Rewiring the junction box correctly

Recently I have been working more on my Bajaj Chetak and some body work on my wife's Chetak in an effort to be ready for a Rally ride in three weeks. To see what is happening with the Bajaj's click here. I need to add a post on the Bajaj site to share an interesting thing I found in the oil filter some time in this week.

For info on the rally see the flyer below:



Tonight I replaced the grommets around the junction box to the correct ones. Here's what it looked like first.
Note the incorrect grommets.

Here's what the wiring looks like complete inside the junction box:


To save myself time, I made a diagram to remind myself how to rewire it quickly:


I looked closely at the Technica photo and made sure this time I got it correct. Here's what it looks like:
Note: the only thing I am unhappy is about is the bottom grommet has two holes and I meant to run the wires from the PX HT Coil (mod) through the top hole closest to us so it would be less noticable, but I messed up. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't an issue in any way.

The anoraks may note that my screw for the junction box is also not stock.

Junction Box

Wiring the junction box is a breeze if you do it like this...

Go to Radio Shack or what have you and buy (1) shrink tubing and (2) the smallest as possible connectors -- pictured below:

Note the larger ones.  They had tubing on them and I tried to install with those the first time and I had to cut the tubing off and crimp them vertically to get them to fit.  It was SLOPPY.  It is important that they are as small as possible in order for the junction box to close properly.  Plus it looks a lot nicer and who says that no one will ever see them -- you just did.

Cut a proper length of shrink tubing off and slide it onto your wire then crimp the connector on it.  Afterwards heat the shrink tubing so it constricts and protects the wires from coming into contact with anything other than the terminal you screw it into.

I could not find the original junction box screw since I purchased my bike disassembled, so I replaced it, but Home Depot does not sell metric galvanized hardware which I wish it did, because the stainless doesn't look good here.  Of course, that is an easy fix in the future.

Parts arrive

Today, the following parts arrived:

- Hand grips
- Lever screws
- VSC junction box upper & lower grommets
- VSC bellow

The next order to arrive is very important. With it we will be able to run/attach all cables, finish up front fork & headset, and fill the gas tank and fire this baby up!

Junction Box

Shipped from Japan from Palmog. A gift to the SS180. This is the junction box that is mounted to the engine case.Isn't it crazy how a bike (especially the rare ones) comes together -- with parts from Japan and Palmog or any other place. The web has made us a tighter community -- scooter culture.

Tom G. once told me an even crazier story -- he flew to Europe to take a mold of a part that was not available any place in the world so he could take it home with him and make it/have it made. That's dedication!

Christopher M. has fabricated engine parts and even cooler he has made copies of original Vespa factory service tools that I can pretty much guarantee that most of us have never and will never see. Very rare tools.

Thank you Palmog!

Engine: Missing Fastener?

When Christopher Markley delivered our completely rebuilt SS engine he told me there were two items I'd need to look into. We'll talk about one now. There is a hole in the engine case that looks like a fastener should be used to seal it, but when Christopher investigated the parts diagram he saw nothing. Also, it did not appear to be threaded. Pictured above are my spare cases, with the same hole, but this hole is threaded very finely; therefore I am assuming something is screwed in there. I am pointing at the hole for your reference in the picture. Please post a comment and let me know what belongs in there.

Once I find out what screw goes in there, I can clean up the threads and put the correct fastener in place.

Thanks in advance for your help.

FOLLOW-UP / LESSON LEARNED:
This is where the junction box goes. (Thanx Paul)
Here is a photo of the stock junction box for your reference.