GPS day

Conditions were perfect for a new years run and a great chance to put the speedo to the test. 9am, 25 degrees C, slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.
With an expertly mounted iPhone I headed out to find a long straight flat road, which didn't take that long since the area is dairy country and there are paddocks full of cows everywhere.
The results:-
Speedo reading     GPS
40kmph                   37
50                            47
60                            54
70                            64
80                            74
90                            82
100                          unobtainium*

*I tried in vain to hit 100kmph wasn't to be I got to 90 on the flat road but thought if I went to the big hill on the edge of town, which was also going to favour the wind direction, so I did and once I got to probably 95 the scooter was shaking like nothing I'd felt her do before, a quick glance at the GPS told me it was 90-91, the speedo needle was shaking, my teeth were shaking, the engine was screaming, my mirror rattled and moved so I couldn't see anything.........I could've pushed harder but to be honest I lost my nerve just trying to hang on and backed off, the result will have to wait until another day.
The business end of the ride was now out of the way, so I decided to do some exploring of my new home town, my wife had been looking at land so I went and had a look at some of the ones she thought would be suitable for us to build a new home, I also went and found a few small lakeside hideaways, the funniest thing I saw was a guy asleep on the grass outside of MacDonalds, obviously new years eve was bigger than he thought it was going to be. Eventually I headed home after another hour or so of riding around, The speedo read a couple of kms shy of 4400km.

Just outside the Colac Yacht Club, on Lake Colac,  funnily enough, in Colac.
Happy new year to all.

New year, new start.

Christmas was a quiet family affair, the usual over indulgence and most importantly the boys had a great time.
As for the SPV, not much to tell really, she hasn't missed a beat and is running well, I haven't had a chance to get a good run in for a while now, but the daily commute and a run here and there is about as far as I have gone. Nothing has fallen off or apart, but one thing I did whip up as a spare was this fuel tap, I got a new one from a scooter shop somewhere and it broke as soon as I installed it, so I ran with the one that came with the scooter when it arrived, this one I'll just carry in the tool bag just in case I need it, Murphy's law says I will be miles from home when it does pack it in so I'll play it safe.

This is my parking spot at work, out of the weather and away from the local nutters that frequent the solicitors office next door, last thing I need is for the paint to be damaged by some dead beat that has just been given bad news and the first thing they see and feel like kicking over outside the office door is Gloria. No thanks.
By the way it was my boss that recommended this for that exact reason, not me being judgemental.
The spot was made for it I think.

Above is Angus looking coy and just hanging with Dad after I got back from the 300km odd round trip to Geelong a few weeks ago, hence spare tyre,  the other shot is the three little dudes having a cuddle of sorts, it's near impossible to get them all to look in the same direction and smile at the same time, wouldn't have the rascals any other way.
Today must have been stop and talk to the Vespa Guy day, didn't get the memo, I rolled G out onto the street after work and had that "did I lock the office door?" feeling, when I came back down there was a guy circling the scoot with a smile on his face like a Cheshire cat, a lengthy conversation ensued and it turned out he was a motorbike enthusiast and was so excited to see a real example of Italian motoring history in front of his eyes, he didn't hang around long enough for me to stall it three times getting on my way, temperamental old lass.
Two minutes up the road I had stopped to get a couple of beers, came out and there was a Lady of about fifty, it's warm out, she's in short shorts and a singlet, tidy and without sounding like I'm going into the start of a cheap adult movie, She was just going "Ooooooohhhhhh" when she realised it was my scooter she went on to tell me that:
She luuurrrved the colour, "It's Ascot green if you must know"
"My bucket list includes having enough money to buy an old Vespa or Lambretta (cue rolling accent tongue), I just love the old 60's-70's style, LOVE it....
I then give her a short rundown on the SPVs history.
She says "All you need is is a cute Italian girl on the back"
I say " That would be nice, but not sure what my wife would think about that"
"It would be fun, ok see ya"
" I'm Italian by the way" and she walks off to her car.
I ride home thinking about what just happened.....and smile. Did I just get hit on by a woman in a supermarket carpark, gotta love the Vespa.

