Modern Vespa

I had pretty good luck with my `92 Sportster with sidecar, at least regarding drive belts. Two different times I had a belt break and had all the tools and a spare belt in the sidecar. Not a bad side of road job on a Sportster!

Made a downpayment on the GTV 300 HPE Beige.

Oh boy. The drive belt on a big twin (Dyna, Softail, or touring chassis) is a nightmare! At a minimum, the primary drive connecting the engine to the transmission needs to be removed. In the case of the Softail and touring chassis, the swing arm needs to be removed too Definitely not something I'd want to do on the side of the road. But sometimes life doesn't give you a choice. Sounds like the Sportster is easier (being a right-side final drive has its benefits). I've never had to do one of those.

My old chopper is a chain final drive. Not too likely that I'll break a chain. It has a belt primary drive. I carry a spare belt. It takes longer to remove the belt cover than to change the belt. The entire job requires one tool. A 7/16 wrench.

1.4 times the Earth's circumference

I just got final approval; next week I am having a "bilateral arthroplasty" of my knees! I've been waiting, waiting... so my poor Vespa is going to be orphaned for a month or so more.
So apart from being somewhat trepidatious (scared) I am very happy.

When I say 180 miles that was just on the edge of reserve so there might be another 30 miles in it so it may well be the same as the Yamaha but I'm not going to risk it to find out.

Yamaha - T Max £6300.

Kymco Downtown 300 - Free.

Kymco wins.

Godspeed

This is cheering me up.

I would LOVE to see him try riding that. In that sand.

Pffft! No Bazooka Vespa.

Most of the Radial powered bikes have the engine around the other way which is way better for cooling.

Like we care about that.

I'm really surprised they chose that configuration considering the lengths they have gone to in the Mad Max series to maintain an atmosphere of realism.

The mortar shell is a nice touch. Really makes the picture.

As is the propeller. It probably has a function. It being a propeller.

At least he has a skid plate! Last year in Baja roadwork put everyone in the loose sand on the side of said road for a couple miles. A man and wife on a BMW GS went down and he had to go to the hospital. People told me I wouldn't make it on my chopper. Most of the weight on mine favors the rear. I just kept my speed up and let the front wheel do its dance like riding a dirtbike through a sandy wash. No problem for me both ways. It's almost time for me to make the trip again and this time I'll post it on MV. That's cheering me up. I'm taking the chopper again while I'm still able.🙂

Kind of hard to filter on that.

nope

Grunion,

Best to you on the knee medical procedures. I am sure you will be up brake dancing in no time.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota

Radial engines kick ass!

Two things cheered me up today.

1) first bear sighting of 2024. Two black bears crossing the road in Incline Village, NV. Warm weather a couple weeks ago probably woke them from their winter slumber. Then last weekend's blizzard drove them down from the higher mountains to search for food in rubbish bins. Sorry, no bear photos.

2) 6ft of fresh snow from the weekend's blizzard. This made for some great skiing today!

I've just won another £900.

How much did that cost?

You obviously haven't had to time the mags on a Pratt & Whitney! 🤣

About 4 years ago I invested £50,000 into Premium Bonds and even though they don't earn any interest a monthly draw can reap you £25 to a Million.

Last month it paid for the trip to Europe.

So far the returns have been more than a yearly High Interest Account at a Bank.

Well that sucks. A little over 4 years ago you didn't need to leave home to go to Europe. Inflation is crazy!

Nope. I haven't had the pleasure. But I'd be game to try.

One of my attractions to old Harley-Davidson engines is their radial engine roots. They're basically 1/4 of a radial engine. 😂

Well, by that logic, a Vespa is just 1/8 of a rotary engine.

Sort of. But the integrated (engine and cvt in one unit) design and overhead cam make a bit further removed.

Well, yeah ... if you want to get all technical and stuff.

I said what I said.

