Modern Vespa

Finally had some time to resume with the 500cc Runner.
Resumed with making the fuel tank bigger at the front.
Filled the tank with water, and it holds 8.8 litres now.
Thats more then enough for me.
The original tank (old type) holds around 8.5 litres, so its a small improvement.
And its not my daily driver, just for fun.

Made the places where the welds are extra strong by melting in stainless steel mats.
And over these mats i melt some extra HD-PE.

fascinated with custom gas tank. is the screen used with epoxy for reinforcement? welding plastic not strong enough by itself?

The stainless mats are just melted in the PE-HD, no epoxy.
The welds should be strong enough, but i make it extra strong.
The tank is just a few centimeters away from the engine and hot exhaust.
What if it will leak, then the chance of a fire is big.
Therefore better safe then sorry.

can you post a picture of the welding gun? or are you just using standard heat gun?

This is to melt the stainless mats in the PE-HD

https://www.az-reptec.de/de/schweissgeraete/Schweisskolben/schweisskolben-sk60-0-220-v-60w-stufenlos-regelbar.html

And this to weld the PE-HD fuel tank.

https://www.az-reptec.de/de/schweissgeraete/heissluftgeblaese/heissluftgeraet-steinel-hg-2520-e-im-koffer.html

They also sell the PE-HD plates and welding rods.
I also baught ABS plates and rods there for the modification of other parts.

Simply amazed at the attention to detail on this. A lot of hard work going into this and can't wait to see the final product.

Made a bracket to mount the fuel tank at the rear.
And found a good location for the fuel filter.
This cant be mounted inside the fuel tank anymore.

Also made the bracket at the front.
The fuel tank is finally ready now.








And modified the radiator cover.
The Beverly 500 front fork is wider than the original front fork.
To make it fit, i need to make the radiator cover wider.

First i made 2 brackets to hold the mounting points for the side covers in place.
Then i made a curved metal plate to shape the plastic from the radiator cover.
I placed a teflon sheet between the curved metal plate and the plastic radiator cover to prevent scratches on the plastic.
Then i heated the plastic radiator cover to 350 degrees celcius and reshaped it so the wider Beverly 500 front fork fits.
Tested it first on the old radiator cover, and then modified the new radiator cover.

Still amazing to see the amount of work and dedication going into this project! Kudos to you sir! One of the best builds I have seen to date.

Installed the crosflow radiator, and made the radiator cover fit the new radiator.

Then i started to make the tool to reshape the battery cover.
The cylinder head is thicker on the right side because of the timing chain.
So the cylinder head will stick out, and the battery cover wont close.

With the tool i can clamp in the battery cover, head it and reschape it.
I have to make a bubble shape to the outside.

do have past projects in your playbook? would like to see those

Yes, but no bikes.

The tool to modify the battery cover is ready.
Placed Teflon tape on the metal parts on the side where outside of the cover is positioned.
This prevents damages.

Then heated the zone to 360 degrees celcius.
And reshaped the battery cover.

Now the cilinder head fits perfect behind it.
This was the old battery cover to test.
I will make 2 new battery covers this way.

wow. lots of work for small detail. you having fun yet?

Yeah, fun fun fun...

Most things now take time, but the end result is mutch better.
And when i can finally ride it....

FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!

Such amazing attention to detail! Unreal!

When you do get it done enough and get some kilometers on it w/ minor debugging done, what is the one thing you think you might you could possibly go back and change or adjust most?

No offense intended, PURE speculation, I've never before seen such a perfect scooter build so challenging .

Nothing actualy, everything i do is thought out well and first tested and fitted with old parts.
When thats okay i order the new parts and modify them to.

I only wished i had more time before, then it would be ready now 😆

Looks good on the Piaggio Beverly Cruiser, will look good on the Gilera Runner 500 aswel!

Made 2 brackets to mount the front fender.
Welded them on the brackets where the front calipers are mounted on.
Placed 16mm pvc tubes inside the front fender to make sure the front fender is placed high enough above the front wheel.

Pushed the front fork all the way op, to check the clearance, all is perfect this way.
The brackets will be powder coated later, first i have to adjust the mounting holes for the front calipers.
The old holes are for the 260mm brake disks, they have to be moved for the 240mm brake disks.




















Left and right are exact copies.

Still following. This is great... thanks for posting the details!!

Got the intake manifold back from the welder.
The intake manifold is a alloy version from a Piaggio Mp3 500 2015 -2018 nafta model.
This has a anti percolation system, the copper outlet is part of that.

Modified the inlet for the tube, and the correct angle.
At the end of the tube there is a extra weld, that is to hold the silicon hose.
And i will modify that area for better airflow.

The inside wil be modified for a better airflow as well, and then ceramic blasted.

The Beverly Cruiser 500 front wheel was the base for the new 13 inch Front wheel.
The center is copied in the 13 inch wheel program.
The wheel is now to measure and check the smaller frontdisks.
The brake calipers are now mounted on the 260mm disk size.
Have to modify the brackets for the 240mm disks.






240mm disks mounted, the black line is where the brake pad hits the disk now, this has to be changed.






Marked the new holes.










And the calipers on the correct place, with 240mm disks.

