2002 X9 500SL new to me.

[macplaxton]

Hi all!

I've been lurking for a bit and have been consulting this valuable resource for some time - it is very much appreciated

Way back in December last year, I accidentally bought an X9. Another driver at work was offering it for €300, so even though I didn't actually need it, I bought it anyway.

I eventually got round to collecting it mid-February. The battery was dead and despite a few attempts at reviving it, it had very little capacity and so I just ran it down to zero and reversed charged it, which was enough to get the thing fired up and brought the 50km home.

On the way home then clocks eventually woke up so I knew what speed I was doing and I did hear the fan kick in, although the gauge was nudging past the half-way mark.

It ran a bit hot and just into the red at the end of the journey and puked a load of coolant out. The fan was working at the start, so a few days later I got round to investigating the cause.

Starting with a refill, it managed to lose that coolant on a short test ride out of town. I eventually worked my way through a load of bodywork and managed to get the radiator and fan out. The fan had given up and pulling the motor to bits revealed why - the crappy plastic brush holder was all melted.

So it sat for a bit longer while I decided what to do next and I bought a quality used fan/rad/pipes and bottle from Germany and fitted those along with a new battery. Then I had further electrical problems with the clocks which resolved with a wiggle. One of the front indicator orange domes had gone walkabout, so I've just bought a new pair.

So finally today, nearly 6 months after buying it, I've stuck some petrol in and done 42km to work. I did do a 10km test run yesterday to make sure it wasn't going to boil and the gauge seems happily sat in the middle.

It rides okayish, but I've not got any other small wheelers to compare it with. I've pretty much always ridden motorcycles.

Adding it to my policy was a bit fat zero (Already had 3 bikes on it) and yesterday I broke my own rule of 'never add up' what I've spent it on it. I suppose if I keep it I'll get my money's worth out of it.

Anyway, I'll carry on posting about things as I get round to doing them.

[Dave Milnes]

Worth the effort and not really that complicated when you get to know it's quirks. There are manuals for it in the "HOW TO" section that will open up to you after another post.
Probably worth checking the thermostat, but it sounds like if it was stuck it's freed off now.
These bikes are relly sensitive to tyres not only pressure but wear and if they are squared off the handling does feel weird, or if the steering has even the smallest notch in the dead ahead position which means the steering yoke lower bearing needs changing.
It sounds like you have fettled the worst and probably just need to iron out the niggles a bike which has been unused for ages tends to get.
Spares are still available from Easyparts.nl and Fowlers and some of the later Evo parts will fit, just not brakes or front struts and the belt and transmission parts. Compare part numbers if in doubt.

[macplaxton]

Thanks for the reply Dave.

First proper ride to work yesterday started with a 13 litre fill to first click. The gauge was reading a ⅓ before I started, but I'm reliably informed that the gauge sender might be stuck and to use the included bamboo stick to check the level

After getting home this morning, the trip has just over 80km on it and the fuel gauge is showing ⅔, which given the tiny tank seems about right. (I'm more used to filling a 25 / 28L tank on a BMW R1100RT / Honda ST1100)

Yesterday the rear tyre arrived with DPD in the morning and the front with GLS in the afternoon (same invoice). I did notice before ordering the Michelins that the Michelin.co.uk online tyre checker didn't offer up the rear size, so I wonder if they have stopped making the City Grip 2's in that size? Date codes on the tyres are 0125 (rear) and 1625 (front) so both recent production.

https://www.michelin.co.uk/motorbike/browse-tyres/by-dimension/140/70/14/68/P

What sort of mileages would I expect front/rear on these? I might get another rear in for stock.

[Dave Milnes]

I am not a good indicator of tyre or belt mileage as I get a lot more out of them than average. I used to get 8-10,000 out of a set wearing pretty even front and rear and 12,000 out of a belt which still looked good when removed.
If the gauge is moving it might be that the float arm in the tank has got trapped under the filter on the inlet. You have to get the float above the filter when inserting into the tank. Getting the fuel pipes removed from the tank top is a black art but if you can manage it, then unscrew the retaining ring and lift out the pump, you can probably sort the sender out.
Typical MPG is around 40 although on long continuous steady runs 75 is possible, but any cold starts really hammers the average.

