Modern Vespa

Petite frame

Yeah, that unusual center stand nearly made me yell BODGE until I saw the legit shift box and weird semi legit P style kickstart lever that I now suppose is just another unique Tinyframe feature.

I believe the correct nomenclature is: dead-er-er.

I really want you to do the BFA Aprilia thing! That looks sensational. Why go through potholes at 60 when you could be doing it at 90... in third.

Thank you all for the help. The tiny/petite frame does indeed run although power is a bit less than expected. The brake pedal is definitely not stock and actually functions as a throttle on this model -maybe sip sells a kit for the conversion?

That's perfect for Chandlerman. 1 brake and 2 throttles.

...begins searching Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace...

Underpowered?

I'll bet SIP would have a decent top end kit to deal with that as long as you're there shopping throttle conversion anyways.

Bit for a long game, low effort project. Picked up what looked like a decent used core off of eBay. Took a bit of PB Blaster and a propane torch to loosen it up enough for disassembly. There was a dent in the reservoir base that I massaged out with a an impact socket and an engineer's hammer.

There's a small crack that became slightly more visible after tapping the dent out. Crack doesn't penetrate to the inner sealing surface, but I'm wondering if I should Dremel it open and have it welded up. I'd stick a 32mm impact socket in the reservoir seat to prevent distortion.

What do y'all think, fix the crack or just clean it up, retouch the paint, install the rebuild parts and ship it?

Gah!

Welp that's a pickle.

If you think the brace will prevent distortion I'd weld/grind/paint.
Otherwise that crack will probably keep crackling .

Good luck… and post up either way so we can see where you landed.

uhh what is that?

Doing some housekeeping on the SS and forgot what an absolute PITA the cylinder shroud is on the piston ported Vespas. 😬

old skool master cylinder. UJM 70's

Nailed it. It's an '80 GS850E. Got it a decade ago for free, with title. I occasionally collect parts for the time when I have the time to invest in it.

I call it Craig.

Well.. what happened with craig?


Sunday morning trim work. And a little motivational coffee bc… you know… holidays.

ohh... tough call. it's probably trim or floor rails...

I'd rather punch my self in the groin until i vomit than do rails

but my hatred for trim burns hotter than the fury of 10,000 suns.

or the wildcard: chasing down an intermittent electrical problem on a P/Stella that can ruin a perfectly good weekend.

Came in today. Found me a nice set of NOS keys & cylinders for my PK project...

Sooo....I kind've blew myself up...

Now the good news is that I'm going to be fine, and it wasn't much of an explosion. More like a small fireball right to the face, but neither the fun Cinnamon kind nor the nerdy LARP kind. Luckily, I had my glasses on which helped divert some of the blast, but still lost my eye lashes and part of my eyebrows.

Basically, I thought I'd flooded the smallie during float height adjustment, so I sprayed some starter fluid down into the frame since it's basically impossible to get it directly in the carb mouth.

Gave it a kick and discovered that rather than flooded, something in the ignition was shorted, which caused it to basically fire like a cannon straight up into my face.

Anyways...that was ten days ago, and I haven't been on the computer much to rest my eyes, but am getting back after it now. The doctor said they're going to be sensitive to wind or moving air for a while, so I guess it's a good thing that the weather basically sucks right now so I wouldn't be riding much anyway.

When told my wife what happened, she just looked at me and said, "You are an idiot." I can't disagree.

if it weren't so serious, I'd say you deserve another new icon like your piston one in your profile. I'm glad to hear it looks like it's going to be ok, but damn man, we need you - don't blow yourself up!!

Thanks, John! It was like when you are lighting a gas grill and it takes a few seconds for the starter to spark, only more so. And in the face.

Eventually, I got back out to the workshop and reset the "days since a work stop accident" counter back to zero (just kidding. It's always at zero), then tracked down the short.

When I went to the doctor, the first thing she did was ask why I hadn't gone to the ER when it happened. After I explained that I didn't think it was "that bad" she told me I was a "typical man" and needed to not be so stoic. She's not wrong, but I still probably won't go to the doctor next time I should, either.

I mean, you can close up some pretty big wounds with super glue and tape.

jeebus.

well, we're all glad you're okay. but also, don't do that again!

I have a whole rant about starter fluid, but I'll save that for another time.

Ahhh, the smell of burning hair....

SAFETY FACE SHIELD! Yeah, like I'd ever wear one...

Well... your wife probably knows you better than we do, so I'm not going to start an argument there. But glad to hear you're ok.

I do have some questions though -

• What is it with you and fire?
• Did you throw yourself through the air in slow motion, your cry of f a a a a r k k k ! ! felt as a low rumble? And/or -
• Did you stop, drop and roll?

Woah… chandler! Scary moment!

