Modern Vespa

I found some hinges out on the workbench last weekend, and I'm in the beginning stages of mentally engineering the lid. I'm going to run a bead of weather strip around the inside lip to seal it up and level it with the top so I can mount the hinges inside.

Nice crate, btw.

It's Fucking cold!

gotta be better than a bus..right?

at least come on here and have a rant about the bus smelling like a sweaty crotch or summat

Nice john! Hope you bring that little beast to the next rally.

Only making a post here because there is nothing to post about. Other then the front shock fail a few months ago, Sweet P just goes and goes. Can I say that the P200E is the best scooter Vespa ever built?

sure thing! I can see you doing a smallie next, it makes me grin every time I ride it, you would dig it.

Have you thought of putting a Malossi clutch spring in? Or even running a 4 plate setup? I did notice that SCK carry a Polini double spring clutch set in a 3 or 4 plate configuration.

Oh btw, did you end up picking up a new slide and atomizer for the CP? I may scoop one up too and other stuff from treats so I can do a little more fine tuning on the CP.

Today, I retarded the timing a smidge to reduce the electrode blush to a hair at the end of the tip as recommended by Gordon Jennings.

The CP bits were ordered for me, Treats will call when they are in. I thought about the Malossi spring route but I the smallie clutch is already a bit of a wrist challenge with the Polini spring. The 4 plate with Polini spring might do the trick but I guess I just decided to get all fancy pants and do the XL2. The XL2 looks to me like a Lambretta clutch with those nice evenly spaced springs, and the effort / grab is supposed to be good. I ordered a 4 plate setup for it as well (I bought the full Piaggio unit that comes equipped with 3 plates). One of those setups should do the trick.

Can't wait for those Polini bits, still bumbling rich off idle unless it's a chilly morning like today.

Hope your bike is treating you well.

Ya, i've got a little 1/8 to 1/2 throttle stumble, needle (2nd clip-don't really want to run on the top position) on a 38 pilot at 1 3/8 turns out. Any more turns out on the air screw, it feels too lean and it takes a longer time for the revs to drop after wot runs.

The scoot is well but I know the carb tuning can be better...

Yeah I squeezed all the way to a 34 idle and still couldn't make it work for low throttle even on 1st clip. Couldn't get an idle anymore either . Running 36 on top clip, it's the best I can do without the bits I ordered.

The Polini spring is working really well in my otherwise stock 3 plate clutch. Not hint of slipping even with the combined might of 102cc's of pure power

The Malossi spring did not work at all prior to that.

I'm about to do the same upgrade to the silver smallie clutch

Recently i made this addition to the bike, and yes it was half home made

have a nice hallowen and cheer to you all

Can the rear drum/hub be machined? I'm noticing some pulsing when I just rest my foot on the brake pedal but not when applying force.

Bought a wndshield and leg cover so I can ride till it snows. Now I'm looking at replacing the Dunlop rocks I have now for a nicer set of tires. Looking at Michelin S83s or Heidenau K38s or K58s, since I ride on lots of rough/loose surfaced roads and in all sorts of weather. Any advice?

I like the conti move 365

Those look great... but they're only sold in Europe
Also considering the Heidenau K47. The only thing I'm wary about with the K58 or K47 is I've heard they wear fast.

K58's are awesome and will be great in wet and rough roads..

today i made a custom rear brake lever out of bicycle padel as i realize my rear brake laever get worn easily and it make me annoy a bit when i need to brake hard and needed a bigger effort plus the custom one is longer so breaking its like cutting throught a cheese

have a nice sunday to you all and cheer

^^ Good work as usual Ebeth! Move in next door?

Finished fixing the Lammy rear brake- was leaking gear oil thru a brake post thread! Fixed the headlight that only worked on hi beam - contact pushed away from the bulb. Next step another short run to prove it's ready to break in my wiseco 190 conversion.

Got my lap cover today, before the windshield even though I ordered the windshield two days earlier (both from Scooterwest). Got to love priority mail flat rate. Holy crap, how have I been riding in the cold without this thing? My legs are no longer freezing and stiff.

Also finally got around to sewing together a new, less restrictive air filter to fit in the airbox since I couldn't get a pod filter to fit on the intake of the carb. I had bought some filter foam a month and a half ago but didn't try to make a replacement filter till about two weeks ago. I first tried some contact adhesive, but the filter oil dissolved it, so today I finally sucked it up and did the incredibly easy task of sewing it together. Too late to ride by the time I finished, though.

I'm thinking, though, once I install the Polini 165cc cylinder, I'll remove the airbox while I have the engine out and run a pod filter so I can fit a normal PX gas tank. The gas tank on the 4T is too small.

Rattle-can primer and paint and lined with a yoga mat found at Goodwill. Next is hinges and a lock for the lid.

I can fit plenty of groceries (or beer) in there. I also ran a bead of weather strip around the inside lip, just because.

You're way ahead of me. My only scooter-related task this weeked was replacing the battery in my Stella. visible turn signals and electric start for the win!

Much as I'd like warm legs I can't shake the image of an oul lad in his chair with a blanket on his lap. I'll suffer like the fool I am.