80-64

The last couple of days there has been one of those speed checking thingy's on the side of the road into town, its in a sixty speed limit area and I know that they would have a certain widow for accuracy.
So the first day I rode past I didn't really take much notice of how fast I was going on the speedo and I forget what it said but I did remember thinking that's a bit out.
So the last two days I decided to go past with my speedo on 80kmph......both days I registered 64-65. Vespa speedos are famous for not being accurate, if they work at all, so I'm not really surprised.
The next step is to wait until my new iPhone arrives over the next day or so, I will be doing an extensive speedo check with the GPS, should be interesting.
4220kms on the speedo, how many real kms I've done......stuffed if I know now.

Finally got the GT right and here is the questionable parking spot for the scoots, suitably rustic and slightly out of square.
EDIT:- another driveby this morning with the speedo on 90ish.......74, consistant, so not that this scoot is all about a land speed record once the engine decides it's had enough, a bit of tarting up will be in order.... also my top speed recorded some time ago was 103kmph was in fact in the 88kmph vicinity, I still remember thinking that was fast enough, she was screaming, the rattling and shaking was also a bit unnerving.

New digs

Now that I'm half settled in, my thoughts soon turned towards a new workshop, My father in law had offered me his old workshop in an abandoned dairy on their property, he hadn't used it for about 20 years so I had my work cut out cleaning it out. The pictures tell the story, the first one was my old workshop, plenty of room, the rest are of the new one, and various views of it, stages of moving in and views from inside. To say it has character is an understatement. there is enough room to get the Gloria in if I need to, I just park her either under the hay shed or the wood shed depending on how much rain is forecast.

The move

As you can see I couldn't get much more in the back of the truck, it was the last trip and it all HAD to fit...

at the other end it all came out and with a days rest I head out to join the Vespa Club of Melbourne on a ride around the lovely Bellarine Peninsula, a reasonable turn out of Vespas, only one other older scooter but still it was a good days ride, would've been nicer without the cold wind and the threatening rain, which stayed away thankfully. It was great to get a good solid ride in, it has seemed ages since I rode any further than just into town.

The days ride ended up being 350kms all up and the SPV didn't miss a beat, stayed with the traffic at 80 odd kmph at times a little faster. It was also a good chance to get some idea of fuel consumption too, not an exact science but I used 13 ltrs so about 27 kms per litre and about 190kms per tank, but I'd never put that to the test without a backup fuel supply.

I also past the 4000km mark, so can't complain about that either.

Up rooting...

Not much news of late, apologies, I'm in the middle of uprooting the family and heading across state for a few reasons I have covered before today.
The Sprint V has been going quite well, I can't get the image of the scored piston pumping away as I ride along at speed, the engine still has pulling power, uphill and all, and as also mentioned before, I'm giving it some too, a good seize would finalise this 3rd over sized top end and give me a perfect reason to kit it.
Today the wife took the boys to a friends house and I was left alone, after pacing the house to see what else I could do and pack for the first load of the move tomorrow, I thought "fudge this, I'm going for a ride" the weather was about 22 degrees C, cloudy, perfect.
I had some chores to do so off I went. I had to deliver some paperwork so that was first cab off the rank, into town, parked up and job done....except as I merged back into the traffic and rode about 150 metres to the lights, Gloria decided to just humf and die, middle of town, lunchtime, people everywhere, Then I turn the fuel tap on, idiot, a couple of kicks and it's business as usual.
Some groceries and home. Its a 6km round trip direct into town and back.
Trip two. Beer run and a chance to trial the new beer run kit. I pull into the bottlo and park, there is a guy delivering ice out of a van parked next to me, he goes in with his delivery and I follow. He sees me grab a box of stubbies and when I go to pay he's standing there with a big grin on his face, the bottlo guy says "what's up mate?"
Ice man "I wanna see how this blokes gonna fit that slab on his Vespa"
Bottlo guy "what!"
Me "It's a trial run"
Bottlo guy "what?"
I pay and head outside. IM and BG follow. I get out the taped up deck off cuts and an occy strap.
I look at them and they are both doing the nodding, furrowed brow and pursed lip look.
IM " looks like you've got it sussed mate, just wrap a leg around and she'll be right"
BG no comment
Me " Yup should do the trick" and it did.
Trip three. I needed some cash and a six pack of beer for the two young blokes that are going to help me load up the truck with furniture tomorrow, can't sacrifice a six pack of my favorite, well I could but didn't want too.
I took this opportunity to indulge myself on my favorite take away lunch and then headed back home, the tradies finishing off the house up the road all had a snicker as I zoomed past again, first groceries, a box of beer and then some KFC, I can just hear them at smoko, "Bet that bloke's missus is out of town today, he he he"
3750kms and dreaming of a 177cc kit, still putting up with the rattles and still loving it.

