Modern Vespa

Don't forget to pressure test it!

Sipping coffee just staring at this octopus of a rubics cube wrapped in an enigma I've created for myself.

May have to brew another.

Living vicariously through y'all's scooter projecting until I can get back to some of my own.

Right there with you, pal. You'll get it figured out.

Doing seals on KLE 500 forks and a friend's PX came in with a surprise. Crank is a longstroke Polini I had installed 2 years ago. Engine was getting abused everyday, he calls it the "White Tornado"...

Ooph

Well, that's one kersplosion I haven't managed yet. #LifeGoals

Got sick of letting the black raspberries do their own thing. Which is them growing as a tangled mangled mess. It's so hard to get the fruit from the lower parts and you get cut the hell up as well. So I poured some concrete and sunk some posts with brackets attached to help keep them tight in the slab. Then attached the boards and wire and pulled the brambles up and tied them. Going to be so much easier to pick them next year this way.

I've done that one, put it down to occasional starting with a drill. I don't do it any more, but recently I saw a BSSO video where they were doing it on some of the race bikes.

FM - that is the garden of a Vespa owner of I've ever seen one. Award wining.

Ginch - was just thinking same from your own experience…

What does the flywheel, stator & inside of fan cover look like? Got pics?

I'll post some pics after work but nothing crazy, stator is fine, no damage…

Today I came across this fun piece of kit for an oldie

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/167umxaFQC/

I'm with FMP on being old school and free-handing, but I'd have total respect for someone who used this, even if you just used it to mark your cutting plan.

And that thing is just SCREAMING for a 3D printing template if it's your thing. And then you could easily do them in a variety of inlet timings pretty easily, too.

Thank you thank you. Lost half the fence on the right hand side last week in a little tornado. When I get around to fixing it I'll do the proper thing and make it all bigger!

Got me a reasonably priced smallframe vintage folding kickstart lever on the Italian eBay. NOS but with minor cosmetic scratches. There's one more from a different seller, fully new, in original packaging but more expensive...

Guy I bought the lever from has a set of Ulma legshield trims for a GS (207)) and a smallframe (037)...

P125 that I rebuilt over Covid and have barely driven due to cascading frustrations was leaking 2T oil all over the garage. A few weeks ago I pulled the tank and RTV'd the site glass and reinstalled, but still leaking. I pulled the tank again and realized that the leak was from the plastic oil tank, which was from an LML. The tank had warped and was "swollen" and the super-thin rubber washer that was supposed to have sealed the oil petcock couldn't deal with the bulbous nature.

So today, bollocks, I installed a brand new Piaggio-made oil tank that hopefully won't warp ($50!) along with a quality seal for the petcock, which was twice as thick as the POS that LML included.

Lesson (I think) is that there is a real difference in quality of aftermarket parts.

yackee Hopefully that job is now done.
It sounds like you are due for a nice long ride.

The 'White Tornado' is getting ready. New quality Primatist - SIP crank. Cylinder is old Malossi, lettered B and is still holding despite the constant abuse. Wear suggested for next lettered piston so we went for 'C'. New cruciform, bearings, seals, gaskets, the works...

So, why did the Polini crank snapped?? Owner removed the original flywheel, painted one he had and put it on. No lapping and probably not torqued properly. I found a lot of surface rust in the cone...

V oodoo: Terry, first pics of the flywheel, cover and stator you asked for...

Those cranks look so sexy

Safis - looks to me like you have it right. There is evidence of poorly seated flywheel.

Steel tends to crack in stages, and all of the tell tale signs are there.

Hardened surface is damaged by movement of flywheel - creating micro crack.

Then corrosion speeds the splitting of the part.

Poor fit looks like the culprit to me.

Getting ready for the corsa this year, this is the first time using this scooter for it, and have since sold the scooter I won it on years ago. With that scooter went the (kind of janky) mirror mounting plate that I made that also had holes for my roll chart holder. Wanting to use the same holder, I just widened the existing slot and mounted it with the mirror itself. Seeing as I won it on a malossi 177, I'm hoping my rebuilt Malossi 210 will help keep me in the lead this year as well. This is my daily and have put almost exactly 1000 miles on it since the rebuild in December, and can cruise around 60 keeping CHT temps at or below 300°f depending on elevation/wind. I plan on strapping two 2.5 gal gas cans in a crate on the rear rack. Which should allow me to do all 300 miles each day without needing to stop at a gas station. Assuming I can get ~100miles per tank.

