Modern Vespa

That's disappointing to say the least. What is the brand on those cases, is it SIP? or Pinasco? or ?

SIP , i sent them an email asking them to check their stock the only reply i got was 'very sorry thanks for your detailed description return them and we will send another as soon as we receive the returned item'
i'm glad i don't live in the states this would take forever

Yeah, but I'll bet the bearings were super-easy to install!

That's crazy, how does that even happen?

got a flat heading out to the lost coast. roads were brutal, but still well worth it.

A little bondo and duct tape. Good as new.

ran perfectly until parked. a little tinkering and you'll be on the road in no time!

The electrics look fine, horn still works.

helicoiled a casing thread for a cylinder stud
the photo shows the set up i used to drill and tap in line

That's brilliant!

Yesterday I felt the weird experience of my engine cutting out for a 10th of a second here and there in the higher rev ranges above 4000rpm. Strange experience.

Anyway it turns out the spade connectors on the ignition coil were loose. A quick crimp with some pliers and all is well again. Seems the high performance vibrations even get to spade connectors eventually.

Got some swag from the other side of the pond.

Changed my squeaky original piaggio shoes with the slotted ones from newfren. They didn't come with a spring (cheap bast@rds ). Also, did a gear oil change...

Yes !

You need to add that to the Tips n' Tricks thread, because it's totally brilliant.

Last night, I swapped my BGM motor into the Stella frame.

Finally took it around the block this morning and...holy cow! I almost flipped myself off the back of it when I gunned the throttle the first time. Power wheelies in both 1st and second gear, and that's with the SIP Road and just a random guess at jetting.

It's a torque monster off the line, which is what I was looking for, but I might swap the clutch to a 23t to stretch the gearing out a little. I'll get some SIP Dyno App readings off it tomorrow, but right now, I'm still jittery from the adrenaline rush from that first run around the block.

Had a little Sito BBQ

And swapped the Holy piston

Today, I reinstalled the fuel pump into the Stella and tweaked the shift and clutch cables a little bit on the new motor.

After that, I went out and rode around for a while to break it in. The BGM manual calls for an hour of riding with speed variation and keeping RPM's under 5,000, which is pretty easy in my town if I'm not trying to go crazy.

I'm super-pleased with it thus far, even though I still need to tweak the jetting. I'm still getting used to not jumping to WOT by default when I start out, but I put that in the "good problems to have" category.

It's awesome for things like turning left across traffic or changing lanes into a faster traffic flow, and the torque band is super-wide so minimal downshifting required, too.

Tomorrow, I need to spend a little time on the front end of the VBB. It has a wobble and a wobble when braking that I want to get sorted out.

Hey chandler, glad to hear the kit's working out. Which pipe are using?

Right now I have my Sip Road 2.0 on it so the neighbors won't hate me more than they already do. I had a JL Leftie knockoff on it when I ran it on the stand and I think that could be pretty amazing, too, but obviously a whole lot louder.

I may pick up a BGM Big Box at some point after I get through all the other projects I have stacked up, but for now, I think I'm good.

Glad you're enjoying it, they're pretty damn good.
I tried a Big Box Sport on mine, unfortunately it left a big gap down low. Same deal with an LTH box though perhaps slightly less so. I think this is due to the fairly low port timings in this kit. I think I'll go to a SIP road when I've cleared my wish list.

You might consider the "Touring" model Big Box... we've got one on a Polini 177 and it pulls like a madman.

That's a really good idea. I don't know that I necessarily need more power at this point, but that's not to say I don't want it...

How's the noise level compared to a SIP Road? About the same?

Yes, about the same, BGM has a little deeper tone.

over 2 1/2 years on the orange bastard wi no punctures...... me spares still got the whiskers. ..... a week on murderöné pull it outta shed flat rear ...... hopefully not a sign of things to come ...... had to bring the spare home from work as I'm waiting for enough cash to sort a matching one

F@ck... Riding home from work and the back end went a bit wobbly. Turns out the hub nut had worked its way loose. I managed to limp home after semi doing the nut up with a flat metal bar.

