Project Vespa Smallframe - First Start DR130 + LeoVince

 After overcoming all the overhaul challenges I had my son help put the engine back into the frame.  We learned a few tricks along the way to help it go better if we have to do it again.  1) Put a short bolt or screwdriver in the opposite side of the pivot bolt to hold things aligned. 2) Put the drop-tail plate back into the lift after the engine is under the frame.

 Other than that the most fiddly part was stringing the cables back in.  I highly recommend fluxing the cables and soldering the tips so they don't splay out causing challenges with reassembly.

 The original main jet was a 74.  We started with a 90 Main Jet based on advice from friends with the same engine + exhaust combination.  The anticipation is that this will be rich and we'll have to move down.  Our close friend has an 85 main jet in his with the same setup as we are running.  We will see where we fall once we get through the break-in phase.

There is a smallframe build database, that I will consult.  http://sfs.alexander-hepp.de/

 And that's about it.  It took half a dozen kicks to get the gas back into the chamber, and now it starts up on the first kick like it always did before.  I'm genuinely pleased so far.

Project Vespa Smallframe - No Replacement for Displacement

 As the old saying goes there's no replacement for displacement.  Compression counts in there as well.  When taking the cylinder apart, i discovered what was causing the low compression.  The flywheel side gudgeon pin clip had come out, and the pin was gouging the wall of the cylinder.  I found three pieces of the clip, the others must have escaped via the exhaust port.  No more pieces were discovered when the engine was fully disassembled.

 

 The goal was a simply to install the DR130 kit, but upon discovering the damage, the whole engine had to be taken apart.  The gearbox was dirty, and the retaining nuts for the clutch and pinion gear were not torqued down.

 

 Saved again by Scooter Mercato a gasket and seal set came within the week so that progress could continue.  Unfortunately when starting to put things back together the head studs did not cooperate.  I don't know if they were a bad batch, or what.  I could not get them to torque down, they kept getting more loose.  That could only mean one thing.... they had stripped.  Despite being nicely lubed, they still stripped at less than 10ft-lb.  I complained to AZScooter Parts where I got them from, but it didn't seem to make any difference.  They said it was longer than 30 days since I bought them and shut me out.  (It is rare than a well planned engine rebuild is completed in less than 30 days, especially when I bought all the stuff at the beginning of the summer and rode all summer.)

 I bought another set of studs from a different vendor, but when the studs arrived they were the same brand as before.  I was not going to be duped again.  I decided to case-harden the threads by heating them to a nice cherry red and quenching them, twice.  They seemed to be adequately hard after that.

 

 Assembly went smoothly.  I decided to maintain the cylinder head temperature sensor, but didn't want to be bothered by the sensor under the spark plug.  The solution was to put it under the nearest head bolt.  There was very little space available to get the sensor and the torque wrench in there.  The solution was obvious... the smallest piece of casting fin between the head nut and spark plug was begging to be broken off.  So I just got in there with a set of pliers and snapped the sucker off.  Now there was plenty of room for the CHT sensor.

 

 I had chamfered the cylinder openings carefully by hand.  The ring gap clearance was in spec, the squish was acceptable, and this time everything torqued down properly.  I will welcome the extra displacement and some good compression.  A few little details were added.  Any place that the head shroud was fastened to the engine, I added a collar to the 6mm bolt.  This way there was a place that the bolt would torque down metal-to-metal, and not just on plastic.  I had done this on my Stella engine, and it worked well.

 The other detail was the shift mechanism cover, that I have never seen on a smallframe in the wild.  I got one cheap on eBay from India, but the mounting hole was in the wrong place.  I don't know if it was intended for a different engine model, or what, but drilling a new hole was easy enough.  The side where the neutral switch was located had to be notched out as well.  The original hole and standoff stud were easily removed and plugged.  Hopefully this keeps dirt out of the shift mechanism.

 

 

Project Vespa Smallframe - AC Flasher

 When converting to an alternating current system and eliminating the battery, the original thermal flasher doesn't seem to function very well.  They sell a "AC Flasher" unit, so I bought one.  The duty cycle isn't ideal though.  The turn signals stay ON longer than they go OFF.  I would like to have a little closer to 60% duty cycle rather than about 90%.

 The first thing to do was reverse engineer the circuit to see how it worked.  It seems to be a NPN BJT triggered by R C time constants.  The easiest thing to do is adjust the resistor values to achieve a better duty cycle.

 The base charging resistor is the easiest to change, and will affect the off cycle time.  Raising the value of this resistor from 8.2k to 30k should give a more even duty cycle.

Flasher Circuit simulation in action.

