Modern Vespa

It was the most fun ten days I have had in a long time. The highs and lows were what life is all about.

Are you saying that the Vespa's needed more maintenance and work than other scooter's on the CBR? If so, how would they stack up against your Honda in this regard?

I do not think the Vepsas needed more maintenance. There were more Vespas by far than other scooters, so yes there were more people working on Vespas. Most of that was riders tweaking looking for the edge. Mine made it through with just spark plug problem, reoccurring from other rides, and a wheel change. Not counting pulling broken parts off from the "bear" incident.
In 2012 mine made it through with only one Cannonball related repair and no tire change. Many made it with none. Almost every scooter needed some maintenance and probably at least one "repair". I think that is damn few repairs considering the ride.

Can you find ethanol free gas like we get here? If so fill it up with that. No additives needed. If not throw some SeaFoam in there and run it thru. Run the the tank down before you fill up with ethanol free and run it thru. It's the E-10 that degrades stuff. If it doesn't have it you'll be fine.Take the battery out or unhook it and you should be good to go. We miss you. Have a safe trip back. Just in time for the repaving of Kalanioleole (sp sigh) hwy. BTW it's supposed to be 90 today out your way.

Don't think the Vespas need any more maintenance than any other scooter. The Cannonball is just hard on everything (a reason I did not just use my daily rider from home.) Some just encountered unfortunate issues. I was lucky... this time. If I do this again, I may have more to do other than just changing a tire and a spark plug.

Feb31st- Thanks for finding that. Pretty much all I know is to disconnect the battery and drain the gas. Never had to do this before so I'm in unknown territory.

Will be another soggy ride today. Just hoping that it's drizzled the whole way instead of steady rain.

Judy- I will be home soon. Can't wait to sit in the kalanianaole traffic.

Lianna, Please turn your spot on so we can follow the last days of your big adventure.

I am SO sorry but that seriously made me

Very glad you came out of that one ok...looked like a tough spot to take that spill.

@ ericalm - fantastic pics.

To everyone who has posted their pics/vids - thank you so much. For a Rhode Islander stuck in the desert of Loss Vegas, I am particularly appreciative of your efforts and willingness to share. Seriously, thank you SO much. I'm having a hard time keeping my cool out here in more ways than one. I really hate it here but browsing the CB stuff takes the edge off.

@ Yano - don't worry about editing, just post! No movie critics here, just people living vicariously through you.

A was being facetious, but...

Many of the modern Vespas on CBR were high mileage scoots. There were a lot of parts failures, but I don't think this is due to any inherent weakness of the Vespas. I'd have ridden my LX if not for its high miles; it's too unpredictable when ridden hard for many miles. The one thing that is a weakness is tires; GTSs eat rear tires and most needed a change.

Still, I chose the Helix for this because I thought it would be reliable - and it was a heckuva lot cheaper than a GTS and easier to work on. It would have needed no more than the two oil changes I did if I had been smart enough to clean the 27-year-old carb before departing. It was doing fine for the 2k I rode it pre-CBR but the demands of the run knocked a lot of crap loose in there and it fouled on Day 9. Easily cleaned. My fault for not doing it beforehand - rookie mistake.

I think I'll race my low mileage gts 250 at the next CR. we'll see who's bike breaks down and who's doesn't.

Just finally got home after a 600mile day...dam the house is a mess and I'm gonna sleep for the next 3 days. More at my advrider thread.

I am so glad to hear you made it home. What a ride you had! Congratulations!

Indeed we shall. You should probably do it without bringing a shitload of spare parts and tools that you won't need. You'll save a lot of money and hassle that way.

Although, I'd think anyone interested in doing CBR who has a low mileage scoot would be the type of person to spend the next two years riding the hell out of it instead of keeping the miles low for the sake of proving a point.

Hope to see you there.

FWIW, chatting with my son's MSF instructor yesterday I was informed that "timed events " are illegal in Texas as are Poker Runs despite the latter being both common and we publicized with law enforcement often taking part.

Ha. 42 seconds. His bike couldn't have been more newer.

I would be curious to see how the larger scooters like the BVs and 'Beos did when they were allowed.

All the results of past years are on ScooterCannonball.com.

Thanks for the link Eric. I was thinking about mechanical reliability - do the large "touring" scooters hold up better mechanically. I do know some of the consumables wear faster like belts...

Well, how well the big BVs did. I rode a 2008 Piaggio BV250ie. I had appproximately 5,000 miles on it at the start.