Still amazed to come into this thread and see all the attention to detail! Simply awesome work and can't wait to see this finished!

Started with placing small brackets for the clamps.
Made the lower cooling pipe, and made one spare.
It all fits correct as i wanted from the start of measuring and making the frame.
It realy payd off that i took alot of time checking and measuring from the start of the project.
The cooling hose has a steel inner line, that prevents it from closing when the engine moves.
Clamps are for test fitting, got other heat resistant versions.







The copper tube will be powder coated later.




Lower cooling pipe routing is perfect.
It moves free when the engine moves.
Enough clearance up and down.

Made the throttle cables today.
The throttle and throttle cables are from a Vespa 300 Gts.
The cables are original straight, and wont fit.
So made a tool to bend the end.
Applied teflon tape to prevent damage, and made a almost 90 degrees angle.














With the compression of the back, the engine moves to the back.
This causus the rear tire to hit the rear fender.
I started reforming the rear fender.
Placed a wooden block, and jacked up the engine.
Heated the rear fender, and hoped it would stay in that shape.
But it only did that a little, not enough to let the wheel turn free.
Also when you look from behind, you see a fat tyre and a skinny rear fender.
Not the best look.


So i have another idea, i can make the rear fender of a Beverly 500 cruiser fit.
It is wide enough for the rear wheel.
And sticks out far enough to clear the rear wheel.
There are 3 options for that, the grey version of a 2003 Beverly 200.
Black version of a 2003 Beverly 500.
Or the black version of a 2008 Beverly 500 cruiser.
The Runner should have a grey rear fender, and grey floorboards.
If i change the rear fender to black plastic, i have to change the floorboards also.

I personally think the black fender would look better, but the attention to detail you have is incredible. Whatever you do decide on will look great. Coming together nicely!

Here are some pictures of the Beverly's rear fenders.

2003 model Beverly 500.







This rear fender is standard grey plastic.
But i have to see if it is the same colour of grey as the floor boards.
This fender is a bit standard, no designed lines and shapes.
Looks like the original Grey Runner rear fender.

And then there is the 2008 model Beverly cruiser.






This rear fender is black plastic.
This can also be painted in grey, it is abs plastic.
I want to keep the structure in it.

This rear fender has some extra lines and shapes.
It will be modified, so it will mount close under the rear light.
I do think the newer model will look nice, and that these lines will suit the bike.

Nowadays all modern bikes have these shapes.
And that the rear fender sticks out off the bike, you can see it on these pictures.

Yamaha Tmax, Gilera GP 800.

Had some little help today!



Finished the cooling system.
The upper cooling pipe is ready (return)
It contains the small cooling circuit for when the engine is cold.
The return cooling hose runs verry close to the ecu.
To prevent shaving i used teflon sheet to protect it.





Engine up.





Engine down.





Teflon sheet installed.





And checked where the Spal cooler has to be installed.

Nice! Please keep the updates coming!!

Made some good progress today.
Removed the helmet cover, you can now see how tight everything is underneath.

Fuel system is ready now.
Installed the lower heat shield on the fuel tank, will do the upper heat shield next week.

Made the routing for the throttle cables.
And the routing for the rear brake line aswel.
Installed them in with tyraps for a quick check.

For the brake lines i have to measure every line, they will be special made by goodridge.

Checked the clearance between the cylinder head, and the fuel tank with one heat shield installed.
When i lower the top of the engine i can remove the head cover, and easy adjust the valve clearance.
I gave myself a pat on the back for that.
Because when the valve clearance has to be checked, i only need to remove both side covers.
The rear shocks, en lift the rear of the engine.
The front of the engine goes down then, and i can acces everything.
I dont have to remove the engine, and saves me a lot of time!

Awesome planning and execution. Very well thought out! Looking forward to more updates.

Finisched the heatshield on the fuel tank.






I will use a Beverly 500 cruiser rear fender. (left)
Modified the rear fender and made a start on the rear fender
bracket.
Still have to grind the welds.

The black rear fender will get structure and grey paint on the end.
It will look almost like the original grey plastic.

Finished the bracked for the Beverly Cruiser rear fender.
Spot welded them, and will finisch all welds at the same time in the end.
Installed that fender, and it looks good.
Enough space for the rear wheel, and some design lines actualy look like they have been designed with the bike in 1997.
If you look close you see the rear fender line is the same as the rear orange blinker line.

The covers fit perfect, and dont need any work.
The Beverly Cruiser fender will be painted grey, just like the foot covers.

Small bikes with big engines, need big engine parts.
The voltage regulator is one of those parts.
Measured the correct position, and spot welded 2 brackets for that.
It fits perfect behind the right side cover.

Its all coming together well, as is my scomadi, Intergrating the wirng into the runner componants will be as fun as it will on mine, ive got used to doing gts 300,s into scomadi, but have not had the pleasure of a 500 as yet. I have to get the ecu read and a chip made as i have lost the keys for the x9 because i have had it so long before making a start. It will be intresting coparing the 2.

Dang, the end looks to be so close! That is looking like one smart scoot! Can wait to see this thing finished! Keep the updates coming!

what is wheelbase on this beast?

Original 129 cm, now 19,5 cm.
Got 0.5 cm longer then original.

wow. I like that...

Any new updates?