Modern Vespa

Ok guys... I had a spill. Went over a median grass. Bent the back rim bad. Change the rim the next day with some help from a good friend and some clutch adjustment I rode it home no problem. It been more than a week but I have notice a strong pinging from the top. I don't remember hearing it before. I got lots of help from John "Scooterraton" with the front wheel that was really shaky when I brake. I might be a bit shaken but I kinda think is stronger pinging than I remember. Here a short dark video of the sound. Please advise what you think of the noise.... Thank you.

Ps. Thank again John... Your the best!

sorry to hear this..the video won't play for me.. says "this video is private"

Glad you're ok

Video won't play... in "Private" mode on Youtube.

Sorry got it corrected.

yes .. I was lucky to have landed on grass... old harley guy was helping me up when I understood what happened. He said he just saw me lying there when he came up me. Shoulder is little sore and my neck hurts a tad. Thank god.

Rodger, check simple things first, fan shroud, bolts, exhaust pipe, etc.... Then work you way in. Glad you're ok. Good Luck

probably loose tin or shroud bolt or exhaust lead pipe / spring

start by removing / tightening all the bolts and nuts, look for a loose spring,

shake exhaust with it off bike
could be a loose baffle

seat latch
bolt within the frame

if the crank is going you might get a sound but that is hard to hear

stator bolt could be coming loose could be rubbing on flywheel

look around
remove parts

you shall find the issue

Either fan cover or your cush springs spread open the plates thst cover the cush gear assembly on the layshaft.

Sounds like it coming from the muffler... Didn't have time to get it off last night but the next suspect is the flywheel. I am riding to work and back very slow (35-40 mph). Power is there and just that new sound for now. Again two new dark videos .... Today I take the muffler off.

Thanks for everyone's reply and also special thanks to Melanie for her help also.

Your exhaust stub could be loose/damaged. Or the exhaust could have come free and it is simply being held in place by the mounting bolt.

I would remove the flywheel and check for a sheared woodfruff key. If the flywheel impacts anything, even grass, it could be enough to shear a key and it would make your timing off.

It might help to think back to exactly what happened to the bike during the spill... what hit what, how did it land, which side made contact with the ground, etc. Take a good long look at the underside with a shop light and look for bare or bent metal. That should help you narrow down where the noise is coming from.

Well I check the scooter and the only thing out of place was the mirror and the windshield a bit. Checked the underside and could not see anything scratched or rubbed. The scooter fell on it left side ( battery side ). The front rim was a tad bent and the back rim was completely bent that you can see the tube.
Attached is a doodle idea of what happened with a pic from the actual place from google maps.

rubber grommet round the rule tap rod could be lost

that makes a bunch on racket if not there

I'm still dopy but that sound sounds like sometthing flywheel related to me.. especially when it stops in the 2nd video.. I hobbled out to the garage and wiggled all my flywheels and they don't do what yours does.. they move but are tight and don't clack..
So.. IIWY I'd take the flywheel off and have a look at everything you can.
Good luck.. and god bless the grass median!

VADER ! So they finally let you go home from the hospital ! I'm happy for you man, now it's time to heal up. Sorry for hijacking the thread Roggerdavid.

never saw the 2nd vid

that side bearing seems shot

replace it asap or the rotary sealing surface shall get f**ked up... then parts of the stator / coils are going to get rubbed on and messed up also.

be safe

with the flywheel off you can do the same test via the crank taper

hey man.... feel better just read the birthday thread.... and happy birthday

Thanks again for the info.

ok .... well I went ahead and changed the sip sport to the old Sito plus and the results were a bit better. Maybe the sito is so loud that I cant hear the clacking anymore. Now I know I have to check the flywheel so thank you guys again for the information. Again two new dark shaky videos.


This one is cold motor and without the panel
This one with panal on. Can still hear the noise.
I went for a spin after those videos and the truth once I got back the sound was gone. I dont think I have the tools the take the flywheel off so I will have to wait for the weekend to bother my next scooter guru Vespisiti1. Thanks for everybody for the information again... and ROCK ON!!!

