Modern Vespa

I guess it could have been worse. It is in the nature of vehicles from this era to shake themselves into their natural disassembled state. My bus is the same way. Something comes loose and starts off a catastrophic chain of events. One that comes to mind is the small bolt on the clamp on the ignition coil coming loose and dumping the coil and ignition wires into the fan.Thankfully no accompanying fuel leak.

The solution is to ride/drive on a regular basis and lovingly wipe down all the stop and go parts while checking for tightness. I don't always do it though.

I feel seen.

Due note:

1. We are leaning heavily towards a reset.

2. If a reset occurs... Explosion Clock ham bets will open on whether he can beat 307 days. 307 will be logged as the official record for "longest duration without a kablooie"

It's not an explosion. It's "a rapid unscheduled disassembly."

I guess we just wait a few days until the new stator is on and SIP have changed the design so while it looks right, its a few degrees out.

This is quite technically accurate. The stator plate disassembled itself in a rapid and most definitely unscheduled manner. Nah. I don't care what the degree marks on the plate say. I care about what my timing light says.

Sparkles on the ET3rnity.

uh oh, you got the fever now....

I know I'm too late but I just don't see how you get from stator plate failure to explosion. I think someone had a ham bet that needed to be won by resetting that timer....

Not much for me to say on the scooter front, been moving to my new place slowly but surely. This weekend I reunited the herd in the new digs finally.

Wasn't me, I'm on the hook for a hock.

Per CM's follow up, the cause was likely due to a cut corner. I doubt he'd throw the game and take the parts cost "L" for a cut of the action.

Like I more-or-less said a couple posts up, it seemed pretty counter-reset-worthy at the time.

I like seeing the shifties ready to roll, there, John.

Definitely not me. I have a reputation to uphold. Just kidding...I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation!

Did the first gen Vapes not come with the countersunk allen bolts? Or were the Stella screws installed for on the fly adjustments?

Just discovered this is a way better way to park- easy out!

They were countersunk screws, with 'countersunk' washers. Pretty crappy and soft from memory, I ended having to replace mine.

Yeah, they were made of some sort of semi-soft cheese. I was able to distort the allen socket enough that my ball-end wrench stuck in it, and that was with the ball end, so short arm to torque it.

They went by the wayside pretty quickly.

Brieluminum?

They had taken the recipe from F.A. Italia. 80% mozzarella and 20% recycled steel…

...and the remains of a Lancia Beta.

HELP!
Today I'm trying to get the PX200 that I "fixed" many things on last year ready to deliver to owner after it sat for ~10 years. Last thing it needed was the cowls straightened, de-dented, patched& painted. And now suddenly the electric start stopped working


I fixed the starter motor last year and it still works by bridging the solenoid, but pulling clutch & hitting starter button no longer works. I pulled & cleaned the starter button switch, no obvious problem there, but I can't find the clutch safety switch anywhere in the headset. Can anybody give me a clue???


UPDATE: I fixed somehow. Because it had been working OK but kinda sketchy hesitating to make contact sometimes, I figured it likely was a bad connection and I guess that rassling with all the connections I could find at the clutch, push button and solenoid must have done the job because it just started working again.

Well done. And in a pinch! Mazeltov!

Good Job Terry

The man of many talents, and maverick fashion extraordinaire ....

The joys of electrical.

Glad you got it functional.

Root cause, I'd guess that the relay is (going) bad or the clutch safety switch is not getting a good ground. Either of those would cause the sort of intermittent failures you're seeing.

Or the whole wiring harness is about to crumble into verde gris dust. One of the two.

Found a quality replacement cover online. Paid the pros to turn it back into a serviceable seat. Props to Dave Custom Upholstery down on Camino Seco.

So snazz.

Now up to double-digit non-crappy bits of the Riva 80 project. w00t!

Don't worry. I'll still mistake it for a Servetta

One ride, and you'll be disappointed enough to never mistake it for a Servetta again.

Much like the Riva, I'm slow.

Speaking of Servetas…

I have decided to give Lambrettas a second chance. (It didn't hurt that John was selling his 74 Police Lambretta service scooter. )

Oh HELL YEAH!

That thing is sweet

Welcome (back) to the the dark side.

Sweet! If I ever go to the dark side, that would be a machine that could sway me. Good job on getting that baby

FANTASTIC!!

Lab results are in. Apple cider vinegar and time work well together.

After qascooter proposed using it as a tank cleaner, I decided to try it on the biome tank from the AF35 Live Dio. Credit to whodatschrome for the apple hint, which is why I tried apple cider vinegar.

Filled it to the top of the fuel sender hole (why there's ick on top) and gave it a week. The results speak for themselves. No nuts, bolts, chain or brushing.

I flushed it three times from the hose bib, shook out as much water as I could and finished by vigorously sloshing a quart of 91% isopropyl alcohol around to help prevent flash rusting.

I'll try ColinBelgium 's concoction in the next tank I clean, but if you have the time, the apple cider vinegar is good stuff.

Very nice - patience you have

I have four projects in play right now, so I could afford the time. Plus, a replacement AF35 tank is spendy!

I found this video of a guy testing four ways of killing rust, including EvapoRust and vinegar. He's come up with a cheap EvapoRust clone that's so cheap you could try submerging a frame in a 55 gallon drum to easily kill ALL the rust. Could be worth a try for someone with the right old frame.

To neutralize what ever is left behind of the vinegar solution after removal, try a bit of plain old baking soda in water and slosh that around. Then after drying using a heat gun on low, use whatever light oil you have .

Amazing find! congrats

Continuing work on the LML engine. Split the crank to check the big end bearing and also replaced the conrod washers. Also, something that I wasn't aware of since this is my first LML engine, double o-rings on clutch arm and kickstart axle from factory. Nice!!!

WD40?