Modern Vespa

I actually made an order for the Malossi 135 (or whatever it is) but ended up cancelling because I/SIP wasn't sure if the Reed manifold would fit in a v50 series 1.

And I had a gut feeling I'd be cutting into the frame to fit any matching exhaust (maybe the unisex would've worked, who knows…)

I hope the 170 doesn't suck… from FB vids, seems to be good. But again, who knows…

Never say no to a Quatrinni kit though, dream kit level stuff… always wanted to get one.

I'm also a little worried about my electrics too… the wiring harness is like 3 wires… surely can't be that simple.

Not looking forward to installing the vape and gear selector cables

Electrics are easy (for me, at least)

If you have challenges, hit me up.

Curious if you need a special exhaust or mounting flange for it, or the carb to make the egig 170 work with piston ported and fit in the frame with standard mounting for everything?

Asking for a friend with a v90 waiting to get this kit thrown on it in the future...

Hoping the carb will fit in the frame!

There's 2 different intake manifolds for the 170. One for the v50 etc, and one for pk bikes.

So I imagine it should fit, if it's that specific.

Apparently with the unisex exhaust, it's suppose to fit. That's the selling point of the exhaust.

if not might have ordered the mamba instead!

Time will tell!

Smallie experts!!

Having problems with the rear hub alignment.

See photo for reference.

It seems like a 2 part construction if I'm not mistaken.

But the holes seems to have shifted… to the point I can't thread the bolts in properly… anyway to move them back?

The red arrowed hole is the only one which I can thread the bolt successfully

I took the wheel off previously without any problems, so not sure what happened..!

loosen the small locator nut enough to see if you can slide the outer back into alignment enough to get the 4 bolts in. then make sure you tighten the locator nut before you put the wheel on!

I loosened the small locating nut…

The other parts don't move though… wondering if there's a method to freeing the 2 sections?

Sometimes the drum and hub will fuse themselves together from corrosion. On my V90, I squirted some WD-40 in the holes and then smacked it with a plastic hammer. Smacked meaning, tap-tap-tap a bit hard. That separated the two.

I had similar issues the first time I ever pulled the hub off my VBB. I didn't use WD-40 like Nomad, but I did use a hammer to pretty good effect.

Just make sure that the locator pin is all the way out before hammering. Mine was all chewed up and looked like a little rotten baby tooth. That was real fun getting that out.

Agree with nomad. You can see the center raised inner hub section is rusted. It's fused to the outer cause it's a snug fit by default. Pb blaster or wd-40, maybe some heat and a rubber mallet carful not to bend anything. It will eventually work off.

Then just clean all the surface up with 320 grit and reassemble.

Not sure where to bash to be honest…

Maybe install the bolt and evenly hit those?

Hit the center section right in the middle of the hub. Then also try tapping the reverse side along the seam where the outer and inner meet. You can also try using a screw driver to lightly pry back and forth. But this method you really don't want to pry too hard cause you will warp things. Just keep banging around all sides and it will eventually start to walk off side to side.

the seam between inner and outer is what is rusted and seized together causing issues removing.


highlighted the seam with circle in image below.

Got it… know what you mean…

Will give it a try.

Looks fused pretty bad, but wonder how it shifted before??

Blast it with heat? But the outside looks rattle canned…

I hit the outside rounded edge of the drum alternating back and forth across the drum.

Looks like it's fused pretty good… it's not bugged one bit.

Never been so excited to see the UPS man! He came through and the cylinder arrived today.

But something is wrong with SIP… box was huge and I thought there would be some extra goodies from egig.

But no… a ton of empty space, but the parcel was 7kgs

Anyways… will post some photos later.

First 2 hours playing around with it, definitely not plug and play… Erich's definition of grinding away 2mm is a bit of an understatement… more like a huge 5mm gouge!!

I feel ya. I spent most of last weekend grinding away on my cases and cylinder for a top end that's sold as, "It combines maximum displacement, high everyday usability and a wide power band to fit the original engine case of V50, PV, ET3, PK."

Er, so here was the plan…

Seems to be a lot of that roaming around in Smallie land these days.

Slow progress on the build…

Feels like it took forever to cut and grind the cylinder cover to fit the massive intake. Had to cut around the exhaust area too. Lots of customisation.

Measured the squish, ended up at 1.35mm, with 1.3-1.5mm being the recommended amount.

The gasket doesn't go over the piston, so have to install the gasket, then the wrist pin. But everything is machined perfectly on the meteor piston that it's a breeze to install.

You are rapidly closing in on the point where you can see how the lump fits the frame and will there be need to cut anything to make room for intake.

Good job!

so confused as they claim its very minimal grinding. I can't see how they over exaggerated that much!

It's one thing for a big corporation to white lie like that, but another thing with these highly niche small companies.

