Modern Vespa

Those quick connectors are so great.. i use them on all my bikes.. between the fuel line and the carb and the fuel line and the tank.. if I need to pull either, it's just a click away

I didn't know MP had 'em cheaper.. I've been buying the BGM.. think I'll try the MP next time I'm in need.

Car Headlight Lamp on Vintage Vespa

This guy made an adjustable holder for the H4 bulb to alter the focus.

Last edited by Ginch on Mon, 15 Oct 2018 20:15:49 +0000; edited 2 times

If you try halogen, make sure you have a real glass lens and a real all metal reflector. They'll melt the plastic replacement stuff.

I have the halogen from Mercato and only swapped bulbs - now I'm gonna have to go check that focus length & see if it'll benefit from moving back some. The bulbs are considerably brighter & you can get 6V or 12V.
Thanks for the heads up.

@Vader - I think the BGM from Jet200 is five & a half bucks less, but maybe the MP stuff is better/easier or something. Go ahead & try a set and let us know how they compare? Now I'm curious.

Last edited by V oodoo on Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:06:32 +0000; edited 1 time

I have them on all my scooters. They are also very good for emptying the tank if needed. One half at each end of a 1/2m of fuel line.

I've never understood this. If you're swapping a same wattage halogen for incandescent, then it will actually generate less heat. Halogen bulbs are more efficient than incandescent, so they convert more energy into light and less into heat than the same wattage incandescent. Now I could see it generating more heat if you swap a higher wattage halogen for a lower wattage incandescent, say a 35w halogen instead of a 25w incandescent.

I was going to order from Jet but they were out of stock at the time hence the MP route. One difference is the BGM's come with a traditional o-ring vs. the MP type that includes a brown viton o-ring which has greater fuel resistance.

From researching on other forums, the traditional o-ring can 'swell' up over time with ethanol based petrol. This makes snapping up the coupler difficult and you can end up splitting the o-ring when forcing 'em together. But again YMMV and some people have no problems.

FWIW, I ended up picking up extra viton o-rings just in case and keep one in the tool pouch.

Its really makes me learn lot of things. Thankyou very much mate!

The hotter a lamp burns the more efficient it becomes. Trouble is the tungsten filament in a standard incandescent lamp would degrade quickly with extra heat so wouldn't last long. Adding a halogen gas prolongs the life of the tungsten and allows the filament to burn hotter for better efficiency and longer life.

Nice! TWO clear explanations in a row.
Thanks, I appreciate both of them!

The filament is hotter in a halogen, yes but it still produces less heat. Temp =/= amount of heat. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so to speak. You can't consume 35W of electricity and produce 40W of light and heat. Incandescents have a luminous efficiency of about 2% (for a 120V bulb, the higher the voltage, the higher the efficiency), so a 35W bulb produces about .7W of light and 34.3W of heat. Halogens are slightly more efficient at 3.5%, so 1.25W light, 33.75W heat.

I looked it up, it's because the bulbs are smaller. So even though they produce less heat, it's concentrated in a smaller amount of material, so the bulbs get hotter. Higher bulb temp = melted housing near bulb.

This might be old news but it really helped me. I tend to struggle with washers staying on in an upside down and tight working area, while I try to get the nut on . I put a dab of glue stick to the washer and stick it on first. It stays on immediately . This frees my hand to put the nut on effortlessly.

Not exactly a tip, but this gets brought up so often that it's worth keeping in this thread I think.

ps. Great idea Retro!

If you want to tie down gear tot the floor between your legs, Loop head dynabolts to suit an 8mm holes are perfect as replacements for the floor bolts that secure the centre stand. They have a m6 thread, same as original.

I am a kind of a noob to tips, but this worked for me. I had trouble getting my front brake adjusted and I don't have that tool. I took a wood clamp and clamped one side on the shock and the other on the arm. I spun the wheel and I just pumped it until the the wheel stopped and then backed off a little. That gave me one hand to pull the cable and the other to tighten the nut. Maybe it's been done.

Right click - save.

Cable tie.

I'm looking for a tip to attach my center stand spring to the frame. It's some sought of S clip that I must have lost. I can't seem to find it as a part unless I buy a whole center stand kit.

http://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Centerstand-Hardware/77252

This should be what you are looking for. I tried making one and it was not worth the time involved.

http://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Centerstand-Hardware/77252

edit: beat me by a minute T....

Great thanks to both of you. I guess I was thinking it was shaped differently. I tried to make one also. I guess I'll have to shell out the 90 cents. I could have made one for 20 dollars.

This comes in handy when I'm bringing the batteries indoors for the winter. A loop of ribbon around the battery makes it easy to lift it out of the battery well. Also, I label the batteries so I know which machine it goes back to.

Careful there, what kind of 'tip' is this? And you're hitting awfully close to home, friend...

P.S. thanks for the new sig line, been a while & seems made to order

Wrap it in some electrical tape so it doesn't scratch or rub away your paint.

Putting a nut on the screw between the lens and base on a P/PX front turn signal can help you get the base flush to the legshield without cracking your lens.

From Scooterotica:

Don't know if this has been posted, but found it in an old thread.

I wanted to make a stand to replace the bulky piece of 2x4 I was using to prop up the end of the scooter for tire changes. Figured it would be only a little more work to make a jack over a stand. Design could be modified for a scooter with 8" wheels or if you have a welder.

