X9 Owners & Riders Club

I haven't used the X9 since before Christmas so started it up at the weekend and although the battery was a little low it fired up OK. The only thing was it had a weird misfire so every 10 seconds or so it missed a beat. It didn't stall and it revved fine then I barely touched the kill switch and the immobiliser LED came on and the misfire got worse. I flicked the switch off, then back on and it wouldn't start. Several flicks of the switch and it came back on and started with no misfire. Time to buy a new switch as this is already my spare having a similar fault with the original a few years ago.
One thing I noticed going onto the usual spares places, Easyparts, Fowlers. Suttons etc is the lack of parts still available for the X9. Ebay seems to have a loads of Italian and Greek dealers selling all new parts off at reasonable prices as if clearing out their stores. Maybe the X9 is reaching end of life as anything much more than renewable service items are becoming harder to find. Luckily somone not far from me is braking a low mileage accident damaged 500 Evo so I have snapped up a few bits.

A friend of Solo's needs a stat for a 500sl and it would appear that they are no longer available. Not sure how easy a conversion to take the Evo one will be, I may have to find out one day.
Also, it would appear that AJ Suttons have ceased trading!

Bob

Try Aprillia delaers for the Atlantic, these are still available in the US but the water pump cover would need changing and maybe the hoses forward to the rad. The Evo has a steel one the SL is all rubber. It will be a drop the engine out to do it easily without taking your knuckles off so probably best done next time the water pump seals go.

My bits have arrived. I bought a pair of forks suposedly only 10,000 miles in as new condition and when unboxed apart from a bit of brake dust around the calliper mounts they are immaculate. They were sold as a pair of fork legs, but the box also contained the yoke with bearings, nuts etc and the wheel axle. Also like new. Definite bargain.
I also bought a coolant pipe, the steel one that runs under the footboard as my original was very corroded and several years ago I sanded it, painted it then bound it in a layer of gaffa tape to try to protect it and have been looking for a replacement for a while. The new one has a bit of crackled paint but is solid and with a rub down and a fresh coat of paint will be as good as new. I'll bung in a new rad I have had for a while as well.
I am also going to revisit my non standard rear shockers and make up some proper spacers for the top mountings rather than the bunch of penny washers I had to use as the eyes were not as wide as the OEM ones.
A new bearing in the transmission cover will hopefully cure the thrumming vibration that has developed over the last year or so and I have some new DrPulley sliders to go in along with a new belt which I might as well do while it's in bits. I want to improve the ride quality and cure rattles and vibrations as a main priority before the annual bash.
I will get the bike MOT'd first as it is then strip it down and do it over the Easter weekend as I will have the Sym on the road by then. I think riding the Sym when I got it highlighted a few issues with the X9 that I had not really noticed had deteriorated.
Roll on March when I will MOT and start using the Sym.

If X9 is getting harder to keep alive, it will be a nice classic Scooter- worth keeping one for prosperity

It's the simple things that work against this. If you crack a headlamp lens then find replacements are non existant for example, you can't get an MOT.

Worth checking the diameter of the brass centre of the variator Dave, Mine was 30.27mm, max allowable is 30.12mm, which explains my bad vibrations at low speed.

Bob

I was thinking of reverting back to the original 6 roller with lighter DrPulleys as that has not been used for more than about 10,000 miles as I swapped to an 8 roller way back. I liked the 6 roller with 24g sliders in the white/red X9. DrPulleys arrived yesterday, I just need the slider shoes now and that's everything.
I've booked the MOT for both bikes before Easter just need to sort out insurance for the Sym.
The vibes I have is at about 50-70mph when you can feel a throbbing that oscillates like a very sligh inbalance somewhere. I assumed rear wheel balance at first but then I changed wheels and it was exactly the same. I have never changed the transmission cover since new so that little bearing on the clutch shaft has done a lot of revs!

Lets hope its that bearing and nothing internal in the hub, which I had on my 125 but not heard of on a 500.

Bob

Checked play in the drop gears and it's fine. Oil is OK in the hub and no leaks.
One other possibility is the bearing in the swing arm as I changed the arm to a strap type rather than 3 bolt and it's been worse since then, so maybe the bearing was on the way out or the previous owner had the spacers wrong. As the vibration is speed rather than rev related it may just be that. I bought 2 bearings for the tran case as they were cheap so if they are the same size I'll change both.

