Modern Vespa

That was one Ebeth found for me. I'll drag it out and put up some photos. Got a pic of the Brazilian one?

In the sales pamphlets in the US from the early 80's they had pictures of bikes with that headset.

Shape is the same but speedo is awesome…

It's very similar to the Exclusive 2.

I wonder if under the shaped speedo there is a round hole like ours Safis?

That Speedo is pretty cool.

Nice layout…

It's the shape of the speedo. It's a big ass one…

I like the turn signals on the Exclusive 2, especially the rear ones that follow the curve of the cowl…

Speedo looks a lot easier to repair with the parts laid out

Are you sure they're different? They look pretty much the same to me.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/265526417837

Wow… those are pricey.

Anyone have those I think should hold onto them.

Forgot about Dan motors.

Check again!

And the front are different too...

They did some really nice variations there...

Super cheap in Indonesia, you just have to go there. Ebeth has bought me two pairs of floor mats for my T5. Original, Dan Motors, they were around 10€ each set but they asked him 80€ at the post office to ship them to me. He's holding them for now until we find a better solution...

Needed some carb gaskets so I cut my own today.


Perfection.

Wow, nice job!

Working on my buddy's Burgman 400. Not a fan of 'em.

Forks have been bleeding like nobody's business and creating a risk of oily brake/tire issues.

Frickin' Suzuki requires a knurled and tapered conical insert to hold the damper rod, but I got it apart thanks to a hack from Mitch.

I had gotten all the seals and O-rings for the job, but the metal sliders were done too so I had to order them. Great. Lift closed for another week or more while waiting on parts.

Someday I will get to one of my Vespas.


Front fell off. Very unusual.

Outer leg cleaned up OK.

Inner tube looked decent.

Damper rod needs a special tool. Tried a hack using a Torx T55 and it worked.

Slightly beefier fork oil, with 16% higher viscosity at 40C. Maybe it'll wallow less.

My wife has a cricut machine. Makes quick work of these guys! Took about a half hour from start to finish. Mostly the laptop wasn't finding the machine for 10 mins.

aHA! I was gonna ask how many bikes you got now and say you seem awfully good w/ a sharp knife or scissors!

Not unusually as there is no tool that works on all motorcycles. I use a hard wood dowel about the thickness of a broom handle and taper the end.

I took my dad (82 years old) out to our property in Sandlake, Oregon today. We have 186 acres of timber. My friends and i built a cabin at the top of the property back in 90s. The cabin is located a full mile from the county road. The trail leading up to the cabin is an old skidder road from 1978...so it's quite overgrown. I have rode my P200 up to the top a few time about 20 years ago. Today i let my dad drive my beat up Tundra to the top. We were bushwhacking the whole dang way to the top. if you couldn't plow through an obstacle, i would jump out of the truck and fire up the chainsaw to clear the path. No telling how much longer my dad will live, but it was a fantastic memory that we both were gifted with today!


This is actually what i would consider a "clear" section of the "road".

I borrowed my sister's truck to tow the tundra to the trail head of the property.

The cabin is tucked deep enough in the forest that you can't even see it from google satellite. FYI, zoom in on the chimney...

ENHANCE...yes, there's a marmot poking his head out of the chimney, wondering what the heck we're doing with HIS cabin!

That's a fantastic story right there. Good job having an adventure with your dad. Those are the best.

Our adventures have been few and far between. I'm sure i have, but i can't remember the last one we have had together...maybe 20-30 years ago?...maybe more? I'm trying to make up for lost time.

Some years ago, the Run From the Sun scooter rally was located about 5 miles away from my cabin. I ended up going to the rally, but spent the night in my cabin...and low and behold it rained like cats and dogs that night! once the rains quit in the morning i rode my P200 back down the trail to the rally. Everyone was wet except for me!

Today, on the GL I reverted back from the pinion clutch plunger back to a standard plunger. The clutch wasn't wanting to engage, and when I pulled it open, it had eaten yet another pressure plate.

Swapped back to a regular plunger and arm, new pressure plate, installed and it adjusted on the very first try, no drag, no slip, feels great.

