Modern Vespa

I wish I could claim the CT's "convertible" piston was inspired by your leadership in the field, but I suspect in really boiled down to tough luck. Conrod's hardly messed up and there's enough left to rebuild it.

I promise I'll try harder next time.

You sir, are an artist.

I think truer words have never been spoken.

you are an artist

"to do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without style. to do a dangerous thing with style is what i call art..."

I feel seen.

Opened up the motor tonight and got things ready for the new primary. Sadly, I jacked up the bearing, so I'm on hold until a new one arrives.

I had a couple surprises when I opened things up, though, starting with a loose nut on the primary!

I also determined why the rear hub was leaking oil. Some dumbass had installed the seal backwards.

One bright spot in the whole adventure is that the clutch plates look absolutely pristine, so the FB45 is absolutely earning its keep.

Next parts order is already submitted. I expect I'll get it no later than Thursday, and in the meantime, I can figure out gauge installation. Maybe even finish the floor rails.

Nickel/penny torque not holding it down…?? Red loctite on that little guy…

Glad you spotted it though!

I'd be inclined to replace the nut and washer if you have a spare… it'll be stretched out, unless the tightening torque was low, then you'd get away with it…

Is this shaft compatible with original loose gears? 21 is short 4th.
20 is extra short 4th.
Original PK is 22.

I sure hope so.

Karma rests on you and Buddha is smiling. And you are a smart (or lucky) guy for opening it up and checking it out.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha

First off, I checked and the new stack fits just fine.

Then, I finished off installing the CHT, EGT, tach, and speedo. It's tight in there and I still plan to add LED's to either side of the speedo for the turn signals, but if that doesn't happen Day One, it won't be the end of the world.

I'm may eventually re-fab the CHT/EGT bracket out of thicker steel and will adjust the alignment of the gauges a little when I do, but I can live with what's there now, so the emphasis is on "eventually."

Another productive workshop session. Too bad my Mercato order doesn't seem to have shipped yet. Still time for it to arrive Friday or Saturday, but I'll be bummed if I miss the weekend because I'm waiting for a part due to my own mistake.

The speedo is GPS?
Is Nashville moving quicker than the rest of us?

I thought it was it was the nitrous tank pressure gauge.

No rev meter?

Small thread hijack…

Anyone know of a decent looking rev meter?

The trail tech is small, but looks like a kids wrist watch on the handlebars…

All my speedos are GPS. It's counting while it hunts for satellites, which can be difficult to spot through the workshop ceiling.

Which is unrelated to whether Nashville is moving faster than the rest of you or not. It's there. It's attached to the neck of the legshield by magnets. I didn't realize I hadn't put it properly in place until after I was back in the house, so it's just hanging by its wire.

I use the runleader, which looks like a slightly larger kids wrist watch.

I'd LOVE to find an analog tach and have spent literally hours trawling the Internet for one, but have never been able to find one that meets all the requirements:
- Analog
- 52mm/2 1/8" housing
- 12-14k RPM max
- Single-cylinder compatible
- (Back)lit
- Worth a shit for accuracy and responsiveness

I'm digging the multi gauge aesthetic… I think it works… the koso temp gauge is cool.

The Trail tech I have just looks wrong… I don't think the form factor is my biggest gripe…

It's the colour of the LCD display… it has a retro (not in a good way) colour to it… which makes it look off… if only it was reversed LCD.

Anyways ditto on the analog gauge, I can live without backlight… lol

I like analog gauges too. They just look better, but are easier to read at a glance. Digital gauges are usually smaller and harder to read, especially on a bike. My Runleader gauge eats batteries like chips because I have to leave the backlight on to see it at all. They seem to live a short life in a bike, especially if you are removing the spark plug a lot. Good thing they are cheap.

Have you checked out Glowshift gauges? I guess the 12k rpm is the obstacle.

Also, you could probably modify a gauge housing to be backlit with a little tinkering. I like your GPS speedo. Gets the job done for a lot cheaper than going the SIP speedo route.

I've checked out the Glowshift gauges and, yeah, they only go to 8K RPM's. That's kept me from buying one to see if it meets the other criteria.

I have a Kid's Wristwatch Koso CHT on my GL and it's weird...takes a battery for the CHT, but uses 12V for the backlight. It chewed through batteries so bad that I bought little (like 1" x 1/2" x 1/2") 12v->3v converter and wired that into the battery and that solved my power problem.

