Vespa Gang Mod Club #Março

No sábado passado, aconteceu mais uma noite daquelas nossas. Muita gente nova a aparecer e adicionar-se a nossa mail list. Agora já estão "in"side da nossa pequena scene. Cada dia que passa a familia modernista, cresce. Os scooterboys, desta vez falharam, apenas o Ferreira, Costini marcaram presença com os seus dance moves northern soul. Com as temperaturas primaveris em alta, parece que foram para a Serra da Estrela... Mas ligaram a meio da noite, muito divertidos a perguntar como estava a malta que ficou na cidade.
Nós divertimo-nos muito.
On the move....
Por enquanto podemos adiantar que estamos a preparar a próxima "reunião" de Abril, onde se vai comemorar a editora mais conhecida de Detroit... Mais, não dizemos. Para aguçar o apetite, é ficar atento, ás nossas movimentações aqui no blog. Para Maio... apenas podemos dizer que o aniversário do Vespa Gang vai ter um outro local para os festejos. Será junto ao mar? Ou com vista para o rio? Fiquem atentos a este espaço ou no nosso Twitter da moda...

Parts to order

In order to wrap this bike up I need the following parts:

(1967 Vespa SS180 with the round VSD headlight)

1) Grey rubber trim for the glove box door

2) Two securing pins for glove box door (prt #97523)

3) Bulb for the VSD/Rally speedo

4) Bulb for high beam light on VSC

5) A connector for the high beam light, see picture:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmu91YuHLnXHnDRgwV2ZFCUVfbZO_VKBw2Q3aTlabr6psQcND9Jed5NpdPDO1WI_wJBx0-PAB2OsIyzpesTS9yrwLgqIrjeHQS-9rOkyCe58zVG4Q1lz5xWmnHb5tifcjl-6lNR7x7aOO/s1600-h/VSC_HeadLight6.JPG

6) Fuel rod in black (prt #84224)

7) Copper spark plug clip (may be prt #127966 -- not sure)

8) Brake switch (prt # 181637)

9) Two screws to secure headlight bezel on a VSD (prt #S. 15544)

Grinding hardware stamps

As you know the stock kickstand hardware was not stainless steel, nor did it have a stamp on it. I want stainless steel, but I do not want the stamp; therefore I grind'd all four bolt heads for the kickstand hardware. Also note that there are two different washer sizes here. I was in a hurry before I moved West so I just got the bike together. Now that I am settled I can correct those minor errors.

I used my Dremel and just very lightly ground down the stamps and made it all look even. I was able to handhold the bolts.


It is my hope that over the time the bolt head will weather a little bit and look a little more stock with less glossy shine on where I polished it with the Dremel.

HeadLight Assembly & Headset Internals

As my readers may remember there were two items that needed my attention with the headset, but I went ahead and put it together before we moved to make sure nothing got lost in transit.Pictured above the headlight bezel screw that broke when installing the headlight bezel.  This headlight assembly fits a VSD (the Rally 180/200).  Remember that the later year VSCs in the USA were required to have a round headset.  The screw pictured here is part S15544 at ScooterWorks, where I bought the assembly.
To remove the bezel I heated it so the metal would expand with a heat gun.  It took about one to two minutes.
When ever banging on the Vespa I look for the softest thing I can find, such as a wooden paint stirrer.  The bezel was too snug, due to paint.  So I gently tapped the rubber mallet against the wood paint stirrer and it worked great.
Above note: the broken bezel screw and a chip from the paint.  This is okay, because the headset is aluminum and will not rust.  Plus the bezel will hide it and no one will ever see it.
Another close up of the broken bezel screw.
I need to replace both that screw and the bezel hardware for 1970s headlight assemblies, part number #15221 at ScooterWorks.
The headset assembly was supposed to arrive with a light bulb.  It did not.  I need one.  I used a Sharpie to label what wires plugged into what terminals.
The final items I need for the headset is the terminal for the speedo light bulb as well as the bulb itself.

I have more done on the Vespa and will post more soon.  I also have been working more on my Bajaj Chetak.  You'll never guess what I found during the oil change.  Click here to find out.

13º IberoVespa - Arganil

Mais uma edição do maior evento vespista nacional está já aí ao virar da esquina.Desta feita o Vespa Clube de Lisboa muda-se, de armas e bagagens, para o centro do país, escolhendo o concelho de Arganil e as suas belas paisagens para receber a 13ª edição do IberoVespa. Podem contar com paisagens de cortar a respiração, passeios inesquecíveis e muita animação.O evento ficará sediado no Parque de

What the hell is in my oil filter?

Two days ago I changed my oil on my Chetak and you will never guess what I found in the outside of my oil filter?! It looks like two torn pieces of engine seals. They are a back paper-like substance. I have over 6,000 miles on my bike; therefore I know these two torn pieces are not recent.

As an added precaution, I always check my oil filter for slivers of metal, possibly from clutch wear and alike. To do this I stick a white paper towel inside the oil filter so I have the silver metal or any other alien form pops out from the white paper towel background.

After that I use compressed air to blow the filter clean from the inside out. This frees it of all debris.

I emailed my mechanic, who worked for Bajaj USA at their corporate office and at a Bajaj dealer (also Vespa, Lambretta, and everything else) as a head mechanic, and this is what he had to say:

"Be honest with you, I have been a mechanic for almost ten years and I have seen a lot of crazy stuff coming out when performing oil changes. Normally, I will not worry about it unless the engine sounds weird or runs like crazy.

Do you have any problem with the engine? Any oil leak? Any idle issue? If not, then don't worry about it since those pieces are already broken or came off."

With that response, I filled it up with new oil and will ride the bike and pay special attention to it as all of my answers are "no" to my mechanic's questions.

FOLLOW-UP FROM MECHANIC AFTER SEEING THIS PICTURE:

Jeremy,

Looks like those things are the engine case paper gasket. Do you have any oil leak out from your engine? If not, don't worry at all.

What happen are..... those engine paper gaskets for most of the time are larger than what it is supposed to be. And sometimes due to the engine design, gasket can't cut out exectly or match the engine cases because if everything matches the paper gasket are not strong enough to seal, hold and keep the oil inside the engine. For some cases, when the extra stick out paper gasket inside the egine has soaked oil for too long, they will be soft enough and tear themselves apart. That is what you see in the screen filter. And that is why engine will leak oil when they get old. And of couse, the material to make the paper gasket is also important. For bajaj you don't expect they are top qualities.

So for now, if you have any oil leak, you know what happen.

Hope this information would help you.

Kent

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.