Modified fuel tap

The question has come up . . . since I don't have a sediment bowl for my fuel tap, shall I add a fast flow filter on and take advantage of the new technology? The SS180 is not a museum relic and is already mildly custom, so what's the big deal, right?

The answer is long winded . . .
If my gas tank is clean or sealed (with a chemical treatment) I might be able to get away with a fast flow filter, but my gas tank was treated in a hot bath at my local radiator shop. It was rusted inside. It came out clean, but a little pitted. I follow the ol'school and did not opt to use a chemical seal (as they have failed scooterists in the past, but I hear their reputation and quality has improved a lot in recent years) -- I chose to coat the tank with 2stroke oil to prevent rust.

If I use a fast flow, I might be wise to use a in-line fuel filter ($4.00) to catch any pits that come from my gas tank. That is an option.

After a lot of research and chatting with mentors, I have decided to stick stock (and as I write this post, I believe I may have located a sediment bowl I can buy). Tom G. summed it up nicely by saying:

"Part of my philosophy is this. These bikes were designed to, and did, run fine for thousands of miles with the stock equipment of the day. In this case, that means plain old fuel filter, with sediment bowl(and internal tank filter). That set up passed plenty of fuel for the stock engine setup, and was pretty foolproof. So maybe you clean out your sediment bowl every winter when you lay the bike up for the season. \

Every change you make from stock introduces at least one variable that could affect reliability. Who needs that? And in this particular case, I know that I HAVE installed inline fuel filters in vespa fuel lines -- and they have caused fuel starvation issues. So I don't use them no more. ;o)

Certainly, kitted motors might guzzle fuel more quickly than a stock fuel tap can supply. This is why fast flow fuel taps are a good idea on 200cc Lambrettas, and an absolute necessity on kitted racers. But then, the lammy fast flow tap is identical to the normal tap, except for a larger aperture. Normal lammy taps do not have a sed. bowl, and neither do the fast flow taps."