Modern Vespa

That damn orange T5 again! Makes me want new paint

thanx peeps ..... still not sure about paint colour after 2years ..... it does look nice when im lookin at mesen in a shop window though ....
admit it we all do it..... had me summer gear on wi me white bandit lid for extra cool factor

Has anyone seen these?

Yoshimura YD-MJN in 24 and 28mm

Lost my front left turn indicator today. Broken wire behind the indicator switch. Out with the soldering iron...

I suck at soldering.

We went to Jacksonville this weekend for the Annual Seven Bridges Ride. Lots of different scooters. Stella P200s to 650s.

Sunday was about 90 miles. The P ran great. Seems rich at low RPMs. Maxed at 65 mph with a lot left. Tires are old so I didn't want to get to stupid speeds.

The maxis were quite surprised that the Ps were able to keep up. Fun day with all types of scooter heads!

Ur T5 Looks good Brother Jim, today i finish the excel for a friend and just got back from attending a local event while showing my newely pipe that i weld out of 3 scrap pipe

Have a nice weekend to you all and cheer

Was looking for a smallframe battery side door. Purchased a whole damn bike just to get a door. Darn. Time to make more space in the garage.
Painted door and fitted onto other running smallie that needed a door. Rebuild of the new bike will take some time, but will be worth it.

Let's see some pics mac!

This is real dedication! Have you considered getting rid of your car? Waiting for the pics...

I fitted the Rejna bench seat to the AllState today but no pics yet. Quite comfy & I can slide back now.

Went out early in the day for about 80-90 miles in the country on the kitted p125. Discovered the stator is still not charging the battery, so I slapped it on the solar charger for the afternoon.

Pulled the Rally 180 out of winter storage to find out the rear shock somehow "unmounted" itself at the frame end over the winter. So, I dropped the rear tire, degreased everything, mounted the shock back in it's home, replaced both front and rear tires with the newly mounted pair I had sitting on the shelf, swapped the headlamp bulb for a 6v Halogen unit, fixed up some electrical connections, adjusted brakes, and adjusted the clutch. Took it for a quick spin to find out I had a dead tail light and quickly brought it home. Also decided I NEED a ne spring and shock for the fork. The trans oil was NASTY so I swapped that too.

Twas a good day. 8)

Pulled the tank to run some new wiring and found this. Don't know how long it has been there but I was glad the little F**kers didn't pack the entire tunnel. I put a piece of screen under the seat bracket.

Just back a couple of days ago from a 1600km trip to Griffith NSW for the National Scooter Rally (for autos & classics). Had a great time and apart from a flat tyre the scooter didn't miss a beat, even though it was carrying plenty of gear. We did better than we thought the first day and decided a couple of times to carry on and ended up doing 600 and something km and it took 12 hours.
Met some great people and made new friends. Great fun.

This winter/spring has been super wet....

I know other places may have it worse but, this is dragging on too long here.

I blame Punxsutawney Phil

love it

Having an exhaust burning party. Turns out the can on the polini isn't metal and melted

most cans are ali so will melt

Have driven 1100km in each direction (well by the time I get home) to pick up my next project. It's a 1966 Vespa 180SS assembled in NZ by Airco. The engine number suggests 1965 but the scooter was first registered the following year. Right now at 8:40pm I am on a ferry between our South and North Islands and will arrive in the Capital Wellington in a little over an hour before the final leg home tomorrow of about 550km

I've got the same glovebox somewhere.
Was it from CHCH.?

Rain??? Phooey... Go riding in THIS (on a Zip 100)... then you will KNOW what rain is!

I was stoked to catch up with you... It had been far too long!
I think the hardest bit of the ride was seeing the First "Griffith 151km" sign... Then realising a while later that it was ONLY 3hrs to go!
or
Riding for 2 1/2+ hours thru cyclone with light weight "water-proof" jacket that lasted about 1/2 hr (possibly less) & NO leggings! Then buying cheezy Yellow wet-weather gear to put over wet clothes, then riding up foggy, freezing, cold, wet mountain, just so I could freeze even further!

