Modern Vespa

Ah of course. Makes sense.

Today I... realised how to make Speedy more fuel-efficient...

Simply put a container under the floorboard to collect the drips of fuel!
Yip, after smelling fuel every time I went outside over the past 4 days & noticing that the grass was dying underneath when I moved Speedy, I worked out what was the cause.... a wee drip, drip, drip of fuel from the floorboards!

Hopefully there is something left in the tank when i get a chance to put a camera in under the tank to try to work out where it is coming from before removing the tank!

Machined the flywheel. Slight weight loss from 2450g to 2180g...

same here!

YSS front shock is here for my PK project...

Tomorrow I realised that the fuel eventually stops dripping!

Just in time to help you level up your Find The Drip game, too!

Finally got the long detour of this peel the onion metal repair done. Last thing was getting the outer rocker panel welded on and lined up.

Vespa content: Trailer hitch arrived for adding a motorcycle carrier. The hitch integrates the stock bumper brackets so it bolts right to the frame and you only see the receiver with the bumper installed. I will now be rolling with a Vespa lifeboat.

I used that on my 4runner for years. It does the job. But if you wanna go cheap and good (yes it exists in this instance), get the black widow one with the extra long ramp. A lot of the others have a shorter ramp and it makes it pretty hard to get up and over. And you'll probably have to drill your own holes somewhere to put the cross bar in the right place so your Vespa is centered and at the same time the wheel(s) don't drop down super far.

Thank you!

MHO: Get the aluminum version. Save your back.

I offset mine for balance, towball is inline with hole under seat.

Had a bit of a setback with the GL yesterday. On the highway doing final shakedown for WKRP and it decided to seize.

I was doing 65-70 at what my throttle marks showed as 3/4 throttle (which I realized today was more like 1/4 throttle--my marks are off), and saw the AFR was reading lean, which was not expected. About that time, it missed and died. I coasted down the shoulder and was almost at the top of the off-ramp nearest my house, so I let it sit for a minute and it almost felt like it had enough compression to start, but didn't. So I pushed it home, which other than on uphill stretch really wasn't too bad.

Today, I opened it up and discovered that one head nut was loose and one stud was loose. No wonder it seized. My workmanship is slipping.

So not surprisingly, it was way lean. The plug and head were basically dry and the rings were stuck in two places. No detonation whatsoever. I've done worse, so I picked the rings out, sanded the grooves until everything sat correctly, then put it back together with a richer taper & diameter on my needle just to be safe.

I didn't have a chance to take it for a test ride, but on the stand, it starts and runs just fine. It'll get a proper test ride this week, but I'm now wondering if I should take something else this weekend.

Meh.

Sorry to hear it chandler, but seems like an easy enough fix and glad it took little diagnostics to figure out the root of the problem.

I finally changed the oil on my VMC187 LML build after its first track day a few weeks ago. The typical amount of swarf you'd expect, no metal chunks or clutch bits in the oil. No gas smell either. Very pleased with how that turned out. I also got my PMT slicks mounted on some SIP tubeless rims, so once those are put on the bike, she should be ready for the first round of races coming up in May. I still need to do some cosmetic stuff on it still, like get some plastic cut to put in the whole where the Speedo is, and mount my gauges there. As well as put some mesh screen in the turn signal holes, and some graphics. If anyone's around May 10/11 and near Syracuse, NY, come hangout and watch (or participate!!!!!) in some track racing. It's incredibly laid back. You don't need a suit or anything just gloves boots and long pants and shirt. I will have a video recap of it as I usually do for those that are too far away.

Nord-Lock washers!
Won't happen again.

Brother, i can't tell you how hard it is to remember everything these days. All my focus goes into work and everything else suffers. There's no shame in making up a before run checklist and that would be soooo easy for you to make with all your computer genius skills.

This is what three days of riding The Boo-P does to your standards. Starting and running are considered luxuries.

Man, that sucks!! I use high temp, pinched nuts, after my last head leak and never had issues anymore. Only downside, they're one time use…

https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/nut-m7x1-mm-cylinder-head-piaggio-for-minarelli-4_R121850200

https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/nut-exhaust-manifold-piaggio-for-piaggio-beverly-mp3-x10-350ccm-4t-lc_PI015341

I was pretty annoyed, to put it mildly. I jumped on the highway and blended into traffic, and only then did I realize I was doing almost 80. The bike wasn't even trying.

I think it's made a full recovery, plus I ordered some M7 nord-locks which I'll swap in once they arrive. (Thanks for the suggestion, Ray!)

Now the only things left for WKRP are to get the rear turn signals working again and to tighten up the rear brake.

Walked into the garage and started moving scoots around to get to work on the Et3(rnity). Got the multimeter out... anddddd...

...decided to just go for a scoot ride on the p200 instead.

I feel this pain. I've been trying to get ALL issues on the GL sorted and I feel like every time I get the list to zero, I find another thing to deal with.

Last night was replacing the bolt I have to use as a throttle stop on my ginormous throttle pulley, which decided to come loose again yesterday, and replacing a missing cowl holding bolt on the glovebox.

