Modern Vespa

I bought this scooter with 159 original miles. As I dig in to getting it going again I am finding some peculiarities. On one hand it is a virgin. The underside and wheel wells are spotless. The cylinder wall still has the factory cross hatching (I think). It's super clean. Rodents did make there home in the void below the gas tank but the plastic is still there untouched.

However, the engine is coated in oil and the carb is a 20 20 D which is wrong.

Also, there is some sort of composite spacer below the carb box that I have never seen before.

I will document the build but will need some direction as I progress, I am sure.

My understanding is that the spacer under the carb box was for fuel efficiency. I had a 1980 with the same carb and spacer under the box.

Beautiful unmolested find!

Your had a 20/20 D carb QA??? That makes me feel better. Still going to put a 24/24 on it.

Same 20/20?

Yep, same 20/20 carb and spacer under the box.

I put a 24/24 on it and flowed the box to the inlet, and the box to the carb.

Nice burgundy P! My favorite color P. Sidecar is a fun bonus

The plot thickens. What I was hoping to be a quick turn is getting to be a lot more problematic. This scooter has the dreaded green wire sickness syndrome all the way to the kill switch, and the stator wires are not far behind. Damn! I removed the drip tray and the tunnel is brand new, with a drop of dust...

Ordered some green wire and a stator rebuild kit.

Oh boy.

Just WOW! Congrats!

What a beautiful scoot. Just fantastic.

Jumping/running a new green isn't too bad.

Option A - Remove the tank. Drop the brake pedal. Pull off the horn cast. Run the new green backwards from the horn cast, to the brake pedal cavity, and then back towards the engine. You should be able to reach down grab the new green pretty easy.

Option B - Leave tank in place. Drop the brake pedal. Pull off the horn cast. Run a stiff fishwire to the brake pedal cavity starting from the wire harness grommet at the engine. Attach and pull the new green forward to the brake pedal cavity. Then run a fish from the horn cast opening to the brake pedal area. Attach the new green and pull to the horn cast.

Let us know how you make out.

Since I haven't got all the parts I am in prep mode. The gromit for the electrical had disintegrated so I changed that and pulled all the stuff back through it. There is a lot of stuff going through that grommet. Two cable and two from the harness. There will be one more being the green wire.

I just took an old outer and tried my luck at getting it through the frame without taking the brake out and I licked out. Three or four tries and it went through.

The green wire on the front junction box going to the handlebar kill looks great in the JB but is frayed on the switch. I might change the switch or just not connect that kill source. May create another kill with the green wire and a hidden switch.

More updates as I progress. The clutch seems to be stuck together and all cables need a lube. Will grease the front suspension.

This is more of a project than I was hoping for but it's all necessary.

It could be to insulate the carb from heat transfer, that was popular on motorbikes from 50/60's

Of note for the resident pedants:

While the fiber washer on P series bikes is a completely optional component... the fiber washer on the Rally 180 is a necessity for proper carb fitment. Without it the carb will have a giant air leak due to a lip on the case mating surface.

Some more progress. Pulled the green all the way from the headset out the back. Replaced the grommet.

Headset has not been opened in 40 years. Green is fried. Pics for reference. Some advice:

What is the best lube for the throttle and the shift levers. White lithium? Silicone? Kroil? PB?

How do you test the wiring? Continuity on the wire and then to ground to see if the insulation is damaged? Put a battery in and test the lights and other powered circuits?

Next to fix the stator wiring. This is all good practice.

And one more question. On the ignition switch the jumper for the rear ligh per the electrical schematic is from 2 to 5 but this was setup from 4 to 5 with both wires going from 4 to the fairing. I am guessing they are running lights. Shouldn't they go from 2 or are 2 and 4 just electrical posts.

The plot thickens and is getting darker. I pulled out the stator that looks fried. The wires seem to have melted as well as having cracked insulation. Taking it off was fine but then I see the seal behind it is screwed. Each time I dig into a new issue more appear.

Questions:

- Is the seal behind the stator replaceable from the outside?
- Is this seal an indication that all other seals are gone? That means splitting the cases
- The wires all look the same color on the stator. I can figure out what is what but FFS
- On the ignition switch the jumper for the rear light per the electrical schematic is from 2 to 5 but this was setup from 4 to 5 with both wires going from 4 to the fairing. I am guessing they are running lights. Shouldn't they go from 2 or are 2 and 4 just electrical posts.
- What is the best lube for the throttle and the shift levers. White lithium? Silicone? Kroil? PB?
- How do you test the wiring? Continuity on the wire and then to ground to see if the insulation is damaged? Put a battery in and test the lights and other powered circuits?

