Modern Vespa

Shoulda' listened to your mom's advice to not stick you fingers in the mixer.

Here's the setup I managed to put together. Some smaller d-rings mounted with the center stand hardware and I fabricated a little foot rest since the gas can will be taking up the tunnel bridge. The 2nd can of gas will go in a milk crate that will be on the seat, strapped to the back rest. I think it'll help handling to put it there instead of on the BBQ part of the rack. I'm pretty short so it's not like I sit that far back on the seat anyway.

Nicely played sir.

Long swingarm
I watched this video about the new SIP radial front brake. Took them a while to get on the bandwagon but looks pretty good.

Something that grabbed my attention though - he was about to do a stopping distance test and showed two scooters. As an aside he pointed out that one had been fitted with a longer swingarm and described it as "a bit sportier".

Anyone have any thoughts about it?

?si=sWU3fP8zzfARLQ3_&t=380
https://youtu.be/ajFdHG854Uw?si=sWU3fP8zzfARLQ3_&t=380

My thoughts are radial cipers are oy aboit mounting positions... but it does open up a world of different options for fitting bike pots to your ride for optic effect

The swing arm looks to be from one of the autos.. all i can see that doing is giving more movement for the same degree of travel..

longer trailing link would move the wheel back giving the fork more trail. not sure how that is "sportier"

That's exactly what I thought Patrick. If it is from an auto, they have that bottom leg of the fork sticking out further than ours, which keeps the wheel more or less in the same relative position.
The shorter wheelbase would tend to make it more twitchy (I think), but the increased trail would make it track straighter (I also think). Confusing!

I rode the GL to the liquor store today. Which is not unusual in itself, but while it was not raining when I left the house, the skies opened and completely dumped on me starting about halfway there.

I walked in completely soaked, got some wine and headed home. So of course the rain stopped before I was halfway home. Walk in the house. Where it hasn't rained at all, and my wife asks me why I'm all wet.

But I got wine, so all good 🍷

So the Gl curse now involves weather?
Good to know......

The GL Curse is a constant innovator in the field of cursing.

I finally got the DRO installed on the lathe. My magnetic contactor arrived yesterday morning from Taiwan and no extra tariff was asked for. It was a bit melted inside. Now all the switches work properly. 12 speeds of pure lathe satisfaction. This bitch was born to run!

After I remedy a cylinder related problem on the Malaguti, I should be able to get my ass moving on the GS. Been crazy times lately.

Would you describe the problem? Inquiring minds would like to know.

60 psi compression. Plug looks great. No seizure. Piston top looks normal. Piston top has some FOD marks shown on the bore scope. I suspect something in the expansion chamber got sucked up into the cylinder. Haven't checked the carb or reeds yet. Need to pull the plastics and get to it.

Oh no, hope it's an easy and non-expensive fix.

Got a borescope pic?

No but I'll post some pics when I tear in there. It happened the same day my overrange kit was delivered!🤣🤣 Figures.

Closer to the performance peak is also closer to the trash heap.

Preach it, brother! That's the second time the pipe has sent shrapnel into the jug. I even had the squish conservative for that little chainsaw. I'm close to deathblading that pipe and getting another.

Rob - the lathe looks great. Nice job on the clean up!
Such a killer tool to have for your tinkering/fine tuning.

The little chains saw that could: every time I get in a tuck, I think about that thing.

Prepping the Rally for the southern Oregon TT. Decided it was time for a new helmet, got the requisite reflective stripes added.

Looks like an RF 1400, nice! Im loving mine.

Made it to San Francisco!
Sorry for the non-Vespa content.

Some big awesomeness right there! Thanks for sharing

Sunday was a hot mother scratcher in the HTX. No wrenching but Kyle and I had a fine morning ride before the furnace was full blast. Into downtown and then the curvy, no stop lights section of Memorial Drive into the park and then back for breakfast tacos. We had lots of motos we crossed paths with. Lot of nods and Vespa love from folks we ran across. Did not suck.

As BajaRob said, I went from an RF1200 to a 1400 and loving the Shoei goodness.

Orwell - Looks fantastic.
What's it like to drive a VW bus X country on the road?!
Are you whipped out by days end from manhandling the wind gusts or is it just another day? How's the seat?!

Nothing like cruising around with the window and the door open. I've got two Piper Cubs right now that both need a cylinder repaired. This one is done. Waiting on the next cylinder to show up.

Scott, this pic is for you. You can just see Anacapa Island in the distance and of course The Cross on the hill.

That pic is amazing! Thanks for that Rob - it is much appreciated!

Respect!

Wow that is so F ing cool. Just driving from the east side to the west side through Yosemite is life changing. In a VW Bus double amazing. So good thank you.

The Piper Cub is a Vespa with wings! Awesome!

Foldable, vintage kickstart lever for my PK is here...

Hey, I've got one of those!

At least it's a two-wheeler...

Did an R&R on a cheap ($100) trailer I bought about three years ago with the plan to make it a scooter hauler. Replaced the crumbly lights, wiring and jack handle. Sheathed wiring and new 5/16" grommets in all the wire support rings. Wheels were replaced previously so I could tow it home without a blowout. Added a mount for a spare tire.

Now that it's less crap, I've gotten in through an L1 inspection and bonded it. Should be able to re-title it tomorrow.

Next step is to add a wheel chock, a rail and some tie downs so my buddy can use it for an upcoming trip. Later in the year, I'll add additional rails so it can be used for multiple smaller scoots.

A couple weeks ago i pedaled the annual two day Seattle to Portland bicycle ride. I've done it the past two years on my BMX (in two day), but this year one of my friends wanted to see if he could pedal the one day option. I was fairly confident that it wasn't going to be physically possible for me to pedal 207 miles in one day on my BMX, but i was open to the idea of a moonshot attempt.

The official starting time of the ride (it's not a race) is 5am saturday morning for the 1 day riders. The 2 day riders start at 5:30am. The finish line closes down at 9pm saturday night for the 1 day riders, then opens back up sunday mid day for the 2 day riders. I did some math and came to the conclusion that it would be impossible for me to finish before 9pm if i left at 5am….so i left the start line EXACTLY at 12am saturday morning instead!

My buddy left the starting line closer to 4:30am. He caught up to me around mile 140. He was pretty spent both physically and mentally, so when he saw me he was really relieved. He ended up tucking in right behind me for the next 70~ish miles.

We both finally cross the finish line at about 7:45pm saturday evening. We were both pretty proud of our achievement. I was out in the course for 19 hours and 45 minutes. The GPS app on my phone got me lost multiple times in the wee hours in the morning, so i waisted about a full hour of getting back on course. It also added about another 8 miles of backtracking to my ride, so my distance was closer to 215 miles.

I had tons of fun. The weather was great. The temp only got to about 85 degrees out. The shirt came off at the midway point, sunscreen was liberally applied, and i walked away with zero sunburns by the end of the day.

Ride was epic. Especially pedaling around Lake Washington (in seattle) at 1am with the moon casting its beams across the water, which was then reflecting back in all directions. It was quite amazing to watch.
https://cascade.org/rides-events/seattle-portland-2025/route

Absolutely mind boggling John! You are truly an inspiration. Love your PK!!

AWESOME - You're a beast! Fantastic job man, wow...

Holy crap! Well done sir!

Awesome!! Sounds like an epic ride