I eventually finished my paint project and we somehow managed to actually leave. Left on Monday and arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. Fought with the same electrical problem every day which turned out to be a broken connector tab in the fuse box. I think I finally fixed it by rerouting power through a secondary fuse box. Hopefully smoother travels ahead. Bus is otherwise running well, so I can't complain.

Wait.
The bus from all the pictures is painted??

Looks great!

Nice map roller!

That's 14kg plus containers hanging out past the back wheel! I find it much better for handling to carry the fuel on the floor between my feet. Or even on a legshield carrier, the handling of the scoot seems to benefit from the forward weight. I don't carry that much though, on our Mille we normally carry 7-10 litres that gets us around 200+ kilometres. I guess if you're planning to come in first then less fuel stops at a pump does save a fair bit of time though.

Today I....

Took a road trip to collect a P range frame with papers/V5/Title whichever is your local definitoln of registration. Chap im getting if from is an hour or so away so im enjoying a beer garden whilst I wait

Wow, I've got a few (ie more than a couple, less than 5) of them

Braggart

Yeah I've been thinking about ways to mount the gas that isn't all off the rear. The first year I put the crate on the seat directly behind me/up against the back rest. Not even on the rack. That wasn't so bad as it wasn't hanging off the back and a little more centered. But I had to take it off to refuel which was a little annoying. I will try to figure out a way to mount one on the floor, I've seen people do that but I'm not sure I have enough time to fabricate hooks to strap it down.

No need to fabricate. Order these and Mercato should have 'em to you in time.

https://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Misc/12961000

I have them on almost all my bikes and use them all the time.

Riding with all that weight high up and behind the rear wheel is asking to have your front tire off the ground at the worst possible moment. I have a rear rack on my Stella for carrying larger amounts of groceries, but it feels hazardous with any but the lightest loads, IMO.

Eyebolts are what I used before making my own version of Chandlerman's link, now using the VMC version which also includes a heel rest.


https://www.mcmaster.com/products/eyebolts/eyebolts-1~/

Also if you haven't tried a front rack with a bit of weight, give it a go. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Double up

My main complaints with the front rack are that it interferes with the headlight if you put too much on it and it blocks my view of the front mudguard, which I found really annoying that I couldn't see it turning for some reason.

But it definitely helps keep things planted, as opposed to the rear rack.

You're right of course. You actually can't fit as much as it looks like at first without blocking the headlight. I just have faith that the mudguard is there and turning; mostly my faith is rewarded.

It looks like they've incorporated whale killers in the plains of Iowa orwell84.

The 'White Tornado' is gone, new patient on the table. Needs a new 3rd gear cog, cruciform and it also gets a SIP 60mm crank and a Malossi kit...

Whoa this is literally perfect. The foot rest is crucial and something I've been thinking about when mocking this whole thing up in my head. I will be buying that this winter 100%. As for this weekends race, I'm just gonna fab up something as a place holder. Chandler, you are right in that Dave at mercato probably could get me something by Wednesday, but I only have tomorrow to dial everything in and even if I ordered Sunday night, I don't think it'd give me enough time. I will post photos here of whatever diy Frankenstein thing I come up with. Appreciate your guys advice and suggestions! Always such great help here.

Tightly cropped photo, but judging by the kick start and those white walls, the new patient's got some bling…

It probably just doesn't want to run right so it won't have to be seen in public with those whitewalls.

Today I.....

Came across this. Is it one for the wiki?

https://vindecoder.eu/lml

Not today, but Sunday I decided to try to fix our non working kitchen aid mixer. It's been sitting for years, would turn on but the motor wouldn't spin. So ordered a replacement circuit board brain thingy and got to work. Noticed the circuit board was a revision C and the original was B. Hope it works…

It did! However decided to experiment to figure out why it stopped originally. When I pulled the old one out I made sure to note which wires went where. So put the old one back in to test….

It also worked!