Lookin' good!

I was amazed that my motor fit into the frame with no issues, wiggling, or persuasion required. I was certain I was going to have to choose violence to get it in there, but the closest I came was pulling out the intake buffer so the new, larger intake would fit.

I'm looking forward to the First Start Video

Compared to my Quattrini, that *is* minimal grinding.

minimal grinding to me would mean cut some of the fins off the cylinder.. not irreversibly cut up the case.

Wondering if mounting the kit with ports reversed would make any affect on this issue?

I thought I was just grinding down a lip!

I don't mind doing it, but someone could've said… lol

I'm looking forward to the first start too! Been a bit slow past few days… double checking everything. Especially the sealing surfaces… everything isn't quite smooth…

Leak down test next,

I complain, but it's actually not too bad… so there's not too much work on the engine cases, most of the work is actually the external stuff.

Spent a lot of time on the cylinder cowl, bending and cutting the spacer/bracket.

Super happy someone actually created this kit… very interesting design where the crank case is just a hole for the crank to stick out, and the piston is pretty wide at around 63mm

I'll have to fabricate my own shroud spacer, but hadn't given it much thought. Your pictures instantly crystalized it in my mind, though. Too bad for me I'm not much for fabrication...

And you have to remember that the air has to be able to flow, and so a bigger exit area underneath is that much more air that can potentially be pumped through.

What I'm wondering about his how effective the fan can even be with close to two inches of clearance between it and the guard.

Never thought about that with the quatrinni… Is there anything pre-fabed? Any idea what other people are using?

I got lazy with the spacer… I knew marking the holes and bending it would be the biggest pita… even cheating, it was still a pain.

I was thinking, would it be like a straw? more air if it's narrower and tighter? Like a funnel? I have no idea though… lol. bigger exit makes sense though… maybe there's a limit to how big?

The fan is really a centrifugal pump with the flywheel acting as the impeller. So it needs to have a tight fit so the air isn't just blowing out and away, but instead being pushed across the cylinder.

Ginch had a thread on this topic a couple of years(?) ago, and you can learn more than ever wanted to know with a quick google search.

Ah get what you mean about the 2 inches of clearance now…

Ah that must be the "stuck out" fins on the egig high flow that makes it cooler, the fins seem closer to the shroud, but still fits without mods.

Bad news update…

Failed 3 leak down tests, all coming from the cylinder head.

Theres no o ring and it's reliant on sealant… which doesn't help

I have a sneaky suspicion that it's from the base, up the cylinder stud… that's where it's loudest…

More testing tomorrow

CM! Need your help!

Not getting any spark with the vape ac

Does it need to be connected to the regulator to work? (Just for engine starts??)

No need. Will give spark without regulator too.

Then what gives?? The stator can only be installed 1 way right?

I'm out of ideas.

I'm using a B8ES, shouldn't be a problem right??

According to manual, brown wire to CDI frame and the click connector with three wires should be enough for spark. Make sure the blue wire coming out of the CDI to kill switch is not grounded.

Brown makes sure grounding of CDI is good, red one delivers AC from the ignition coil and white is the signal from pickup sensor. White and red could also be the other way around since I don't have my own vape yet.

Measure the AC voltage from the red and white wires when you spin the flywheel with a drill. One should be 30-100V AC and other something like 0,5-3V AC

B8ES is fine.

Like Yoshi said, just need the red & white, plus brown to ground. You also need a solid ground from the coil bracket to the case.

One strange phenomena I observed yesterday was that when I grounded my plug to the case to confirm I was getting spark, I got a very weak spark and it wasn't enough to trigger my timing light. I had to ground it to the cylinder head to get a proper spark. That one genuinely puzzles me.

The output side (AC or DC) doesn't matter. The stator & CDI are the only relevant bits for chasing spark issues.

Do you have your kill switch wire hooked up? If so, I'd disconnect that while troubleshooting.

Thanks for the pointers gents…

I didn't think it needed the regulator to start. But ended up second guessing myself as you're literally connecting 3 wires to start the motor.

Started trouble shooting with what you guys mentioned… checked everything. Still nothing.

Then checked for earths and the mount for the CDI wasn't earthing (surely not). Which is strange because I have the same mounting kit (different shape) on the PX.

So have spark!!

But still doesn't start… plug is bone dry. Compression is good, the piston ring seal is crazy tight.

the fuel is pretty old, so will end up swapping it out.

But something tells me it's a timing issue… have the stator set right bang in the middle. Should at least start?

CM, where abouts do you have the timing set at? Was the shock attached? Thinking would closer to the frame have a better ground?

Yeah the kill switch is disconnected… just a little green wire (no where near the frame) to earth to stop the engine… that's if I can get it started!!