[macplaxton]

8k miles is what I can get out of a Bridgestone BT023 rear on a R1100RT and the front of same about 10k miles! Average fuel on the same is around 50 mpg. Most of that is commuting 27 miles each way to work ⅔rds of it motorway.

When it stops raining I might investigate the fuel sender.

I had a reply from Michelin which explains the rear tyre situation:

Good afternoon,

Thank you for contacting Michelin customer service.

Regarding your query about the Michelin City Grip 2 tyre stock availability we can confirm the following tyre is still in production however we are waiting for new stock to arrive which may explain why it has limited availability at the moment:

140/70 - 14 M/C 68S REINF CITY GRIP 2 R TL (CAI: 003142)- Estimated Availability August 2025


Kind regards,

Katarzyna, your Michelin adviser

[macplaxton]

Yesterday I took my lawn mower fuel can with me to work just in case. I still haven't got to the bottom of the tank yet, but it will do 3 trips to work and a short errand or two. Range for me will be just over 300km (190 miles)

Fuel gauge is definitely playing up as it was static all day yesterday at 3 blobs above the red.

So far it's doing okay at sound 65 MPG, but I'm not thrashing it. MPG link in my signature is to Spritmonitor.de , an alternative to Fuelly.

[Dave Milnes]

Check if it's the dash gauge needle thats sicking or the sender. Press and hold clock and set then turn on the ignition and the dials should all do a full sweep and settle back to zero before temp and fuel climb to the correct place. If the fuel gauge fails to sweep the full range then it may just need an adjustment of the needle on the shaft.

[macplaxton]

I reset the clocks after having the fairing apart. I recall them doing a full sweep. Also when switching off, all needles return to zero, so I'm pretty sure it's the sender end of things.

Something to investigate tomorrow on my day off.

[macplaxton]

If the gauge is moving it might be that the float arm in the tank has got trapped under the filter on the inlet. You have to get the float above the filter when inserting into the tank. Getting the fuel pipes removed from the tank top is a black art but if you can manage it, then unscrew the retaining ring and lift out the pump, you can probably sort the sender out.

Sorted this. Spotted the problem straight away when I had the panel off.


Fault: Gauge operates normally until it gets to 3 white blobs above the 3 red reserve blobs, then it stops at that point despite fuel getting lower.

Cause: Fuel level sender float arm not operating through full range because orientation of the pump is incorrect.

Solution: Pay attention to the note in the manual.





As found:





After slackening ring, 'clocking' it correctly and re-tightening the ring.

[Dave Milnes]

Never thought of that, even without reading the manual it would seem to me to be sensible to line everything up neatly.

[macplaxton]

I'm pleased to report that the fuel gauge is still working properly after several fill-ups.  Can't grumble at the fuel consumption either.

I've splashed out €151 (delivered) on a NOS Piaggio top case as it seemed to make sense compared to buying a dog-eared used one. The cheapest used ones were missing backrests and locks and looking a bit battered. That's before taking into account getting hold of the heavier (couldn't find a figure for them) bar end weights too and any refurbishment to make it half presentable.

The other idea of robbing the Givi from my Pan Euro was discounted as a universal mounting plate was about €50 anyway.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/234532732942








It has the everything including the weights and liner, the only things missing is are the key and the mounting bolts. Not a problem as I've rekeyed locks before and it would be nice to have a one-key scooter.

After taking the big nut off I had to give it a severe beating with a rubber mallet to get the whole lock out of the lid. I could have just left it in and just pulled the barrel instead...




Studying the barrel and key I can see it is a Fiat lock similar to those on MK1 Puntos, etc. (There was a Panda reference made somewhere here). The key blade is a Silca GT15R and copy I have is a JMA FI-13.P6.

Trying my key in the lock was 3 of 9 flush. The lock front plate with the shutter needs to be prised off with a small screwdriver to extract the wafer bar to allow rewafering. A round brass pin and spring for the lock shutter will drop out. When the rectangular brass bar is pulled, the wafers may now make their bid for freedom.





