age old issue

Fuel, check. spare oil, check. tools, spares odds and ends, check, wallet, phone, keys, check.
OK lets go, wait! we might need to take .......beer, Spring is here and it's inevitable that sometime, somewhere there will be a requirement for a cold frosty ale.
You never know when your numbers up for the beer run, I have taken the the rear rack on the GT200 for granted and this got me thinking. I NEED to be able to carry at least one box.
No stuffing about, we are not here to fuck spiders, so I set the task of "How" and the following is the result.

Three offcuts of 19mm decking, taped together, should do the trick, still to be put into practical use, but you never know when the wife is going to say "FFS I asked you to bring home more beer" I'm sure it happens....somewhere. Throw in an occy strap, and it ain't going nowhere .Gold.

Rear shock shock

I knew the rear shock lower rubber bush was old as I could see the cracks in it, so I got a replacement.
In true form, what I found when I pulled it off to change it, was dodgy. The rubber was old and stuffed, the bolt was rusted to hell and when I cleaned it up a little I could see why, it had obviously been a 10mm bolt the they had "machined" down to a 9mm with an angle grinder, nice. It was also bent to hell and the nut was a random different size to the hex head on the bolt and to top off this fine piece of bodgery, the centre tube was a hacksawed piece of 10mm pipe, complete with a few dents from installing it with a hammer and a screwdriver, quality stuff.
Getting it out was easy enough, a bit of a juggling act that I could've used an extra pair of hands for, I used a bearing puller and an old nut, firstly pushing the pipe out and then utilising a 21mm socket and the puller again to get the rubber out.
Installing the rubber was ok, I cleaned up the inside with some fine sand paper and used some soapy water to ease the end in and again with the puller and socket squeezed it into place. After some time spent cleaning , sanding and filing the pipe back to some sort of decent shape I re-installed it too as for the bolt I threw that into the tool box and replaced it with an 8mm stainless bolt until the 9mm I ordered arrives.

After reading an interesting thread on the Modern Vespa website regarding gearbox oil,
http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic90043
I decided to give it a go, I had been using a mineral 30W 2T oil as recommended by Piaggio back in the day, that and I had laying around after my initial break in period, which we all now know was most likely a waste of time, but I will need it again when I get a new cylinder kit further down the track.
The 75W-85 fully synthetic was a very light colour compared to the 30W and it will be interesting what colour it comes out in 1000kms. The shifting has improved though, noticeably up and down the range, very smooth.
3540kms on the clock and I must admit I have been riding a little harder and despite the condition of the top end, she still goes pretty well, worse case scenario is I seize it up and have to get a new cylinder and piston, I'm going to do that anyway, well that is worst case unless I stuff the crank and then it might get interesting. I have also got hold of a cylindrical registration sticker holder, the old one was hanging off the side just waiting to be broken off, this one tidys up the rear end and since I moved the Plate up and removed the little silver rear flap thing that came on the scooter, the rattling has lessened somewhat, there is still a rattle that is coming from underneath, possibly the stand, will look into replacing some hardware and a rubber stop or two, that might fix it.

The boys just practicing until dad finally lets them both ride Gloria at the same time, not sure this will ever happen in my lifetime, what would I be riding?? Maybe get them a Lambretta to thrash, I mean learn to scoot on. (add smiley face thingy here) and then get a busted bum Vespa to build so they can have the joys of getting and keeping a scoot running, and if the current trend continues, something else to fight over.......

Wiring Map as installed



I realised that I hadn't posted the final wiring as installed.

