Modern Vespa

Hey C'man,
Email them?
info@heidenau.com

I doubt that single arrow is implicit.

Newer directional tires would have two arrows showing the correct rotation. Front tires will look wrongly mounted…

Pirelli Angels…

I rode in the Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride today. Sadly, I was the only vintage scoot.

Nevertheless, despite it being the hottest day of the year thus far, it was a good time and the fundraising for Nashville is over $30k US.

Agreed. You certainly were.

(the untidy orange earplugs do slightly detract from the illusion however. Very slightly.)

Its something like:
Front is to do with water dispersion.
Drive (rear) is to do with grip & torque transfer.

Okay...I reversed the front tire, which meant dismounting and then re-mounting. Zero stars. Would not recommend.

Then, for some reason, I decided to try hammer forming a new backing plate for the speedo in the Boo-Badge. I made a form out of wood, then hammered some sheet aluminum into shape around it.

No doubt you're tired of the whole subject, but from what I read in relation to this subject, water will disperse better the other way.

Also, I'm sure Ned can knock you up something to hold that speedo in no time. Assuming he starts looking for the appropriate machinery now.

[quote="chandlerman"]
Okay...I reversed the front tire, which meant dismounting and then re-mounting. Zero stars. Would not recommend.

With lambrettas the devil is always in the details. I've been playing with these things for nearly 30 years and they still catch me with things. Carry on.

Ditto with Vespa's, but Lammies seem to be on the Bonus Plan for it.

I did try reversing the wheel, but the rim nuts didn't fit the hub, so then it was misery time.

I'm glad I did it now that the job is done, but I don't want to even think about changing out tires for some time to come.

Even better reason to move out here by me. You can use my tire machine. Almost positive it's explosion proof.

Wait until you build your wheels properly and are beaming at your handywork. Only to mount your wheels and you realize that your valve stem is hitting your fork. Then you realize you need special angled valve stem tubes to clear your fork that are totally different than Vespa tubes.. That's a fun one if you don't know, and sometimes you don't know until you hit the front brake and you hear a click click click click and lose your front tire. Good times.

You sure you wanna bet your tire machine against *me*? I'm the freakin' John Henry of blowing up scooter shit! I seem to have managed to avoid that particular mistake for the moment, but give me time.

[quote="Ginch"

Also, I'm sure Ned can knock you up something to hold that speedo in no time. Assuming he starts looking for the appropriate machinery now.
[/quote]


Snort.

Speaking of machinery…

I'm down a different rabbit hole currently.
If any wonder where I've gone, current situation: I'm in Beverly Hills, manicuring this olive tree.
I can't really explain.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I figured you were up to something since we haven't heard from you for a bit. You're the type of guy who if you're isn't doing something, you'd be doing something.

Nice job on the pruning. The tree looks quite handsome. No doubt a pole saw will find and work muscles that normally never get used!

. Hahahaha. Thanks Yogi. . Been at it for a week.

Progression:
Day one - 6' step ladder from garage. People snickering as they pass.
Day 2 - 12' step ladder from shop. Properly dangerous. People tsk tsking as they pass.
Weekend.
Day 4 - 7 - Zigzag ascender, harness, & ropes. People passing not noticing I am in the canopy. Spiders in my hair. Muscles so sore I wanna go down stair in the morning on my ass.
Weekend.
Day 9 - FUCK YOU. Spider lift delivered. Linen shirt as sun and bug block breeze blowing above the canopy, flying around trimming each leader by hand like I'm working on a giant weed plant.
View of the entire west side of Los Angeles.

At some point - I'll likely either paralyze or kill myself. Whodat IK you and many more here - are on the same program.

Until that moment - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

These days it just makes me sorer.

Yesterday.... Moved the VBB and felt the rear shoes slightly
dragging. Found the hub nut was cotter-pinned but not torqued. Luckily, I had only put a couple of miles on it since I re-did the cush over the winter. I get easily distracted.

Rode the '58 LD, which I picked up a year ago, to the auto paint place to get a sample for the 150S and picked one from the new Valspar chip book they showed me a few weeks ago when I had asked for solid colors in single-stage. I had a different color in mind now. I picked one and got 1/2 pint ( 8 oz ) to take home. $45!!! The guy said the book only worked with the new Valspar paint. I should have asked...

Leaving there, I realized the headset had loosened up and found a small shop that let me use a couple of wrenches. The nut on the clamp bolt had stripped the threads. Found a good one in their stash and got home fine. This is a really stupid design as the cast handlebar fixture clamps onto the threaded part of the post. As the threads impress themselves into the alloy each time the bolt is tightened, it requires more and more force to solidly clamp the post. Plus, you can't just lift the whole assembly off like a Vespa. You have to dismantle and remove the whole cover / handle bar set up to unscrew the support just to tighten the bearings. Should bore it out and put in a split steel collar. I put in a grade 8 bolt.

Got home and checked the spark plug and saw that the rear end fill plug on the tail of the case was missing. Don't know for how long. Completely stripped out. I don't know why I didn't noticed when I put it in last year. Oil level was fine.

Realized the paint the guy mixed was base coat. Don't like the color anyway.

Lammies are, as I'm learning, definitely a love-hate kind of scoot.

Yes, but the riding experience is completely different. I love the way this bike handles and just cruises along. Lower seating with a lower center of gravity. The piston-ported motor has nice power , although the drive train sounds like a spinning can of nuts and washers compared to the Vespa motor. Five bevel gears. Ear plugs make a huge difference. I generally don't use them with the Vespas unless it's a long ride.

Dang Ned... Nice work. That is a beautiful tree.

I can one up you on heavy equipment and trees though...

From Saturday:

Moto...

That is a beautiful scoot. I have a friend restoring one right now. Slow going as parts are hensteeth. But, cant wait to see it finished.

Parts are hensteeth because bad design turned non-wear parts into wear parts (e.g. the headset), so stocks were exhausted faster than expected, but not with enough demand that the repop market would step in.

As opposed to, say, 4t Stellas, where LML was too busy circling the drain to even worry about maintenance and aftermarket parts.

Of F!
Heard y'all had some unexpected weather.

It looks like that's shot from your driveway?
Meaning - scoots are safe... and it somehow fell between the houses??

Sadly no...

Took out the garage. (see page 124 for the centerfold)



But all souls and all scoots safe.

This one's staying as is. All mechanicals dealt with and surface rust treated.
I also said that about the Motovespa I've had for 19 years and, well...., it's almost ready for paint.

More to come after the weekend, but this is a thing that's now happening...

Oi Oi Oi 😄

First act was to open it up and see what parts I still needed to order, namely a new clutch spider, chain tensioner, and motor mounts, which I knew I needed and just forgot, along with new cables. All missing parts are in transit from California, so things are proceeding.

In the meantime, there's still plenty I can do...and clean...

I need to get it back on the road by June 8th (National Lambretta Day), drop dead the end of June for Lammy Jammy, for those making ham bets.

Did someone say ham bets!?!

Today I had the ultra-lux experience of mounting some reclaimed piaggio splits on a Heidenau K38 tire. It went together easier than any I can remember. If it rides half as smooth I will be one happy customer.

I'm still holding all those used cruciforsm and expired Chicago motorcycle medallions after you missed on the ET3.

Thought I'd post about this here too:

Last evening on my way home my PK125XL elestart shut off abruptly at the crest of a hill. Thought maybe it had sized but it kicked over just fine and didn't seem any warmer than normal. Had no tools on me so was completely stranded...

With the help of a kind man with a big van I got to my workshop and pulled the plug, black as night. Pulled the carb to adjust my jets and found that the main jet had fallen out...

This is for sure the strangest issue I have ever had with any bike I've owned.

Put the jet back in, cleaned the plug off and put everything back together and rode back home just fine...

Ohhhhh that sucks.

I've had main jets come loose like that a couple times, but the motor ran fine up until the main started to come into play at 3/4 throttle. That was with a PWK, but that shouldn't make a difference.

That is almost too funny, except for the part of leaving you stranded. This same thing happened on my daughter's riding lawn mover. The main jet fell into the bowl as well and is held in place , not by being screwed in, but with an o-ring. Real easy fix.

A Vespa can suddenly quit for many reasons, but a lot of them feel the same when it happens. An overheating soft-seizing engine can feel a lot like fuel starvation. The most antagonizing thing for me was a dodgy ignition pickup. It would suddenly cut out after 5 miles of riding and only rev to 1500 rpm. It felt exactly like a clogged fuel filter on a fuel injected car.

I would go through all the fuel related fixes and it would often run fine all the way home, confirming my false conclusion. Other times I would nurse it back home at 10mph. Sometimes, it would suddenly come back to life. My guess is that my interventions were giving the pickup time to cool off.

Just a regular reminder that 90% of all carb issues are actually electrical.

Yeah, my first instinct is always that the plug has died, then air filter, then fuel supply, then battery/other electrical and then maaaaybe carb.

If it was running before it was bad it is very unlikely to be the carb because they don't tend to change much on their own... Except for when your main jet just falls out

Adventures in cabling...

Clutch cable foolishness.

I had some weird binding so I figured I'd increase the bend in the clutch cable at the turn in the headset. But, I over estimated and pulled too much outer up so that I had a giant, Dolly Parton curve as the cable came out of the steering column and traveled over toward the handle bar.

So, i reach to the rear of the bike and grabbed the clutch outer. I gave a little tug and got ZERO movement. Tugged a bit harder, and still nada. Exhaled and then gave the outer an emphatic yank.... and, then found myself blinking in comic disbelief with the entire outer in my hand at the back of the bike.

At least the inner was still there as a cable guide.

*Pours Drink*

I had one that ran fine, except when it didn't. Wouldn't rev, went great, wouldn't start. Finally tracked it down after some time to the CDI... with the timing light you could see the timing swing up to 20 degrees either side of the mark!

Hahahahahaha.
Snorted.
Great visual.