Shortly after writing the small piece below my Leo lost power (october 2003). I've been riding ~100km and the last 50km or so was almost flat out with a good strong wind from behind. So I was almost flying (or as close as a 14ps scooter gets to that) and arrived without incidents at the ferry in Ebeltoft. But when I came to Odden it didn't run well and struggled just to get to 80km/h. I couldn't hear anything odd from the engine so I rode the last ~100km to work. Then I tried with a different sparkplug, cleaned the air filter etc but it did not get any better so later that week I rode it the ~200km home again.

Home I tried again with carb. cleaner etc but it did'nt deliver full power. But since I could not hear anythinh odd from the engine I suspected it was simply worn out. Since the Leonardo has a bad reputation for wrecking the engine at such low mileages - like many others with only one cylinder - I was not to optimistic with regards to it being possible to repair it at a reasonable cost. Id had after all done 63800km. So I took the train the next week and started looking for a different ride - I considered many different possibilities including Suzuki Burgman 400 and Aprilia Pegaso as well as many others

So it was mostly by impulse I bought an Yamaha XT600Z Ténéré. It was a Swiss 3DS (one square headlight) from 1988 sold as new in Denmark in 1994 by Fisker Motorcykler and had just received a factory new engine after the first blew up at only 37000km. I bought it privately from the first and only owner and thought that with the new engine and full service history it could not be the worst choice :-) I did'nt have proper clothing with me and rode it home in shoes, jeans and a almost windproof jacket and a borrowed cross helmet and a pair of wool gloves. After 45km the sun was down at it started snowing, but I kept going and arrived at the ferry like a snowman. I then called my wife and and she agreed to drive the 100km down to Ebeltoft with my riding gear. But she had forgotten my boots so the the last 100km home was also in soaked shoes, but luckily the snow was melting so the roads where not to slippery. It has served me well the last 2,5 years and i've done close to 50000km on it without major problems - I've not had to use the recovery service, not even once. On average I've almost used that for the Leonardo once a year while it was running (2 broken belts, rear wheel bearings, loose nut in vario after service and after the exhaust was leovinci freeway was stolen)

In November 2005 I finally got around to open the engine (Pictures with description in Danish) Its classic Leo damage - but luckily the valve did not break so I only have to replace the valve and the rocker that runs on the camshaft and pushes the valve. The bearing that runs on the camshaft is also toasted on the exhaust side. I think the bearing on the intake side is still good enough but is has some play sideways.

Besides - I got an offer that I couldn't resist so I've also bought a "new" Leonardo 125. It is from 1997 but has only done 6300km (Pictures of my new one). I thought that if my repair should fail I can always just swap the engines :-) Remember we have very high vehicle taxes her in Denmark so it would probably cost 1500-2000 Euro to register it. In 1998 the list price of a 125ccm leo was 5400 Euro

Things take time - and sourcing cheap replacements parts can also be a problem so I did'nt have it back together again before marts 2006 and it started! But as soon as the engine warms and the auto choker shuts off, it died again goes out. Maybe not surprising since it has been standing still for a long time so I tried to clean the carburetor a few times. It showed sign of corrosion in several places but the needles, floats etc seemed ok. But it did not help.

I then took the carburetor from the new (1997 7000km) and fitted it with the main jet from a third carburetor since it was in better condition than the one from my original one (remember I bought a 150 wreck several years back and used the i.e the starter bearing)

Now it is running - jubii - and I've done ~75km on it - the top speed is again over 100km/h measured by GPS and average over both directions to copmpensate for wind and up/downhill (The earth aren't flat afterall :-)

I rode about 3000km with the leovinci 4road without the plug-in silencer and can't avoid wondering whether that may have cased the engine to run to hot. So I've but the silencer in and settled with the thought that many other Leonardo has had the same trouble with only half the mileage.

But I've started a small list of things to do...

• The fan in front of the radiator is dead - it is only in warm weather and to much traffic I've heard it running so not much of a problem.
• There is to much play in the engine-swing. That is between the tube and bearings in the engine case. I've already replaced it once before at 38680km (See winter work 2002 )but it is very much needed again
• Fixing a carburetor so the 125 is complete again - It also deserves a service with new oil, valve adjustments etc...

I now have a scanned version of the workshop manual available. It it way to big to send by email or for me to put online. But I can write it onto a CD-R and send it snail-mail.

If you like what you find on these pages, then please consider making a small donation to pay for the cost of having it online.

Well I've not really been anywhere but have been to busy or lazy to do update much here - But I have been riding. My leo has now passed 60000km. The last year has not been without issues. I've had two Malossi belts fail on me at low milages of 7-8000km. I have also had to :

• Replace the second Betella vario (to an original one)
• Replace the clutch
• Replace the rear pulleys. I could probably have gotten away with just replacing the bearing inside it, but I had a spare arround
• Replaced the second original exhaust. This one lasted 18000km before it broke just where it was fitted to the engine - It hat started to rattle long before that. The new exhaust is a 4Road from LeoVince and I bought it from Mop Shop [D]

If you have'nt allready then please join the leonardo forum on yahoo - I also answer questions there faster than direct email :-). If you can understand German there is also a very good german forum. See link page for details.