The light fitting for the speedo light was too far gone to actually work so I omitted it and am searching for another new one or I might try and come up with something that will work.

The horn doesn't work, when I initially kicked it over it honked constantly and then after I actually installed it and the switch... nothing and too be honest it is my laziness that is stopping me from pulling it apart and fixing it. So tooting at young ladies is off the menu for now.
Everything else still works a treat.
Also remeber that I am running a 12v system off what has been identified as a probable P125 stator set up.

Vietbodge

I was thinking about my scooter and thought I'd revisit the place it came from, Planet Vespa in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Looking through the website, it reads like most restorers' websites in SE Asia, the standard of English is better, but the spiel is the same. Below is the list of things they do when they restore a scooter, taken from the website. In black is my feedback.

New component include: Typo, sre they meant components

- New cylinder head  No, it is newer than the cylinder though - New piston  I have soft and probably hard seized the engine three times, the wear on the rings, piston and cylinder are inconsistent with each other, there is no way the piston was new. Having done some reading in the last few days and having measured the piston in order to get some new rings, I have discovered that I have a 3rd oversize piston at 57.4, the cylinder has been re-bored 3 times. Given it's a forty year old engine (disclaimer. I am in no doubt that this engine is a mix match of unknown origin, the serial numbers have been questioned before and lets face it, I could go to a hardware store and buy a set of number punches....what I do know is that it is a 3 port engine, so that is at least true to the model.) - New rings  Possibly but highly unlikely, the fact that there were 0.1 shims in behind them has me doubting it. like I said the wear marks on them is inconsistent with the cylinder and the scoring on the piston. - New Dell ‘Orto carburetor  This part is true, it is new. the jet sizes were wrong though,the idle jet was ok, the Main was way too small and the air bleed was too big, recipe to seize me thinks. oh that's right I did. these have since been rectified. - New transmission (4 speed manual hand shift)  No idea as I haven't had any trouble with it, nor had to split the cases.....yet - New condenser & ignition coil  nothing on the stator plate looked new, as it is a 12v upgrade, some have mentioned that it may be a P125 set up - New installation of all wiring looms with 12v electrical upgrade  12v yes, new my arse, I have since replaced the lot save a couple of switches - New steering head bushes and bearings  Don't know, everything feels solid and moves freely, time will tell - New front and rear suspension  front shocker was exactly that, a shocker. The whole lot has been replaced, the rubbers were not even rubber, they were hard foam and the bush was hand cut from a pipe and not even the right length, it was obvious that it was new maybe 40 years ago. The rear well the spring looks ok, I haven't really given the whole set up a good look, I have ordered new top and bottom rubbers, the bottom one is old and cracked, the top, well I need to see a new one before I comment. - New brakes  Again, unless they still make new asbestos shoes......front and back brakes replaced - New stainless steel exhaust system  this is just a joke, no comment, unless other people order a SS exhaust that is, the one I got was old and although it was a functional stock exhaust I changed it for a Sito + and will never go back. - New rubber hoses, seals and trimmings  where to start..the bellows did look new, its out there and proud so best it be new, the fuel hose was discoloured and hard as a rock, the trimmings around the tool box door, top of the tank and the air box were new, but I have since gotten rid of all three, I made a tank gasket, the toolbox lid didn't have one originally and the air box one was a pain in the A as it fell off every time I took the top off, it didn't seal anything anyway. As for the grommets where the hoses and cables run through the frame, some were wrong, most were old and the important one that runs through the bottom of the frame, with the cables and wiring, didn't have one at all and was eating away at everything that went through it slowly, new