Modern Vespa

I'll go on a jockey diet the week before... but very curious. We need a clear road, difficult to find in London.

Bill, I hope yours just has a glitch and its back on the road soonest.

Bill

i think the lug on the mudgaurd is "key" in directing airflow towards the radiators

A guy on an LX pulled up next to me this morning to ask what exhaust I had as it sounded really good.

Hmm, must be time to check the nuts again. 'Sounds really good' in this context usually means 'is about to fall off'.

'Italian tune-up' be damned - whenever I take the ET4 over 30mph, something works loose

i always look at the "it starts first time" and its running the best it has in a long time" as its gonna blow up very soon

Well, going by your criteria mine'll probably live forever!

No news about the Hornet but it's pointing towards to a thermostat because the fan didn't come on at any time so with any luck it's a case of chucking another one on it plus Jim nodded like a wise Sage when I mentioned the symptoms.
If the coolant in the resevoir wasn't warm and the pump housing was the same it hints at the thermostat failing.
The last time I rode it the temperature rose to the 3/4 mark when I slowed to around 30 mph but went down again at around 65 - 70 but it was only 2 - 3 degees that day.

Keep you posted.

Bill XX

Hope you're right about the thermostat Bill. How come they're taking so long?

Yeah I hope so too. To be fair I just threw it at the repair guy and said no rush, just ring me when it's done so he's probably not rushing.

I aim to collect it on Saturday though. Maybe I should tell him that.

My fingers are crossed that it's nothing more serious but oddly enough the first thing he said when I told him what the problem was was It's probably the thermostat and if not, I'll throw a bit more money at it and I'll keep it for longer after all it's only done 7k.

Bill X

Bill, I hope the Hornet is home soon. I am sure it is in need of a good polishing by now.

I was passed by a loon an a blue GTS today, undertaking through some tight-arse spaces on the A13 at 70mph. It is a thin line between bravery and lunacy, and the carrier bags over his hands gave me some kind of hint of which category he fell into.

That's the plan for the weekend. Get the Hornet back, wash and polish it then maybe going to look at fast cars.

Bill.

To buy or to be entertained by?

To be entertained by. Brands Hatch is just up the road from me so if the scooter is all finished we can drop by on the way back to London and also there's Cattery/Doggery nearby which is always worth a visit if you want to point at furry things and go ohhh and ahhhh.

I'm just praying that the weather warms up by then because I don't know about you but I'm sick of it being this cold.

I forgot to mention that yesterday a nice grey A3 arrived at work for me to get my mitts on and it had bright green valve caps.

I know a nice matching PTW that they are going on.
I took it as a sign.

Bill x

No no news yet but I'll going to call him later and see what the "damage " is.

Wish me luck.

Bill XX

Best of luck, Bill.

Went out and attacked some twisties today since the weather's been fantastic up here and I hadn't visited my old maw for a while and I tell thee, it was a great run. Early afternoon, Sun splitting the sky, hardly any traffic (just enough to squeeze in a couple of overtakes) and I was feeling really comfortable on the bike again after all that Winter spoiling the roads with the ice and the gravel and the like.

Even got my lunch made for me. <--- contented J

Aww, that sounds great!

I'm having a lousy journey into work at the moment thanks to the roadworks at Lewisham. There's a big stretch of raw, ribbed surface that the ET4 wheels really don't like. This morning the lights started to change and I swiftly discovered that braking made me wobble uncontrollably, so, sorry pedestrians, I had to push through

So the nice repair man tells me that the Thermostat is working fine as is the Water Pump and also the Impella is working as it should.
The Thermostat housing was leaking a bit but not enough to cause the coolant to overheat so if it still overheats after the new housing has been fitted and a new Temperature Sensor will go in.

Crossing more Fingers.

Bill XX

Sounds like gremlins to me...

If the thermostat housing was leaking a bit - it would have leaked most as the temperature rose after the engine was stopped and there was no circulating coolant. Then as the coolant contracted it could have drawn air in, causing an air lock. Perhaps...

I'm sitting on the loser cruiser on my way to collect my Saab which has had a little turbo dump valve issue fixed.


My Honda got badly scratched on the drivers side in the supermarket car park today to add to the vandal key scratch on the passenger side last week. Grrrrr.


I'm not having much luck with my vehicles at the moment.

Hope you get the hornet back to peak fitness soon bill.

That makes sense I guess. I'm hoping that the new housing fixes it and we are up and running for the weekend.
I'll probably know by tomorrow what the verdict is but I am relieved that all the expensive stuff is working OK.
Oh there's one thing that I didn't tell you while I was speeding up a bit to get as much air into the radiators it's comfortably reached 80 mph before I backed off because the gauge wasn't dropping.
I did that bit by mistake.

Bill X

If you ever need those panels smart repaired Kam let me know because I know a really good on site paint guy.

Why would anyone want to key a Honda ?

Bill X

just off to Lidl to see if there's any moto stuff left.

damn. i just twittered

Oh get some those bisquits that have the pink fluffy tops with the coconut sprinkles.

Can't seem to get those anywhere anymore.

Off to Folkstone now.

Bill X

I hope you are all well.

Bill, I hope the Hornet gets well soon.

I guess you have all been to Lidl. I have been too busy.