LOL! This pic from LouLouClub was very timely. Thanks, LLC!

That mags one that got clattered by the uninsured driver?

Same here. Weather would have to be pretty extreme before we rode with a blankie.

I just bit the bullet and bought some armored & insulated trousers a few years back. I don't get them out often, but with the liner in, they're good down into single digits and when it's that cold, protection against any potential ice-related mishaps isn't bad, either.

Following Monit's lead, we stripped the paint off the Super's spare wheel holder and polished it up. Now we need a spare.

^^^ that looks great polished!

Well it's been in the 30s last few mornings and most of my commute is at a steady 55-60 MPH. Even with long underwear, my legs were frozen by the time I got to school. There's no place to change, so I couldn't wear anything heavier than long underwear without roasting in class. Went with a lap blanket rather than ski pants because I didn't want to add one more thing to have to put on, take off and store, it's already bad enough with a coat, gloves, face mask, and neck gaiter. But, yes, it looks doofy as shite, that's why it'll only be on for the winter.

Just installed my windshield. Added about 3-4 mph to the top speed, keeps the wind off my chest, and even seems to somehow keep a little wind off my legs. Only thing I don't like is it has a small PX decal that doesn't look like you can remove without damaging the windshield. Thought I wouldn't like that it's a very dark smoke, but once it was on, I liked how it matches the black handgrips and seat.

Finally got around to starting to paint the P horncast I bought from SIP months ago. Soon I will no longer have to look at the hideous PX horncast.

Two things :

One, I bought a pair of Under Armour running leggings to wear under my jeans, and they are awesome. I've mentioned them a couple of times before. Last winter I was riding 20 miles each way down into the 30s. I was by no means toasty, but it was definitely tolerable. They really cut the wind chill out. AND they were not so warm and insulated that I overheated at the office.

Two, which windshield do you have? I have been considering one for the P200E. I have a tall screen on my ZNEN and it cuts a lot of wind out, but it's so ... well ... tall. I see a lot of the shorty flyscreens, but I wonder how much wind they really cut out. It would be great to pick up a couple of mph, too.

Took the scoot to vote.

I use winter cycling tights under my jeans. Wool blend made for Canadian winters by Louis Garneau.

The shop looked like a bomb went off. Today I finally started cleaning and organizing so I can work on SOMETHING!

I have no idea how it happened but I have a stack of 10 tires and rims that I found a spot to store outside the shop. Now I need to relocate the "spare" motors, organize parts and paint.

Interesting on the running tights... but I already bought the lap blanket.

I bought the FACO short smoke windshield from Scooterwest: http://www.scooterwest.com/items/?_pageCCS=t#page=/item_details/Vespa-PX-Stella-Smoke-Small-Windshield/8177
It's just a touch too large from my taste, but it works too well to care. I think it will look even better once I replace all the turn signal bezels, trim, and taillight bezel with the P black style, and swap the turn signal lenses to amber. But the only way to get the turn signal and taillight bezels is to buy whole assemblies, which is spendy. Anyone have black assemblies they want to get rid of? Or maybe someone wants chrome assemblies?

Nice! I'd like to see how that looks when it's all done up!

That looks nice. I was looking at THIS one because it's taller and the price is right.



I like the hand coverage, too. I worry about wind resistance, though. Oh, and looking stupid.

The one I got deflects almost all of the wind off your hands. It also deflect most of the wind to about eye level (I'm 6'3"), so if you have a helmet and visor, you shouldn't notice it.

I also just got up to 65 indicated in a tuck with my eyes just above the windshield into a fierce headwind (21 MPH, 29 MPH gusts), and it was still accelerating when I had to let off for a stop sign. With the same tuck and crosswind, I got to 70 indicated still accelerating when I let off because my tires are only 51J and the road was getting rough. Should try to attach a GPS to get my real speed, unfortunately my tablet that I used for GPS broke, so I'll have to borrow one.

ARGHHHHH I'm having so much trouble trying to paint this horncast and it's all my own fault. Messed up once and had to strip off all the wet paint, then messed it up again, being impatient and trying to recoat too soon. Shouldn't try to do something in depth like painting when you're busy with other things. Plus this "$100 paint job" method of thinning the paint 50/50 sucks. Going to strip off all the paint again and paint it normally, and wait the proper amount of time to recoat.

Yours looks so much cooler, and if it does the job it seems like the better option. I'm only about 6', so it should be plenty of deflection. Plus, the longer one on my other bike has a tendency to flex just because it is so tall. It just doesn't feel solid, being mounted at the bottom.

I had to laugh, 70MPH this time of year in MN makes me think of this :



My brother lives in Minneapolis. Usually he gets the cold, we get the snow. I've developed a theory over a score of vehicles. Pretty brings stress. I had a Jetta that was sooo pretty when it was clean, black and shiny. I was always stressed out about it. Then there was the old Buick Regal I drove that had seen better days. I don't think I ever washed it. I used it for a stepladder in the garage. I didn't worry about door dings, not that I'd have noticed if I'd gotten any new ones. That car was for driving and wrenching, and when it was running well I had no worries.

My P200E will stay clean, but I'm not going to paint and polish. Good luck with the paintwork, though. Post pics, please.