The garage adventures of CM… I think you should install cameras in the garage to record stuff like that… can be a YouTube compilation…

Glad to hear you will be ok. I had a similar incident in college involving a gas broiler on a restaurant range. Funny how there is enough time to ponder on the wall of flame rolling toward your face and the fact that it is going to suck when it gets there, but not enough time to jump out of the way. Anyway, I can tell you first hand that burnt eyelashes do grow back.

I read that statement and sorta went, Huh..., with the same sort of enthusiasm I'd have if you'd told me that creamed corn was on sale.

That was not a normal response, man. I should be worried about your well-being, not thinking that SuperDave is your spirit animal.

While I admire your can-do attitude and willingness to explore the speed known as Plaid on a Bluebadge, I ask that you refrain from further inspiration towards the Broken Mechanic award.

You could have at least piput some punctuation in that!

LOL. Our wives know us so well.

You can do it right after your RTV rant.

I have a love/hate with starter fluid. It's a great troubleshooting tool, but it's easy to use it as a crutch. Or an accidental accelerant. Upside: it's over really quickly. So...no Flaming Eyeball badge. Got it.

Someone said to me about my Youtube stuff that they liked my transparency--I don't hide or edit away when things don't go well, and I'm no exception around here, good, bad, bloody, or singed. To a fault.

Now that I've answered my correspondence, a few follow-on thoughts...

The real root cause of the accident was relocating all the electricals (CDI, regulator, and junction box) from the motor to inside the tank cavity with the carb.

Sure, it looks better, but the CDI in particular I could mount back onto the motor pretty easily, I just hadn't made it a priority. That prioritization has, not surprisingly, now changed. It'll also make it easier to get at the carb without all the extra bits in the way.

Meanwhile, since I really can't (or at least shouldn't) ride because I'm supposed to minimize air moving across my eyes (e.g. no sitting under fans, so riding is probably right out) for at least a couple weeks until it no longer bothers me, I guess I'll clean the workshop or something.

As usual, though, I'm back at it, even if mostly just in my head at the moment.

CM...

We need Live Feeds going forward any time there are combustibles involved.

Good god... glad you are OK!

I'd move the junction box for sure. But I'm thinking maybe spraying a highly flammable accelerant down into an enclosed frame cavity was the precipitating factor.

It certainly didn't help, but I have worried many times about whether or not having all the electricals in there was a risk, especially with a big carb and no filter.

Either way, I'm moving the CDI back onto the motor where it probably belongs.

ah, you must've heard my teeth gnashing and muttering of curse words under my breath all the way out yonder. after cleaning RTV out of transmission I've done had my fill this week and to the point of petitioning congress that going forward people should need a permit to purchase the stuff.

I'm equally at fault on using brake/carb clean for things, but have nearly banished starter fluid from the sovereign nation of kajitt with the only reason to keep it on hand is for pesky tire mounting...

Glad you are ok, don't beat yourself up and move on. Meanwhile you are a glowing testament of things NOT to do, and probably saved more than one of us from making the same mistake. You are not alone, I set the left half of my beard on fire once. Have to shave my whole face to look somewhat normal and get rid of the stink of gas and burnt hair.

I think i'm up to at least 5 times now, but the eyebrows and eyelashes just keep a growin back.

Some gears, and an 8-ball for motivation

Cm... i read the other day... Sounds like another 80% are also caused by Start-ya-Bastard... so you were playing with about 240% of the issues, then introduced a spark!

Just spotted this great item for removing that stubborn Flywheel...

Glad you're ok. I'm guilty of not always disconnecting the battery ground when working on bus electricals. One day I was working on the starter wiring. The solenoid wire is always hot straight from the battery. Accidentally, I snagged the fuel line connected to the gas tank outlet right next to the starter. I was instantly soaked in fuel, under the bus in a pool of fuel, surrounded by dry grass. Luckily I had disconnected the ground strap.

Beo lost power, wouldn't run above idle. Grr. Figured the boot from the air box to the carb was the issue, as it was a bastard to fit and seemed unwilling to clamp on properly.

Ordered a NOS boot from Germany (sans EEC vacuum port), which arrived after being stuck in customs for a week. Had commitments that weekend, so it sat for another week. Also sourced a different pilot jet, as recommended on the Aprilia forums to help address the stately 0-20kph time.

Decided to fix it today. Pulled the bodywork, the air box and the carb. Air boot was wonky, but not my primary issue.

I had filled the tank on the ride to work the morning before it became unrideable. Noticed a decrease in power that evening on the commute home. Now it makes sense.

BTW, this was the third fill-up. Tank had been religiously cleaned. Had a new fuel filter, new fuel pump and all-new fuel lines.

Feck.

On another note, I was surprised that I missed this stamping before. These guys make good cylinders, I've used them on 2T mopeds in the past.