Modern Vespa

Looking forward to this one, Chris
Your painter's gonna have a blast.

I think it needs the yellow fade on top of the mudguard and a black crest. If you're going all out, some yellow on the floorboard would complete the scheme.

Cheers all!!!

SoCalGuy: Too much trouble and it must stay white on most percentage of the scooter. You can have multiple colors but the most needs to be the one registered in the license…

BajaRob: It's not yellow fade, it's the orange under light. That's why I thought to have the crest in yellow…

Due note - for ham bets and other interests... The Explosion Clock was reset again. Killing CM's impressive average between Kablooies

Well that about wraps up the new rack.

damn, look away for a couple days and the explosion counter resets again?!? this one seems more like a real explosion though. stay safe chandlerman! at least you seem to be unharmed in this latest incident, though the same can not be said for your engine.

I prefer to think of it as "getting all the explosions out of the way early."

Nothing damaged but my gearbox and my wallet.

The fact that I was able to blow it up again in a completely different manner within 24 hours has to be some kind of record, too.

Solid! ... and fine placement of a Safety Third sticker.

And it'll be extra-threatening to the person behind him when the rack is loaded up with stuff that might fall off.

Innovator, indeed.

I mean.

I think it looks great. Wouldn't change much of anything (maybe more blue would be good). Would be proud to ride it.

Cant remember if I posted this or not, but this is how it was running prior to The Incident.

WOWZA!
Also a good way to save wear on the front tire, as it's off the ground a good bit!

The Smallstate still takes the cake for saving front tire wear.

What did I miss here? What happened apart from the gearbox?

No, just the gearbox, but it came less than 24 hours after getting it back on the road with the new stator.

It was good while it lasted, and will be even better with fresh new gears.

Ah yes. The non-expolsive explosion I think!

C-man, sorry about the scoot. I just glad you did not hit the asphalt. New scooter parts cost nothing in comparison to hospital bills.

Dude, I'm sorry. I know you take these things in stride, but still.

If I didn't, I'd have rage quit the hobby years ago.

I feel seen.

At 11k rpm there are a lot more potential Jesus nuts in a Vespa engine. Even on stock engines there are lots of small things that can go wrong and cause damage even with careful assembly. Sometimes it seems like a miracle these things even run at all.

I rage quit various projects all the time. But I always come back. Usually the next day.

Also appreciate that you openly share your struggles. Aside from the high entertainment value it's honest encouragement for the rest of us. Shit will happen. Sometimes it's your own fault, sometimes not. You can beat yourself up over it or come back and fix it.

Fixing a small issue before the upcoming season, now i can properly torque to spec my rear wheel

So many Lammies coming out of the woodwork. Good to see

Shop neighbor is moving.
Sold an old movie prop he was using for photography.
Asked if I could open the shop, meet the buyer, and help them get the thing loaded. Sure man - I can help out.

Arrived. Reading the situation, it came to me that the prop might be needed for its original intended use.
Also, they were driving a Prius.

WOW, and here I thought I've heard it all.

Cut it like mine

just paint it red, the same red but this time with a proper tools it look more smooth to me

Will post more pics with a better light next time aling with the other vespa, until then have a nice day and cheer

Hoping to start it tomorrow. Was waiting for the reed petals from SIP. New lines, sight glass, frame's cleaned up and engine's in. I have to rewire the stator and finish up...

hmmm….so it this kinda like shopping for a mattress? Keep testing them until you find one comfy enough for the long nap? Possibly asking for a friend…

Today I took on ANOTHER PK to rehabilitate, the red PK50XL2. A guy saw my PKs parked out front and inquired if I could fix the one he got from his father-in-law that hasn't run in ten years.

The motor turned over way too easy, but not slippy clutch kind. I could see the piston going up & down thru the spark plug hole. I suspect a holed piston, will pop the head off and confirm later today.

Went up to Phoenix yesterday to go ride with some friends. On the way, I dropped off a junk scoot that had been loitering at the back of the shop lot.

My buddy and I had inherited it from an acquaintance, much in the way one receives a fruitcake at Christmas. Naturally, we followed protocol and after several years, regifted it to a shop neighbor that wanted a "scooter project". Since his plan was to hack one up and make an art-cycle, this seemed like a good fit.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my buddy and I cleaned up the horde at his old house, giving away a few scoots in the process. One kid came down from Casa Grande to claim two serviceable, but slightly incomplete scoots. Since then, we'd been looking through the parts stash for the missing items. We had a small pile of bits and since I was going to Phoenix this Friday, I said I'd drop them off en route.

Wednesday night, I got a text from our shop landlord about a scooter he'd found behind one of the conex boxes. I asked for a description of it, concerned that one of our neighbors might be trying to swipe one of our projects. When he described it, I realized it was the fruitcake. Apparently, art-bike guy had abandoned it when he lost his job; guess his vision was bigger than his talent or budget.

I was about to OK dropping it at the scrapyard, but then I had an epiphany: it was the same model as one of the ones we gave to the kid in Casa Grande. I asked the landlord to set it aside and told him I'd pick it up before the weekend.

Loaded it up with my other scoot on Thursday night and delivered it yesterday morning. The kid was stoked to have it, but I recommended breaking it for spares. Meth-bodges are not good for much else.

It's not often that you can regift the same fruitcake twice. Zack, enjoy El Toilet Bike.

El Toilet Bike

Damn, did I once do work on that bike???

Regardless, I blew most of today of rebuilding a stator I thought was good. Bike had spark before we pulled the motor, but apparently most of the wires did not survive wrestling the filthy motor out.

I recently scored an older liquid Miller tig torch cooler. I've been cooling the torch with an adapter to my garden hose. It just dumps the water out as waste and really bugged me.

The unit I got was orange so after rummaging around the paint cabinet at work, decided on this blue. Got her all hooked up today and no leaks! No more wasted water.

If Shoe Goo can't fix it, nothing can!