Modern Vespa

I made a bunch of noise and dust today, along with a little bit of welding. Most of the time was spend trimming and fitting the sheetmetal to a final fitment shape. I ended up procuring a VB1 fuel tank...off of my OTHER VB1 that i picked up a couple months ago! Unfortunately the tank is rotted out, but at least i can use it to mock up for my fuel tank clearances.

A couple pics of the recently acquired VB1 that i'm using its fuel tank for mocking up in my rusty VB1.

I used a bar clamp to REALLY compress the shock's rubber bump stop. I figuring that on a hard landing jump that the bump stop will compress about 50%...and the rusty frame will break in half. So i cut and trimmed more of the frame to account for that.

I welded back in some pieces of the frame that i saved. I'm REALLY glad i kept them! Rest be sure that the only reason i kept them is because i've learned from past experiences from throwing stuff like that away.

This piece took a while to get just right. Since i'm a carpenter, and love to do finish carpentry, this was a cake walk. I tried to not go overboard though.

I'm so impressed with this type of work. It's artistry at its finest, IMO. Keep up the good work and thanks for the pictures and explanations!

Here are a couple pics showing what it looks like mostly finished. I still need to make some welds underneath, but i want to wait until i flip the scooter frame over on its other side first.

I think this is about as far as i need to go on the rear portion of the frame at this point. I can now focus on figuring out how the finer details on the front P/PX hybrid fork. At this point i don't feel like i have a rush to work on that at this point. I currently have a Jeep project in my shop that i'd like to button up ASAP. While i'm working on the jeep, i can ponder more about a frame bellows.

nice work John! you're making amazing progress!

I hear ya on the jeep work... there's one in my shop too that just won't leave. I am currently at this stage of the game:

OK...i had to finish up the upper rear shock bracket before i up and ghost the bike for a while.

The two stainless spacers (M10x10mm) that i ordered from McMaster arrived yesterday evening, so i did a little bit of grinding on them. It should be self explanatory why i needed to install them.

I also welded in another little piece of plate in order to hide some of my ugly welds. Those ugly welds are now boxed in and hidden. I tack welded in a thin strip of stainless that "locks" in and keeps the rubber mount from turning...even through there's close to a zero chance of it turning, it now has zero chance!

I'm planning on putting a thin piece of rubber (just like it was with the original shock bracket) between the frame and the bracket. I'm fairly confident that the 316 alloy of stainless steel will outlast the rust frame. So that bracket should still be around in a 1000 years from now...you, me, and the scooter, not so much.

I thought i wasn't going to do anymore work on the scooter for a while, but i couldn't stay away from it. I still wanted to button up the rear portion of the frame while i'm still motivated.

It was finally time to bolt the amalgamated SIP/Whodats Wideframe adapter bracket to the frame. I'm using a 1/4" x 2.5" x 9.5" piece of aluminum (because i conveniently had a piece in my shop) as a reinforced backer, and two M10 bolts to hold it together.

I also boxed in the frame where i cut and angled up a portion of the frame.

The other side got filled in as well.

And what it looks like with the bracket and engine temporary installed.

In for a penny, in for a pound. I removed the engine and now i'm going for "it". I'm hoping to finish it up tomorrow. You'll just have to wait and see what "it" is...

The weather was clear today in NW oregon, so i took the frame outside to do some more welding and grinding. I got done what i wanted to get done today. I even came up with a game plan for my next step. I can't proceed with it just yet though. I need to place an order with McMaster for a few particulars...

Pics of the frame boxed back in. I also cut a round piece of steel that will get welded into the original carb intake hole in the frame. I think i used about a 3" diameter hole saw?

And here's the reason why i squared off the portion of the frame yesterday. The picture should be self explanatory!

Yes, i'm running an air bellows through the frame...which means that the carb will breathe easier, which means Jack will breathe easier, which means that my jetting will breathe easier, which means that I will breathe easier!

I drilled a 2" diameter hole. I had a random scrap piece of stainless thin wall 2" OD tube in my shop that i'm using for mock up purposes. I ordered a new piece of stainless 2" tube online so that i can start with a fresh piece. The stainless tube will get welded directly to the mild steel frame. I ordered a ________ from Mcmaster, which i hope will tie everything together nicely (like i said, hope). My order won't show up until next week though, so i'll just have to wait.

Running my own intake into the frame is giving me ideas. Maybe i could relocate my air intake REALLY high up and fab a snorkel? It would definitely come in handy if i have to ride underwater...for when i have to outrun a volcano (think Dante's Peak movie).

I welded in the original carb inlet hole today. I also drilled a hole to run both the choke and throttle cables. I have no idea if it will work or if the cables will just bind. I guess there's really no way of telling until i give it a test ride.

I received my order from Mcmaster today, but i can't use the critical item that i had planned to use. I ordered a handful of 2" i.d. round rings to test out to see just which diameter would work the best. I was hoping i could get away with using a 5/16" diameter ring (a stainless steel ring was only available in a 5/16" diameter). I did order a 3/16" ring in a mild steel, so at least i could mock things up for now (a 3/16" stainless ring is on order with ebay). That ring probably won't show up until next week, so until then these pics will have to whet your appetite.

