Modern Vespa

Funny story:
I was about to buy that scoot back when.
It was up on CL for a little while. Seller kept bumping the listing by deleting and re-posting -- usually a bad sign but not always.

If he/she hadn't done that it would perhaps be in my garage.
Small world!

It's a nice scooter, saw it at greasy's.

^^^
Thanks John! Truly.
My friend Scott sent me a text with a link when he was selling it as a frame only. I had also inquired previously when it was at 4k with the p200 engine. Too spendy for me also at that point...

Funny thing is NSM's very own Qascooter was also looking at it when the frame only advert posted and was gracious enough to let me snag it. So that's 3 NSM regulars that were chasing this one!
___
Progress report:
Well she is a roller. I got the 180 engine in last night. Need to cable and wire it up.

In the process of mounting the engine I found one of the cross braces under the floor boards has separated and will need to be welded. *lights a stack of money on fire* Will mar the floor board paint for sure... but has to be done.

Scooters are stupid...
Still love them.

I just love the look of the MotoVespas legshield. I'm glad you've got it and are making it road worthy.

nothing a pound of frozen hamburger won't fix! just a quick little tacky-tack-tack and you're GTG!

you're way behind book time, I expected that to be running for the weekend!

what'd you decide on clutch?

Midnight special on the clutch: went with the old backing plate.

Finishing this weekend would be mucho adventurous. I don't dabble in amphetamine. So…Next weekend could be doable if I don't hit any new snags. * insert ham joke here _____*

boo! fortune favors the brave, or at least shines on the mildly adventurous... but you were able to pull out a W and get it buttoned up!

both on the clutch and recreational drug use. meth is totally recreational, right?

It is if you don't do it at work.

Now BN, you need to either get that puppy running or share a video of you coasting along making vroom-vroom sounds. those are your options.

And may the ham be ever in your favor.

^^^
🍠

Had a "helper" tonight. Big Mama Lu kept pacing and nudging me… until I put a blanket down. Was all snoring after that.

Wait a min.
When did something orange show up in your garage?
What's goin on in Texas?!

Is it worth to make cuts on brake shoes? Better performance?ww

I think you may have been in the lathe resto renaissance or maybe in your gate phase?

I tried to corrupt him into building it into something fast and dumb. without luck.

it was The Summer of Citrus...

Call it a "pinch of salt" mod. Some folks swear by it, and whether it actually assists in better braking or not I still do it out of habit if not conviction. As noted… "Sunmer of Citris"! It's a 74 Primavera, that came out of Missouri. As a 74 it had… Wait for it…… Electrical problems! Those are solved now, Threw a pipe on it and fixed the clutch. It's a fun little OG rider. Best of all, it's Astros orange!

I always cut slots if I can't get shoes that already have them. They don't have to be that deep, ~half way through the material. hack saw works well followed by the corner of a file to make it a V shape.

How many cuts do you do? I'm about to install the same brake shoes as BN and have seen to sand the leading edge but have not heard of this slotting and I'm intrigued…

slots at a 45° spaced ~15mm. it's not precision work, just giving a way for the dust and gas to escape un use. I bevel both the leading and trailing edge, in case the engine starts up in reverse.

On the rear I've considered leaving the trailing shoe off completely, but have not yet tried it.

Slotted shoes from Newfren

https://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Brakes/72339-Slotted

Or DIY as mentioned above

Just as an FYI to all the imperial soldiers here in the US, 15mm = 19/32".

Well we spent the morning trying to find the correct rear brake clamp. Surly I have one right?
After an hour of fruitless searching. I was about to hang it up…

Luckily Kyle P (Captcha) had a spare AND delivered it on his way to grab some gnosh. Nice to have Vespa peeps in the hood. *tips cap* (For the second time on this build!)

Oh, and we have official blood sacrifice. 🩸

This…

Verily!

Sorry I wasn't clearer…. Fixing that tomfoolery was was the cause of the blood sacrifice!

