Modern Vespa

Hell guys, been a while since I was on here but been a bit busy. Need some advice on clutch as I'm having issues. I have a VBB (Sportique in the UK) from 1961 and have put in a Pinasco 177 (2 port), I took Chandlermans' advice a while back and swapped the castelated clutch centre nut for a hex nut and after 1000 miles my clutch and crank are intact. After removing the cover this weekend I found, to my dismay that the bronze clutch pushrod was worn completely. I would attribute this to the stiffer springs I have put in to the clutch, I have tried to upgrade the clutch with a MMW machined basket (for 6-spring clutch) and 4 plate instead of 3 with stiffer springs, I am thinking of going back to standard springs and 3-plates as this does work...anyone got any advice on this and can you tell me what you use in your tuned set ups?

Honda Cr 80 corks #1 , the " bronze pushrod " is a wear item -but usually lasts me a LONG time. I do know many people have used like 3 of a stiff spring and 3 or 4 regular springs to find a balance.(diff clutches) I think those 4 thin plates suck - they grab great but I chewed some up in no time in a mild tuned engine that I never really ran hard. Cr 80 plates take a bit of finagling but are worth the extra 15 min and cost less. Best upgrade for $'s I ever did.

Thanks for the advice, I will give those corks a go at some point, problem is I forked out for a 6-spring MMW basket which works well but I tried putting in Mallossi plates with stiff springs to suppress clutch slip but now that's just made the clutch too hard to pull and fast wearing my clutch plunger. I'm gonna try your idea of 3 hard with 3 soft springs which should ease the action on the clutch, think I might just go back to the thicker standard plates too and ditch those mallossi ones.

I've run a Pinasco 2-port 177 in my VBB for over five years now on the same clutch plunger. I pulled the clutch cover and there was basically no wear on the plunger or clutch cover in all that time.

If it's wearing, it's more likely that your clutch arm is not returning properly. It will get crudded up over time and eventually become too stiff to fully return when the clutch is released. This will cause the premature wear you're seeing.

I run into this on my Stella, which is my year-round rider, so the clutch arm and rear brake get renewd typicaly once during the winter and again once the snow melts every year.

If the plunger is worn, the pressure plate is probably worn and needs replacement as well.

If you've never refreshed the clutch arm, it's an easy maintenance item and will improve shifting considerably.

Once the clutch arm housing is clean and greased, it will twist with minimal effort and return to where it's applying no pressure on the plunger.

And for general comparison, I run a BGM superstrong clutch in the Stella and other than when the clutch arm stiffens from salt, it also shows minimal wear over time, so don't blame the springs.

Thanks for the advice, you are indeed correct that the springs won't be the problem. One thing I will say I notice you guys are all using better clutches and I'm still fiddling around with this 6-plate, I have shredded 2 cranks so far and I'm on my 3rd but that was because I was using that useless Castellenated nut. I swapped that a while back for the Hex nut and it's kept my clutch and crank intact until now. I think part of the problem may be spacing because I am using the thinner spacer between clutch and crank and a P200 clutch cover, I have the old one and modified it by removing the oil guides on the inside so will give that a try over the weekend. I can feel a new order coming on for SIP for a new clutch, Chandlerman maybe you could post a link as to which clutch would be good for this machine in the meantime.

I run the original six-spring in my VBB. I found that the 2-port motor just doesn't put out enough power for that to be a problem. I'm also about to rebuild it and do some actual porting rather than just matching ports, so that may change, but even then, I don't forsee any clutch issues other than maybe switching to a banded basket.

If the clutch arm is moving freely, you shouldn't have a problem with a six spring clutch slipping or wearing.

If you're having problems with both those issues, you need to loosen the clutch cable a little bit because you're effectively riding the clutch all the time, hence the accelerated wear rate.

Chandlerman, one more thing, if you're running the 6-plate clutch in you're VBB, are you using standard plates and springs too?