 I like to use the falstad.com/circuit simulator to test before committing to a change.

Here's the import source code for the simulator:

$ 1 0.0000049999999999999996 140.81048482046955 28 5 50 5e-11
t 272 144 320 144 0 1 -2.6125880249882747 0.6749068028310193 80 default
r 320 96 320 48 0 56
d 128 48 192 48 2 default
209 192 192 192 272 0 0.001 4.947513985652805 0.001 1
209 272 176 272 224 0 0.00009999999999999999 1.1314853841190933 0.001 1
r 272 80 272 128 0 8200
181 384 384 384 352 0 925.1509181977179 21 6 0.04 0.04
v 64 128 64 208 0 1 60 6 0 0 0.5
w 192 48 320 48 0
w 320 96 320 128 0
w 272 80 272 48 0
w 192 192 192 48 0
w 272 128 272 144 0
w 272 176 272 144 0
w 128 48 64 48 0
w 64 128 64 48 0
w 64 208 64 432 0
w 192 272 192 320 0
w 352 160 320 160 0
w 272 48 192 48 0
w 352 192 352 160 0
w 272 224 272 320 0
w 192 320 272 320 0
w 64 432 384 432 0
g 560 192 560 224 0 0
178 384 320 384 192 6 1 0.2 -0.021758635421366957 0.05 1000000 0.02 20 0.015 0.005 1
w 352 320 272 320 0
w 384 320 352 320 0
w 400 192 560 192 0
w 384 432 384 464 0
p 480 352 480 416 1 0 0
w 480 352 384 320 0
w 480 416 384 464 0
w 384 352 384 320 0
w 384 384 384 432 0
g 384 464 384 480 0 0
x 453 177 470 180 4 24 C
x 409 314 435 317 4 24 L1
x 82 72 108 75 4 24 L2
w 64 48 64 16 0
w 64 16 368 16 0
w 368 16 368 192 0
o 30 512 0 4098 10 0.1 0 1

Project Vespa Smallframe - Powder Coating Rims

 The rims on the Vespa smallframe were in pretty sad condition.  They were rusted inside and out from years of neglect and being left outdoors.  They were so rusted along the bead area, I had trouble removing the tire from the rim.  If I ever had to swap a tube alongside the road, this had to be repaired.

The rims were easily stripped of rust by media blasting with an aggressive carbide grit, and then simply dressed up to remove the old paint in non-rusted areas with glass beads.  Powder coating is a very good paint which resists fuel and oils, it is perfect for small removable parts of the scooter.

Before

After

Carbide is not good to use on thin sheet metal like the fan shroud.  Glass beads alone were used here to remove the old paint, and layer of rust.

Before

After

Vespa PX LML Stella - Drilled Air Cleaner modification

 The reason I'm writing this one up, is because I had heard about this modification, but it took me a while to find out how to do it.  So borrowing from the tribal knowledge of many who came before me, here it is.

There is a space above the jets on the Spaco / Dell'Orto carb which is covered by the air cleaner.  This casting has a recess in it that is positioned directly over the top of the jets.  By allowing direct flow to the jets with the provided holes, the difference is amazing.  I don't have a dynamometer, but my "standard test hill" is the proof.  I increased one main jet size and was able to take on the test hill with cooler temperatures and 5mph faster than before.  This is the easiest and most beneficial modification to the 2T engine.

With credit to VespaLabs, here's the difference in the original and drilled air cleaner.

This modification altered the jetting :

DR177 and SITO+ Stock 20/20 carb 48/160 idle, 160 air, BE3 atomizer and a 107 main jet. Drilled stock air filter frame stripped and replaced with UNI foam.

Mix Turns = 2.0

Project Vespa Smallframe - Points and Condenser

 Everything was running so well, until the spark became intermittent.  So the points and condenser were the first target of scrutiny.  I never confirmed the ignition timing, the bike started and ran well enough, so I didn't question it.  It turns out it was just set to the nominal marks on the stator, which is not horrible, but just not ideal.  

After a readjustment to the specified 17 degrees BTDC confirmed by a timing light, I set off again.  It wasn't much better.  At that point I ordered a set of points and a condenser.  Immediately upon removing the condenser from the packaging, I tested its value as 225nF (which strangely was the same as the one I took out).

I will keep the original as an emergency spare.  It looks like it was recently replaced anyway.  The erratic nature of the mis-fire led me to believe it was point and condenser related, but I had to rule that out.

