Modern Vespa

I bit the bullet today and went into my local California DMV office to register red rover only to find out that because the scooter has never been registered in California I need to get a bond. I know nothing about doing that and the DMV clerk was not especially helpful, Does anyone have a recommendation as to where I might get a bond?

I was also told I need to get a highway patrol inspection… Is that a full safety inspection or is it just a matter of verifying numbers?

Any tips?

Try another clerk or office.
I've never heard of a bond requirement in CA.
Go with your bill of sale, along with the "Statement of Facts" and "Application for Title or Registration" forms. You can download these two from the DMV website.

You will need a CHP VIN (not safety) inspection, but ask the clerk for a temp paper permit to ride while you wait for a CHP appt.

You got a lazy clerk at DMV. CHP inspection was a breeze

the need for a bond should only kick in if both conditions are true:
1. Bill of sale, no title
2. Seller is outside of California

I have gone to the CHP first and did the VIN inspection took form with me then to DMV and completed registration in one trip. Maybe I got lucky with CHP but I did schedule the appointment and scooter was legit.

Also the less you tell them the better in my case I had an out of state plate but I didn't share that with anyone and DMV helped with the statement of facts. My story was bought at yard sale with no documentation.

Yes, unfortunately both conditions are true so it looks like I am going to need a bond. Here's the backstory I was told:

"Some time ago" a guy in Colorado got my scooter and started rebuilding it. Before he finished the project, he died and his girlfriend inherited the disassembled scooter but she did not find the registration, title or Bill of Sale. She did, however, find a license plate from 1988 (which the DMV knows nothing about.)

She moved to Oakland and in 2022 sold the disassemble scooter and parts to the guy who sold it to me. He did nothing with it and it was still disassembled when I bought it and I put it back together and now I am trying to register it.

Getting the DMV inspection will be no problem, and I will do that first, but I don't know how to get a bond and am hoping that someone on the forum can refer me to someone who can arrange a bond for me.

Oops Dup post

Yeah, I did all that and DMV gave me some more papers to fill out. I'm not sure exactly what they are except that they cost me $55. Typical.

First stop will be the CHP inspection but I'm going to take my time doing that.

This was the plate on my scooter that I did not share with CHP or DMV. CHP is going to search the national database and if it's clear and not stolen they will verify the numbers and send you away.

I like your "Less is More" approach and I tell them as little as possible. I'm a little older so I played the Old Man Card at the DMV and I think the clerk was really trying to help. I'll do the same thing with the CHP.

I've been wondering if the scooter is stolen. I have no reason to think it was but these days you never know.

but you got a a bill of sale from a California resident, so none of the back story before that needs to be known.

Oh, good to know.

I always go to DMV just before closing. They will take short cuts and do what you really want them to do just to get you out the door so they can go home. This has worked for me more than 5 times with Zero paperwork.

FWIW, I've taken a couple of scoots to the CHP for a VIN check and it was a piece of cake.

No appointment. In and out in half an hour. Everyone was polite and helpful. They even enjoyed chatting about the old bikes.

Like Hibbert says, go there before the DMV.

I love it… great idea!

I normally fill out the vin, engine number, model year, make, model, on the following form:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/uploads/2024/03/REG-31-R4-2023-AS-WWW.pdf

for the VIN and Engine Number I include body and engine code, not just the number (E.G., "VSX1T00123456") This helps keep the VIN unique.

If the CHP does not like what was filled in, they will just start a new form.

Gotcha ya bastard!

The various videos I watched claimed that a new leg shield trim could be easily slid into place with just a little encouragement… They Lie!

Well, I guess it's true if you apply your encouragement with a rubber mallet and if your legshield is as pristine as it was when it left the factory. Mine wasn't.

Well I got it installed and it looks good from 10 feet away but I know where I screwed it up. Still, it had to be done.

I considered just straightening the original trim but I think installing a new one was a better idea

Looks good! I cheated and used the plastic trim. Even that took me 2 attempts.

I passed altogether and used the rubber trim like on Stellas.

Yeah, I thought about doing that but I really like the chrome look... but then I'm easily distracted by shiny things.

I'm helping a buddy move from Central California to Beaver Lake, Nebraska so I looked up Hec in Omaha. His P125 is Almost Finished and he was kind enough to invite my buddy and me for a tour around the lake… a three hour tour
It was a great day

Jeff,

It was so great to meet you in person and talk Vespas. It was also nice to meet Jerry and Denver too! I wish my P-125X was finished for your visit. As you saw it's getting close to completion!
The weather was beautiful for our 3-hr tour! Nothing better than a nice boat ride. I'm sure you'll be back in town to visit Jerry in the future so be sure to let me know when you're back in town so we can get together! This Forum is Great!

Hec- Pontoon Boat Captain

Damn! It's two steps forward and one step back.