rubbers on the way - New head and rear lights with new bulbs  FFS, there is no way any of this was new, the globes worked to start with but the substandard regulator died within weeks and so did the globes, I had to chip off some of the hard plastic on the underside of the rear cover so that the clear section was able to do it's job and light up the number plate. the rear light internals were crude and riveted together, the globe holders were dodgy and so was the wiring, The headlight internals were many years old, Noah had the same set up on the ark.....the upside was the glass was in fact glass. everything has been replaced. - New Speedometer, hooray. yes this one is true. - New Horn  True also, but not a Vespa horn and crudely screwed on, the back of it looked as though they hacksawed off something to get it in, but it worked, unlike the new one, but that's me being lazy. - New Floor runners & rubber floor mat all appear new, but the lazy way they just riveted the runner ends and mat on instead of screws is a little less aesthetic the runner ends are the lowest quality available but what would you expect. - New chrome stand.  - New seating upholstery mounted on twin saddle  I opted for a bench seat as that is what the Veloces had, the upholstery was new but in twelve months the piping has started to come out. The seat frame is original, but has been painted, this paint crumbles and falls off all the time, just a matter of time before some of that crap ends up in the fuel tank and eventually me on the side of the road cleaning out the blocked jets. - 3X new white wall tires with new inner tubes on 10 inch wheels* assume that the asterix is for extras to those who want something more. I didn't get white walls and I already had 10" wheels, the rims were stuffed, rusted, out of true, but they were shiny on the outside.....the tyres were new Kenda's not a bad tyre by most standards but I changed them out for Michelin S1s, I replaced the rims for new alloy ones, as for the tubes, they were far from new, the giveaway was the fact they were stuck to the rims and had been for some time, oh and the plethora of patch repairs gave it away too. - New Chrome plated hubcaps*  not for me thanks they reek of tacky - New kick starter pedal ahh nope, not new, not even the rubber bit on the end. - New clutch and front brake levers  levers are new now since I replaced them, I had to replace the clutch arm o-ring, very early on in the piece, in fact it was my first repair. ok enough of the nostalgia, with untrained eyes I noticed that the little clutch drum thingy's that poke out the end, there's six of them I think, one or two of them were marked, one had a gouge out of it, the clutch cover was a mess internally too from memory, but it works well so like everything else, I wont try and fix it if it ain't broken - New Tire covers no thanks - 4X New Indicator lamps* no thanks, don't need them before 1975 - New Stainless steel folding rear luggage rack or front folding rack with custom made padded back rest* same again, no thanks. - New chrome trimming and stainless steel body railing. no rails and the trimming isn't new and it isn't put on well either, it actually shows the dings and buckles of the leg shield out more, these I can live with, anything that's 40 years old will have dings, scratches and imperfections, just like me. - New chrome plated gas cap this is true, it doesn't mention the home made rubber seal nor the screw that's 15mm too long with no less than three nuts securing it. - Every nut and bolt replaced with rust proof stainless steel crock of shit, I have never seen such a collection of mismatched, rusty, poor quality nuts bolts and washers, the replacements i do as I work through the scooter are in fact the "rust proof stainless steel" Sorry for the epic post, once I started I realised what I had done... What this long list of wonderful "new" things my Sprint V should've had doesn't include the things I have found to be stuffed, like the whole fuel tap set up, the entire cable set, removal of the battery and ignition style kill switch, the endless amount of crud that I find in every crevice and in plain site, this I would expect, but some of the crud is just a little too much to describe the restoration as "immaculate" and to photo shop some major repairs out of the pictures of the frame prior to painting the scooter what can I say to that. Apart from all that, the scooter is just as they described it.