Bike is running a little rich with the new needle and the cylinder properly attached, but I'm going to leave it there for the time being.

Ray, M7 (1/4") Nord-Lock washers arrived last night. Thanks again for the suggestion on that.

I wish sip (or someone) made a throttle pulley that were intended for side draft carbs to actually be quick action. The one they sell now is only good for si carbs (and even then not all that quick still).

They have two challenges, first off fitting it into the headset, plus the additional complication of getting the throttle cable itself to align to the new offset. That's something I need to quit ignoring on my bikes, because it has a bad angle coming off the bracket.

There is, but I can't find it right now. I'll see if I can find it at home. I had to cut away a fair bit of headset to fit it, but this is on a non-US Super/ET3.

https://www.sip-scootershop.com/en/product/throttle-pulley-steering-head-sip-quick-throttle-disc-139797-for-vespa-pk50-125-s-ss-lusso-xl-ets-rush-n-px80-200-pe-lusso-98-my-11-t5_13978700

These are not so quick but pull wot on a 39mm carb with a single hold on the grip

I have this pulley on the GL and Smallie and it does fine for both the 34 & 36mm carbs. 2mm smaller diameter than the one Jack linked.

Thanks guys! Can always count on yall.

Pair's completed...

Off to LA. Shenanigans and a possible visit to Khajiit's await.

I think I need a bigger truck.

I put nord-locks on the GL's cylinder head nuts this afternoon, then swapped back to the previous needle.

The other thing I did was fix the leg shield basket, which I realized had broken on one side so it would effectively fold down when any weight was put on it, such as a bottle of wine, causing said bottle of wine to fall out.

I welded the broken parts back together, then added an extra support, since that's the only way (other than nuking the site from orbit) to be sure.

And as if that wasn't enough, on the first weld, I thought I needed to adjust my welding mask, but then I realized the batteries in it were dead and it was doing nothing to protect my eyes. Lucky for me I don't need to see. Replaced the batteries and while it for a lot harder to see my work, my eyes hurt a lot less afterwards.

Never a dull moment in my workshop.

Safety Third!

COSA patient for today. YES, THEY ARE UGLY!!!

COSA is Italian for Thing...

Was leaking heavily from the oil tank. Typical Piaggio stuff like on their newer scooters. Plastic tank and o-ring type banjo. Lot's of work just to replace that little asshole. Since we were in, new fuel (cut to 47cm) and oil lines, autolube and carb were rebuild - serviced, gearbox oil, brake fluid, rear brake cams adjusted and it's ready for a 300Km scheduled trip...

The Mighty COSA (MKII, Malossi 221)


On the operating table


Full Metal Tank (Unobtainium)


Tourist Cockpit


The disc brake


The void


Oil tank


The Leak


The culprit


All Clean


Ready to roll

I gotta admit, for a 300km run, likely w/ some higher speed sections included, there's nothing I'd rather be on than a well sorted albeit UGLY Cosa, especially a II. Rock solid & more rigid than all of its older brothers.

I have to agree on that. They are great for long trips with that comfy seat and the more planted geometry. Some pics from a 1000km roundtrip we took to Niš - Serbia a few years back...

Nice work, and even nicer photos!

I had one that I loved, but it was mymou or a bastard without papers so I traded it for that Problematic dead Pluramatic PK - 4 speed repower project w/ papers & a busted motor.

You call them ugly but gimme a break, they are not THAT ugly! In fact if Piaggio had stuck to the original design, I bet it could have been a success.


but that seat could use some help


A lot more Cosa info here: Undesirable scooters, post 'em up here!

Id drive the ever loving shit out of a Cosa!
… Proudly, and only somewhat ironically.

Well, it wasn't today and this is not scooter specific but this seems a good place to put this and maybe one of you can shed some light ...

My son's 20+ yr old Yamaha Kodiak 400 ATV. Battery. Previous mechanic replaced the stator w/trigger, CDI and regulator because he thought it was over charging. That's all I know. Motor ran. I got to it last week and the solenoid was stuck so replaced that and the motor ran. Checked the voltage and got 16-18 at the battery which seems high. Then it would not re-start. Tried pull starting it and it kicked back so the timing was off. No way, it's electronic. Pulled the plug and watched it fire continuously like an oil burner plug on cranking. Huh? Then I found I could fire the plug every time I turned the ignition key on. Strange. Fires once when just powered on and continuously when cranking.

Since I left, they replaced the regulator and CDI thinking the high voltage fried something and it is still acting the same way. Cheap replacement components ?

That is the wackiest thing I've heard in quite some time. You're a good wrench and I suggest getting a factory service manual off ebay and start troubleshooting this yourself. Yes, you can get bogus new parts but the manual will tell you how to test everything to make sure it's working properly. Charging should never be more than 14.2 volts give or take a few tenths so something silly there. Ive had switches go bad internally from carbon tracing but don't know what your switch is like. By using the wiring diagram you should be able to isolate some circuits for testing. Hope this helps.