I had to go buy a 24mm socket to do up the hub nut properly. I put some medium strength loctite on the hub nut first. Should be reet now.

You do have a cotter pin in this, right?

Yes sir. Does not stop the bolt from going loose but would, I assume stop the wheel falling off completely.

if it's getting loose even with the pin installed, you are probably missing the correct washer

I'll participate.

i recently picked up a Rally with a "rebuilt" motor, i guess a "good runner" and "rebuilt motor" have different meanings to different people. it came with a HRA alpha kit in a box which was lucky because the original cylinder installed had about 80psi. i get a ton of blowback through the HRA vortex carb it has installed as well. I've already installed the top end but i still cant get the bike running well. the plan is to pull the motor and open it up.

some other off things. its a PX motor, with the indent for a starter motor (the hole for the pinion isnt punched) and the cases have no stamp on the swing arm, so it should have EFL gearing. clutch is also grabby and i was told it has DRT springs so its a total bear to pull. the wiring is also pretty messy, crimp connectors and other sloppy stuff.

im interested to see what the inside of the motor looks like, and check the pad since a bad rotary pad can give you blow back issues. i'll post some updates as i go.

going to pull the motor this afternoon once i get out of work.

ha, forgot that when i got it i noticed it had a flywheel with a window and a PX stator, with that set up you have to slot the stator because of where the pick up lines up with the P125 style fly wheel. it was set at like 48 deg BTDC. got it set at 18 with the Alpha kit and it ran better but still lots of blow back. I'm sure it'll be an adventure.

I was out running errands yesterday and pulled into the grocery store parking lot to find that glue on the lens of my headlight had failed and the lens was about to fall off. That would have been the second lens I lost that way. I threw a quick X over it with electrical tape, then spent the rest of my day looking like a douchebag cafe racer.

Today, I reattached it...with JB Weld. I predict it's going nowhere.

When I opened up the headset, I found that one of my shifter cables is not looking so hot. So those will be getting replaced in short order. And I just got them adjusted to where I like them, too.



I also stripped and re-painted my SIP Road. It was getting pretty rusty from too much winter salt. It looks pretty much like new.

Before:


During:


After:


(You have to bake the paint for it to be fully heat resistant)

Finally, I cleaned up my ghetto CHT & Tach install, plus wired up the backlight on the new Koso CHT. I'm pretty excited about being able to see my temps at night.



The bike still looks like a complete beater. Over ten years of year-round Chicago riding will do that to a scooter. To me that's part of the charm. Plus, I never feel bad when something cosmetic happens to it.

I'm running the Trailtech on the spark plug ring and the Koso directly into the head of the BGM 177. Interestingly, where others have reported that the BGM produced lower readings than a traditional ring sensor, I'm seeing the opposite, with the Koso reading faster and slighter higher than the TrailTech.

Next up, time to sort out the the front bearings & axle of the vbb, see if I can get it to quit wobbling. Or maybe I'll just hang out until the SIP Road is ready to go back on and call it a day.

Got the rally motor pulled in about an hour today. The wiring was a mess, and I found that the nut and lock washer for the Xmas tree were either never installed or missing. Nice rebuild.

Cool wiring.

meh. The xmas tree is held in place by the case anyways.



I can't wait to see what the inside of it looks like. Maybe some cardboard box gaskets for the win.

It had an early P selector box, which doesn't mesh well with the EFL gearing in assuming it has, it was jumping in 3rd which is where the selector arm doesn't quite line up. I have an EFL box that's going back on. CDI bracket looks home made and there's a blocking plate for the hole where a starter motor fits. Swing arm has no numbers stamped, could've been replacement cases. It'll be back together proper soon enough. I'll post some pic soon as I go, or start a thread.

All you need now is one of these -

Thanks I did not check if there was a washer. Will make sure now.

today we made a insane scooter parts order for the 101, GS, BlueBadge (smallie).... all very necessary things but I want to pass out thinking about the money that just flew out of our pockets.

I still wouldn't be a proper hipster. I actually knew how to fix it and wasn't just dressed like someone who would know how to fix it.