Modern Vespa

Condolences Maver

Mine, too. - it's always a trying time.

Sorry Maver, that's really hard stuff to deal with.

Double bugger.

It's not the first time I've heard of a Jettin dipstick untwirling itself.

Wow.

Sorry to hear of your losses Mav.

really??

i was putting it down to "disturbed attempted theft" by a shiny thing collector which to be honest i was hoping wouldn't be the case, thieving is never good in any scene.

Oh Maver I'm so sorry to hear about your very bad luck.

I never really know what to say at times like these.

I'm truly sorry Mav. Totally undeserved.

The Hornets woes continue but they don't matter today.

Big Love Mate

Bill XX

Condolences Mav.

I recognise that workshop......gonna be there next weekend.

cardboard or spruce?

wassup with the hornet Bill?

Well Maver I yesterday I called the repair man and he tells me that the fault lies with the circuit board because that's the only part of the cooling system they haven't replaced. He even called his electrical specialist to try and isolate the problem because the cooling system is working fine.
Everything has been checked and nothing is overheating.
The themostat, water pump and temperature sensor are all working fine so the problem is closer to the gauge ie the circuit board.
So I collected it this morning knowing full well that the gauge was going to show that it's still overheating and guess what it did ?
It rose higher and higher and then just as it tipped into the red it went back to working normally. Arse.
At least I know none of the above parts are going to fail on me again.

So back to my place with Genie to give the Hornet and the Interloper their Spring wash and polish and there we found a dent and chipped clear coat on right side leg shield where some crunt has carelessly run into the Interloper.
There was much gnashing of teeth and wishing of evil on the perpetrator.
Alright it's an easy repair but it's still really bloody annoying.
They are both tucked up inside the garage now while it pisses down outside.

Nite nite all.

What's the news on the Pathfinder Maver ?

Bill XX

Page 2 again? Dear me.

I went on a wee jolly today and visited the Museum of Scottish Industrial Life at Summerlee in Coatbridge. It used to be billed as "Scotland's Noisiest Museum" which it surely was, but they no longer make such a big deal out of that, having removed some of the machinery. They have spent fortunes of lottery cash on it, so it is really nice and probably has more information squeezed into it than it used to, but I feel it has lost some of the character that really made the place. Being on an old industrial site it really had something that you just couldn't simulate in a museum but now it's a bit more futuristic in places, which is nice in it's own way.

Anyway, was good to give the scoot a wee run out and explore some unfamiliar territory. I made an unscheduled stop at a new (to me, anyway) DIY shop in the East End before being caught up in Cup Final traffic on the way back. This was actually quite refreshing to encounter since I haven't had to commute in a while.

Hope everyone else had enjoyable weekends too - sorry to hear your news, Maver.

We found another Cock in Fleet Street today Shall we add this to the list of Cocks to be sampled?

I spent today taking the floorboard and the glovebox off so I could douse the inside of the GTS with rustproofer. Guess what? Lots of lovely iron oxide already peeking out of the seams. Grr. 5 months old. Have Vespa gone back to using Russian steel like Fiat did in the 80s? Also replaced the speedo cable which was broken. Got it supplied under warranty and was allowed to self fit. (Didn't want them brekaing any clips on my headset!)

Back to your current problem, and I think I know what the problem is Bill. Both of my ET4s had a printed circuit board on the back of the speedo and both corroded so badly that the gauges had lots of intermittent problems. I fixed both of them with some wire and a soldering iron. I just bridged the corroded bits which are pretty easy to spot. The part isn't too hard to get out either. So it's probably fixable. The fact that the gauge is all over the place points to the connections and as the sensor has been replaced, the circuit board is the most likely culprit. I know Scootech are breaking a GT at the moment....

sorry to hear Genie's interloper has been assaulted annonomously

as for the hornet, at least you have finaly isolated the issue and a repair or replacement of the part will sort it 8)

pathfinder is dead.

it's replacement, "pathfinder II" will hit the road on April 10th from the workshop of cheekythomas at AR motorcyles in lowestoft, it is a new black 300 super and will bear a PM pipe, dark screen, heated grips, sat nav, optimate plug and all the shiny tat that will be removed from the original pathfinder along with the seat, bitubo's and brembo kit. HOPEFULLY it will have new graphics

the parts from the 300 that are replaced will go on the original pathfinder which will then sit stripped of it's graphics and wait for a low mileage engine to turn up.

what happens to it then is a secret

Humbug. Local power cut here - looks like the local substation has gone phutt again (it blew up 6 years ago!). No big bang this time, An unusual event, and there was me thinking I'd just have to go to bed (and today would be the day I washed all the bedding, so have to make bed in the dark!) when I remembered I had the 3G card in the Acer netbook. So at least it won't be an enforced early night here.

Maver has plans. I like that. More about that later.

Doug I hope you are right because it's all gone a bit weird.

Yesterday after picking it up the gauge sailed into the red and then settled back down to halfway which was nice and even in traffic it was sitting there roughly about a 1/4 to a 1/2.

Today on the way to London it stayed in the upper 1/4 just before the nice red bit and didn't budge until a brief spell in traffic where once again it adjusted itself to where it should be, about halfway.
On the way home this evening along the A2 it was bloody cold and the gauge sat just under the red and rose above it while filtering.
Once home I opened the coolant tank in the leg shield and the fluid wasn't unusually hot plus the engine didn't feel over hot when I took the pet carrier out.
My techie has tested everything and says that it's not overheating and the problem lays with what's ever between the temperature sensor and the gauge so yes Doug I think the circuit board is totally wankered.