And even better, no need to crack open the cases again.

Today I moved my spare LML engine (fitted with an alu pinasco cylinder kit, carb box and reed block had been removed) from my home garage to my lake cabin garage, because wife wants the home garage back. Engine had been in a cardboard box on the garage floor. When I picked it up to carry it to the car, a bunch of sunflower seeds feel out of the swingarm. I got it onto the vise-mounted engine stand, and saw surface rust on the top of the crank web. Weird. I sprayed it with penetrating oil, and pressed the kickstart. Engine turned fine. But stuck to the crank web were several sunflower seed hulls!

I have half a mind to install it as is and see if a dead mouse shoots out of the exhaust.

Shame it's a Stella, or you could have maybe laid claim to some kinda rare prototype Micky Mouse edition you think?

Chris sent me this and it reminded me of my youth

any ideas why? seems like a strange one...

This was another ball bearing pressure plate?

Water!

However, it is the BEST THING EVER to go with Southern Comfort...
no matter how many times you chuck, you can STILL keep drinking it!
Pure magic

Very ARTISANAL... Do you have them in LAVENDER.?

Artisanal Gaskets will be available soon!

Where do i get one of these?

Looking at the parts, I'm pretty sure that is was caused by uneven downward pressure on the plunger. The pinion force being on one side (as opposed to centered like a traditional clutch plunger) caused the plunger to tilt ever-so-slightly, putting the pressure point off-center.

I also think (and this is pure speculation) that the pinion was getting caught without fully releasing for some reason, which might have been it binding due to the lateral force. I base this on the fact that I could never get the clutch to quit dragging.

In any case, it's better now. Sometimes, the old ways are best. Nope. Just a regular ol' pressure plate that time.

Owner is second one. All was done by the PO. If I recall, it's an old school build late '80s early '90s, cylinder was done in the UK and head was done by MMW. Flywheel is stock, machined. Runs on reeds, has an electric water pump and sits at around 90°C at WOT. Owner abuses it all the time, hasn't broken all these years…

Got you. Makes sense.

Shame the pinion version didn't work.

I do think the original brass style wears out quite quick on the arm side (not the pressure plate side), but to be honest, you just end up replacing the brass plunger after the cover has been off a bunch of times.

Glad it's fixed though.

Oh man….. maybe I should soak the paper in rosemary oil before I install them!

What I understood was that the standard plunger is brass because it won't friction weld itself (or part thereof) to the pressure plate. And that because the Crimaz 'plunger' is steel then the pressure plate needs to be something it can't bind to, hence the bearings. I guess a brass pressure plate could work? Of course you'd need to find someone who had the skills, resources and machinery to make such a thing. Where you'd find someone like that around here is anybody's guess.

I think part of the issue is when the clutch is fully compressed, the plunger doesn't have enough lateral support. You start with one of those caterer's size tins of pineapple and a garden hose....

Nah, the pinion was also a brass plunger. I think the issue really came down to tolerances not being tight enough. With the Crimaz PK2-style cover I put on the smallie, it all came as a single unit and was designed to the same tolerances.

The ball bearing pressure plate was collateral damage in the whole affair.

Yeah can imagine uneven pressure/actuation would've messed everything up.

Had a little bit of a bummer on the GL today.

Eley and I were working on the final carb tuning of his Stella and had pulled into a parking lot to change a jet. I was turning around, not paying attention, and didn't realize I was on some sand. Hit the throttle and laid the bike down. I was barely moving forward, but still scratched up the mudguard and lefthand cowl a little.

I think I can buff out almost all of the cowling damage, but the mudguard is down to the primer and through to the metal in a couple places.

My jacket saved my elbow and shoulder and I added a pretty good scrape to the end of my big scar along with another hole in the knee of my jeans. Nothing too bloody, though.

I'm not even particularly upset about the bike. If anything, I'm annoyed that sand got into my left glove and I can't get it all out.

Anyways, ride safe, peeps!


Mother...

...Fucker.

Oh man, such a bummer. Glad you're ok for the most part...

That gl is like a magnet for damage. Glad you escaped without another knee disaster or similar.