Better the devil you know.

Everything reinstalled with much care, all new studs, washers nuts, torqued to spec in the criss cross  method, exhaust on and I did a compression test, slightly better at about 105psi, not 120 odd like it should be, but better than 90. plug in, fuel on and as per every other day three kicks and she was ticking away nicely. I took it out for a spin, about 40km around town, all speeds up to 85 and up some good long hills, didn't miss a beat, in fact it didn't feel any different at all. This is a good thing.
New rings will be on order along with a few other small items first thing tomorrow.
Now I know whats going on in there and if she dies, she dies. until then, it's business as usual.

Forgive me for I have sinned....

Well lets just say I have done what I had to do, within my constraints.
I did some research and concluded that I just needed to tidy it all up as best as I could, which is exactly what I did. I got to the piston with some fine wet and dry, gently as she goes and got all the carbon and most of the light scoring, on closer inspection it wasn't as bad as I first thought, I polished the piston top and the cylinder head as well. I also scraped the old gasket off with a razor and sanded it clean too. Happy I was ready to start putting it all back together, "now where is that gasket set I ordered months ago? there it is....WTF!!" I ordered a full gasket kit when I first got the Sprint, knowing full well I'd need it one day, that day was today and I was absolutely certain I ordered a three port set, certain, I'd known for months before I even got the scoot that it had a three port engine.....the cylinder base gasket was a two port, here we go again. Since I had demolished the other one, it was back to the drawing board. As mentioned before, I need the scoot running, So my first impulse was to at least get hold of some gasket paper and that would have to do until I can get an order in from Melbourne next week.....or I could try a gasket sealant type of product, but most of them work with an actual gasket......or in true bodge fashion I could have a crack at making one. I tried plan A first.



 This is what the crafty Vietnamese would do......

 SUPER dodgey, these little shims were in between the piston rings and piston in the ring groove..WTF

0.8 gasket paper would have to do for now

Old versus new.
Now to put it back together. It's not ideal but the piston is buggered, the barrel is more than likely buggered too, there is very little scuffing in there and I believe that the piston may have been stuffed long before I got my hands on it. I'll get some new rings and see how I go, if it shits itself and dies then I'll get new kit.
Oh the joys. Now back to work.

Hoped..... but it wasn't to be

Not Good.

I did a compression test, just out of interest, 90psi after 4 kicks, that cant be good, So I pulled the head so I could check out the leak, I had intended to change the studs as the old ones were just old, so since I was there I thought I'd go one step further and pull the cylinder as well, the head of the cylinder was coated in carbon deposits, as was the head. What I found next, well after I realised you need to remove the exhaust to get the cylinder off that is, well what can I say the pictures tell the story.

It was obvious from day one that the case halves were different, pic one confirms even further, note the gasket, this should be aluminium, not gasket paper.

I knew this day would come. The problem is I NEED the scooter running....by monday and my location and time of week isn't in my favour for picking up some spares...what to do.

I had a conversation with Kelvin, Kickstart Scooters, he offered his opinions and I did feel a lot better about it afterwards, Thanks Mate.

I slept on it and made a decision. Watch this space.

Front wheel scrape

I got the scooter home and the sound that was emanating from the front wheel was not pretty. I removed the wheel and gave the drum a good clean, a bit of a sand and could see no obvious cause, there was a bit of brake dust but nothing out of the ordinary. I put the wheel back on and gave it a spin, once per revolution the scrape returned. Wheel off and brakes off It could only be one thing, the backing plate, I drilled out the rivets and took it off, now I had seen it before when I re-built the front end, it's rough, but did the job, this time it has to go. I put the brakes back on, the wheel and the softly sounding spinning wheel was just what the doctor ordered. I adjusted the brakes, easier because I could see them, and called it a day.
One front dust cover on the order list.
Now on to the leaking cylinder head.

152 days

Picture the scene from the Lion King where Simba is presented as the new King of the jungle, the dramatic music, the minions in awe.....well that's how I felt today when a knock at the door revealed the postal delivery lady with, wait for it.....my wiring, cue music again. 152 days since the order went in, the first back order wasn't up to scratch, the second passed muster but took it's own time.
The lesson learnt was to double check to see if the item is in stock BEFORE you place the order.

But there's a catch, the Kit doesn't include a CDI so during the emails to-ing and fro-ing I ordered one, to be posted with the kit once the back order was finally sorted, They assured me they would email me a paypal invoice for the CDI, but never did, it arrived anyway....damaged. FFS.
The kit looks to be a reasonable quality, people who have used them speak of the ease in which they just drop into the scooter and work well. I won't be using it, I got impatient after the first 3 or 4 months of waiting and did my own. I'll hang on to it unless someone feels they might like to take it off my hands.

Here we go again.