Back on the tools for long trips… I took a shot at rev 2.0 today. I found that I could eliminate several of the larger wrenches. The large channel locks will work in a pinch. I don't really like using them because they mar the hardware. But in an emergency they'll do the job. And I don't want to carry a complete tool chest with me. I also moved the smaller wrenches from the large tool roll to the small tool roll. I added intake o-rings to my spare parts (I needed these on my last trip and had to have them overnighted from home).

Packing tip: take smaller sockets and insert them inside larger sockets to save space.

Shoot. I forgot to include this additional tip:

Rather than taking a roll of electrical tape, take about 10' and wind it around the handle of a wrench. Saves precious space in your tool roll.

Regarding packing tools for long trips:

I used to ride bicycles a lot (I still have the bikes, they just don't get ridden much). I'd easily ride 100+ miles per week, and if there was a charity ride on the weekend, I could double that.

The big charity ride of the year is the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred (HHH) in Wichita Falls. When I first moved to Dallas I rode the 50 mile ride at HHH. The next few years I upped it to the Metric Century (100km/62.5mi). Then I finally upped it to the full Century distance.

One year, when I loaded my bike on the roof rack of my Subaru, I removed the seat bag with all my tools for the 150 mile drive to the event, and put it in the hatch. I figured it would be a slight help on aerodynamics for the drive, and would reduce the potential for it to come loose along the way and fall off.

All went well on the drive up, and after camping out overnight, I awoke ready to start the ride. I unlocked the bike from the roof rack, geared up, and headed to the start line with my friend.

We ended up getting separated because he was having numbness issues due to a new seat on his bike. I continued on.

At one rest stop about 60-70 miles into the ride, I realized I had a flat tire. No problem, I figured, and started removing the rear wheel to change the tube. As I did that, I reached up to remove the seat bag to get my spare tube and CO2 inflator, only to discover that it was not there. I had left it in the hatch of my Subaru. To add to the problem, I was riding a MTB with 26" tires, but instead of standard 26"x1.5"+ size tires, I had skinny road slicks on it, and needed a 26"x1" tube. I looked around, but most of the riders were on road bikes (700c wheel/tire size), so their spare tubes wouldn't work. So I started asking if anyone had a patch kit. I did have a small hand pump with me (that I always had clipped to my Camelbak), so I could readily find the leak and patch it.

I saw a father & son wearing Boy Scout outfits. The father had a big Camelbak backpack with lots of pockets. I figured they would be the best people to ask.

Nope, they had no tools. Turns out the father had bought the new Camelbak the night before, and forgot to transfer all his tools from his old one to the new one.

When I heard that, I replied, "Whatever happened to 'Be Prepared'?"

He just glared at me.

I did end up finding someone with a patch kit, and was able to finish the ride.

So the moral of the story is, get a good tool kit for your long rides, and make damn sure you have it with you before you leave.

My tool roll isn't as well stocked as yours but I do take a spare primary belt. My belt is pretty strong being 3 inches wide and haven't had any troubles, better safe than sorry. I bring along a tubeless tire kit and pump for the rear wheel too.

Don't get me wrong, radials are bad ass but a totally different animal to work on.

Looking forward to follow along on your big trip!

Looks like you've got a good selection of tools. Because my PTW is 75 years old, I tend to error on the side of taking more than is needed. Things shake loose on these old bikes. 😂

Oh, a spare primary belt is an absolute must-have. You're not going to find one of these on the shelf in a motorcycle shop unless you get really lucky.

I have a 1.5" belt on my primary. Plenty strong for the 70ish HP my old engine makes. I just attach it to the outside of my travel bag.

I see my orthopedic guy in April about mine...

The tags made me guffaw.

I like to make a flat-roll of duct tape -- just take a couple feet off a roll, fold a few inches of the adhesive back on itself, and then roll the rest around that flat bit. Takes up no space and gives you some precious duct tape on the road.

Xat the Cat is cheering me up today.

I actually prefer your method for duct tape too. Leaves less sticky residue on the tool handles.

I came up with an idea for my wedding anniversary!

The Big 40, dudes.

(local trip it will be, no two-wheelers involved, minivan, ferry, maybe the dogs?)