But fuk it, I made it!

This week I've just clicked over 1000km if riding! Now to change the shocks (or resurface every road I have been on!)

Yep. That thing is SLOW! But absolutely quicker than waiting for the bus...

Next rally you'll be back on Speedy - new impoved Speedy!

Next rally you'll be back on Speedy - new impoved Speedy!

You just brought a tear to my eye

We finally got a little bit of nice weather, so it's been a busy couple of days in the scooter garage.

First, I finally replaced the bent fork in my VBB after only five years. I ordered one of the Bajaj replacement VBB forks from SIP via Rob Hodge, who was kind enough to make sure that those forks have a bad reputation.

It arrived and lived up to every low expectation.

The workmanship was utter crap--the axle was not fully installed; the hub was warped; it had been wrapped in plastic before the paint was dry, so much of it is now rockin' the saran wrap look; the fender mount only matches one of the side holes in my fender; and the brake arm was apparently welded by someone who should not be allowed near open flames, much less a welding rig.

I cleaned off the wrapping as best I could, rebuilt it, replaced the brake pads, which were so thin that they would not grab, re-used my old hub, then put it in the bike.

After some test riding, the lower bearing race has settled a little lower so it shimmys a bit under hard braking, but I'll fix that today and declare victory for now.

On the Stella, the rear wheel was a tiny bit loose, so I fixed that.

Then, I went after the squish, which has always been too high, but it's been too cold to really do anything about it. I planed down a spare head that I had to replace the spark plug threads on. It's still high (1.7mm), but a lot better than it was. I need to have the cylinder deck on those cases milled down about 3mm, because every top end I've ever had on that bike has started with way too much squish.

Depending on what else my day holds, I may mill that head down another half a mm, then it'll be Fun With Jetting time. Interestingly, when I was riding it yesterday, it ran cooler at WOT than it had previously. I was not expecting that.

Oil changes are also in store, but maybe not until next weekend.

Super nice carbs ($$$!) and have a real interesting needle setup going on in there. I think they're 4t carbs though? I'm sure they could be setup better and tuned for a 2t but haven't really come across anyone detailing their experiences with it. (haven't really looked either though). Some sweet eye candy at least!

Got in a little something for the 67 GT Rat Cannonballer.

That looks sweet! Looks a bit drop-bar ish. Or is that just the photo? Very neat M/C mount!

I didn't ride a single mile this weekend,despite the PERFECT weather. Instead I worked on my 30 year old GMC suburban so I could use it to haul stuff to and from the Scooters Originali swap meet.

Went on an awesome ride with some local and not so local folks. Hit up north and northeast San Diego county. Not so familiar to me...but beautiful scenery and avocados on the side of the road.
A ride to be remembered. Thanks MJ! Cheers to a good weekend.

Drop with M/C mount from the master!

drops for a distance run .... not friendly with ya back then or ya 4'8

With most drops I would agree. These are a "mild" drop. Comfortable to ride and let you tuck a little more in the 35 mph head winds As I said....made by the master!

So who is "the master"? Looks like they've done a great job.

Tim Bridges. Check out the FB Vintage Scooter Community. He was well known to make great drops. I tried to order one 4 or 5 years ago but he had stopped making them.

I guess he had a lone enough break and is back welding. I see a lot of welding at my work,,,he is a great fabricator and runs a nice bead.

Cheers SR, requested membership.

You and me both, brother. Tho not a Suburban. I look forward to this thing every year. But how come I end up buying stuff I didn't intend to buy and selling absolutely nothing?

I'm doing something wrong.

finished cleaning, and re-blueing the small arbor press I picked up.

I've not been able to make it before. Always had work, or a lack of truck to haul with preventing me. I am hoping to sort out the glow plug and charging issues and put some new tail pipes on my truck in time as I have a bunch of spare stuff I don't need to keep. Don't need to make a huge profit, but would like to see some of these bits get someone out on the road!

GPS'd 61mph on the smallie.
Want more.

No...but looks intriguing!