More ....

It'll be fixable if it's just intermittent at the moment.

And the power has just come back, yeah! No fumbling in the dark trying to organise my pit.

an ideal situation to test this would be to swap your dash for one that is known to be ok, that way tou can finally nail it as the problem 8)

Agreed Maver or just buy either a used one or a new bit and throw it in reglardless. More like get someone who likes cake to throw it in.

I'm hoping that it's just the board that needs changing (because everything else has ) so I'm going to try and get that organised as soon as possible.
The worst thing is having to take the word of the guy who rebuilt it ( who I do trust ) and not trust the gauge that's telling you that meltdown is just around the corner.

Bill XX

I'd rather re-wire a previously know good board (I have a TV here with over 100 extra wire-bridges, going fine after 20 years) than have to learn to trust an unknown ex-breaker board.

Fix yours, cover it in right sort of varnish (I forget the fancy name, long night[1]) and it'll last longer than the scooter body bits made of iron.

[1] conformity varnish - remembered before posting, no edit necessary.

The problem is that if it's anything like an ET is that the board is made out of flexible plastic. It's at the bends that the conduction paths tend to corrode. Some do it, some don't. I think it depends on the humidity when the scooter is stored.

Bill, I've got a set of clocks in the garage if you want to try them to see if your's are playing up.

Thanks Baz that's very kind of you. Doug is going to try and work his magic on Saturday and if we need your spare pair we'll be in touch.

Very kind.

The strangest thing is how fast the needle raises to the red from cold.

Within a couple of minutes it's right up there which is way too fast so I'm hoping it's an electrical/circuit board wank up.

Thanks for your advice everyone.

On the way home last night it ran like a dream with no hint of overheating ie no fuel evaporation symptoms such as being reluctant to rev and unwilling up respond to the throttle.

Checked the oil as well.

Bill XX

Bill... don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Take up Baz on his offer! Baz are they for sale? Hopefully it will be a case of wired bridges across a corroded flexible printed circuit and no more.

Baz What do you think ? Fancy a halfway meet on Thursday at the Cock in Wrotham ?

I'm out till about 730 in Maidstone but if you wanna lend me the unit with an option to buy ?

Let me know.

Bill XX

i'm getting kittens [*joy*]

sorry for the red font jim but i'm really really excited. i miss having a cat around the place

Sweet!

When do they arrive?

the nice lady from the celia hammond cat sanctuary is paying me a home visit tomorrow evening. I'll probably go down on friday or saturday to select the kittehs. after talking on the phone with the rehoming person, they suggested that i might be a suitable mum for the adorable 'little family' - but i'm not sure i can manage three cats. they are too sweet for words though .....

Oh you have a picture. That means you will take all of them.

Mind you, more than two makes you a witch....

bugger

Oh no, think of curses and spells you can throw....

anyway, more seriously, I like the look of the CHAT. Post Greece might pay a visit...

Take all three - they'll have a strong territory working together.

Or - consider this carefully - take just one female and let her eventually breed (in a random London b&w cat fashion) at least once. More work than having all three (neutered) looking after each other though.

Genie as a Witch huh ? Well she definitely cast a spell on me hya ha ha ha cough cough.

KITTEHS !!!!

Bill XX

Benito was the one with a Jettin Dipstick that came out of the engine. dumped the oil and and killed the engine.

IIRC

And there you have it.

Kitteh brood FTW!!!

This morning's non sequitur brought to you courtesy of TechGuy

Hello guys,

How are you? It's been a long time I don't participate on the Donkey News You know George and Velma are getting married so we've had not a lot of spare time to engage with you

I am comming here basicaly fo 2 things: advise +/= help.

There is a couple of our friends that are having problems in selling their scooter. Therefore they are asking for our help.

The best way I found I could help them was by comming here and asking for some advise regarding where could be the best places to effitiently advert their scooter as Guntree is not working at the moment and they haven't got an e-bay account . So if you know any other place to advert please let us know.

I've already added theyr bike on the session "sale/wanted bikes" which I hope they can have som e feedback

Finaly I am taking the oportunity to show you what are they selling so in case there are any person interested please give them a shout. I've ssen the scooter and the description is very honest so don't be afraid of contacting tem.

http://www.gumtree.com/london/07/55554207.html

[topic62609]

thank you 8)

OH KITTENS HURRAH. That has made my day.

This is my first day back at work after a week off sick, and I was determined to ride in; if I'm fit to work I'm fit to ride.

The ET4 started first time, astoundingly. All the gear felt very weird and as I set off I worried I wasn't up to this yet, but God it was good to be back on the road. And it's so warm! I need to take the muffs off!

Of course, the effort of getting to work means I'm probably not going to get much done now I'm here.

I don't know where it's coming from but we are due to sell close to 100 new Audi's this month which I think might be a record.

Used cars are doing pretty good as well as we seem to be going over target.

I'm rushed off my feet but at the same time I'm very grateful.

I have aquired a broken blood vessel in my eye which makes me look like I've had a very small fight.
It's pretty off putting if I'm honest as it seems to be getting bigger by the day.

What was wrong with you Alice ? - Insert your own joke here.

Bill XX