Modern Vespa

Hey all,

My wife's Stella, which looked like this at the end of last season, had a leaky oil seal, clutch side, so an engine rebuild was in order.



With the rep. of the LML cranks, we thought: might as well do... everything.

Setup was going to be:

Polini 177 Cast-Iron (I have a thing for "oldschool" stuff)
Worb5 60mm crank
2mm spacer underneath the cyl.
Gickspeed DR head
MRP Reed intake
PHBH30 carb
Malossi Vespower ingition
Pipedesign Cobra exhaust
BGM Superstrong CR80 clutch with 22 teeth

Before:



After:



Inbetween: (Yes, yes, everyone has their own "oh shit don't do THAT!" when it comes to teardowns and rebuild. Sit back, relax and enjoy)

Then we got the hubs coated and cleaned up the paint. Warning: You can scratch Stella paint with your fingernails.









New, black trim




Parts finally came in:







Break!



JB Weld work (I ended up redoing this one, had a bad mix. Stir until your arms fall off, kids!





It was well needed!













Reassembly time:



Measuring time!









Ended up with the following timings:

out of the box with 2mm spacer underneath and Gickspeed head:

176.5° / 125.5° with 1.35mm squish at 9.7:1

So then I had to retouch the cyl, opened it to 67% and cleaned out the exhaust. This picture is before the final touch. (Turns out taking pictures of an exhaust port is more complex than I thought...)



So I ended up with 185.5° / 125.5°, giving me the perfect blowdown. How did I reach this so exactly? Re-assembly and standardized measuring, OVER AND OVER again.

Final assembly and re-integration into the frame:



It fired up on the second kick

I then spent a whole freakin' saturday cleaning up the mess that is the Stella wiring.



Ready to go:



First ride blew me away, vicious and violent little scooter!

Here is a quick preview. Currently running still too rich, waiting on filter. Tube to the frame was a dumb idea. Also still on the Stella stock clutch with 21 teeth, waiting on the BGM, by the end of this week.

A full video on the re-assembly in detail will come and my thoughts on my measurememnts. A dyno session is in order soon as well. [/u]

Last edited by DRC174 on Sat, 12 May 2018 04:59:24 +0000; edited 1 time

Great work!!!

wow amazing build!

Pay day! ...luv it.

Top work w/ great write up & pics. Your wife married a very talented fellow.


nice detail shot of that Pipedesign Cobra exhaust, looks like that thing means business

Looking forward to seeing/hearing that beast in the flesh sometime soon.

Enjoy my last video with a little insight into the whole build

Great video, you do stuff right & I learned a few things here. Thanks for making it & posting.

A. Thanks all!

B. It is first Rally of the season. I went all in on the Stella, even put the shocks from my P200 on. Clutch is mounted. It is 2am. I am leaving at 4am. Yay?The yellow headlight is not staying but it is more a necessity right now.

Clutch first



Then Shocks





Then everything else.





From the small rally today!

we drove back and forth to Cairo, WV for the 2017 Cairo Days, a small,m intimate small town rally and let the Stella rip a little bit. I partook in the Cairo Fest parade with the bike which I considered basically my break in period.
My wife even got some time in on it and is more than excited. I chased her on another Vespa and I could just not keep up, she took off.

Conclusion on the bike:

The new BGM Superstrong is amazingly smooth, the power is now controllable. Stiffer shocks made a huuuuge difference in "wheelie-ability", the front wheels now stays more or less down and you can get the power on the road. Connecting 1-2-3 in power band is probably the most fun I ever had on any bike. It makes you work for it, but the payoff is amazing. Beware of the bridge in Cairo. I hit powerband just off the bridge and got some serious airtime. And clearly, yellow headlights will stay a signature for my wife and me.

What's your opinion on the Pipedesign cobra pipe?

It's.... complicated. All the expansion chamber pipedesign exhausts are best discussed with the PD creator directly as to get some guidelines for the engine. My entire port and timing layout is built around the exhaust. When it kicks in powerband, it is phenomenal, yet still got that oomph from the bottom.

In terms of quality... Stainless was a good choice. It is loud, but mostly because I wanted it single-walled. The silencer is a dream, although I think it is the same than SIP.

I can mount both the mainstand, run a spare and have a crazy pipe? Sign me up!

The guy respects the two stroke like just a rare few, and I respect him for that. Worth every penny.


THAT SAID:

Combined with my over the top riding style, it does scratch when you lean it too far in a right corner. But probably the same angle than a engine case would scratch as well.

Cool, which Cobra is it, I, II, or III?

Erm.. according to Mr. Pipedesign... it is the Cobra? Whatever model that is supposed to be on your scale hah. It is the latest.

On their site they are currently offering the 1 and the 2. The 2 is aimed for torque at lower RPM than the 1. They are interesting pipes.

Update:

Keep on trucking!

The bike was "dyoned" with the frequency app at just above 26hp (always to be taken with a grain of salt)

We did around 1800 miles last year, including multiple long rides, the longest just shy of 300 miles in one day. When i got a good look at the engine this winter however i was a little shocked, the cases cracked. The primary was busted/it skipped a gear too much/the primary came loose. Anyway, I think user error.





So I got a new set of cases, came across a better intake system and thought: Hey... why not... MORE? I want to build something usable, long, usable gears with a bunch of grunt. And i reeeeaaaly wanted to try this cylinder: Pinasco RX 190





And new gearing: 24/63 with a short 4th



I did A LOT of port work to a new set of cases and finished them with a glass bead blast. I have not even touched the cylinder, this is what it needs in alignement, out of the box.







So i put that sucker together






I like this picture comparaison:

2017



2018



Currently waiting to be put in the frame, hopefully running soon, will require fuel pump plumbing.

Fitting this big carb into the frame is tricky, it required some convincing.





Plastidipped it against ... wear



Better angle now: