Modern Vespa

First of all, holy crap dropping the fork sucks butt when done by yourself.


Now on to the show. While replacing the fork, I heard a *tick* as something bounced off my shiny new fender. I found it, but can't tell from where it came.

Looks like some sort of cap for the end of a cable outer? But it's got a more narrow extension off the end of it.

Anyone know what this might have come off of before I take off into the night on the P and have something catastrophic happen?

Here's a shot with a quarter so you can see the scale of it:

Look's like a cable end to me.
Has anyone changed any of your outer cables?
It could have come off an old one.

Yep, cable end. Or a scale model of a silo.

I found one of those in my driveway about a year ago. I still don't know what it is, but both scooters seem to be running quite well,even if it did indeed fall off one of them.

Yeah, but most cables I have in there seem to have flat ends on them, without that little more narrow part at the end. Could this be the cable end for the front brake? That's the only cable I've "unhooked" except for the speedo cable (which wouldn't have an end cap like this, right?)

It's off of a brake or clutch type cable, but it could have been trapped behind another cable or your wiring loom.
It could have been stuck somewhere for years until you dislodged it.

Yeah...it's just a cable top hat. Some bikes require them on the end of the cables ( like, VBB's come to mind, where the little metal retaining plate in the headset uses these to keep the outers held in place.

The p-series has it's own little plastic ones it uses to hold back the outers for the gear selectors..but i'm not sure about the front brake and clutch cables, where it still might be required.

-Eric

Like Big 7 said, was probably attached to an earlier cable, cable was pulled out and changed, end dropped down behind stuff, lay there happily until you brutally dislodged it.

Don't worry.

- Eric

Chedk the chrome strip on the front mudguard. It is held on by two screws that screw into something very similar from underneath

It's definitely not that, as I just mounted the chrome strip myself and the mounts it came with were plastic (new fender too). Thanks for the advice though!

Well that's all my suggestions gone for a ball of chalk!!!nevermind

Front brake top hat probably. The other cables on your on your bike usually have plastic ones.

http://www.scootersoriginali.com/osc/product_info.php?products_id=954

Thanks Andrea,
Does this sucker go at the end of the cable, where it enters the handlebar? Because my brake cable already has a metal cap at the end. I guess it might stick INSIDE this cap?

bump for Andrea, or anyone who knows (my haynes manual is useless on this)

Andrea was right, but I will try to explain it in another way. This is not the end of the cable outer. It is a receptacle/sleeve that the cable outer fits into where it meets the headset on the brake side. The smaller end fits into an opening in the headset. This small piece both positions/secures the cable and prevents your inner cable from shredding itself on the gap. You can usually see this from underneath your headset, and that is where you position it when you are installing the cable. You can check underneath to see if you already have one installed on your brake cable.

Let me know if that doesn't make sense.

In your headset, over the metal cap on the end of your outer, as close to the lever as possible. The top hat acts as a stop on the outer, sitting in the housing.

If someone pulled the cable out, the top hat probably got stuck/fell into the headset housing.

Look in a parts book rather than the Haynes manual to see it.

and i thought it was a flux capacitor.

I could do with that. The last time my brake cable snapped it was near the top and I lost it. Ended up using a couple of washers.


(why buy if you can bodge)

You guys rule! Thanks a lot!

You know that could be the original hat!

I bet there is someone doing a resto that's looking for one of those really bad!

I would put it on ebay with a reserve of at least $250!

You offering?

You need to put it back in there. You'll be ok for a bit without it, but eventually the end of your cable will blow out and you'll need to replace it. So do it now, or later when you'll have to do the entire cable (after you lose your front brake).

Think about it, Piaggio probably didn't just throw parts onto bikes for no good reason.

................Think about it, Piaggio probably didn't just throw parts onto bikes for no good reason.[/quote].........................







they put a stupid 20 dollar part in the motor that goes after awhile

It's all good, I guess I should have updated... I put it in last night. Put everything in last night in fact, so all that's left is a little cosmetic fun!