Modern Vespa

Hello - so sat by the road waiting for a friend with a van.

Suspect crank / front pulley failure... I could hear chunks flying around under the cover... lost drive (but engine still revved).

...kick start not engaging the front pulley.

Nut was brand new, torqued and thread locked - so REALLY hope that it didn't bloody come off!

More new shiny parts I guess. 🤣

Sorry to hear of your trouble. Hopefully you'll find nothing too serious when you open it up. Please keep us posted.

Sounds like the belt broke and was shredded.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Good luck!

Belts snap. Hopefully that's all it is. Keep us posted.

My biggest fear - variator/crank nut. Lasted about 600 miles before coming loose. I was doing about 45MPH at the time.

Very disappointed - not because of having to fix it, or spend a few ££ on new bits.... more because the workshop manual was followed and everything was done properly. I had a 1000nm impact wrench at my disposal (with 3 settings - tight, very tight, tight as f***) but chose to use a torque wrench.

Thing is, inside the variator cover - there was evidence that this happened before (while the bike wasn't in my posession). The question is whether the threads on that crank are in spec? Is that a possibility? Everything was clean and dry when installed - no oil or residue.

Just about got away without having to split the engine case - this time, I'm going all out torquing the bugger (stuff the specs)... and it's getting red thread lock (not blue).

New bits needed:
-Front pulley (not in stock).
-Variator/crank nut
-Variator fan.
-Kickstart castle washer (engaging thingy that goes on top of the pulley).
-Kickstart pinion gear.

For safety (to be sure):
-Oil belt. It was new, but with chunks of stuff flying around in there I'm not risking it.

A fair bit of brake-clean will be consumed getting it all spick and span.

🛵💨

You stranded this weekend, me stranded last weekend!

Scooter ownership can be frustrating at times. At least you got yours home, I'm still waiting for mine to be recovered 9 days later.

I hate to keep bringing him up but Steve Williams original scooter was a 150cc. AS I remember the story he changed the belt and his scooter self destructed. He said he had misplaced the washers upon assembly which finally settled in, loosened the nut and chewed up his crankshaft. I'm not an authority but before tightening the nut too much make sure that all systems are in their proper configuration.

Ouch! Hopefully no spline or thread damage on the crank?

I agree. This is a possibility that should be investigated.

Just about got away with it - a bit of time with a wire brush sorted it. Phew. Outer/front pulley will be replaced though. Will definitely check again and again. 🤞🤞 Yikes - that's really frustrating! I was adamant it wasn't sitting by the side of the road to be taken apart by vultures (dodgies). Hope you don't mind me gloating about the quick recovery.

So - a few bits are good... and some not:

Drive belt good. Variator good.

Castle nut bad. Outer pullet bad. Oil belt embedded with debris.

Previous inspection (at 125 miles) showed no cause for concern.

I might do a visual every 200 miles, and mark the nut & pulley to make it easy to spot a loosening.

sounds like a good plan

just a thought have you tested your torque wrench ?

at work (rail industry) we have a digital tester we use each time we set one up
surprising how far out they can be
they can go out of calibration as they age the spring weakens
especially if the spring isn't wound off after use

good luck
hope its all good now

Yes - good point, it could be out of calibration. 👍

that's a great idea and then when you're done with it spray paint it with golden sparkles