So now all the warm fuzzy posts are done, back to business.
This buzzing is driving me nuts, I was told and also read elsewhere that apart form rattly bits, of which there are many, the buzzing may be due to a small leak from under the head, well last night I decided to take a look and the small leak I spotted a few weeks ago may have developed into a slightly bigger leak, there is spatter in a few spots, the head, exhaust and on the frame near it, and curiously on the shock spring which is weird, maybe the clutch breather?? sorry pictures to come, So now I am being forced into sorting it out before it gets worse. I will be pulling, cleaning and lapping the cylinder head and since I will have it off, will replace the studs and nuts, I will probably pull the cylinder off and tidy that up too.
Also today for no apparent reason my front brake shoes started rubbing on the inside of the drum, I stopped for fuel and loosened the nut that fixes the cable end and released the shoes, they still rubbed????? how so? got me stuffed until I pull the wheel off and take a look, I'll have a look at lunch time but will most likely wait until I get home, will be a gentle ride with not having front brakes.
History tells me that as soon as I start doing some work I will find something else and so it will all begin again, I say again that I am reluctant to delve too deep until my GT is sorted.
Gloria is running so well too...with the GT repair a month away. Fingers crossed. Photos to come.

Wildlife rescue

I got out for a bit of a squirt today, the weather was, well started out to be, nice. I got about 25kms into my usual "lap" and scooted past this little guy, sitting in the middle of the lane, I thought that cant be good for his long term health so scooted back and put him on the edge of a small dam that, given his direction, was where he was heading anyway. Good deed done, I went back to the scoot and the lighting was right, poplars swaying in the breeze, so I snapped a pic and then headed into town to get some fuel for the second leg down to Paynesville, passing a group of about 9 road bikes on their way to Phillip Island, none of them waved, not even a nod, and they all looked at me....
At this stage the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in and even though I was getting blown all over the road, I still enjoyed the ride, I dropped some paperwork off to an old client and headed home and as I pulled into the drive, the rain started so I was happy with that. A 100km day out, total 3305kms.

Just for a laugh.

Every year the Barry Sheene memorial ride leaves from Bairnsdale and they ride to the MotoGP site on Phillip Island, it is always a spectacle to see all the road bikes, cafe racers and what ever else, the one scooter rider (PX200) I know that normally does the ride hasn't come this year. The ride was this morning.

What I like to do is wait until all the bikes are parked up in the main street having hard core lattes and a pastry before heading to the Muster point and cut a few laps past them, giving it a bit of a rev as I go, now the Sito+ has a sound like a pinging popcorn machine so I don't have too much trouble getting thier attention. Nobody ever waves, no surprises there, some point and smile, but the majority either try to ignore me or just scowl in my general direction. Makes my day every time, I love it and will miss not being able to do it next year.

One year on.

A year ago today a rickety crate was man handled off the back of a ute in my driveway and a new chapter in my scootering life began.
It has been interesting and frustrating, fun yet challenging, a learning curve higher than I expected and I have had help and encouragement from all corners of the globe, I have tasted the camaraderie that exists between vintage scooter enthusiasts, as they tweak and tune, break and fix and most importantly the passion for such a simple yet hardy, confusing and yet so beautiful little machine that has withstood the ravishes of time, and  the crafty workshops of Indochina, only to enjoy a resurgence in popularity that can only grow further.
The year in a nutshell. Brilliant, loved every minute, mostly.

I have built up a knowledge of the scooter through reading, asking, guessing, but mostly by pulling stuff apart to fix something that has broken or find something odd whist pulling it apart and the can of worms is cracked and the fun begins.

What I have spent to get where I am now, I couldn't say, but I have a box full of old, broken, useless, mismatching parts that I may make into some form of contemporary art piece one day, I'm keeping it to remind me where the Sprint was when I got it. I have replaced just about everything you can without pulling the whole bike apart.

The engine, I haven't touched it, save pulling the head once and the flywheel 3-4 times and cleaning it occasionally. Once it dies I will split the cases and see what exotic workmanship I find, until then as long as it runs, I'll maintain it and enjoy the riding. Speaking of riding, I have had a busy week or so with the new addition to the family and the things that go along with that and juggling work and two other young boys, the weather hasn't been the nice sunny, cool spring weather it should be. The scooter takes a back seat. I have managed just over 3200 kms on the clock and about 180kms when the speedo was broken, not bad considering it was off the road for at least 4 months. I've soft seized 3 times, forgot the fuel tap half a dozen times, stalled at the lights, tightened an exhaust bolt up on the side of the road, ask me how I knew it had come off..... walked the highway looking for a dampener bolt, a new one, that had come out, pushed the scooter to work on the footpath like an actual scooter because I thought I'd broken a gear cable, I didn't, it was a two minute fix. and numerous silly things that you only do once, learning the sequence of which the parts go back on...it goes on.