Juggling wafers got me to 7 of 9. I'll most probably file the last two, but I'm still trying to fully identify the wafers. The ones I found for the GT15R are "door" ones with a rectangular notch in the side, rather than "ignition" ones that have a rounded notch.

However, I can only see those in 1/2/3 variants and the wafers in the lock have letters A, B, D, E, F (I assume there is a C). More research needed.

Now info on the bar end weights:

Chrome:





473g / 485g each with bolt
(456g / 468g each without bolt)

Black:




597g / 597g each with bolt
(580g / 580g each without bolt)

So around 25% heavier.




Looking in the gallery for mounting clues, I could only find this:



Which I gather is a Internal hex domed bolt, washer, some sort of length of spacer sleeve that bolts onto the Piaggio carrier platform. Whilst I can see the front two holes are clear, I'm mulling over why exactly on the rear two holes there have the  bolts going half way into the threads from the underside, leaving a blind hole.

I haven't found an exploded parts/accessories diagram to see what was originally done. I'll find or make some spacers sleeves up in due course.

[Dave Milnes]

The OEM rack steelwork has a top and bottom plastic cover. The top is attached by 6 screws up from through the lower cover around the edge then there are two dome head screws going up through the bottom part into captive nuts then the four screws holding the box on go into captive nuts from the top if I remember correctly.

[macplaxton]

You remember correctly.

I got round to fitting the top box last week. I found a couple of spacers in my toolbox, they were from the used radiator I bought. They go through the rubber top mounts, same as on the mirrors and screen I think. Piaggio part no. 273288

After finding those two, the previous owner gave me some other bits and pieces including a bag of fasteners - which conveniently yielded another pair.




There's enough thread with a M6 x 25mm setscrew poking through a large diameter washer and the thickness of the base of the box.








I've a little more work to do to the lock. It's working just now, but I need to do a little more work to it to make it work better.





Still a 30-footer, but I can carry more stuff.

[Dave Milnes]

Looking good. Not seen one that colour before.

[macplaxton]

What? Grey?  ::

Previous owner wasn't happy with the original silver. The blue looks nice, but I'm partial to yellow like my car and push bike. Easier to find. It's all way down the priority list at the minute.

Last tank was 3.9L/100km which in old money is 72.4 mpg. It was rather boring though keeping it under 90km/h and not giving it a handful! I'll have to ask the PO what was modded transmission wise. I vaguely remember him saying something about geared for top speed rather than acceleration.

Bearings turned up this morning - ordered Thursday afternoon last, but missed the cut and just had a bank holiday here, so that's a job coming up. Also ordered my balancer cones for these wheels so will change the tyres too.

Just over 2000 miles clocked up on this so far, so it's earning its keep.

[macplaxton]

PO gave me this yesterday, he said it had got soaked in oil and needs a clean. Such luxury!

[Dave Milnes]

The rollers in the 500SL were IIRC 25g x 6off and later Evos were 18g x 8off. Specs are in here somewhere, it's been so long since such things were discussed I have forgotten.
I do remember though that it was generally considered to go no more than 22g for SL and 16g for Evos to boost acceleration without sacrificing top end.
Heavier than standard gives better top end but slower acceleration and lighter rollers the opposite so lighter is more usual and also Dr Pulley sliders were preferable to OEM rollers as they last almost indefinitely where as rollers get flat spots and stop 'rolling'. Finding them is difficult though.

[macplaxton]

Last tank was slightly thirstier at 3.93L/100km (72.1 mpg).

I'll have a poke around soon to see what's exactly in there as the owner previous to the seller was his brother and he apparently put in some Malossi parts in there...

The last and only scooter I had was an Italjet D50 Dragster that I bought for £50 back in 2006. That was derestricted and the I remember changing the D-shaped rollers on that!  ::

The PO also gave me the variator locking tool.

[Solo]

looking at the top box you fitted.

I have 5 X9 top boxs, dunno how i ended up with 5,

1 silver
2 blue
2 yellow

[macplaxton]

Excellent!