Materials list:
1/2 NPT iron pipe flange
5" 1/2 NPT iron pipe nipple
3/4-3/8 NPT iron pipe reducer
5" 1/2"-13 bolt
1/2"-13 flange nut
1/2"-13 wing nut (you can use a hex or square nut but the wing nut is pretty easy to turn by hand so you don't have to carry a wrench to turn the jack)




Cut off the threads plus 1/8-1/4" on one side of the pipe nipple. You could use a 4" nipple and not cut, but I wanted more bearing surface.

Smooth the end of the pipe nipple you just cut, and grind and smooth a curve into the pipe reducer

Assemble everything by screwing the pipe nipple into the flange, and by inserting the bolt through the reducer, tighten the flange nut up to the reducer, and screw on the wing nut

Grease up the threads and wing nut

Everything together

In use

Taken apart for storage

Well done, Hapi !

Yeah, that's a crafty, compact little jack - I see happy DeLuxe wheel changing in your future, hopefully not too soon or often.

next up, a neat little trick to get the nut on the oil outlet fitting at the bottom of an autolube oil tank if you don't have enough extensions or the right deep socket:

Last edited by V oodoo on Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:04:23 +0000; edited 1 time

Ahem. I make and sell these. One size for 8 inch, one for 10 and one that is adjustable, not shown.

This.^^^^^ and they work excellent. Thanks Vintage Red.

I have one of Matthew's, works great.

Still, I really enjoy the do it yourself projects and the use of off-the-shelf parts.

Well done to the both of you.

I was actually going to make one like that out of tubing or PVC pipe, since I don't have a welder, but decided to make a jack instead.

So I took a few minutes to check out the old / new ends again. I grabbed my trusty calipers and this is what I found :



The old end measured in at 6.08.



The new end measure in at 6.43.



The switch diameter measured at 6.18. There was no way that new cable end was going to fit. I took the advice of using the propane torch to add a little heat and the end slipped right off the old cable.



Unfortunately, the difference in the end size was also reflected in the OD of the cable outer. The old one was 5.08, the new one is 5.62. That wasn't going to work.




I decided that - worst case - I was going to eliminate the switch, but I'd rather not. I want the stoplight to work in traffic. I found an appropriately sized drill bit and drilled the switch out ever so carefully.




It was pretty much a perfect match. Not bad for hand tools. The plastic gave a little and it slipped right together.



That's where I left it. I figured I'd better quit while I'm ahead.

These are called 3/4" button/clearance/side marker lights, they're made for trailers and found at auto parts stores or stores that have a large selection of trailer parts like farm stores. Super easy to install as bar ends, cut or drill (using a spade or corkscrew bit) a 3/4" hole into the ends of your grips, run a length of wire down the tubes, splice the leads to the wire, and simply pop the lights into the holes. You can either splice the lights into a DC source like the horn wire (I spliced into the parking lamp wire since I switched it to DC) for side marker lights, or splice each respective light into the turn signal wires for auxiliary turn signals. Although they are really bright and have good rear and side visibility, they have poor front visibility since the handlebars sweep back, so I wouldn't use them as the sole turn signals.


Two of them could light up quite a bit of my garage for how small they are.

Thought I would mention this here as I was pretty pleased with myself for figuring it out. In the process of dropping the engine from my Rally, I couldn't break the swingarm nut loose with the ratchets I had on hand. Then I remembered that I have one of those nice big car tire irons, the plus-shaped kind that has four different driver sizes on it. The 7/16 driver (I think it was that one) was a "good enough" fit, I hit the nut with some liquid wrench, and then being able to twist with both arms popped it loose. Hooray for improvisation.

Test Autolube I apologise if this is already in the thread, but I like the simplicity of it.

VESPA AND LML STATOR VALUES

HOW TO TEST USING A MULTI METER


the LML stators are identical except for the push connectors to the piaggio versions. The following tests can be carried out to a Piaggio Vespa stator in exactly the same way.

In terms of wires:-


THREE IGNITION GROUPS:

1. green(LOW TENSION)
2. white(EARTH)
3. red (CDI trip wire)


TWO LIGHT GROUPS:
4. black (EARTH)
5. blue (UN REGULATED AC)(more you rev the engine more voltage it makes)


To test the ignition (set multi-meter to resistance ohms) put your black probe to the white cable (earth) and then make circuits with your red probe to:

1. engine case (should be short circuit or less than 1ohm). if not you have no earth continuity.

2. red wire (should be 105 -120ohms) if it is outside of this your pickup (halls effect sensor is fucked) If the reading is zero you have a short-circuit in the stator, if the reading is infinity (ie the highest on the meter)- you have broken windings

3. green wire (should be 480-540 ohms)if values fall outside of this your single ignition coil winding is damaged.

To test the lighting groups put your black probe to the black (earth) cable, then:

4. test to engine case, again this should be a short circuit less than 1 ohm.

last test on blue cable, start engine, set metre to AC voltage metre.

5. on engine idle it should be pumping out minimum of 21-38 volts at 600 rpm + you can get peak voltage to these values on a good kick of the starter pedal if you take the spark plug out first.

all these values are common on all electronic vespa stators. In addition to the above electrical tests you should physically inspect your stator. Look for breaks in windings, loose studs, dry soldered joints etc.

Simple really - and you can buy an analogue multimeter form places like Machine mart of less than £6.


I found this here - http://www.louthscooterists.co.uk/index.php/tech-help/did-you-know/

Vespa GS150 Engine/Frame

Rear Jack
I use this to prop up the rear end and lift the rear tyre of the ground so as I can run through the gears and listen to the engine to make sure everything is ok. Can be used with the scooter on the centre stand and the rear wheel or hub removed.

LML 4-stroke with Pinasco exhaust who's muffler is atached to the suspension.