This staying home is not the slightest problem for me, I haven't been out of the house since I got home from work a week last Thusday ago and never have I made so much progress on the model railway but now it's time to start doing something more oily! (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tqeQTbcAi39Cp9bVW9jynNmc_gOI2SBcuC1TTITBvOcdvSMBfBSbIPPUDxoYvj4IFr6QQe22q2AC-z1aAAQh_03WdWo1hASykV7180u67hGdiu-nLihasJQsBFpeelvixDknpcGCMWOF1qeI3A7Y2qPTokZhAfo_3sHSIPtEimgPR8XxWkTbL0RkvTSTw3HzLwJVF4VANRovCa1t5320V-ord1lgkclow8ufOWAA8Kc9oczPzD9fwXU5po1nBPvGiVjg0Ws0NdkjHThEeHHubXjh9r9MLkCLORiTtlh0_0iS-RiyGc9LfTgFZmBW6fiOmvDvw7gpXhHuvKfKcP7DUU4EVz7LRpYkkY9HqrVo6hmym8ih9jozu4CeWOdjncURqJzPVmP7KOOii-KCX7DpIqVud3zNvUehpqPjRIzGBovmOqYJzBZ6KqSvVEHEBK8k4f8hQLhw5ptKbPS4jgr_RjC90TBtXoCcUnTINTrveU3mjzXXL-UvJ6pNwNmUJPgcGe4hbZkFTLa9hk8LxVqmxkUqVc4TjpaQAU6W614kWO2Xu5kk-EEBl8laY-79YE6-CAkSOa5Z1skWkRHq_NaSDMmKLwKQ3U-XY0Huqi7LzMk7ir8ugK-Cz8che08gbjqA2Y0CY5UvBcTCvSrzehcjVYrY0EJSJ32wtMXGvXAuDfEaDfc6jhwsI8KO-K2CYA=w1222-h916-no)
Seen as how riding anywhere is not possible and my MOT has been extended for 6 months I might as well get on with the fettling I was going to keep for Easter weekend. As it's gone colder today I am going to just strip off all the plastics so I can see what's what under there. It shouldn't be too bad as I only rode it about 2000 miles last year, I used the Forza most of the time but I have an ever larger pile of 'new' parts stacking up in the garage and lots of time to fit them now.

Probably got time for another respray as well Dave......trust you’re keeping well....

Steve

Very well Steve, is this time keeping you busy with all the deliveries?
The X9 had a respray last Easter and new side marker lights. Quite filthy inside considering it's lack of use last year. Going to do the forks today. New struts and yoke with fresh bearings is job 1.

I am self employed on the agency,off course most of the haulage firms i am sent to have lost the General Haulage side of the work has gone,supply chain work is obviously still there,but transport firms have spare drivers from cancelled G.H. Bussiness so are being used on the supply chain network,i have had work last week.
I have now took April off as i have an 83 mother to think about,both my elder brother(who is autistic)and younger sister have underlaying health conditions,made sure Mum is well stocked up on food,although the panick buying seems to off subsided a fair bit,as well as being controlled by supermarkets.Take care of yourself,there is going to be some well fettled,sparkling machines around also some well kept gardens and newly decorated houses about at the end of this lockdown....

Regards

Steve

P.S. the admin and moderators area is showing on the main forum,well it is when i sign in

Oh yes so it is!  :D


I've got a BSA Bantam to put together, should get on with that, but seems less urgent now. Got the frame back from the frame straightening guy just in time, last Monday, that very evening Boris announced lockdown.

Mail orders still working, mostly.

Yes I ordered 2 spark plugs from Sparkplugs.co.uk on Monday afternoon, they arrived yesterday morning, barely 12 hours later. I actually got a Tesco delivery slot as well, first one I have been able to pick for the last 2 weeks, where all slots for the next three weeks are normally all full.
Got the steering bearings changed this last two days and the new yoke and forks fitted, then did the belt and new DrPulley sliders and a new bearing in both the idler pulley and the casing clutch shaft. Took a big nick out of my hand though trying to free up the top plastic plugs in the forks when I nipped my palm between the top of the fork tube and the drift I was belting with a hammer. Got them free though and packed with grease!
Next job for the weekend is to swap out the radiator for a spare that may help the motor stay a little cooler when idling and replace the steel feed pipe from the pump which is looking a bit worse for wear.

There's nowt to do on my Forza, in a normal world I'd have taken it for it's Annual Service sometime in the next few weeks. As it is now I have to go out and pick up meds in the next week or so, and can easily do an oil change when I get back home as the Forza uses the same filter as the Silverwing I used to have.

I've already completed my project, replacing a set of not very good blind spot mirrors with another more adjustable pair that I bought almost a year ago. The too short frame mounted mirrors are a widely criticised flaw on the new style Forza, the other being the sometime temperamental seat latch not engaging. I solved that with a very simple trick Meldrew did with his seat latch and it's been no trouble since.

Yes I got a Tesco delivery too, came in yesterday. OK for grub for a while now!

Almost done. Replaced the radiator and fan and the coolant pipes, changed the oil and filter and started to refit the panels.
There is a slight issue with the indicators now. LH is working but so is the RH front when LH is flashing. RH rear is not working at all. Has to be a wiring polarity problem.

When I had my Forza I solved the seat latch issue by removing the loop from the saddle and reshaping it from a rectangle to a rhombus then refitting it. This put the bottom of the loop centrally over the latch.
(https://www.geogebra.org/resource/hV9VA6pt/mbObSEDwcqnQLFlB/material-hV9VA6pt-thumb.png)

Hi,
I pick a stat from Poland last Christmas ( 2018 ).
It cost me 92£ this includes p&p and took 3 weeks to come.
I found out that my local car spares reconstruction he could have got me one for my x9.