What's the story with the two different sorts of backrests?

[macplaxton]

I have been a bit distracted with doing work on one of my cars in preparation for it's annual test.

Also my mileage has been down the last month as I've been working 3 days a week to use up some annual leave.

I got round to putting the City Grip front tyre on as the Bridgestone was looking a little sorry for itself. I didn't bother balancing it as I had to go to work and would be taking it out again anyway to sort the head bearings.





Always nice to have a new front tyre that rolls gradually into corners. 

[macplaxton]

Next job up was to actually do the steering head bearings.

Wheel back out, mudguard off and brake calipers plus speedo drive out of the way.

After removing the handlebar covers and unclamping the bar I tapped the locknut off with a punch as I didn't have a C-spanner handy in the right size.

Lowering the forks out I was greeted with this:





Yep, they've been neglected a long time.


Then I removed the races, tapping them out with a 400mm pry bar that was to hand. Only thing I had with a bend in the end to catch the back of the race.

This was the state of the top one:



And the bottom one which was very wavy:



I hauled the forks into the shed and set about removing the bottom bearing from the stem. I managed to get behind it and move it up, but encountered a small obstacle on the way.





The steering tube was slightly belled in the vicinity of the steering lock hole, so I dressed it with a file and then was able to get the bearing up and over.



I thought I might as well do the forks whilst it was at the bench, but first I had to go to town to find some 20W (only had 10W in the shed and some brands only go up to 15W)



Not a lot came out of the forks, but they didn't appear to be leaking (at least not that badly), so I just cleaned and flushed all the crap out.

I presume this is a standard spring from a 35mm Kayaba.



Didn't have any problem removing these with the ugga dugga. I had plenty of the right size copper washers as they appear to be the same size as those used on brake banjos.



The damper rod ends are definitely 12mm hexes.



And the fork caps I put on in-situ with a 10mm hex on a ratchet combination spanner. I reused the O-rings as they appeared good, but took measurements for next time.



Whilst the wheel was out I thought I might as well change the bearings. When refitting the pair on the speedo side, the out one was a tad loose, so I blobbed some bearing fit on it.

Balanced up the front wheel. The speedo drive tabs seem to stick out a little too much. By that I mean I wasn't able to get the compound balancer cone touching the bearing on that side, so I just used a universal one that I had.



It was only 10g out.

Eventually I got the lot back together and set the bearings by feel. What a transformation!

I still haven't got into the transmission yet. I looked at the cover screws and found one hiding behind the side panel work, so have deferred it for now. I only got a small peak in from underneath.



Next is service time. I've got the filters and then looked into the drain arrangement, to find no washers, just O-rings. Looking up the sizes and AliExpress, I bought a load to keep me going for a little while...

[Dave Milnes]

It looks like the head bearings have been done before as there is hardly any grease on them from the factory.
The oil drain has a groove with an o-ring in the fixed 'washer' something I never found the need to change and never had any problems just 'nipping' it up.
As for the top box back rests, the very first 250SL and early 500SL boxes had a rectangular hard plastic one then they changed to a soft padded one that wrapped over the top. The box itself never changed and nearly always needed it's own key as most owners never suceeded in getting the lock out of the box to do what you have done. I tried and whacked it but it refused to budge!
After all this restoring the transmission will be easy.
On the SL you don't have to remove any bodywork other than the lower dark grey one to get the transmission casing off but I would advise removing the upper side panels and footboard so you can really see clearly around the variator.

[RobShed]

Great thread.

[macplaxton]

Thanks for the tips and info. Much appreciated.

I like to keep consumables in stock. The seals place I sometimes use would happily give away a dozen F.O.C. (otherwise there's a minimum spend), but getting to them involves petrol. The bags were around £4 each delivered and I've only got to get to the front door. Besides that, I would need them if I didn't have them...

The same box I think is used on the old Hexagon.

I'm pondering changing the screen as it is a bit short even in it's highest position. Maybe some handguards to stop my gloves getting too soggy on the exposed side. Or maybe a winter screen with the built-in hand deflectors. Decisions. Decisions.