Modern Vespa

If I had mad skillz like that, I'd just walk around with stuff balanced on my head all time just because I could!

Speaking of racks…. This is a pretty rad piece of kit:

Yeah. MRP make one that's pretty similar to that. He has some of those tiedowns I'm going to add to cart next time I see them and think about it.

Getting back to clutches for a second, I had the VBB out today and the clutch on it feels so light it's almost hard to ride. It's a stock-ish 7-spring in my SprintV motor, but it shifts so cleanly and with so little effort, it's just a joy to ride, even if it's my slowest scoot. The power is more than adequate for Nashville rush hour, though. Good for dodging through traffic, too, on those 8"s.

On another note, I'm starting to think about paint again, even though I'm still getting the mechanicals nailed down. This thing deserves to be beautiful.

Of course, part of this might be driven by seeing a couple of bikes I really liked the look of.

The first one isn't a smallie, but I dig the color.

I also ran across a picture of Vader's smallie, which I've always thought was a gorgeous bike.

And I still haven't ruled out the Verde Mela option, either:

Meh...stupid SIP...sent me one of their Bitte Zahlung Freigeben (approximate translation: Send moar monies!!!!) messages...for two cents. Trying to pay that then kicked off my bank's anti-fraud system, which cascaded from there.

If they'd shipped it on Monday when I ordered it, the Euro wouldn't have fallen against the dollar in the time window from order to processing, thus avoiding the two cent discrepancy which they then made me cover.

so .

I hate that shit. It has turned me off ordering from them. That shenanigans never happens with any other vendors.

Can't say no to the best colour for a vehicle (grey that is).

I'm toying with the idea to paint mine Ferrari silver… but still on the fence.

Don't think I ever got to post with vader… seems like a Stella guy.

His knowledge lives on in this forum though. Urgh… the worst… more monies email

Thought we'd have the clutch cover update this weekend and more wheelie videos!

My tuning adventures are really Vader's fault. He was the one who convinced me that I could learn to tune a motor and gave me enough advice to make me dangerous at it. And, well...we've seen where that's gotten me.

I'm really torn on the whole color issue. I'd really like to do something that maybe light gray with maybe a blue-ish hue. I have no idea how to effectively shop for paint, though. My previous colors were just chosen out of Summit Racing's house label paint line. The quality and price are great, but the color choices are a bit limited. No such luck. I'm more annoyed that the Monies Email set off USAA's anti-fraud system than anything, but not actually upset because I'm going to be out of town most of the weekend, so it won't really impact me from a progress perspective. Meanwhile, I have tires and a wiring harness heading this way from Greasy.

Swapping the clutch cover will be trivial, plus I'll install the CHT and and rear shock at the same time. I wish I had remembered to order a rear shock mount when I ordered buffers, but I didn't, so...*shrug*. I have the anti-dive kit for the front fork, though, so that'll go on along with the front shock.

If tires and wires haven't arrived by the time that's complete, I'll hack up the existing 6V harness enough to get some lights going (mental note: check if I have a Normally Open rear brake switch...).

Maybe I'll even go crazy and pressure wash the body, ospho the rust, and knock out a dent or two.

What I'm pretty sure of is that I'll have the fastest rat in town.

Verde Mela or Positrono Yellow.

Both look soooooooooooooooo good on smallies and faster than grey by an order of 2.

Find a paint supply house that is established and independent. Bring them a paint swatch. (You can borrow my Max Meyer color chart.) And have them mix you up a batch of whatever paint tickles your fancy. If they are good they will make sure you approve of the custom color before they mix a full batch. Worth the effort and coin imho.


That said... there is nothing wrong with a sleeper rat! Powerwash and ospho and then buff and shine would look oh so fine.

Hmmm...Positano Yellow...if I hadn't just done the VBB orange, it might be on the table, but as is, I think it's either Verde Mela or Gray.

And, of course, sleeper rat in the meantime. Bad Rattlecan FTW!

For reference..

Kajiit House of Wares Order Status Update:

We are currently working on your order

thx!

-shipping dept

Verde Mela is my absolute favorite color on 50 special square headset bikes.

that with just stock silver fork and rims with some low-key black and silver accents (ie not all murdered out) just pops to me.

I think an ospho wash and roll it would be awesome.

Other than going all black on the fork and wheels, the VBB is pretty much what you're describing and it definitely turned out better than I was expecting. That fact it looks good murdered out is one reason I'd do gray on the smallstate, tho. Ospho & Go has to be the plan for a while, just because I need to unload a bike or two so I even have room to paint anything.

First out the door will be the White Stella--if anyone know someone looking for a freshly rebuilt almost stock Stella, including electric start, tell them to hit me up.

Next, I want to get my OG Stella sorted out and possibly sold off as well. It's been through the wars, so I have to decide how much effort I want to put into that. Plus it has no motor in it right now.

And the Sprint V needs some love, but that's little stuff, like a leaky 2t tank. The irony: I finally built an autolube bike, and it leaks 2t. Go figure.

If I'm going to rock it rough, I should go full Mad Max and put the light bar on, too.

😬 I meant Giallo Cromo. (Not positano yellow). Agree that positano is too close to your citrus vbb!

Anyway. Verde Mela , grey, rat… you can't go wrong.

I feel better already, knowing my order is el gato negro-approved!

And that's the "problem"...so many options, all of them good!

All of em good, but the Verde is BITCHEN!

The Stella needs to go to a new home stat… lol

How about a nice purple?

It was a one-eyed, two-stroke, flying, purple, pavement-eater...