I rode my PX2 over to my friend's house late afternoon today. He lives about 20 miles away, and the temperature was about 45 degrees out when i left my house at 3pm. He TIG welded the stainless ring onto the stainless pipe with his fancy Miller welder. I left his place a few hours later, so by the time i got home it was around 38 degrees out. The new to me windshield works pretty well to keep me warm! So maybe the $20 i spent on it wasn't in vain?

My plan tomorrow is to weld it into the scooter frame.

Whodat!
Just caught up on half dozen + posts.
Man - loving this.
Creative as hell with craftsmanship to boot.
Distance gone to have stock(ish) bellows on this beast is terrific.
Some additional stiffness to frames center under seat to boot.
Everyone loves a round tail - and this one is going to be bad ass!
Totally motivating me to pull my rust bucket out and commence some form of custom project with it.

Holy Batman dude! That is a lot of intricate work. It looks like it could end up looking like one of those uber-cool German muscle bikes.

Really nice welding and fabbing. Hard to make the welds disappear like that. Not something I have ever done on my Vespa but plenty of times on my VW bus…usually fabbing small sections to preserve factory seams and structures.

I got the air intake thingy welded in today. It's a tight squeeze, but the rubber bellows doesn't rub against anything. I'm more than happy with the final results.

A couple more pics with the cylinder shroud installed and the air bellows hooked up.

With the back end of the frame more or less completed, it was time to turn my focus to the front end. So i picked up the scooter (with the engine still installed) and flipped it right side up on the saw horses.

I used the most expensive straightedge i could find...which was my 6' level. I mounted bare SIP tubeless rims both front and rear. I figure that they would be the straightest wheels i would have. I clamped the straightedge to the rear rim and lined up the front rim to match. Once everything was lined up where i wanted it, i welded the lower 20mm PX fork lug to the upper 16mm P fork. A 20mm PK fork possibly might be better suited for a conversion fork, but i don't have a spare PK fork.

Amazing stuff, and fun to watch this from the peanut gallery!

Thank you! I'm glad i'm still having a fun time building it.

Yeah, i guess it is yes kinda looking like one of those German muscle bikes....but without all the muscle (since my engine is still mostly a stock 200). So maybe a more accurate description of my engine is a "toned 200"?

No question, This thing is all Olivia newton john in leggings.

If Olivia were Italian, and had a p200 motor - both having a very nice tush.

Like the solution on lining up the fork!
Welds look hot with deep penetration - talkin bout the scoot here. That joint is a no nonsense one for sure.

2 3/4" seems like a lot!
Surprised - but perhaps it's just the nature of the beast. An inch less than that would be cut off on a VBB. How did u determine how much you would shorten?

2 3/4" is quite a bit! I did a bunch of research online and from what i found, is that one of the German shops where lowering the P/PX forks by 65mm...which is pretty close to 2 5/8". I'm not really liking how the fork's trailing link is at such a steep angle though. I think if i added 1" to the fork leg then it would be at the perfect angle. I can extend the fork, but i'd prefer to leave well enough alone. I'm also using a PK shock in a P fork. The PK shock's are shorter than a P shock, so that was the other reason to lower fork.

The hang up now is the rear portion of the fender to legshield clearance. My thought is to cut the upper portion of the fork tube in half and extend it 1", then install a 1" spacer right under the lower fork bearing race. By doing all of that, it should give me enough clearance between the fender and legshield...emphasis on should.

I started working on the front fender. The VB1 fender is quite slim and difficult to fit over a P fork. A PK fork is built a little bit more compact up where the shock and fender is mounted, and it would have been much easier to fit a fender over the top of...but since i didn't have a spare PK fork, then a P fork will have to do.

I got hung up on trying to get everything lined up, but then i just decided to get out the angle grinder and made it happen.

I'm a bit hesitant to post pics of the rest of the stuff i got accomplished this evening...only because i have no idea if this fender will even fit while on the scooter without it rubbing against the legshield. Hopefully that's not the case, so i'll post up pics of how far i got on the project this evening.

I made decent headway on the fender today. I learned that a VB1 fender comes NOWHERE close to fitting a P/PX fork!

My ugly scrap piece of stainless had some TIG welding puddles on it from when i was practicing some TIG welds 20 years ago. That ugly piece pretty much matches the patina of the scooter, so in it goes!

And a few more pics of what it looks like. I had to go back and weld in more metal to the spots where i cut out too much.

Since i used a P fork, the rear portion of the mud guard rubs HEAVILY on the legshield. I think my plan has to be to lower the fork around 1/2"~3-4". Which means fabbing up spacers for the lower forks bearing and race....AND extending the upper portion of the fork the same length. There will be a gap between the bottom of the horncast and the top of the mid guard, but that's just how it will have to be.

I will also need to make a support piece that will fit the new bolt pattern that i drilled into the top of the mud guard. That will be a simple straightforward piece to fashion though.

Oh, and fork stops. I gotta build those too. I'll probably make them out of aluminum?...we shall see.

A couple last glamour shots for the day. I'm really contemplating on just leaving the weld beads as is. I could sand them down smooth, but the welds really do match the rest of the scooter. What's your ya'll thoughts on that? The scooter isn't going to get painted, so what you see is what it will be.