Bump on my questions....

Questions:

- Is the seal behind the stator replaceable from the outside? Yes, but be careful not to score the crankshaft. You can use a oil seal hook or drive a screw through the seal and pull with pliers
- Is this seal an indication that all other seals are gone? That means splitting the cases I don't think so. It is only lubricated by oil coming along fuel, unlike the clutch side that also gets gear oil
- The wires all look the same color on the stator. I can figure out what is what but FFS If in doubt, SIP Vape
- On the ignition switch the jumper for the rear light per the electrical schematic is from 2 to 5 but this was setup from 4 to 5 with both wires going from 4 to the fairing. I am guessing they are running lights. Shouldn't they go from 2 or are 2 and 4 just electrical posts. This one I don't remember
- What is the best lube for the throttle and the shift levers. White lithium? Silicone? Kroil? PB? I've dunked my inners in gear oil before threading them inside the outers
- How do you test the wiring? Continuity on the wire and then to ground to see if the insulation is damaged? Put a battery in and test the lights and other powered circuits? Battery and lamp method is good. This puts some load on the connectors so possible bad ones show up

Buenos dias Chatis. How is this lovely project getting along?

These are the things that I have done to rebuild the burgundy Vespa p200 with only 157 miles on the odometer. When I split the cases it appeared as if the odometer may have been wrong. In some ways the odometer was verified in other ways it appeared if the scooter had had somewhat of a rough life.

On the inside of the engine I replaced all of the seals and the cruciform. Everything else looked really really good. I rebuilt the clutch. I also replace the buffers for the kickstart. I used the original crank, piston and jug. Even though there were some scratches on both the crank and the pad I elected to go ahead since most indicated that it would not be a major problem. I cleaned them both up as best I could.

I replaced the exhaust pipe just because I was too lazy to degrease and clean out the old pipe. I'm pretty sure it is perfectly good and I'll get to doing that later on for another bild I have coming up.

I cleaned and refurbed the tank. New petcock.

Lots of new rubber. I also replaced the original carb with a new 24/24 with the recommended jet stacks per previous threads.

I rewired the stator which was seriously disintegrating. I pulled a new Green from the handlebars all the way through to the junction box and had to replace the harness on the right handlebar because the green head deteriorated there as well.

New battery and new Ducati CDI. New plug and wire.

I replaced the brake shoes and put on new tires and rims.

I lubricated most of the cables. Some are pretty tough to get to.

To my surprise the scooter started first kick. Everything works incliding rear indicators. It's a very nice ride. So I have two issues on the approximately 10 miles I have ridden since I buttoned it all up.

The scooter pulls very well in low revs but sort of bogs down when the revs increase. This bog down is sort of like a hesitation that it's no longer pulling. I'm not sure if this is not enough fuel or too much fuel.

It also has a small exhaust leak. It looks like it's coming from the exhaust stub but I have that really snug up. It may be coming from the clamp to the stub blowing up and coming back down, and I don't want to over tighten that. It also may just be some of the cooling air that is coming through the fins and looks like it's a leak. But I think it's a leak because it's puffing.

Any input on those two issues will be greatly appreciated. Will be moving on to a refurb of the sidecar next. There was a lot of work to do on a scooter that only had 159 miles on the odometer but I guess it has set for about 40 years and had many fingers inside it that had no clue what they were doing.

Thanks for the update!

After what you have already sorted you have two minor niggles left.

For the jetting there is a véry useful post
Wiki [D] Guide: SI Jetting Chart + How to Tune an SI Carb

How do you describe the driving experience?

It's like I'm reading my own maroon P200e diary.

Bought it 3 months ago. 3400 miles, locked up engine, no title. Put a piston in it, new seals and tap on the fuel/oil tanks, and it pretty much fired up. Couldn't shut it off though. Green wire toast over every inch. In the process of running a new green wire, I discovered toasty stator wiring. I don't even know how it ran with them as bad as they were. Re-wired the stator, new front shoes and brake cable. Some lube in the shifter cables and it's now passable. Should replace them all down the road. But she runs good.

Exactly.