I uploaded two more video this morning with the sito plus after a 9 mile drive. To me the sound is gone. I did shake and banged the hell out of the sip sport but nothing felt loose or rattled. This is until I can get the flywheel pulled this weekend. Have a great day

all vespas make noise like that...
but you might want to start thinking about a rebuild to make sure you don't grenade the engine this next year.

they need a checkover / rebuild every few years when used every day

if the flywheel has as much movement as I saw in a previous post the you getting close to a failure. All mine don't have any play in them in any direction.

don't want that to happen on the way to a rally in the summer months

either get it done during this winter or risk the 2014 summer riding season
a back up complete engine might be good to have in the garage

be safe

Well.. I guess the time is close at 12k miles (10 put in by me in less than 2 years). The fear of doing a rebuild is that it will be the first one. Need to start planing.... surely it will be after TAX Season. Thanks for bring me to the light Spider.

Dude we will check all the above this weekend. Great ideas and all of them are pretty easy to do. I have a fly puller and I'm pretty sure I have a crank woodruff key. If needed we can pull the clutch and take a peek at the cush but I don't think that that is it. I rode the entire CBR with a popped cush rivet.

It could be something as simple as the flywheel hitting the cover or cowl. If it's time for a rebuild we can do it over at my place. We did Mel's Rally there and it finished the Corsa!

have a pal walk you threw it
take pictures and notes along the way
renew worn parts like clutch parts, springs and cush drive parts, brass bushings ...ect...
replace all bearings and seals
upgrades are nice too
- porting / port timing checks
- flow and match the cases while every things is apart
- open up intake and exhaust
- cut the crank to increase intake timing and open up the rotary sealing surface a few mm's
- chamfering along the way
- have hot rod Al lighten up that stock flywheel to around 1800g...!! Stock is around 4000g's

all this shall give you a few hp, allow engine to run smoother and cooler while making better power. Might as well throw on one of these too:
http://jet200.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2256

don't forget to up the jetting a little too after these mods

have fun

Yeah we'll go over it first. IF it needs a rebuild it's up to Rroddger how he wants to go. All those things are fun to do but the coin starts adding up fast!

On Saturday ScooteRaton, Melanie, Juan (Vespisti1) and George (all vintage peeps) got together to help me. Juan checked the motor and found no fault with it. So now you can not hear the pinging hot or cold.
I did have a wobble in the front when applying the front brake or going over slight cracks. So the shock was the problem to that. George had an extra shock from a Stella and we proceeded to mount it. The nut on the top fender were kinda stuck we had to take the wheel off to get that 33 year old shocks off. After some extensive testing the wobble was gone but there still a shake from the drum being oval, which was there when I bought it(need to buy new drum).
We did swing by the Ft Lauderdale Vespa Dealer and got to see and sit on the new 946 vespa.It is a very nice vespa... but that seat is hard has hell.
I want to thank everybody for the insightful help and answers to this. My scooter gang that came out to help and I love them for that. They are the best kinda people to me.

Have a good holiday to all

Vintage folk are some of the most generous folks I've run across. I'm glad that it's sorted and you're back on the road.

We all had a fun day! Some people I hadn't seen for awhile and a pretty easy repair. You're getting the hang of the vintage Brother and Sisterhood! We'll help you out anytime we can and will not hesitate to call you when we need an extra pair of hands!

For me the people are pretty much as much fun as the scooters!

Fixed it for you.

Cylinder head leak!

Thank you for your information.... if it is an cylinder head leak would it leak liquid from it? How do I go by finding this?

look for drips with the shroud off the top end

find drip

check nuts for spec with a torque wrench

if the leak returns / doesn't go away after you cleaned off the oil and dirt then you shall have to pop off the head and do a little work
- lap head to make sure it is perfectly flat
- new head seal if needed
- install head correctly so it does not get warped again

will check this tomorrow... thanks again Spiderwebb..

So after a very celebrated new years ..... I checked for drips and leaks, and found nothing. Cleaned the dirty suspecting areas and rode for these past days. Check yesterday night again and found nothing. Will keep a close look every week.

Thanks to everybody who help me.