Modern Vespa

So having not finished my 2003 ET2 Rat Scooter project I came across a 2018 Vespa Sprint 50 100 miles away with an asking price of $350. The pictures showed a true basket case and the current owner being a shade tree mechanic swore it would only take $100 and a few hours to get it back on the road. He was probably correct if he hadn't tried to get it running. The body was in pretty good shape compared to the rest of the Vespas I have though the color is growing on me. What I liked about it was it has the 4 valve 4 stroke like the S50 that I had built up a few years ago so I knew it would go fast. Even better it had 12"wheels so it would handle better on top of everything else. So I took a trip, the farthest I've ventured from home in a year so it was nice just getting out.

His directions and GPS got me right there. The scooter was buried behind some other discarded projects and we dug it out. The engine was out of the scoot and most of the plastics were pulled off. He started to tell me how it wouldn't start so he started to work on it. He had 2 carbs, a Keihin and a Chinese unknown as well as 2 intakes. O took the Keihin and left the other. I would ask where parts were and he would dig around and find them. Finally we got to the motor The cylinder and head were off and the valves were out. He started to tell me that the intake valves were damaged from a bad valve adjustment. I re installed them and they all fit well and the valve seats looked fine. He was missing 3 of the springs and all of the cups. He just had a big pile of nuts and bolts and engine parts on the work bench so I just took it all to sort through later. The seat looked good and the only broken plastic was the glove box hinges. He didn't have a key but that was fine I would rekey it anyway.

I got him down to $300 and he got his paperwork. The scoot was bought new in May of 2018 and he had a bill of sale for $600 from December of 2018. The signatures on the dealers bill of sale matched his Bill of Sale so I could see it was legit. Though on the phone he said he had just picked it up. When I got there he had owned it for 6 months. But judging by all of his projects I can see how he forgot. Judging by the dust on everything 2 years sounded right.

With no back wheel we laid it in the back of the truck on a sleeping bag and I strapped it so it wouldn't move. The engine and other parts went in the back seat and home I went $300 poorer. On the way home I did the math and I had to have at least $700 in easy parts already removed that just needed a bath. So it wasn't a loss.

Here are the pictures from Craigslist and when I got it home:

I got a neighbor to help me unload it, He shook his head and said you need this like a hole in the head. I got it up on the lift and blew it off. I stuck a new battery in and turned it on. 5000 miles not bad for a scoot that was probably used to commute on. I started poking around the electrics to see what was working and what wasn't. I started to do some detective work to figure out why he couldn't get it to start. I noticed a cheap starter relay lying in the floorboards next to the OEM relay. I connected up the OEM relay and hooked the starter up and hit the starter button and nothing. Oh the kill switch which was bare of any labeling was on so I turned it off and the starter jumped to life. Hmm maybe that was the problem. everything seemed to work except the right rear turn signal, probably a bulb or wire. Judging by how they were dangling I was going to replace them and wire the running lights up and make it Euro turn signals.

Next i turned to drain the fuel and it was dry, hmmm maybe why no start? The vacuum petcock was gone and the fuel line was hacked up so that will get replaced. I then went to clean the carb and the screws on the bottom had been butchered so bad I was looking at my Dremel to get them out. I pulled out my trusty JIS Philips head screw driver and there was just enough there to get them out. I pulled the pilot jet first and it was clogged. With carb cleaner and my favorite wire I managed to free it and gave it a good cleaning, next the main jet and atomizer got cleaned. The slide was a little sticky so I pulled the diaphragm and got it all moving well Carefully seated it and screwed it back down. Tested it with the airgun and it was sliding nice. I tested and cleaned out the enricher circuit and buttoned it all back up.

I then checked and it still had oil so I drained it and cleaned the screen filter that had a few small flecks in it. The oil was low and pretty black but not burnt smelling. next off came the CVT cover. The usual belt dust and the variator faces were corroded. The clutch bell was blue on one side not sure about that. The rollers were dirty but still round. There was some marker on the case like it had been serviced. so I made a list of the basics to get it running and it was $215 and about 2 weeks to get. All small stuff. I have carpel tunnel surgery in a week so about the time I'm healed I should have the parts. Meanwhile more cleaning and poking.

Here are some more pictures:


One valve in

The valve he was suspect of

Rear view on the lift

Front view

Engine temped together

I'm enjoying following along. Thanks for sharing here.

Greetings:

That's quite a score for the money, Pink! Love the color, and the little you will have to do to restore it cosmetically. Good quality work so far.

This is good stuff. Thanks for taking all the pics and keep 'em coming!

I really like that green. Keep us posted, and good luck for the surgery.

So AF1 is way out on the parts for the head so I decided I had a perfectly good head and Malossi cylinder on the S50 in storage. I put the engine back in the Sprint and got it off the lift. Then I pulled the engine from the S50 and pulled what I needed for the Sprint. Put it back together and back to storage. The S50 may get the cheaper Naruku cylinder and I start a thread on that.

Cleaned everything up, got rid of the carbon and put it back on the Sprint. Then I had Carpel Tunnel Surgery and have been laid up for a few weeks. Surgery went well I just don't want to strain it.

While recuperating I bought 2 new tires, Heidenau 61's. I have read good things about these tires and thought I would try them. I upsized them a step which I also heard was a good idea. It turns out they are the same size as the tires on the GTS so if they don't work out I have a use for them. On the order I got a new belt, I'll keep you updated, maybe this week I can poke at it some more.

Time to update on this. I am now fully recovered but busy at work. I got the Malossi kit from my S50 on it and was able to get it running. I made a few rookie mistakes as I only had short bursts of time to work on it. Some how I managed to tighten the hose clamp on the intake a good inch from the carb. It ran a lot lean. The carb that came with it had issues with the float and drain so the S50 carb went on. I have it running but it's still hard to start. I checked the valves and the intake was within limit but not perfect. I'll double check and may have to go hunting shims because its the S50 head. I did get the Hiedenau k61's on and they are pretty nice, better than the bald ones that were on it. It is a nice riding scooter. I think as a 150 it would be a good choice. The 8cc 4valve with power cam helps. I need to get the starting worked out and tune the CVT. I did find plastics off of a yellow Primavera that looks good with the green. I'll get those on soon. Got some black leg shield and floor board trim that will look nice.

I went up 1 size on both tires and realized they are the same size as my GTS.

I'll try and update more frequently in the future.