Modern Vespa

those regulators are rather simple, so if it goes it could be fixed.

One of the least loved aspects of my Stella has always been the taillight—a/k/a Jimmy Durante's nose. After much procrastination, I finally replaced it yesterday with one of those Bosatta GL/SS reproductions. Mounting could have been plug-and-play, but found you could go down 4 cms and still cover the old holes, so I did that. Power wires were plug-and-play after hogging out some holes in the base so the connectors could pass through. Ground wires required converting two wires with female faston connectors to one wire with a ring connector.

Was thinking it looks great, but would look even better with a black gasket. Then, as if the scooter gods were reading my mind, a thread on that exact subject pops up and tells me Clauss Studios sells just such a thing. Will be ordering that and some LED bulbs shortly.

Now it looks even worse…

JK, I have one on my Ratty PX (came with it)…

That's ratty??? Better looking than any scoot I ever owned!

It's worse up close…

Where did you buy the light from, I love it.

I got mine from Scooter Mercato here in the former colonies, but they are common as pennies and most major vendors should have one. It is a Bosatta P 207 if you want to do a search. You should also check out the Siem brand repro. Higher quality at a higher price.

Thank you

I just found this randomly in my garage. Don't know where it came from and no longer have a 'primmy. So, you have a back up to your back up if you ever need it.

Got me a new quality plastic mudguard made by idea srl in Italy and sold by LaVespaDue. Also, I finally found a chrome bar end mirror made by High Sider Germany and my a-hole cat sleeping wherever he wants...

You are a good man sir!

Lolz your cat! SaFiS!!!


…that bar end is choice kit!

Today I started cleaning the 2 old AllState piston ported motors I just snagged locally. One was very clean, the other not so much.

I hope to rescue both, keep one to use and flip the other one cheapish.

you said fire

Got my first ever McMaster Carr order. M7 nuts, washers, split washers. I think this is not the last.

Anyone get bearings from them?

I'd go with a local bearing house for that. SKF Explorer C3 for most.

I only ventured out on this because everybody always seems to be out of the m7 stuff, but I may stock up on other sizes too.

McMastercarr FTW! I fully support stocking up on frequently used hardware. Where I live, metric hardware is hard to find. Driving around town to 4 different spots, to wind up with nothing…but wasted time…has gotten old.

Another source I've been ordering from is BelMetric. www.belmetric.com

Tons of options, no minimum order, and discounts for larger quantity orders. Website is easy to navigate. I now order from both McC & Belmetric, depending on the need.

BMW cam towers use M7 flange nuts and coper plated locking flange nuts on the exhaust, so have used https://www.bmwmobiletradition-online.com for those. May have sourced the M8 flange nuts I use on the head from them, but may have ordered those from McMaster.

but now that Belmetric is in my list...

M7 top lock flange nut
https://belmetric.com/m7-11mm-w-a-f-full-wrench-class-8-copper-exhaust-flange/?sku=NCF7X11

M7 for the head with nordloc washer under them:

BMW 11617573839 Flange Nut M7

but this would be good as well, but more expensive:
https://www.mcmaster.com/90759A730/

M7 flange nut is a tough find

I get them in bulk, 500 nuts for 30€…

Anybody have luck with finding M9 nuts and washers?

the rarest of the rare.

I have been known to use a smallframe clutch nut on the rear shock...

Thank you. Every time I look at my Stella now I will not be able to NOT see that.

a rack hides it decently. I had 2 good stella ones and no proper PX one, so on it went.

Yesterday, I was out on the '66 Blue Badge 125, which I finished restoring about 800 miles ago. I was about 3 miles from home, when all of a sudden ( or so it seemed) opening the throttle just made the motor go BWAAAAA... Ran OK at low speed but wouldn't open up so I figured I could make it home slowly in 2nd gear. Then I figured the main was blocked so I pulled the 'choke',and found it ran beautifully pulling from that circuit, and would idle with the knob pushed in. The last mile is all uphill and the motor handled it just like normal. The other weird thing was a loud rattle from under the seat that sort of came and went.
I cleaned the carb and the tank and put it all back together and it runs perfectly once again. I guess I hadn't flushed out the tank as good as I could have back when I initially cleaned it or maybe I used a dirty container to mix some gas.
The rattle was the air cleaner which was flopping around on the two studs with only one of the wig nuts attached by a few threads. I think it was coincidence that it became noticeable right when the carb plugged up.

Messaged my trusty scooter parts shop for third time about my package. I ordered parts worth just shy of 1k€ three weeks ago and it seems like the shipping company has lost them

Stumbled across a 74 plate for cheap! I have 2 74's (glutton for punishment) so I'm not sure which one will get adorned with this tat, but was most pleased to snag it for a song.

Ohh, that's nice!

What's the deal with the plates over there?

Here a vehicle gets assigned a registration ID when first registering the vehicle. The ID then travels along the vehicle as long as it's registered (usually from shop to wreckers). You can not for example transfer an ID from a vehicle to another (unless it's a paid vanity plate and you pay for it again)

On vintage vehicles (over 25 years) you can pay a fee for a "specialty plate". (Plates used to be assigned yearly. Can you imagine?)

Anyway, the vin# of the scoot (also the registration number of the title) gets assigned to that antique plate. So, it's like a vanity plate in a sense. Year of the plate has to match the year of manufacture on the title. The cool thing is though, you only have to renew the registration/plate every 5 years, AND it does not require a mechanical or emissions inspection. Definitely the way to legally run titled, vintage bikes in our state. Especially these 2-stroke particulate makers.

In Tennessee, I can get a Vintage plate that's similarly cheap and lasts five years, but it can "only be driven for special events such as parades and not for day-to-day use" or something to that effect.

So I just suck it up and pay for a plate. I don't want to provide any excuse to get hassled by The Man.

Make no mistake.. I am a mother f%&#g one man parade every day Holmes!



The law is basically the same in TX... The vehicle can't be a daily driver. (That's why I have 6 scoots. Its a celebration every time one runs well enough to ride. )

In California plates stay with vehicles even when they switch hands.

As you can see, each state sets its own rules.

So that's the deal.

Here there are no inspections on motorcycles whatsoever after having it registered for the first time. I really, REALLY hope this is not goíng to change, but am also always a bit afraid of the moment that someone higher up has a lightbulb-moment about inspecting and taxing the motorcycles too like cars.

Once it's registered, it's good to go as long as you dare (or wreck it so badly it gets written off and unregistered). Of course the police can write you a fine if there's something really obvious and stupid going on with the bike, but that's about it.

Birdie had it's original plate from the 60's but it was almost ripped in half so had to order a new one for it. If the plate gets damaged, you can order new one and get it in exchange for the old one (or a piece of what's left of it ). If you lose a plate completely, it has to be reported as stolen/lost and then the vehicle gets assigned a fresh number.

The latter one is the reason for me getting birdies plate exchanged. The old registration numbers have history with them since the first letter tells where the vehicle was registered.

M tells me that this scooter was registered in the county of Mikkeli


X means county of Central Finland


New ID's are just random ones and also have only two numbers with three letters after them. This one had been unregistered for some reason ages ago and got a new ID when I registered it again.

Ain't that the truth...

Here are same kinda plates too. If the scoot is in near perfect original condition (original or restored), it can be museum-registered. This way you get cheap insurance but it also limits the use for up to 30 days a year (this is not controlled any way though). This is pure gold Here is the same. The plates stay with the vehicle even if the ownership changes.