Red Rover (1977 P200) has been running fine for more than a month except forthe ongoing smoke problem. I took it to Hotrod Al who traced the problem to oil leaking past a corroded check valve socket. He cleaned it out with an abrasive compound and now that the ball is seating more securely the smoke problem seems to be solved.

HOWEVER, now I'm having trouble with the engine itself… actually, double-trouble. First, the engine was frequently racing and I had a tough time getting it to slow down at intersections. I replaced the sticky carburetor slide and confirmed that the return springs on the slide and on the oil pump were strong but that didn't fully eliminate the problem. Then I discovered that when I torqued down the carb bolts to the recommended 12 PSI, the slide was binding and preventing the slide from returning to its proper position. I fixed that.

The second trouble is that the engine isn't running right and I don't know why. Here are the specifics:

1. When pulling in the clutch, the engine is really slow to rev down to idle speed. Instead of slowing down immediately, it takes a second or so to finally slow down. It never did that before.
2. When it does slow down, it doesn't stop to idle but rather keeps slowing down until it dies. It never did that before. I've turned up the idle screw but that hasn't solved the problem.
3. The engine often bogs when I start out in First. It never did that before.

I couldn't find a problem with the carb so I just replaced it with a different carb and found that I am still having the same problems. Does anyone have a suggestion as to where I should look next?

#1 is easy look here page six, top of page. If your 2nd one is a newer carb it may be already done, if not you could do it w/ a Dremel.
Random tricks, share your best little tips & shortcuts
#2 is tuffer but you are likely gonna be told to pressure test your motor because you may have an air leak if a fresh carb didn't improve things .

Sounds like it's time for a pressure test. Make sure the head and case fasteners are torqued down. Your symptoms sure sound like you have an air leak. Bummer!

Hec

Yeah sounds like leaks around the crankcase.

I imagine no sealant on the crankcase gasket?

Air leaks are a pain. Even if you do everything right and get a good pressure test on the bench, they can still crop up later. Being set up to do a quick pressure test is a big help. It's often something easy, like the cylinder head or foot gasket. If it turns out to be the clutch side seal…it's no fun, but you'd really rather know.

Good catch on the autolube. I have mixed feelings about it. Usually they quietly do their thing for years and years without any issues. I have been fighting with the one on my 200 for awhile, but the unit on my Stella has never caused a problem. Part of it is my own ham-handedness. As HR Al did yours, I would totally trust it.

Hang in there. Your path seems similar to mine. Success followed by setbacks. Eventually you'll get it right and it will stay that way.

Air leak??? Aw, crap. I've dealt with them before and it's never pretty… I can never find the actual leak.

When I was rebuilding this engine last year, I had an air leak someplace but I could never find it. I replaced the seals so I'm pretty sure it wasn't coming from there but I couldn't find any bubbles any place else. Eventually, the leak went away but a friend of mine told me "Don't worry about not finding the air leak… it will find you." It seems he was right.

It seems odd that an air leak would show up now out of the blue. I wonder what would cause that. I can look at the crankcase gasket and the cylinder gasket but are there other common places where an air leak might occur?

Carb box to engine case is a usual suspect as well.

That's a good possibility as I don't always replace the gasket when I reattach the carb box. That's easy so I'll start there.

Thanks Friday

Try these.
Much more forgiving vs paper.

Also re-check cylinder head nut torque.

https://scooter-speed.com/dellorto-si-carburetor-casing-gasket-oil-sip-premium-v9b-92976040/

https://scooter-speed.com/dellorto-si-carburetor-casing-carb-gasket-sip-premium-round-v9g-92976030/

Good to know. Can you reuse them? I'll buy a few. If it stops the air leak it's worth the price

these tend to not be reusable like the paper ones are. they often come apart when you pull the surfaces apart. however, they do a good job sealing.

I've used sealant (like Hondabond) on one side and grease on the other to reuse the gasket and had good luck. Of course YMMV, no guarantees.

I had a leak one time. Same symptoms you're having. I checked all the usual culprits and no luck.

So before pulling the clutch off, I pulled the flywheel and squirted a little soap and water on the shaft and seal. Sure enough, it was leaking....

Thanks, I'll have to check that one too.

It looks like Ive got that one covered so now I can focus on the joys of searching for the air leak

I'm postponing my search for an air leak and have gone back to my smoking problem. I've narrowed it down to a problem with either the oil pump system or the carb box itself. I'm thinking I can replace the carb box and each part of the pump, one at a time, with known-good elements from my other P200, Spermy, but I really don't want to do that if I don't have to.

Which brings me to another question: I've noticed that whenever I pull the carb box the gasket underneath is saturated with 2-stroke oil and there is usually oil under the gasket itself. Could this be the source of the oil I am burning and making smoke? If so, I wonder where it is coming from.

Any thoughts?