My favorite moment is giving up on the waiting for the wiring harness to arrive and just doing it myself. I wasted three months, still waiting too by the way, when in an afternoon I made up the harness, put all the bits back together and it worked, well a minor brake switch issue and the horn doesn't work since I haven't touched it since, and I was running a full set of working lights. That was very satisfying and had I listened to the good advice from a Mr Porter from MD, USA I'd have been on the road three months earlier. Thanks to everyone else who have offered advice when I have been lost in a head scratching moment, you know who you all are.

I do have a small list of things to do, but since the big move across the state is about six weeks away I'm reluctant to do too much while the GT200 is off the road, I need one running. Gloria is also due for a once over, grease this, clean that, check those too, that sort of thing.

The future....well the next few weeks will be busy, finishing working full time, packing up the house and moving, preparing the house for renting, actually moving, settling the young family into a new temporary home on my wife's family property while we look for land and build a new house, start a new job, thankfully I have one lined up, and the next chapter of our lives.
One thing I am excited about the move is being closer to Melbourne and being able to participate in the activities of the new Vespa Club of Melbourne and even closer is Geelong, where there is also a growing group of Vespa riders planning regular ride outs, these guys are connected to the Melbourne Club also and the future looks bright as the Club is rapidly growing after only a few months and there is always something happening.
http://www.vespaclubmelbourne.com.au/

The Sprint V's future is in the hands of the gods, what the future will bring, I don't know, what I do know is that as long as I'm riding, from now on if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try and fix it.
If it does break, you guys will be the first to know.
Cheers for reading, hope you have enjoyed it so far, I do feel that it is far from over though.

A new addition

At 2 am I get an elbow in the ribs six hours later.......

Welcome to the family little Campbell, Younger brother to Angus, 4 and Merrick, 2.5 he is a wriggler and has a big appetite. He weighed in at 7 pound or 3.15kgs and was 51 cm, both mum and bub are happy and healthy and his brothers can't wait to meet him.

As for the scooter, she's doing great too, next week it will be a year since I got the Sprint V, so I'll do a summary then.

plugs

here are pics of the two plugs, the top is after 100 odd kms all styles of riding B6HS, the bottom is the B7HS after about 30kms, not much difference and I believe this is how they are supposed to look, I'm going to run with the B7 as the weather is starting to warm up.

A milestone, a victory, a problem.

I got out yesterday on what was a beautiful morning and put just over 100kms on the Sprint V, ticking over the 3000km mark as I went, some imports never make it this far, some not even a third, so I am happy about that.
Now to address the soft seize I had earlier in the week.
My plug was black and dry. I was running a 105 main jet, one size bigger than stock 102 as I changed to a Sito+ exhaust, a 160 main air bleed, which is what came with the scoot and is bigger than stock, 140, and a B7HS plug. Everything else is stock, Now I'm no expert and I consulted wiser folk than I and opinions differed and I realised that I just needed to try a few things and see what happened, I also read a few related posts on the Modern Vespa site, great info.
Firstly I increased the idle slightly as someone very experienced told me it was a bit slow, now this won't affect the running of the bike once you actually move off, but it did sound better, and I thought a hotter plug might not foul so much when I have it idling for some time
I'm not sure why but I thought I'd go up another size jet to a 108, and a slightly hotter plug B6HS, after the ride out the plug was clean, the ceramic was white with a tinge of brown, the little bit bent over at the top was the same brown. I did a lot of riding between 60-80, a few squirts above 90 but after the seize, I was reluctant to push it for a long period, I might throw the B7HS back in and see how it goes.
I gave the engine a clean and noticed that I had a drip of oil on the clutch arm and the hub had patches of oil in it too, this was probably one of the first things that happened when I first got the bike, I replaced the small o-ring back then and will do the same again if it gets worse, there hasn't been a drop on the floor yet.
My youngest son Merrick just loves "helping" when I do any work on the scooters, I'll have at least one riding buddy when he's big enough.