as the scooter warmed up, but now in winter, my panel still looked crap after an hour of riding…

…so here is what we need to do…

…remove the screen first if you have one…

…here we have the scooter head naked, ready for taking it apart…

…unscrew the mirrors first…

…you might need to use some power when you’re doing it, so make sure the scooter is stable on its centerstand. Hold the handlebar with one hand firmly (I’m not, because I have camera in my hand). Turn the mirror anticlockwise…

…and it is out…

…same way unscrew the second mirror…

…now we’ll need a hexagon key size 2.3mm…

…remove the small two pieces covering the break fluid tanks…

…yuk, lots of dirt accumulated underneath…

…break fluid tankers uncovered, need to wash the area around them…

…now we’ll need to remove the whole panel with Piaggion logo on it…

…first, lift the logo with a flat screwdriver. Use some soft cloth to support it or you can scretch your paint…

…dirt hidden underneath again!…

…use phillips screwdriver for the screw hidden underneath the logo…

…lift the panel upwards, and pull towards you…

…disconnect the horn wire…

…and we’re ready to continue with the head…

 

…we’ve removed the panel just to get to this hidden screw below the headlight…

…use phillips screwdriver again, but be very carefull not to drop the screw or it’ll fall down into the interior and you don’t want to be taking the whole scooter apart to find it…

…tha last screws holding the head panel are underneath the buttons on your handlebars on both sides…

…they are tiny, I had to use jeweler’s screwdriver to take them out…

…now the front part of your head cover is free, gently pull it out…

…disconnect the two wires leading to the headlight…

 

…this is what’s left, there’s no need to disconnect the other wires to get to the speedo display…

…one look on the front…

…now remove the 4 screws holding the display in place…

…the display is now free, but you don’t need to take it out completely…

…only need to unscrews the 6 small screws holding the top plastic cover and lift it…

…make sure the uncovered display is safe from things like rain or birds, or you’ll have much more trouble cleaning it…

…the mist is caused by humid air trapped inside which condensate on the top cover when it gets cold, so just by opening the cover and letting the water evaporate, we solved part of the problem…

…therefore you want to be doing this when it is nice and sunny outside…

…here are the parts that were removed from the scooter…

…once I had the cover outside, I decided to wash it and dry it properly before putting it back in place…

…now mount the sparkilngly clean and DRY display cover back on the scooter…

…headlight goes back on, don’t forget to re-connect the two cables…

…make sure it fits nicely, there are several plastic hitches that need to click in place under the hood…

…after you screw the hidden screw underneath the headlight back in, the horn cover can go back…

…now brake fluid covers…

…and lastly, the mirrors…

…everything is back in place…

…and the display is not fogged up anymore…

…I’ve done this couple of weeks ago and still no appearance of the mist inside, so it looks like it has been fixed for now. I suspect the black button for setting the clock is the way how water found its way in. So I’m expecting that if the scooter is left outside in the rain, it can happen again. Hopefully not anytime soon as we have a long journey ahead of us.