After setting the timing up with the strobe light, it does fire nicely at 17 degrees right at idle.  However its still somewhat erratic at higher revs.  I finally removed the ground connection on the stator and re-soldered the joint.  At the same time I ditched the stock condenser and used a 630v rated vacuum tube radio capacitor.  At 330nF it should be close enough.  I also like how well it mounts.

Now that I have the ability to strip the flywheel and re-mount it with my eyes shut, the work went swiftly.  The engine started on the first kick and revs as it should.

Project Vespa Smallframe - Horn Repair

Rehabilitating the horn is actually a pretty easy task. The rivets can be ground off of the back side so that they press out with a flat punch, allowing the unit to be disassembled. I did this with a Dremel cutoff wheel. The inside was really corroded, which prevented any good contact from being made. The two terminal screws can be removed and the mechanism cleaned. The adjustment screw is also removed from the rear side. I suggest running the screw the whole way in first counting the number of turns so that the adjustment can be returned nominally to the original place.

Current flows through contact directly connected to the coil on one side. The other terminal is on the opposite side of a set of contacts. The contacts are normally closed completing the circuit. When the current flows through the coils they act as electromagnets which open the contacts stopping the current flow through. The contacts close again completing the circuit. This cycle repeats as long as voltage is present at the terminals. The adjustment screw adjusts the tone of the horn.

I used a wire wheel to clean the components. The final step was to use some contact cleaner such as CRC 2-26 which is safe for the insulator components. Assembly is the reverse order as disassembly.  

The rivets were made of soft aluminum. I just happened to have a soft aluminum wire (typically used on a residential satellite television dish). This is very malleable and makes good material for rivets. The wire is gripped in a set of pliers and a ball-peen hammer can be used to flatten the end to form the head. The wire is nipped off with a set of cutters to an appropriate length. This makeshift rivet is then inserted into the original hole and pounded flat to secure the horn.

Beep Beep

Vintage ride EDC - Every Day Carry

 I consider my Stella a vintage designed scooter.  She may not have pedigree or be old, but she's the same design as vintage scooters.  Therefore tools are needed.  If not for me, then for my fellow riders benefit.  Don't get me wrong, she's always got me home, but you have to be prepared.

So folks may be interested in what is carried all the time in that massive storage compartment.

#1 Flash Light!  I keep a magnetic mount USB rechargeable LED light.  This is essential, because I do ride in the dark and would not want to fumble around making a repair in the dark.

#2 Wheel Jack.  I made a scooter jack out of some wood.  It doesn't have to be complicated.  Two blocks sit under each side of the center stand feet.  This allows removal of the front wheel.  The cradled jack side can be used under the rear shock absorber to get the rear off the ground.  Sure, you can tip the scooter over in the grass and let the fluids leak out of the tanks, but that's no fun.  It can be propped up against a building, but what if you are in the middle of nowhere?

#3 Hand Tools.  The most important are the tubing spanners and tommy bars, then a set of open-end wrenches.  A 6" Crescent wrench, just in case a bolt needs held while the nut is removed.  A combo screwdriver.  Fourth Hand cable tool, and spare cables with nipples.

I also keep a few inner tube patches, bicycle hand pump, and tire gauge as well.  Flat tires happen.

The point is to be prepared for about anything.  The tool you don't have is the one you need.

Vespa GTS hpe - Turn Signal Beeper

 One lacking feature of the Vespa GTS is a sounder for the turn signals.  Since the turn signals don't self cancel on the scooter, you have to remember to turn them off.  (Gee, my 1979 Yamaha had self-cancelling turn signals, why can't they do that today?)  The only indication the rider gets that the turns signals are on is a little lamp on the instrument cluster.  If I'm watching traffic, I'm not looking at my instrument cluster.  In a busy traffic environment it could be dangerous to leave a turn signal on.  It can also be annoying to fellow riders when you are in a group.  In any case leaving the turn signals on is not accurately representing the rider's intentions.

What I needed was a simple way to add a turn signal beeper.  The one on my Stella is way TOO LOUD, but I never forget to turn it off.  The easiest thing to do was run some wires back from the front turn signal bulb connectors.  This proved much easier than I imagined due to the high quality electrical components that Piaggio uses.  This turns out to be a quick project for a snowy day.

The existing wires are shown with the squiggle at the end back to the existing harness.  I used some diodes out of my junk drawer, but a pair of 1N4001 diodes will work.  They just block the DC electricity from going back to the opposite turn signal.

The diode module on a small piece of perf board.

The white connector housing may be opened by spreading the two tabs, and unlocking the fold-out holder at the wire-side of the connector.  Don't force it or it will break.  Use a needle to gently lift the plastic tab INSIDE the opposite end where the wires come out.  This will release the crimp connector and allow it to pull out.  Your new wire can then be soldered to the back of the crimp connector, and pushed back into the connector housing.  Do this on both sides, and re-assemble the turn signals.

