Modern Vespa

Pffftttt.... who needs to eat when youre working on solving exploding crankshaft bearings...

Let's see. Let's see.
I know I put the flywheel puller here somewhere.
Maybe under this pile on the right side of the bench.
No.
Ok - maybe over here in the pile on the floor next to the scoot.
Nope. Not there.
I know - over by the mill! Lemme check.
Nothing. Hmmm. well - lemme go back to the pile on my bench.
Rinse - repeat.

Update in pics below.
🙂


Couldn't bring myself to closing up the motor with the Chinese bearing in it.
And then I got my hands on an SKF version. Ooooo. Silky smooth goodness

Taken to shooting a pic of the kick start gear before closing every time. Insurance.

Usually use 1/2 roll of electrical tape to create ramp for seal. Suddenly struck me -
I can just make a tool (silver bit). Worked a charm. lived 5 decades without a lathe. Don't know how.

Transfer clsoing/inlet opening. Ended up a bit more conservative than intended with 178.5 Inlet duration. Dremel will come back out if it survives break-in

Transfer timing

Ex. timing

Distance and time my last build made it. 14.9 miles. 48 min of run time.

Then this happened:
https://youtu.be/I_J_C_elvb4

Have some weird electrical issue happening - I think - so not ready to claim victory yet.
Will have a look to determine when recovered from booster shot I got t'day...

awesome to see your mean franken beasty unicorn come to life again. Nice milestone achieved. I have faith you'll get more than 14 miles on this one

WTG!! One question though, what's with all the switches?? Are they for the time circuits and the flux capacitor??

Right on man! That's the good stuff right there. How's it running?

and... you know... you could probably sell a few of those ramp tools to us tools. *ahem* If you were so inclined.

wow dude you are impressive something tells me fitting the cowl is a major accomplishment congratulations she sounds fantastic Rides of March is coming.

That's where you set the date for November 5th, 1955

Thanks y'all!

Hibert - Motor is shoe horned under cowl, it's true.
Safis - had always planned to put a flux capacitor master switch on it - need to see if Amazon is back in stock. Keep in mind - its a 1961 so, first generation of those things.

I'm running a perilously thin overlap of inlet pad to crank, of about .8mm
But - the pad is only .05 mm off the crank - so it seams to seal quite well with very little blow back.

Cases are the weak point.
They have taken a beating through this process.
But what I'm really watching is for any crank movement.
If it stays put - I'll build a second - with the "best of" this one.

I'll do a recap so it's in one place (rather than 20 pages).
One thing I would do differently on that next one.- choice of crank.
For all the innovation around the inlet - the crank is blocking off a large volume there - due to it's full circle nature.
A cut/flowed crank for a P200 in 62mm would be the ideal.


It's a sizable opening - though only 180 degrees of duration, and the crank has some meat that takes up some volume in the area even when its open. Could I just machine that away and re-balance somehow?

He's BACK!



That thing sounds like a beast. I can't wait to see more of it in action.

Also, I just realized that Ned's a (maybe *the*) OG Wood Block Hipster.

Was just waiting for someone to mention the block.
I have a short one and a tall one.
Can flip on side as well.
Gives 3 parking positions.
Redwood.
Quality.

But is it Locally-Sourced, Certified Organic, Artisinal, Forest-to-Garage Lumber?

"Grade A perfect repair"

Bet Voodoo uses actual logs

Hahahahaha!

I bet he does!
And then uses it to do some nice panel dent removal and metal shaving - 'cause he isn't the kinda man that puts up with frivolous waste.

We *know* he does. We've seen the pictures!

I have a similar shaped SIP 60mm crank in my P200 (ok, 208). I noticed that the crank web was blocking off flow and volume on my stock inlet. I too was thinking about how it would have been better if that web was a bit more knife shaped. I could see two benefits, better flow, and the crank would be lighter weight (but not by much though). My local machinist balances cranks. He also modified my stock T5 crank into a bell shaped crank. It was the smoothest turning, fastest running, narcissistic polished crank that i've ever had...until it broke and it wasn't anymore.

If you could split the webs apart, you could machine down the webs so it would be more knife shaped, then press it back together and then balance it. I'm not going to go into the "balance factor" or attaching both the flywheel and clutch while you're balancing the crank. That option is all up to you.

faster than polished steel, till it rusted.

Confession:Every time tale the scoot out on my local loop (walkable...), I am braced for it to die.
And on the first three outings, it did each time.
Each time - my heart sank - as I pulled off my gloves - then my helmet - then the cowl...
And each time - it turned out to be something unrelated to my build!
CDI wire bad (first and second) so I fixed it up nice with a fancy plug to boot.
Then - third time - in traffic - same thing.
Knew it was the motor - rolled to a stop - gloves - helmet - cowl. Wait! I forgot to turn the gas on!
Hahahahaha.
I am so out of practice!
I ALWAYS forget to turn the gas on - but normally - I just reach down and flip it while I roll!

So I took it out into tow truck depths and ran it up a few times.
What a pleasure to ride.
Power band you could drive a truck under - peeking at 7K.
Runs out of revs at 8K - which I find a little tame.
Temps are cool - and I haven't gotten to full thrash yet.