Have you considered a SIP speedo?

I have. I consider it every bike I build, then reject it every time.

I like my data to be highly visible, not limited by the dictates of the speedo hole form factor. And it's expensive, with a bit of a bad quality rep, to boot.

Eventually I'll pick one up, but not for this build. Maybe for my GL, if I build more of a touring motor for it. It's due for some refreshing.

How I wish the SIP speedo could be hacked so that the main (large) readout would read whichever mode you selected. That teensy weensy CHT is the worst.

Nailed it.

Personally I don't mind using instruments as necessary to set up. But once done, remove them all to original. For the simple look.

I like my instruments. Also, they have saved me from my own tuning ineptitude enough times that I don't really like to ride without them.

In other news, floor rails are done, so at this point, other than the motor and other stuff that's blocked by missing parts like the center mat, I think I'm done.

My parts are in the post from SM now, due to arrive Friday, so assuming that happens, I won't pull the bearing out of the old smallstate cases and use it even though it was nearly new when that motor kicked the bucket. I looked this evening and it looks to be in perfect shape, assuming I don't trash it getting it out of the cases.

Looking at it - hard to believe its the same bro dozed potato chip shaped leg shield monster.

I always have a laugh when I see your flight ready instrument panel.
Sips speedo temp gauge is annoyingly small (how can they not have addressed that with a grade AA fix?!)
Would be soooo easy to put that in their face plastic mold.

I keep searching for a bubble shaped magnifying sticker to just slap on there.
There MUST be one out there for a few pennies - that is peal and stick - and would massively improve the SIP speedo.

If anyone finds - please post!

I tried an Auto-meter tach years ago on my P. The tach wouldn't read the pulses correctly on my ignition. I had a stock stator at the time. I wonder if it would work any better with a Vespatronic or a VAPE?...probably not.

I tried that (in desperation) a few years ago. If I recall you had to have your eye at the just the right angle at just the right distance to be of any use at all. Sigh.

Control decks ftw!!

I already said this once, but I'll say it again - Love the look of this scoot.
*checks out FB market place and the local CL for small frame adds*

Thanks!

I'm now 100% in a holding pattern waiting on my SM package to arrive this afternoon. Brake plate is ready to go on, seal installed correctly and everything. Cases are cleaned up. I discovered the kickstart buffers were trashed, so luckily I had spares to swap in.

Looking good man!

I am hoping to close up the ET3 cases this weekend. ...I fear (know) that there is probably some part I am missing to make that happen, but maybe, just maybe we can do it.

It's Go Time

. I discovered the kickstart buffers were trashed, so luckily I had spares to swap in.

I've had two bad sets of those for my P. Finally found some Piaggio ones. The others would bust on the installation. Figlio di puttana! The Piaggio ones seem better quality for sure.

Engine is back together. I didn't have time to run it, but it passed the pressure test with flying colors and was running well before the teardown.

I had one moment of horror when I dropped the crank nut into the cases. Luckily a few minutes of shaking got it within reach of a fishing magnet, so case re-split avoided.

Tomorrow it'll go back in the bike and I can resume terrorizing Nashville Smallstate-style.

Damn buddy, that's a good looking motor. Looking forward to seeing it completed and running.

That engine looks like it would go 50 mph in first gear. Gnarly exhaust mated to a go-fast-fast-fast engine. Make sure you sign your life insurance papers BEFORE you go for that first ride.

Split pin over the top with a castle nut?

Not to the sides like a PX style.

It lives!

Proof to follow, but I had it out on the road today for a run to the liquor store and a couple other stops.

There are still things to sort out. Some is them minor like the left front turn signal isn't working and the throttle and clutch cables need a little adjustment.

Some of them are deceptively major, like I overtightened the fork bearing and that makes it incredibly awkward to ride right now. You don't realize how many tiny adjustments to make to the steering until you basically can't do it. I figured the fork bearing would loosen up as soon as I rode it, but I seem to have figured wrong.

As to the new gearing...I think I'm a fan, even if I mostly stayed out of the power band until I fix the fork bearing.. Second is much more useful and fourth starts lower, which is a good fit for most of my riding. More to come on this front once I've had a chance to put some miles on it.