I am loving this Gorillaz track, pretty cool cameo too:

Thanks Marc. I should know what's failed by today.
I know when I eventually get it home it's going to get the polishing of it's life and then a nice long blast to show it just how much I've missed it.

Have a good weeekend all.

Bill XX

You too, mate!

I'm going on this. 10,000 bikes!

Might see you there. Myself, Julian and JJ are part of the USR marshalling team, along with several other LAM members. So I'll probably wind up doing the ride about five times!

I'll keep an eye out for you! Should be a blast.

We call 'em 'sno-balls' here Stateside.

my local turkish shop does a version of those pink biscuits, they're called 'poofs' - that's what i'm getting for bill

So here I am munching on some pink soft things with a hard bases.

The good news is that the Hornets Temperature Sensor was at fault and was giving a very false reading so the engine wasn't cooked but as I've just said to Doug if I had ran it with the needle in the red part of the gauge and fried the engine I would have been a bit annoyed so I'm glad I let it cool to be on the safe side.

The Thermostat and it's housing have been replaced with new ones and the Sensor should be with with the nice repair man on Monday.

I didn't need a new Thermostat but at least I know this one won't fail for a few years yet.

Happy Bill XX

Good outcome and a good reminder - the bits that 'warn' you can themselves be faulty.

So today consisted of a bike ride to Lidl to look at battery operated polishing machines then a drive down to Brands Hatch to the Battersea Dogs Home (with cats added) to hand over some uneeded cat food and to look at homeless cats and dogs that looked so cute I wanted to take home at least 6 of them home.
There were two beautiful fawn Staffs there that were so adorable and affectionate I wished I could have smuggled them out to freedom but we left with the hump when we asked to look a black kitten ( just have a look mind ) and they insisted on a home visit before we did.
WE JUST WANTED A LOOK ALRIGHT !!
Anyway we left and drove to the circuit to have a look at a Britcar meeting that had some Caterhams whizzing around as a support race.
Brands Hatch has just recently has 2/3ds of its track resurfaced and it's still quite green in places. Mostly the places where there were a large amount of skid marks that led into tyre walls.
The oil in the tarmac hasn't fully drained from the surface yet which has made it slippery in places, so slippery in fact that on the first bike race if the year 30 riders ended up in the Medical Centre which is right opposite one of the bends that has been resurfaced so they didn't have too far to travel - even on their arses.
After that there was a brief visit to a Garden Centre to buy pots and slates and then home.

On a final point of Vespa gauges we all know how accurate they usually are on GT's and I just wasn't prepared to put it down to a faulty sensor when my whole engine could be frying beneath me but it's sorted now and all for about £100 which isn't bad when you think of what it could have cost.

Yup next weekend I'm going to take it home and polish to within an inch of it's life and fit its new beverage holder which I purchased recently from a local Starbucks.


Billy No Scoot XX

Very productive day today. Cycled down to the Embankment and found a gloriously overpriced coffee shop and spotted the most gorgeous French Bulldog called Colonel Mustard so I did my usual trick of losing my mind and pandered to his cuteness.
Then rode back along the Thames and up to Spitalfields for a mooch at the Market and some lunch and a visit to Evans the bike shop new seat for the Hercules which I have to say is looking quite sexy now.
While we were having lunch in S and M ( yes I know ) I spotted two more French Bulldogs, one of which looked just like my Avatar.
Sadly I couldn't take them home with me.
We set off again through Brick Lane Market to meet up with Genies's Mechanic who told the that the housing around the thermostat often leaks when they overheat which isn't what I wanted to hear but it's useful that I have a local contact for any future scooter woes.
Then a ride back to Hackey for gardening activities and fitting of saddles.
The highpoint of the day was watching /hearing Genie lose it at an errant pram pusher when he walked blindly into the path of Genie's bike.
I didn't know that applications for Swear-a- thon 2010 were already open because boy did the air turn blue.
Genie says that I style when I ride Hercules and I have no idea what this means but I think it's a compliment.

Good day all round.

Billy 3 Dogs XXX

Had a magical, wonderful day shepherding ~22,000 bikes through Wooton Basset. Yes I know reports give the 'official' estimate of 15,000 including pillions but those on the ground had a better grasp of reality - and counting devices!

06:13 out, 20:00 back, 300 miles bang-on door to door.

Everyone had a ball, the Police had a great 'jolly', the townsfolk stayed out for hours cheering, waving and giving 'high-fives' to passing bikers.

I've been hugely impressed by the turnouts in Wootton Bassett over the last few years. It's a paradigm shift from the 1980s, when I was stationed at RAF Lyneham and Bassett was bandit country, where you were definitely not welcome.

Rode in this morning - it was warm. No winter gloves. No winter jacket....

And no freezing at a stop.... mmm it was lovely.

The Wonder household has acquired a third two-wheeler, although it is not a scooter.

Behold the joy of the Yamaha YBR125, to be used by WM for learning how to shift in preparation for getting something shifty and nice (like a smallframe):



Also sat on a Mana. Very very nice, and only £5k new for the 09 model, which is rather tempting.... except for the fact I'll look like even more of an arse on one during a Donk rideout compared to the SHitty. Might have to budget another £1-1.5k for a Vespa for Donk rides.

Yay!

And I don't care if I drop this - unlike the Vespa.