Scoot is producing at least 20HP (as best as one can measure).
If/when... I put the pipe on - it will get interesting.
Suspect I'll see a couple additional HP - and another 500 Revs at least - which would be the sweet spot.

Came back feeling a bit more confident
Time will tell - and I need to get myself back in practice.


First glance - quick non-optimized run. Haven't played with jetting or timing.
Think I am a little rich still.

:-)

The parking block doing it's job as god intended

Yaaaaassssssssssssssss!

WooooHoooooo! That's awesome!

Boom goes the dynamite 🧨

hell to the yeah!

Confession: I have this sticker on the glovebox of my white P.


Does it work? Well, it provides a solution when the engine sputters...

...





Last edited by SoCalGuy on Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:09 pm; edited 1 time in total

So good to see the restart…

Doesn't matter what happens after…

Looking good my friend!

Well done! Going great. Porting doing as expected. 10 degrees short for the expansion to be in the zone but as you say will still be better than a box.
Jetting doesn't look far out on that curve.

Well, I broke it.
By which I mean - The exhaust system ripped off due to some enthusiastic testing on Mullholand.
Scoot is kinda stunning to ride.
Climbed up to Mulholland in 3rd/ never considered shifting down.
More than once - realized I was pulling hills in 4th to my surprise.
Decided not to change anything this time - love it as is!
Until the exhaust died - and I realized it was easier to just bolt the pipe on than get out the welder.
So I did.

Pipe is less thumpy.
More poppy at idle.
And then it just makes a ripping sound when im on it.
Its less north woods chain saw and more super cross whine.
What a fun day of riding.


Putting the realz in "ride it like you stole it"

Nothing a welder couldn't fix.

But wait. I have another option that might be quicker

Revs out to a nice high 8's number

Think I put about 20 of this 25 on it t'day. Forgot how much fun these things are.



Super pleased with how it feels/runs. I might just have to build a second one on a more solid base...


Last edited by charlieman22 on Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:14 pm; edited 1 time in total

victory! wondrous!

love it man, love it!

What pipe is that ? Also how about a dyno run with it.

Right on man! And you installed the Anaconda! Very nice. Very, very nice!

Well - since you are the one that built my board in the end - I can't really say no!
I'll check the jetting first - I took a wild stab that seems close - and then give her a run.
Best guess ~ 21 or 22 - with the power band shifted up to 5K - 8500.
Its a pipe design Daytona Goldline.
See if I can't tune it in and provide some data on it tomorrow.

Dig it man

Dig it

This is getting SO GOOD. 65 mph dragging a sidecar. Amazing!

Honestly - It's a nice cruising speed.

At some point last night - I carried my cocktail into the garage and had a peek down the cylinder & at the plug.
I am such a good date!

Burn pattern on cylinder is different than anything I've seen.
Not completely sure I'm not getting detonation - though I don't think so.
Triple ex. port and center spark plug are new to me.
Suspect they have something to do with new to me burn pattern/ coloring up.
Think the black specks elsewhere are the color coming in - rather than pock marks.
I'll slip the head off this morning and double check.
Put plug under microscope - don't think it has any aluminum balls on it.

Should have done above before I moved to the pipe.
Something a lot of addicts probably tell themselves.
Pic's below


Plug - seems ok.

Hmmmm ... is the pizza slipping out of the oven? Timing too retarded?

Doesn't look like detonation, but check the tip of the plug for specks.

Think the pizza is in the oven. Perhaps at the edge. Not sure.
No combustion showing in the ex port at all - shiny.

Pulled the head.
Black is the good stuff.
Wipes right off.
No pick marks from detonation.

I'm at 18 degrees at peak advance - 4200 rpm. Then it backs down as per the sip chart.
Not thinking it's perfect.
I could add a little advance but wanna b careful…
Gonna ride and let it color up a bit more/ keep an eye on it


Gave it a little wipe

Blk stuff just melts away. Shinny aluminum I damaged below it

Gracious it's fast.
Put another 25 miles on it today.
Streets. Hwy. Hills. Mullholand. Superb.

Was running on an EK26 rod - which will mean nothing to you - but it felt great.
At the end of the day - decided to get that speed run in.
Swapped to a little leaner rod - EK27 - and it just sang.
Zero vibration - an additional kick and a bit more rev out.

Number below as requested.
Keep in mind - these are all relative to my own results - but the actual number may not be correct.
There are parameters on the GSF you have to set up - like rolling resistance.
Makes a huge difference in the number it gives for HP.
I have no way to calculate mine - there are 3 wheels and some toe in.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So I just keep it where I have it and it produces relative numbers accurately between set ups on my scoot - with the GSF settings always remaining the same.
An actual dyno would be fun to calibrate against.

Mullholand Drive run if you have a few min. to kill...
https://youtu.be/UCuddF_KUTo


New cheepo camera has a 90 degree second lens. That's kinda cool - I can see the walls now of the cylinder and the ports.

Ex. port





Plug with engine chop at 9K. Looks pretty good to me. Sounds even better. That magic song of WOT when its just right.

Dropping off some stuff at the Fed Ex. store.
My grocery getter is BACK!