Modern Vespa

Still a fascinating project!!

Made the side stand bracked to fit.
And welded it back on the frame.
Then made the brackets for the helmet box, and welded them on the frame.

Started with building the first part of the left shock absorber mount.
This also connects the new frame tubes with the old rear section.
To fill that big gap, i welded 2 extra 6mm thick steel parts together.
Alligned everything and spot welded them.
Next time i wil make the new right side shock absorber mount, and compete the welds.
Then i can make the second part of the shock absorber mount.






Hard to see, but made ga gap with the grinder.
And bended the part in a angle.
And then welded the gap again.

Keep it up!

Started with the inner brackets for the shock absorbers.



Making the helmet cover fit again.
This is in a rough way, will close it the right way later on.
Put back the fairings, and everything fits nicely.
The rear shockabsorbers have plenty of room, no need to modify the fairings for that.

Resumed with the shock absorber mounts.
Below these mounts i welded big M18 threaded studs.
I will make 2 tools for that.
One that i can mount on them to transport the bike.
And one when i need to adjust the head valves.
This is to remove the engine easy, the frame will have his own support then.
Because to adjust the head valves, the engine needs to be removed.
The engine has the center stand, and will be supported by that.







Rear side is ready.
And the side stand is ready.

Installed all the covers to check if it all fits correctly.
It all fits like a glove

Installed the original front fork with the original wheel.
And the spare Fuoco 500 engine.
With the to big Beverly Cruiser rear tire.
Did this to test how the scooter behaves.
Went down a small hill, and the bike behaves perfect.

Did some recycling today.
Used some old frame parts to make some brackets.
These are to move the radiator cover a bit more to the front.
Because the new radiator is thicker.

Put all the covers back on.
Took the front out of the belt cover.
By this way i can easy mark the left engine cover where the plastic needs to be removed.
The rear wheel is getting a powder coat at this moment.
And the correct rear tire is ordered.

This is really coming along! Thanks for sharing the process and pictures!

subscribed...love this stuff...this bike is going to fly...great to see someone with talent build exactly what they want and make it look good...you should see the hack job project scooters in my area

Modified a rear wheel adapter. (Just for testing)
One bearing fitted directly, the other one i had to place with 2 component epoxy.
The front tyre a Michelin Citygrip 110-70 13S is installed on a 13 inch rear 1800cc wheel.
Checked how it looks with the original front fork.
A 13 inch front wheel actualy looks pretty good, and the front fender wil fit correct.










Made the transport brackets at the front and rear.
The rear bracket is also to remove and install the engine when the valves need to be adjusted.

Modified the left engine cover, and installed the belt cover.

Tjonge tjonge wat een gaaf project,respect man

Ach, het houdt je van de straat 8)

The rear Nexus wheel is back from the powder coater.
And the Michelin citygrip 140-60/ 14 S is installed.



The difference in height, left is 60 and right is 70.
60 looks mutch better.

The standard brake master cilinder of the Runner is 13mm.
That is to small to operate the 2 Brembo front brakes.
So ordered a 16mm master cilinder from Brembo.
Had to modify the steering hood, and the front spoiler wil cover that.
Also the Runner gets a dual throttle cable gas lever.

Installed all the covers.
And the Beverly 500 front fork with the 13 inch front wheel.
The front fork has to go up a little bit.
The overall the look is perfect with these wheel sizes.

All the covers are off the bike.
And the transport brackets mounted.
Its now to a specialized company who will make the custom alloy radiator, inlet manifold and cooling pipes.

You pulled it off nicely.
Paint that front wheel to match the rear and it looks factory, nobody would guess what lurks under the pretty plastic.

And what a monster patiently waits...

Very cool project. Thank you.

The new front wheel with dual disk brakes will be the same grey as the rear wheel.

Made the brackets/tools to install and remove the engine easy.





The last job for the frame is to use it as a fixed point to make a small bracked where i can install the righthand mirror on.

First installed the original master brake cilinder, and made the fixed point bracked.
Then installed the 16mm master brake cilinder, and made the small bracked.
Now i can mount the righthand mirror on that.

Installing and removing the engine is verry easy with the dolly.
And test fitted the Bitubo rear shocks.
(Installed a old fuel tank, to cut open for test fitting)







Test fitted the unfinished crosflow radiator.
Verry tight, but it will fit.
Also test fitted the unfinished waterpump, have to modify the plastic cover a little.

Looking great!

How close would you say you are to completing the project?

End off this year i want it technicaly ready.
And next summer complete ready with the new covers.

Some pictures of the progress of the front wheel.

This is beautiful madness!

OMG! who are you? this is some serious madness.

The front wheel is almost ready.
Needs to go back one more time for some modifications.

was making front wheel lighter a goal here? are you planning a matching rear?

No, there is no dual disk front wheel in 13 inch.
So it has to be made in the Runner model.
Rear wil also be this model, and in 14 inch.

Started with the welding of the HD-PE fuel tank.
When the welds are complete i will melt in stainless steel mats.
This is to make the welds extra strong.
And then put over the mats some extra HD-PE.
I measured with water how mutch the tank can hold now, and that is 8.25L.
I can make the tank at the front bigger, at the place where the voltage regulator and fuses were.
After that i will have around 9.5L fuel onboard.

This is the King of scooter projects.

The fuel pump bracked is back from zinc elektroplating.
The crossflow radiator is finished.
And the new twinspark cilinder head is modified.

Dang, one of the coolest scooter projects I've ever seen. Will definitely be following this until completion.

Are you planning any sort of modifications for the motor? Clutch? Sliders? etc...?

Will be adjusted on a power bank.
And probably Dr pulley sliders and a Dr pulley hit clutch.

I am certainly curious on your choice of tuning software and how it works. Also interested in a review regarding the HIT clutch.

Your engineering genius, passion and great skills have demonstrated that what can be imagined is possible. Congratulations on a beautiful build!

Marty