Modern Vespa

Very cool guys! That's fantastic!

Major props Rob!

That's outstanding!

All I did was go to the Vintage Motorcycle Show and enter it as the lone scooter.

Lotta old airhead BMW's and mostly British bikes. All very cool.

I was surprised that there was only *one* Harley. I don't know if those guys had their own show yesterday or because it was 90F before you added in standing around in a parking lot, but I wasn't expecting that.

I was also mildly surprised for some reason that not a single person I talked to (and I talked to a bunch) knew anything about vintage scooters other than that they existed and looked cool. Like, didn't even know they were manual transmissions. So I got to do a lot of educating and also learned a fair amount about airhead BMW's, too.

90F and a massive cold beer, yes please!

More like 110 or 120 on the asphalt, but yeah.

Fly fishing?
Flying?

Damn! What a hoot!

Today I dropped the ET3 engine. Again.
…. And there may or may not have also been a visit to the urgent care.

Took out a pretty good chunk of my index finger. Sent a pic to my MD friend and he texted back to go get stitches immediately. Urgent care doc took a look and said "well that is too wide for a good closure with suture… but you have forever changed your fingerprint."

I have taken blood sacrifice to a new level. 🤣 Maybe that will finally excise the ET3 demons?

Sorry to hear that BN.. I hate when I do crap like that!

We can only hope!

I was going to say, "It can't hurt," but then I realized that ship has sailed.

Hope that chunk of flesh doesn't impede any life functions. What a pain in the ass. That's why I fly and fish. Removes me briefly from the insanity of Vespa. You sure have a special bond with that scoot now.

Vespas are insane. No doubt about it. Unassumingly cute and stylish on the outside, but potentially hiding an engine that can make it dangerously fast.

I probably have mentioned this before, but if I were at the point I am now 20 years ago, I would probably be building a kit plane by now. It's the natural evolution of all my crazy hobbies. Due to age, financial and time constraints, I have to choose my rabbit holes carefully.

Once in awhile I get a project at work like this. Converting a manual flap system to electric. Of course whoever built the plane didn't do a nice job and I have to fix what's wrong before the conversion. When I'm done with the work, I have to sign it off as airworthy. No second chances. Sometimes old Vespas aren't so bad! 🤣

I was thinking about you and this exact thing when I saw the fish & fly pictures. Gotta get it right the first time cause like you said - no second chances....

No pulling over at the side of the road! Used to give me nightmares when I first started in this field. 😆

Growing up, one of my best friends' dad was an aircraft insurance adjuster. There were (and probably still are) entirely too many people who don't bring adequate diligence to every aspect of aviation.

The level of stupid he saw on a daily basis was pretty amazing, but failures due to bad mechanics was usually not it.

Yesterday I got to go up in a 1944 Stearman. It was an amazing flight - barnstorm the beach, fly by the lighthouse, into the enchanted valley, some wing overs, and a beautiful flight around the area.

And I got to learn a bunch about the old WWII trainer. Terry was an excellent tour guide and explained a lot about the plane, after he saw B62

This was a gift from my wife for my birthday in a few days. She's so thoughtful!

https://www.tomenyaero.com/

That's awesome Scott! You had some great weather for the flight. Happy early birthday!

That's awesome. Would love to learn how to fly. Flying a glider also seems like it would be a lot of fun.

It's the "50 photos of a Vespa in grey primer with hours of work between each one" all over again.

Wish I had a couple weeks off to knock out this whole bus. It's finally flat and sanded out with 220. Primer and seam sealing next. Temps have fallen off a cliff, but there should still be some windows of good weather.

Thinking of cobbling together Son of Paintbooth in the garage and working through the winter.

Today I cleaned off the JBWeld from the temp leg shield tear fix. Have a friend who's gonna help me fix it proper. Have a patch we're going to weld in. Cut out the tear and weld the plate in its place.

When I first saw that, I thought it was one of my own legshields needing repair!

That flex point really is the Achilles heel of the Vespa body.

How has your repair with the larger stiffener held up CM? Only thing I'd be concerned with is if it simply moved the danger point.

Thus far, they're both doing just fine. I think that there's just not enough of a lever for the unsupported section of legshield to really flex that much, and it takes a lot more force to move it, so it's win-win.

My wife liked the green of Marks TS125 so much she had me go to Lowe's and get a color match to repaint our front door.

Great color!

Other than riding over to the art supply store for hot glue gun ammo, today was pretty much scooter-free.

I did do some arts n' crafts for the upcoming holiday, though.

Love it!

Only a mater of time till those flamingos turn on them and start picking the rest of the meet off the bones.

What a crack up!!!

Reminds me of a guy I knew who had a small flock of flamingos in his front yard, each stenciled with:

FRONT
TOWARD ENEMY

Having worked on a horse farm, I can assure you that horses wouldn't be any better if they weren't pure herbivores.

*blinks twice*
** Realizes that my wife has used my love of all things Vespa to trick me into painting the front door.**

That's why she's the boss.

Welcome to the club amigo. Mine does this too. And I fall for it every time.

Sipping coffee Sat morning catching up with y'all's escapades.
Scott's been flying in open cockpit - and probably eating crullers, BN is saving Orphan scoots in need of a good nest (and likely nest removal from under the tank) and CM has been riding around nut-less, and nearly nuttless.

Good to see things remain perfectly abnormal here.

House building has me one step in front of the crashing waves all day long - and flat wiped out by days end.

Shop is a disaster with lathe disassembled 3 months ago remaining untouched.

Few pics below of the day to day.

Sipping coffee Sat morning catching up with y'all's escapades.
Scott's been flying in open cockpit - and probably eating crullers, BN is saving Orphan scoots in need of a good nest (and likely nest removal from under the tank) and CM has been riding around nut-less, and nearly nuttless.

Good to see things remain perfectly abnormal here.

House building has me one step in front of the crashing waves all day long - and flat wiped out by days end.

Shop is a disaster with lathe disassembled 3 months ago remaining untouched.

Miss u guys!!

Few pics below of the day to day.

I thought for sure you were gonna strap the beam to the rental lift. Should've known you'd find a way to use a winch.

Scooter people are the best people.

LMAO!

Thanks Sean.

Also great to see an appearance from Ned on the site!!!!

Dude, that's a LOT of work......

Nice to see the Orange Unicorn in the wild!

That's a nice treat, the best ham going on there!

Glad you liked it Birbs! Hope the ET starts behaving!

It other news, uh...it was free?

Best guesses at this point is that it's a '72 Indian SE74. Engine's a Minarelli P4S70 "ovalino" case. Top end is stuck. Too messed up to be a resto project, but it has potential. I like a good challenge.

EDIT: After further research, I think it's a '73 MX74. The tank is for an SE, but the lack of a battery box, lack of an ignition switch mount, the gnarly footpegs and the black exhaust shield suggest it's the MX chassis.

Weather is supposed to improve later in the week, but it's getting dicey. Time for a paintbooth. Took some time to regroup and reorganize. It will be awhile before it's cold enough to need extreme measures for heating, so I should have time.