I made an aluminum bracket to hold the buzzer along side the existing USB charging port.

A piggyback connector was used to utilize the negative connector from the USB charge port.  The common side of the diode was connected to the positive terminal of the buzzer.  I shrink-wrapped the diodes in yellow and drew their symbol on the shrink tube, so I remember what's in there years from now.

There you have it!  All done.

Anti-Fog helmet shield treatment

 I had a really cool anti-fog helmet shield from Xelement a few years ago, but it cracked off in the cold weather.  I ended up returning the helmet and bought a nice HJC.

I like to ride in most any weather, but I hate when my helmet fogs up.  I've tried the Rain X product on the outside surface, and that works pretty well.  Its the inside surface that is the problem.  I saw someone try shaving cream, and that didn't work for me.  It fogged up just the same.

Then I read that F1 race drivers will apply a single drop of shampoo to their helmet shield.  The drop of shampoo is distributed evenly with the tip of the finger and left to dry.  Then a microfiber cloth can be used to buff it clear again.

This seemed like a simple trick and worth trying.  In my demonstration video below I compared an untreated helmet shield (silver helmet) with a treated shield (white helmet).  The results are surprisingly different.  The shield treated with shampoo really did resist fogging!

Where are all the young riders?

 Where are all the young people in the scooter community of riders today?  Scooters are for the young and the young at heart.  They are relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain.  While there are expensive scooters, there are many reliable affordable options.  Scooters were ideal transportation when we were young and they still are today.  So why don't we see more young people in our club or on the road?

 Speaking from personal experience, I had a 7 mile commute to my summer job waiting tables at the country club.  I didn't have a car when I started and depended on someone to pick me up and drop me off.  (I had bicycled the route several times, but arriving at work all red-faced and sweaty while donning a tuxedo shirt did not provide good tableside presentation.)  A scooter or even a moped would have been ideal transportation.  My mum was against it.  (She was denied her preferred VW Beetle in favor of the late model "Yellow Submarine" Buick that her brothers purchased for her.)  I am the eldest among my siblings and had to set the bar for my younger siblings.  My family was not wealthy and my father worked hard.  I was led to believe he didn't have spare cash to buy another car, nor did I have an older sibling to lean on.  (The family financial situation miraculously changed when my sisters wanted a car ;-/ ).  It was up to me to get myself mobile.  Having been summarily denied two-wheel transport, even though my father had been a Vespa rider in his youth.  I set about spending more money on resurrecting a car from the junkyard to be roadworthy than would have been spent on a new moped or small Japanese scooter.  I did learn to weld, wrench, and restore through this process.  Nobody made me do it.  I WANTED to be free to travel, to make money, save for the future, and to spend my earnings as I pleased.  When you live outside of town, transportation is a requirement for these things.

 So I postulate that it is not the parents denying their kids the freedom of motorized transport.  Parents do perhaps implant a notion in their children that motorbikes are "unsafe".  That stereotype is hard to break.  Growing up my friend from next door and I built all kinds of motorized contraptions from parts we could beg.  So parental denial didn't really work for me in the end.  If you want to ride badly enough, a youngster will find a way.  None of these contraptions were road legal, but it got us the taste of what it would be like to ride a dirt bike.  My father just smiled at these attempts, but could not by marital oath go against my mother's wishes.  (For goodness sake my old man is now doing the same thing we were doing.  He's now the crazy one flying airplanes and strapping engines onto bicycles at 80 years young trying to regain his lost youth.)

(Vespa rider from the 60's on my Stella.)

 My first day at my first professional job I was introduced around the office.  Stephen was my cubicle neighbor and once pleasantries were over he quickly asked me, "Do you ride?"  I wanted to ride, but hadn't been nurtured to do so.  Stephen said something to the affect of, "We'll soon fix that.  We have a lot of riders in the office."  We spent the rest of the winter finding a >500cc suitable motorcycle, and by April the engine was rebuilt and I was a happy young man.  It wasn't a scooter like I initially dreamed, but it had two wheels and it was MINE to ride with my friends.  Mum couldn't deter me any longer.  With my new mentor's coaching, I became an alert and competent rider.  The camaraderie of biking with those friends has lasted to this day.  Stephen doesn't ride as much as he should these days, but he is still the youngest at heart of anyone that I know and hold dear.

