Modern Vespa

Replaced all the coolant hoses and piping. Radiator was cleaned, tested and painted.

Been engaged in several scooter and scooter-adjacent projects as of late.

We have a multi-club un-rally planned for October up in the Prescott area, so I was finally fixing my '08 Majesty.

I've been chasing an esoteric electrical issue on a friend's GTS; I may post the nerdier bits to the MIU thread or lay out all the gory details in the General Discussion section. The short, short version is that the EFI keeps going crazy at random and coding over an oxygen sensor that's been replaced and the wiring to it had breaks that were spliced. I see the voltage generated by the sensor via GuzziDiag, so I know it's working. Very close to removing the whole harness out of the scoot and giving every bit of it a good metering

Got the Minarelli cases back from the vapor blaster. They look a lot better. Debating having the outer cases polished to deal with some "meh" surface finish on the stator/sprocket cover. At any rate, I can reassemble the bottom end now.

Spent the day modifying a cheap trailer that I got several years ago. It is now ready to haul a Burgman 650 and the long game is to set it up to haul three smaller scooters in a pinch. It's a bit ghetto, but it was much, much cheaper than a purpose built trailer.

chandlerman, your free puppy analogy? This little bastard project probably has moto-parvo on top of being an incomplete basket case. I thought it was better than the Indian, but it's steadily changing my mind. If a friend hadn't gone to the trouble of nabbing it for me as a gift, I'd be considering parting it out now. For reference, our Oregon friends might appreciate that it was designed there: it's a '75 Hodaka Road Toad, Model 99. It could be cool, but time will tell.

Sean, you're at a whole 'nother level of bringing home free puppies. I'm constantly impressed at the variety and decay level of projects you're able to bring back to life--and do it fast.

Is this your regular job? Or do you fit all this stuff in around that? It's amazing what you get through!

Can you tell me what size the coolant pipe diameter is? They look relatively narrow - I was thinking about some of the bulky hoses I see on some classic water cooled conversions.

I had a Super Rat when I was a young lad. Wonderful bike!

Ginch,

Thank you for the compliment, but I'm just an amateur who is willing to dig into different machines to see if I can bring them back around. It's usually more fun than work.

The regular job is managing IT infrastructure operations.

The coolant pipes have a 13mm ID. It works for cooling a DOHC 400cc single. The thermostat would fit in a Kinder Egg, but it all works well when clean and unobstructed.

I was helping a friend move stuff from his wife's old home to his today. Saw an older woman on a corner who looked needy and gave her a few bucks. It was a worthwhile karmic investment.

Had an hour before sunset so I pulled the Hodaka's engine to make it easier to move. Drained the gearbox; the oil was better than expected. Dug out a pick set to clean out the screw heads on the clutch side, straightened out the chewed metal a bit, warmed the screw heads with a propane torch and got out the good (read: Vessel) impact driver and my trusty 2lb engineer's hammer.

I got lucky.

For all the worrisome stuff on the outside, the engine internals look decent so far. Someone got in at the clutch before, with the wrecked screws, blue RTV sealant and sodding great Vise Grip jaw marks on the clutch. I suspect their safety wire job would make BajaRob wince.

Some folks should have to demonstrate a modicum of proficiency before being allowed to put tools to machinery...

I admire your tenacity in reviving the discarded. Each and everyone is a treasure in their own right. The discerning eye knows when a lost cause isn't worth it. I love seeing you bringing back the dead. What a triumph in putting something back on the road when nobody else was willing to try. You're quite an inspiration, Sir!

I promise I didn't safety wire that beast!

I gotta agree with Rob - you are quite the inspiration! I appreciate you documenting and explaining how you've been bringing these machines back from being lost and forgotten. Tipping my hat to you.

Finally… it appears we have functioning electricals on the ET3.
*knocks wood*

So I don't know if I mentioned this, but Sunday night, I woke up overnight with excruciating pain in my right shoulder. I thought I just had sore muscles from tightening and loosening my home-made Lammy fork spring compressor as I iterated it into something that actually worked. I figured that it would loosen up and get better over the next day or two.

Narrator voice: but it didn't gotten better...

Instead, I've spent the entire week unable to raise my arm at the shoulder or do much of anything with my right arm. If I even want to reposition it from right to left, say from the arrow keys on my keyboard back to home position, I have to pick up my right wrist with my left hand.

The first appointment I could get with an Orthopedist wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, but as of right now, I'm pretty worried I'm going to need surgery for something. Torn rotator cuff, maybe? What's really strange is that I don't think I really did anything on Sunday that would have caused this sort of injury, but I definitely did.

And of course, if I do have to have surgery, I suspect it's going to be a scoot-free fall at my house, which sucks both because fall is some of our best riding weather here in Tennessee and because it takes me under ten minutes to get to or from work on a scoot (don't judge my tactics--they work), and it'll be 20-30 minutes in a car. Boo.

Narrator voice: but it didn't gotten better...

Oh man. I'm sure you could do without this.

Gah.

What a drag.

Do you have any prednisone you can take to see if it's just inflammation and not a tear?

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

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

Thanks, y'all.

I'm going to the orthopedist this afternoon, so I should have a better idea what's going on in time for happy hour.

I'm hoping for something non-invasive. If I can do a course of steroids or even a shot and declare victory, I'll definitely take it.

Given that it wasn't an obvious injury, I'm now hoping toward that. It's also improved a little over the course of the week as I've gotten better at not doing things that make it hurt.

Here:

https://www.scooter-center.com/fraes-schablone-einlasssteuerwinkel-drehschieber-fuer-vespa-motoren/20250709/b-3743.html

Thanks, y'all.

I'm going to the orthopedist this afternoon, so I should have a better idea what's going on in time for happy hour.

I'm hoping for something non-invasive. If I can do a course of steroids or even a shot and declare victory, I'll definitely take it.

Given that it wasn't an obvious injury, I'm now hoping toward that. It's also improved a little over the course of the week as I've gotten better at not doing things that make it hurt.

Well Chandler what's the prognosis?

Sorry to hear. Take the time to plan your next monster build. Wait a week, order from Germany, and if that fickle bitch fate is kind the parts should roll in about in time with your recovery

Probable tear. MRI is not until September 2nd. The doctor said that it'll probably be surgery based on that though, which will be a couple months in a sling.

So I'll probably have a scoot-free couple months this fall. :sad_panda:

Way ahead of you.

I ordered a massive pile of parts from SIP last night for the Riverside. Next up after that will probably be a relatively simple VMC 244 build, with helping a clubmate with rebuilding a motor wedged in there, too.

Per the doctor, I'll be in a sling for a couple months after surgery, which I'm not looking forward to. And months of physical therapy as an added bonus.

The Not Riding is gonna suck, too.

Per the doctor, I'll be in a sling for a couple months after surgery, which I'm not looking forward to. And months of physical therapy as an added bonus.

The Not Riding is gonna suck, too.

Thanks everyone!

For now, I'm just waiting for the MRI and trying to figure out my limits so I don't let my muscles atrophy.

The doctor seemed a little surprised that I had zero pushback about surgery, which I thought was interesting. Like... how many people tear their rotator cuff and then just live with it???