Mine ran like a top and the only problems I had were:

1) Dead four year old battery [/b][/b]when I got it out of the support trailer at Prince George, BC. (I should have replaced it before it left Ft. Lauderdale, but didn't) I bought a new exact fit one at Canadian Tire and rode it to the start at Hyder, AK.

2) Cracked windshield from the first dirt road section.

3) Loosen battery connections from all the dirt/gravel roads that caused a failure to start on the side of the road in Pueblo, CO. Re-tightening solved that problem.

4) Missing bottom right rear shock mount nut noticed at Norman, OK when changing the rear rim and Heidenau K66 to premounted/balanced rim the Pirelli Diablo. Should have put vibra-tight on the threads, but didn't. Got a replacement SS nut and two washers from Norman Yamaha across the street for the Super 8. The rear K66 went to G-Man who rode it the rest of the way to NOLA. I didn't change out the front K66 and rode it all the way back from NOLA to Ft. Lauderdale. (By the way, I did this in two days of interstate and turnpike.)

5) Used approximately 14-15oz of oil to top off three times during the ride.

And that is all the problems/fixes/maintenance I had.

I started with new Dr. Pulley rollers, new OEM sliders, new OEM belt and new Heidenau K66s front and rear. I used a new Malossi double air filter and oil filter. I replaced the stock shocks with a set of RFYs from eBay and replaced the stock exhaust with an Akrapovic slip-on. Oh, hot grips came in use frequently.

I didn't push the BV that hard, however on the run up the CP and the first dirt road, I kept up with Old as Dirt as we flew up the paved road to that first checkpoint, so I knew that it could run faster then I pushed it for the rest of the event.

For me, I was out to enjoy the ride (well, except for the terrible snow covered pass that we went over before coming into Dillion, CO. If I had crashed on that one, it would not be because of a bear, but a Yeti!)

I am very much interested in the '16 edition and I believe it will be a while until this one is bettered for the sheer adventure and ride.

There's a reason they capped the displacement at 250cc this time. It's not the competitive advantage as much as the fact that part of the challenge is riding a scoot at its limits and dealing with what comes with it.

There are no sure things. Scooters that might be fine for tens of thousands of miles in other conditions develop problems. And it's not as if low mileage scoots - even Vespas - never have issues.

The prep I did on the Helix, with a lot of help from Mike Smith and Greasy, was incredibly thorough. We replaced an array of tiny bearings, o-rings and other parts that could fail. And despite all this, I learned that anything you don't deal with beforehand could be what fails. I joked early on that "It'll probably be okay" is likely the most regretted thing Cannonballers say. Ironically, that's what I said about my carb that failed on Day 9.

It's humbling. Those who goes into it full of bluster and arrogance could be in for a life lesson.

I think it depends on what the award is at the end of the poker run. If the winner gets money in the end, the Texas AG considers that gambling.

Haaaaaaaaaaaa. Sigh. It's been a while since I watched that.
Man. What an adventure. I am so sad I missed this year's.

We always miss you as well.

That wasn't the issue, the issue seems to be the encouragement of competitive riding. Agreed

awwwww you make me just made me happy. Thank you Mark

Subscribed!

Oklahoma boring?

Cast of thousands

Ha! And on that note!

Oh that was very subtle I don't know how many are going to get it! Oz, watch carefully!

Drain the carburetor.

OH.

MY.

GOD.

That is HILARIOUS. HILARIOUS!

Seriously, I just cracked the eff up. Loudly.

I'm actually crying with laugher.

Why hadn't I seen this before ?

Bill xxx

Anyone got a tour tank they don't want ?

Bill xxx

I actually do. Only problem is, it's using a HUGE gauge bung ( ) for the outlet. but it's got a fuel gauge on it, so that's kinda cool.

Tour tank is high on my list for "next time" stuff. It's great being able to fill the Helix without getting off the seat but the novelty wore off. Also high on that list, depending on route: warmer gloves.

In fact, I'll only need about 1/4 of the crap I brought this year. I learned quite a bit about what qualifies as a necessity (among other things).

keep it real simple and install good heated grips. you can turn them on any time you want. I recommend Hotgrip brand.

Replacing my lost Alpinstar waterproof glove is high on my list regardless of whether or not I do another cannonball.

+1 on the Hot Grips, they were a "hand saver" for me on the SCR. I also used them to help drive out the palms of my gloves that got wet.

You might want to run a second fuse block for the extra electrics. I did and it worked out very well. I ran the GPS, Hot Grips, Stebel horn, and Marinco 12v outlet. You set the block to use both switched and non-switch circuits.

What he said...Ditto.

JimT has always "pushed" me to prepare as us there is j