(The youngest punk kid at an Americade rally)

 Not a year after I bought my first motorcycle, I bought a bigger one!  Included is a photo of Stephen and I together at the Americade Touring Rally. You can see the stupid smile on my face.  I was living the dream!  There was nothing to stop me, a young professional man in his twenties with an engineer's salary could buy pretty much whatever he wanted.  So what keeps a young person from wanting to motorcycle or scooter?  Where are they?  They do not seem to emerge from high school drooling over two wheels these days.  As a young professional, they have the money to buy a car and an inexpensive scooter.  Why do they not?  Have they not been properly introduced to what a joy riding can be?

 Today's aspirations have changed.  As a young person if you want to interact with a friend, or the rest of the world for that matter, it can be done online.  Stuck in front of a mobile device or computer, kids don't have to leave their homes to escape and do things with other kids.  There's no desire to get out for an adventure and roam around.  Video games provide interaction with friends.  Video chat and texting provide lackluster interaction with other people.  Food is delivered, friends don't look one another in the eye when talking.  There's no hanging out at the community storefront or going down to the café for a snack anymore.  Seriously, I don't know how young people even manage to date anymore?  If you can't get alone with your date what's the point?

 The recent Disney movie Luca as brought the Vespa brand name and image to the youth of the world.  The classic outline of the Vespa is now instantly recognizable to children thanks to this movie.  The protagonists of the movie dream of escape and adventure on a Vespa, and spend most of the moving scheming to get the scooter of their dreams.  I won't tell you how it ends, but the impression left on young viewers is obvious.  I can ride my bright red Vespa past a group of kids, raise my helmet and shout "Silenzio Bruno", which causes the children to erupt in the same response with fists raised and cheering.  Likewise a more obvious attempt at gathering young riders is the anime series Super Cub.  How could Honda not have sponsored the production of the beautiful animation!  The series follows a lonely and awkward high school girl's life be transformed.  Koguma, the main character, makes friends and becomes a confident young woman because of her new found abilities.  The camaraderie she discovers is one that every scooterist finds once they start riding with friends.  This is the kind of media influence that the scooter industry needs to get young riders dreaming of two wheels.  Umpteen years from now, will we see a spike in sales as these young impressionable minds come to driving age?

(My son very seriously taking his cupcake for a ride.)

 There are a few gearhead youngsters around.  I applaud them.  Cheap powerful cars are available and scooters are laughable to them.  I'll show up at the coffee shop with a full parking lot, and still find a place to park my scoot.  The young boys probably scoff at me under their breath while driving their +200 hp rice burners.  As long as they are enjoying themselves, I don't mind what they are doing.  The point is that they didn't choose a scooter or a motorcycle.  At present we're more wealthy today in middle-class America and a comfortable all-weather car is in their financial grasp (or their parents).  Parents will actually go out and buy their kid a car.  I was appalled when I learned this was common practice.  These young kids didn't earn the car, they don't respect it.  I'll see them later on in the year, and learn that the car given to them was totaled.  It is a different world today, but I try to do my part.  My nieces are city-dwellers.  They would do very well on scooters.  I can always encourage and inspire them by allowing them to sit in the saddle even if their parents won't let them go for a joy ride with me.  

(I have high hopes for this one.  She's got a sense of adventure in her.)

 I think we do very well as a group of middle-aged greying folks along with our retired friends choosing transport.  The kids look at us and how are they not inspired!  We're having the time of our lives and is it that they just don't understand why we're so happy?  Is it because they've been denied by their parents, they've been given a more comfortable alternative, and they don't view the freedom of the open road and adventure the same as we do?

 I'd like to see more young people in the scooter scene.  We've got children of well established scooterists involved, but not many others.  There are both older lifelong scooterists and new enthusiasts that have discovered the joy at middle-age.  People aren't getting married at a very young age these days from what I've seen.  I can't see that it is the care of young children that holds back the 20 to 30 year olds from scooting other than lack of desire.  They haven't been tempted.  They haven't been nurtured to desire the clean and fun transportation that a scooter provides.

 How are the young people reached?  The demand for good scooter manufacturing is driven by the market.  It wasn't long ago in India that a young suitor would insist on a scooter to be included with the dowry.  In a densely populated environment scooters are much more common.  We see new scooters as a joyful toy packed with technology today, but is that really bringing in new riders?  I'm not sure it does.  Will the promise of economical, environmentally friendly transport attract new riders?  I'm not sure that will do it either, in America at least.  We'll just have to keep doing what we normally do as a club.  Scooters are a parade wherever we go, no matter how many of us there are.  We wave, beep, and smile just to let everyone know that we are having the time of our lives!

(It is a parade everyday.)

(The exchanged "smile of camaraderie"  These guys are living the dream.)