Lots of shenanigans Sunday. I had a few hours Sunday morning and all my hopes and dreams of kicking it over were dashed pretty quick.

Selector arm tested good, but when the box was mounted would only go from 2nd to 3rd and back to 2nd. Figured it just might be my old arthritic hands unable to move the batwing and cabled it up to see if leverage was needed. Naw. Still only 2nd and 3rd. Off came the cables and off came the box (and removing the box was not easy). Once off the selector arm easily went back and forth through all the gears? *scratched head*. Put the box back on and the batwing moved through all four gears also. At this point I decided new inners were a must as the old ones were chewed and screwed. And... well, of course I have no selector cables in the pile o' parts at the casa. Will check storage today.

In forward motion mode I did have a throttle cable and so replaced that. Painted the exhaust and worked on replacing old body rubber... and noticed I have to sort a solution for the choke cable too.

Gear cables sorted after a trip to storage!

Then I was off to sort the choke. Another peculiar feature of the Motovespa GT: small frame style choke.

Someone had trouble reassembling at some point. Sorted now.

It's nice to see the Spanish getting some love.

Ps- your new avatar is sweeeeet! <3

Please to confirmz...

As I wait for delivery of the proper ring terminals... would any of you electrical subgenius folk confirm my understanding of the wiring?

Harness is an AC nonbattery, no signal 12v set up. Easy as it gets. Harness at the junction box:

Green: Kill
Blue: Lights
Black: Ground

Pinassco EI (See attached).

Where I am at:
Yellow of the Stator goes to Blue of the Harness
Red/Black from stator goes to the green from harness and gets jumped to the CDI.
Blue from stator just goes to blue from CDI?
...and then black from harness just get grounded to the frame?
White/red for battery gets dead ended.


My confusion is the blue from the stator only going to the CDI seems wrong... but I am a knuckle dragger... so what do I know.


PS- Voltage Reg is only 2 connects - lights and ground so no help needed there.

TIA

the scribbling....

You're putting in a Pinasco Flytech* ignition (your first mistake) right?

If so, then your scribblings correct.

* I'm too lazy to scroll and look, but not too lazy to recognize that schematic and observe that their Ital-grish and documentation quality never seems to get any better.

Gratzi!

My experience with Pinasco stufff has been OK...
I know some top-ends kersploded on folks with regularity for a time. But, my experience has been positive. 2 EI's, one top end, 8" drums...

I have a Flytech in my parts pile, along with about three or four CDI's, because they tended to fail on a regular basis, costing me an absurd amount to replace because the only site I could find that stocked just the CDI was in Italy.

Also, they quit retarding timing after 7k? 8k? RPM's, so ironically, they were really not designed for a truly tuned motor. Go figure.

Esta Viva!!!


https://youtube.com/shorts/n5luwnjvlBk?feature=share

Lots to button up still… but it should be making vroom vroom sounds soon(ish).

Nice!

Yasssssss!

…
https://youtube.com/shorts/G0MSqomMGpI?feature=share

woot! I love it! Rollin' the slo-mo again.

Awesome.

Not as awesome as going backwards out of the scene - but still - awesome.

I got the preliminary screener earlier today.

I think he sent it mostly because the weather is so nice and to rub it my face

sounds good though!

And such nice weather for your first ride!
Congratulations are in order, it's been a long road🎉.

Thanks Terry!
And thank you for the engine… she purrs. And is legitimate first kick. Dig it.

Have to do some cable adjustments and find an air filter for the carby as I have lost it somehow. But, sure is nice to ride around the neighborhood on her as we get the rings seated.

There are so few days that this swamp has better weather than your zip code... gotta take my shots when I can!

Where do ya think this leak (whistle) is coming from? Carb is torqued to speck. Scoot is running great albeit the idle is a bit high.

Airbox?
Carb?

https://youtube.com/shorts/iVic9lj8hvE?feature=share