Sorry to disappoint Team Purple, but that ain't happening.

108, I take it that's a vote *against* the Light Bar Mad Max option?

Lol… I re-read the post and can see how that could come off like that!

Far from the truth

But what I really meant was… "you gotta free the garage of space, help fund more go-fast projects…!!!"

I'm looking at smallie front disc brake systems… time to sell some stuff!!

That's what I wanted to hear! And much better than dropping in shirtless Prince pictures into my thread! Yes on both of those! My friend who said they were going to by the Stella walked it back, I just haven't made getting it out of the workshop a priority. We're getting into some prime riding weather around here, so hopefully I can move it out quickly.

Yeah, here's a scoot in silver to balance out team purple…

Can't be riding an aubergine down the road, no matter how fast…

That looks sweet! It sounds like what you're describing is pretty much the OG paint on my Sprint.

And I did a quick test fit of the light bar. I dig it.

That doesn't look wheelie-proof…

Zip ties or welding???

Sprint is pretty cool looking. What engine is on that again?

i vote no on the light bar - sorry

I'll re-work the top bar to fit it on, plus need to bend the sides in a bit for the narrower frame. Zip ties for the wiring, though, for sure. Bright neon zip ties!

The Sprint has my Malossi 210 in it, but only a 24/24 with stock crank, intake timing, and minimal port matching. I'm not sure it's currently more powerful than the SprintV's actual motor, which lives in my VBB now, but has had a lot more work done to it.

It's all good either way. It's a bit over the top, for sure, and also would be a huge PITA to get wired in when I don't really need it. If I could find a slick Hella driving light, I might consider adding that, though.

So a quick update...I had a visit from the SIP Fairy this afternoon, which means that I now have pretty much everything I need to hopefully get this project across the line. New shocks, clutch cover, other bits n' bobs.

I forgot to order a rear shock-to-frame mount. Does anyone know if the Clauss Studios rear shock-to-frame mount will fit on a smallframe?

Greasy sent the best box ever of fun random stuff, homemade jelly, and candy. Oh yeah, there were a couple of tires and a wiring harness in there, too. I was out of town, but my daughter's roommate was dogsitting and she texted my daughter, "I think your dad got a box of toilet paper. Does he go by C-Money?" Well done, sir!

I pressure washed and ospho'ed yesterday. There's a lot more pitting on the floorboards than I realized. Not a big deal now, but I'm probably going to be fabricating new boards when I do the paint.

Tires and rims are off getting mounted. I'm probably going to hack the existing 6V harness to get the ball rolling. I wired in the regulator and kill switch last night, but only the tail light is working, so as soon as I think I need to run a wire, I'll give up and replace the harness.

Too bad I can't work on it tonight, because I'm dying to see what sort of difference the new clutch cover makes.

yuss! I'm glad the bits made it there in a a reasonable amount of time and unscathed. sending the jams with parts is always a little bit of a gamble. and yes, I did make those from fruit I grew. hope you and yours enjoy!

let me know if that harness is going to work out for you and keep us in the loop on the clutch cover! inquiring minds and all that.

I can check the fit of the clauss mount on a smallie tomorrow when I'm in the office if need be. just hit me up with a reminder.

eagerly await the next set of updates!

Is that pupper giving you side-eye?

I smell progress coming…!

The clutch lever is magic… completely different feel. It's honestly 1 finger clutch now.

Dunno why it works the way it does, didn't think pivoting arm lengths could make so much difference.

But it's still a bit weird, it's not like the largeframes, where you have a bit of play before the clutch actuates.

It still feels like it's "on" all the time.

Pooch is telling him to quickly install the cover…!

The magic is in the gear of the plunger and actuator axle

Saw this on IG.

Thought you might enjoy it, plus the fact we already brought the crimaz clutch covers

The tutorial of the install is neat

I'll probably map out the harness today and make sure it's good-to-go. The more I think about it, the less interested I am in making the 6v harness work. I'm hoping the tire shop will get the new shoes back to me today so I can swap those while the motor is pulled down and the pipe is off, too.

Based your testimonial, 108's, I'm pretty stoked to get the new clutch cover on. If it works as well as you say, I don't know why I'd spend a few (more likely several) hundred bucks more on a hydraulic cover. Travis Barker was just trying to figure out if there was anything tasty for him in that box. That'd be Josie, the other dog, who was already out in the back yard doing route clearance from the back door to the workshop, making sure there were no squirrels lurking in ambush. The jam is superb! It reminds me of when I was growing up. Every year, we'd make the trek to my grandparents' house in Amarillo, TX to help with picking and canning/jamming fruit off these enormous (at least I remember them as enormous) apricot trees they had. They'd send the grandkids (i.e. me, cousins, brother, etc.) up into the trees with baskets to pick the ones that were too high or on branches that didn't support the pressure of a ladder. So. Many. Apricots. And guava. Lots of guava jam in my childhood.

My dad later told me that he had fallen out of a fruit tree when he was about that same age and broken his arm doing the exact same thing, but not on that particular set of trees, so apparently totally different risk profile.

I'm excited to get this project really rolling so I can get to dialing in the carb and really making the magic happen.

Yeah the crimaz is worth it, actually it's probably the only way… lol

Forgot to take photos of the cover today (again…) because I second guessed myself on the torque specs for the cover.

Worked out that I did do the job properly. But found out it's impossible without the wheel off.

I'm sure you could fit in a spanner and guess 8nm on a largeframe… but don't call me on that one…